Adventures of a Glass Box | My 75g mixed reef
- Thread starter kelp47
- Start date
“The Package,” part 1 has arrived!
After much debate about where to get my rock, and what type I would get, I finally decided to go with Tampa Bay Saltwater. And I’m so glad I did! This has been a great experience from the first time I contacted Richard about a possible order. Even though my order is likely a relatively small one, I feel that he paid as much attention to my questions and desires as any higher-paying customer. And what I have received from him so far has surpassed my expectations. I ordered my rock on a Thursday (I think), and picked it up from the airport on Saturday. The rock, sand and creatures were in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday morning, and in my aquarium by Saturday afternoon. Can you do much better than that (in central Alabama)?! Everything he sent me was in great condition, and I really didn’t even have a cycle. So I will actually be receiving the second package one week later on 5/3! But back to the first package…
I went to the airport on Saturday 4/26 to pick up the first part of my package. It was a simple process and I was back home ready to open boxes in no time. The first box was filled with live sand, still sitting in water. I poured it in the tank, smoothed it across the bottom and stood back to look at the cloudy tank. Then I saw my first hitchhiker—a seaweed blenny had been hiding in the sand! I was worried about this little guy, but he is healthy and happy as ever now, and he’s a lot of fun to watch.
Next, I opened two boxes of rocks. These are great rocks! They are shaped nicely for building the base of my rock sculpture, and they have lots of little places for fish and other creatures to explore. I pulled out the rocks one by one and neither saw nor smelled anything alarming. Along with the rocks, I found one serpent starfish, a sea cucumber and a few crabs.
Once I placed the rocks in the aquarium, I waited for the water to clear a bit before arranging them. Then as it continued to clear, I began to spot all kinds of interesting things on the rock. I didn’t know what most of it was, but Richard has helped me identify those things that I asked about—lots of tunicates, some sponges, feather dusters and even some clams.
I’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story…
The full tank shot shows the base rock he sent. The decorator rock, smaller with more life(!), comes next.
After much debate about where to get my rock, and what type I would get, I finally decided to go with Tampa Bay Saltwater. And I’m so glad I did! This has been a great experience from the first time I contacted Richard about a possible order. Even though my order is likely a relatively small one, I feel that he paid as much attention to my questions and desires as any higher-paying customer. And what I have received from him so far has surpassed my expectations. I ordered my rock on a Thursday (I think), and picked it up from the airport on Saturday. The rock, sand and creatures were in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday morning, and in my aquarium by Saturday afternoon. Can you do much better than that (in central Alabama)?! Everything he sent me was in great condition, and I really didn’t even have a cycle. So I will actually be receiving the second package one week later on 5/3! But back to the first package…
I went to the airport on Saturday 4/26 to pick up the first part of my package. It was a simple process and I was back home ready to open boxes in no time. The first box was filled with live sand, still sitting in water. I poured it in the tank, smoothed it across the bottom and stood back to look at the cloudy tank. Then I saw my first hitchhiker—a seaweed blenny had been hiding in the sand! I was worried about this little guy, but he is healthy and happy as ever now, and he’s a lot of fun to watch.
Next, I opened two boxes of rocks. These are great rocks! They are shaped nicely for building the base of my rock sculpture, and they have lots of little places for fish and other creatures to explore. I pulled out the rocks one by one and neither saw nor smelled anything alarming. Along with the rocks, I found one serpent starfish, a sea cucumber and a few crabs.
Once I placed the rocks in the aquarium, I waited for the water to clear a bit before arranging them. Then as it continued to clear, I began to spot all kinds of interesting things on the rock. I didn’t know what most of it was, but Richard has helped me identify those things that I asked about—lots of tunicates, some sponges, feather dusters and even some clams.
I’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story…
The full tank shot shows the base rock he sent. The decorator rock, smaller with more life(!), comes next.
....cheers....BobPart 2 of The Package from Tampa Bay Saltwater is here!!!
When I told Richard how great I thought part 1 was, he said, "You ain't seen nothin' yet!" He was right! I had nothing in my tank on 4/25, I put in part 1 on 4/26, and part 2 on 5/3. This really is incredible! And it's a healthy tank.
Here are some quick shots now that everything is in place. Other things I received that are not pictured are another spiny starfish (I forgot what kind), 2 sea cucumbers, a peppermint shrimp, and who knows what else.
When I told Richard how great I thought part 1 was, he said, "You ain't seen nothin' yet!" He was right! I had nothing in my tank on 4/25, I put in part 1 on 4/26, and part 2 on 5/3. This really is incredible! And it's a healthy tank.
Here are some quick shots now that everything is in place. Other things I received that are not pictured are another spiny starfish (I forgot what kind), 2 sea cucumbers, a peppermint shrimp, and who knows what else.
Thanks!
Yes, it is! Now I'm in a crazy rush trying to figure out what everything is so I can take care of it! I love everything Richard sent me and I want it to thrive.
Yes, I am. I've posted an initial list on the "check here first..." thread, but I need to revise it a bit. The largest, most active fish I have will likely be a Kole Tang. I'd also like a shrimp/goby pair, some antias, a pajama cardinal, a clown fish, and a fire fish. That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I don't think there's much more anyway.
It has been about 4 weeks since I added part 2 of The Package, and everything is still going well! I have had a few losses--my decorator crab and a few other smaller crabs. Other than that, everything looks really healthy.
My blenny took some veggie-based pellets without hesitation, and I start feeding my tank phytoplankton a few weeks ago. I spot feed the flame scallop, tunicate colonies and sponges. Also, I have been able to feed small pieces of shrimp (raw, from the grocery store) to the two anemones and the two larger starfish. That's a fun show
The unidentified anemone (some kind of bubble-tip is what was suggested) has grown some over the past couple of weeks. The tunicate colonies have been picked on by some critter(s) at night, but they have been rebounding recently, and one colony has even expanded. I take this to be a very good sign. The gorgonians and sponges seem happy, as far as I can tell. I also see lots to critters, some kind of zooplankton, collecting on the glass until I clean it, so I'm happy about this. Hopefully, some will make their way to the sump and hang out in my fuge, where I have placed some chaeto.
I have removed several whelks and a couple gorilla crabs. I know I have a few more of each to find, but they don't seem to be devastating my current residents so I just grab them when I see a good opportunity. The only other issue I have is a bit of green hair algae. It's not out of control at this point, but I'm working to prevent that with pruning, water changes and chaeto.
Now that things have settled, I'm getting ready to set up a QT tank! My first new resident will be a firefish.
I ran my entire battery of tests today to be sure I'm ready for new residents and because I'm going to leave my tank for a couple of days for the first time. Below are my results. The only issue I really see is that my phosphate is high, which I already knew from previous testing and the presence of GHA. I've been working on that, and have gotten it down from about 0.3, so it's on the move.
Temp: 80
Specific gravity: 1.025
Ammonia: <0.25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5-10 (down from 40ish, so I'm happy with this)
PH: 8.0
Phosphate: 0.21
Alkalinity: 2.9 / 8.1
Calcium: 480
Magnesium: 1400
My blenny took some veggie-based pellets without hesitation, and I start feeding my tank phytoplankton a few weeks ago. I spot feed the flame scallop, tunicate colonies and sponges. Also, I have been able to feed small pieces of shrimp (raw, from the grocery store) to the two anemones and the two larger starfish. That's a fun show
The unidentified anemone (some kind of bubble-tip is what was suggested) has grown some over the past couple of weeks. The tunicate colonies have been picked on by some critter(s) at night, but they have been rebounding recently, and one colony has even expanded. I take this to be a very good sign. The gorgonians and sponges seem happy, as far as I can tell. I also see lots to critters, some kind of zooplankton, collecting on the glass until I clean it, so I'm happy about this. Hopefully, some will make their way to the sump and hang out in my fuge, where I have placed some chaeto.
I have removed several whelks and a couple gorilla crabs. I know I have a few more of each to find, but they don't seem to be devastating my current residents so I just grab them when I see a good opportunity. The only other issue I have is a bit of green hair algae. It's not out of control at this point, but I'm working to prevent that with pruning, water changes and chaeto.
Now that things have settled, I'm getting ready to set up a QT tank! My first new resident will be a firefish.
I ran my entire battery of tests today to be sure I'm ready for new residents and because I'm going to leave my tank for a couple of days for the first time. Below are my results. The only issue I really see is that my phosphate is high, which I already knew from previous testing and the presence of GHA. I've been working on that, and have gotten it down from about 0.3, so it's on the move.
Temp: 80
Specific gravity: 1.025
Ammonia: <0.25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5-10 (down from 40ish, so I'm happy with this)
PH: 8.0
Phosphate: 0.21
Alkalinity: 2.9 / 8.1
Calcium: 480
Magnesium: 1400
My testing tonight shows that my nitrate is now down to 2, and phosphate down to 0.14. I know the phosphate needs to come down more, but I'm pleased with the drop from my last test.
So I've been planning on going to my LFS tomorrow to get some new critters for my tank. I've had my eye on a branching hammer coral I'd like to pick up, along with a firefish.
The one concern I have is that I have at least a few red mithrax crabs in my tank. I know there are mixed stories about them. So far, mine have behaved well. They are constantly picking stuff off the rocks and haven't touched my three gorgonians or any other smaller items in the tank. I guess there's only one way to find out...
So I've been planning on going to my LFS tomorrow to get some new critters for my tank. I've had my eye on a branching hammer coral I'd like to pick up, along with a firefish.
The one concern I have is that I have at least a few red mithrax crabs in my tank. I know there are mixed stories about them. So far, mine have behaved well. They are constantly picking stuff off the rocks and haven't touched my three gorgonians or any other smaller items in the tank. I guess there's only one way to find out...
