A little piece of home - Part 1 delivered!

[sierra_bravo]

I have been anticipating ordering from TBS almost from the first day I started my build. We're from Florida but currently living in San Antonio. The thought that I could put rock and sand in my tank that used to live just a few miles off the coast of my home state meant a lot to me as the reason for building the tankin the first place was that we very much missed being around and in the Florida waters.

I placed my order for a 120# package on Wednesday afternoon and for a Friday shipment. I let TBS know that I wanted to do a more minimalist aquascape and they suggested reducing the rock to the amount for a 100# package. First thing Friday I received notice that my part one had shipped, which included all of the sand and half of the rock. I tracked the flight and went to Southwest's cargo area to pick it up.

I didn't notice any leaks and all the boxes were intact. Once home, I had to locate the boxes that contained the sand first. The boxes are padded with styrofoam and everything is double bagged or more.

 

[sierra_bravo]

The four boxes of rock were packaged with even more protection. I dropped everything in the tank and added the bacteria starter that TBS provides, then let it rest so some of the cloudiness settled out.

One thing I would recommend is to strain the remaining water through a colander after you empty the boxes. We found quite a bit of missed animals this way.

 

[sierra_bravo]

I stacked the rock up in the general shape I wanted.

There were lots of small hermits and snails hiding away in the sand and rock. We also found three gorilla crabs and a porcelain crab. I haven't heard any mantis or pistol shrimp. Unfortunately it looks like we lost all of the feather dusters and at least half of the sponges that were on the rock.

This morning the tank had cleared up considerably.

 

[sierra_bravo]

We received "part" of what I think was a brittle star:

And my daughter wanted to make sure I included a pic of the procelain crab, which apparently now goes by the name "Bob"...

I'm looking forward to a short tank cycle and receivign Part 2 of the shipment in a few weeks. Thanks Dan @ TBS!

 

[Alfrareef]

Good. It looks great! Some pictures look like if they were taken from the ocean.

 

[sierra_bravo]

I've been trying in vain to get pictures of some of the hitchhiking crabs that arrived in the shipment, but so far they stay just enough out of view that I can't get a shot. Here's what I think I have so far. Keep in mind that I had seen almost NONE of these when I first received the rock despite the fact that I was actively looking for them.

Five Gorilla Crabs: These were actually the easiest to see and capture. Two came off the rocks in the shipping boxes. One I had to remove part of the rocks and force him out. These have all been send to the sump. The last two are the smallest and are deep in my aquascape. Currently trying to coax them into a trap.

One Porcelain Crab: He came off the same rock I pulled for the gorilla. I put him back in the DT and have not been able to see him since.

Two of what I believe are Red-ridge Clinging Crabs, Mithraculus forceps: These are reportedly good at reducing hair algae. Here's a stock picture from online:

It could also be the red version of an Emerald Crab, Mithrax sculptus;

I'm not sure yet because mostly all I've seen are the claws and glimpses of their legs and body since they stay very well hidden in the crevices of the live rock. Either way I'll leave these in for the time being.

What really amazes me is the amount of tiny hermit crabs and snails that were apparently in the live sand. I was completely unaware that they were there while I was moving the sand from the boxes into the tank. Most snails are small, but I've seen at least one snail briefly on the glass with a foot that was two inches across. Another with a shell about an inch long that I watched put up his siphon vertically and then slowly "dove" under the sand like a submarine submerging, leaving just the tip of the siphon above the sand.

So much life and it's only half the shipment. I've been up late for three nights straight with my red flashlight and magnifying glass just looking at everything. Every time I do I find something that I didn't see before. Very cool!

 

[IdahoCindy]

Bob doesn't look like a porcelain crab to me.

 

[sierra_bravo]

Bob doesn't look like a porcelain crab to me.

I'm too new to all this so I wasn't sure, either. I had posted a separate thread asking for an ID. All responses were that it was a Porcelain Crab.

To my daughter it's just plain ol' "Bob"; that was good enough for her.

 

[liverock]

I'm too new to all this so I wasn't sure, either. I had posted a separate thread asking for an ID. All responses were that it was a Porcelain Crab.

To my daughter it's just plain ol' "Bob"; that was good enough for her.

It is a porcelain crab....