Shipping

How It Works

Most orders ship a few days after harvest and arrive a week after placing your order.  That’s fast & fresh!

Place Order

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First, we venture out on the high seas aboard the workboat, Orion, for harvesting the underwater farm.  There we seek the highest quality sand & rock for our customers. Onboard, rock and sand are transported fully submerged to the warehouse holding system.  Inventory moves quickly, so harvesting is frequent.  We do our best to keep all products in stock and ready to move.  Keep in mind, that offshore diving is a weather dependent activity where our safety is priority.  

To secure aquacultured products, place an order with payment via credit card or PayPal.  We will reach out via email within 24 to 48 hours to schedule the date for air cargo delivery or bumpy road arrival.  This is the time to confirm your aquarium is functioning and it is ready to provide life support.  Good communication is vital for both of us, email provides a detailed record so we’re on the same page before the anchor drops.  We aren’t Amazon, but we are fast.

Payment

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Schedule Delivery

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Air cargo is our favorite way to move submerged live rock across the country.  It is fast, safe and cost effective.   After tendering your boxes at Tampa International Airport, you will receive tracking details.  With this information, you can follow the flight and know when to head to the airport. 

Southwest cargo is paid for at pickup.  Delta cargo is prepaid, we will invoice separately.  

Small orders ship flat rate UPS.  They arrive at your door a day after they are packed.  Specific products that fit this box size are categorized as “Treasure Chests”.  You will receive tracking information for your order via email. Flat rate shipping is charged at checkout.  Please be home to receive these perishable items. Shipping is weather dependent.

Tracking Information

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Shipping Day

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WooHoo, it is the BIG day!  Are you ready to get your hands wet?  Is your aquarium prepared to sustain life?  Put on some clean gloves and crack open the box.  Prepare yourself for the smell of fresh ocean harvested products handled and packaged with great care.  It is an honor to provide natural products sustainably harvested to benefit the health of your marine system.

Moving submerged live rock across the 48 is a task we take seriously

Sharks, nor the wee Hours…

It all starts with proper packing and packaging.
The same great care we put into harvesting goes into packing each order. We source quality insulated shipping boxes, use custom manufactured leak proof bags, include necessary instructions, top off with pure oxygen and a popping good surprise too.
That’s not all there is to thoughtful handling, in most cases, your order is packaged the SAME day you receive it!
Yepper, sharks nor the wee hours will deter us from doing our best to provide customers with fresh live rock!

Air Cargo is how we ROLL…

Air Cargo is the fastest, safest and least expensive transportation to move fresh harvested live rock. It is used for 20 plus pounds of rock and 40 plus pounds of sand.
Tampa Bay Saltwater was the first company to ship live rock submerged and we continue this today.  It adds a bit more weight, but the benefits are worth it!  Our rock hosts a plethora of diverse microorganisms of extreme importance for your system.  
After placing an order, we will contact you within 48 hours to arrange the best airport, ship date, and approximate arrival time.  Southwest and Delta are the airlines we use. Rates average $1.25 to $1.35 per pound.
On cargo day, after your boxes have been checked in at Tampa International Airport, you will receive detailed tracking information. From here, you can follow the shipment to your nearest major airport. 

 

 

 

“This is real live rock that is shipped underwater… you read all the time how folks get their live rock delivered via ground service wrapped in wet newspapers.  They experience dead and stressed live rock….and curing….and other nuisance issues…. that defeats the whole purpose of growing and shipping the highest quality live rock on the planet!  This is real live rock that comes to you alive and happily shipped underwater.  Add it directly to your tank with no issues, every time: no curing, no fuss and no muss.”

-Richard Londeree 6/15

 

 

What about shipping a few pounds of live rock or live sand?

Treasure Chest products;  these little boxes move out of the Icehouse each week containing small amounts of rock, sand and critters. These pre-selected items ship next day service to your door.  This option is flat rate via UPS for $83.00 

What if I live close to Tampa, do you offer pick up? 

Yee, we sure do!  Select “local pickup” when ordering.  You will be charged sales tax.  After your order is placed, we will contact you to arrange the best date and time.

Is there a box fee?

Packaging materials are expensive, let’s meet in the middle.  We charge $10 a box, even though the custom bags and boxes cost more.  Please reuse, recycle or donate the insulated boxes to your LFS.

Is there a Guarantee?

We go to great effort to ensure our products are fresh and in good health when shipped.  We have a 99.8% success rate on alive arrival of sand and rock.
If your order was excessively delayed at the airport or you have a leaking box, let us know, and don’t fret, live rock is very hardy. 
If you are concerned take a photo of the rock inside the shipping box.  Continue the unboxing procedure, place the live rock into the aquarium and take another photo.  In the very rare event of a DOA, our policy is to issue a store credit, not including shipping costs for air cargo or UPS.  We do not issue refunds for DOA.  We do not reimburse cargo fees or shipping fees under any circumstances.  You must notify us via email containing photos of DOA within 4 hours of delivery.  
If you place an order and cancel it, we will refund the total less PayPal service fees. 
We are not responsible for orders neglected at your doorstep or left at air cargo.  There are no refunds for orders abandoned at cargo hubs. Once the order leaves TPA, it is your responsibility.
We are not responsible for errors in acclimation or general care such as water flow, water chemistry and temperature. 
We are not responsible for your actions such as curing TBS rock (that doesn’t need curing) or dipping TBS rock (in chemicals, high salinity, fresh water).  We are not responsible if you have a non-functioning life support system upon arrival of TBS products.  We do our best to inform customers the correct usage for ocean sand and rock.  We are not responsible for your purchase decisions or actions after receipt of our products.
Charge backs for the entire shipment including shipping are illegal and will be prosecuted for fraud. DOA credit will depend on pictures of the expired product upon arrival in the box and pictures in your functioning aquarium.  In some cases, we will require rock be sent back to us. 
If you have any questions or problems, please contact us at liverock@tbsaltwater.com.  We will respond within 24-48 hours.    Please ask if you are unsure, we are here to help! 

What happens after placing an online ORDER?

We will email you within 24 to 48 hours to select a date for Air Cargo arrival to a major airport near you, Treasure Chest doorstep delivery, or local pick up.  If you have not heard from us, please check your junk folder.
  • Air Cargo: We arrange flights according to the shortest transit time, least layovers and lowest fare.  You are responsible for collecting the order.
  • UPS: We schedule for when you will be home to accept the package.
  • Local: We schedule the pick-up date and time.
 
Our goal is to provide you with the freshest aquacultured products.
  • Harvesting and shipping are weather related activities.  If the seas are too rough or storms too large; delivery will be delayed.
  • We send an email the day your order ships with tracking details.
  • Holidays are as risky as traveling in a storm. 
  • The week prior and week following Christmas and Easter are no ship zones, as well as other major holidays.
  • Dates around Memorial, July 4th, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Valentines are no ship zones.

WHY WE SHIP OUR LIVE ROCK IN WATER

Since 1990, Tampa Bay Saltwater has shipped live rock submerged in saltwater to provide truly alive live rock. Ocean aquacultured Live Rock is packed with living beneficial organisms.  When other shippers were killing ocean live rock in newspaper, TBS was preserving those delicate life forms. This is a tradition we continue.

No wet newspaper shipping, thus no curing…and no bottle bacteria is necessary. 

Our Trusted Shipping Partners

We Ship across the lower 48 of the United States

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