Finland
Member
It's been 4 months since part 2 went in the tank, and I figured I would give an update for those who were wondering how the life survives after being in the tank for awhile. Keep in mind, I have 3 large angels in the tank, so needless to say, sponges and tunicates did not fare well in my tank. Angels had quite the feast. There are some white sponges and black sponges in crevices and caves where the angels can't reach, but the pink and orange ones are long gone. Mini feather dusters took a big hit also. There are still quite a few where the fish can't reach, but not very many in more open areas. Ended up with 3 mantis. The biggest was put in his own tank with the larger mithrax crabs and a couple larger rock/gorilla crabs. Mantis beat a few up but now they all keep in there own territory and are doing great. The other 2 mantis are still in the display and don't appear to be causing any problems with snails or crabs. I had quite a few whelks that were remove and put in the mantis tank. The mantis really like snails!! It took me awhile to get the rock crabs out of the tank, and while they were in there, they killed and ate the cucumbers. I caught them dragging the cucumbers into caves. I think they were laughing at me. It was tough to get them out, considering I have 400 lbs of rock in the tank, but I ended getting them all out, I think. I did have some cirolanid isopods. When I turned on the lights in early morning before work and saw 3 attached to my naso tang, I panicked. Good news is they all disappeared after 2 weeks and no livestock was lost. Haven't seen a single one in 3-1/2 months. They must die off on there own.
I received a couple tiger gobies as hitchikers that are still doing good. Very rarely see them, but once every couple weeks they make an appearance. Other critters that are doing good are the ceramic crabs. Only a few of the big ones are still alive, but there has got to be at least a hundred smaller ones in the tank. Do they Breed in the tank? At night when I shine a flashlight in, there are countless 1/4 inch ceramic crabs crawling everywhere. pretty cool watching them wave their nets. There are quite a few 1/2 - 1 inch ceramics in there also. All the serpent stars and brittle stars are doing good. Coralline algae is starting to take off. A few mini brittles are still in there, even though the wrasse likes to snack on them. Tons of pods also in the tank. at least 4 larger pistol shrimp excavating under the rock and quite a few the the tiny ones. I keep rescuing the tiny ones from the filter socks. Gorgonians are still doing ok.
All in all, even though there were some undesirable critters in the rock, it was worth every cent. The stability, looks, and variety of life make the tank seem more like a small piece of the ocean. My next tank will definitely get TBS rock.
I received a couple tiger gobies as hitchikers that are still doing good. Very rarely see them, but once every couple weeks they make an appearance. Other critters that are doing good are the ceramic crabs. Only a few of the big ones are still alive, but there has got to be at least a hundred smaller ones in the tank. Do they Breed in the tank? At night when I shine a flashlight in, there are countless 1/4 inch ceramic crabs crawling everywhere. pretty cool watching them wave their nets. There are quite a few 1/2 - 1 inch ceramics in there also. All the serpent stars and brittle stars are doing good. Coralline algae is starting to take off. A few mini brittles are still in there, even though the wrasse likes to snack on them. Tons of pods also in the tank. at least 4 larger pistol shrimp excavating under the rock and quite a few the the tiny ones. I keep rescuing the tiny ones from the filter socks. Gorgonians are still doing ok.
All in all, even though there were some undesirable critters in the rock, it was worth every cent. The stability, looks, and variety of life make the tank seem more like a small piece of the ocean. My next tank will definitely get TBS rock.
