hdtran
New member
Ordered a 55 gallon "package" for delivery 11/5; had weather-related delays (no diving). Shipment was sent and received 11/7/03. Great communications from Mary & Richard.
200# in 4 boxes: 2 boxes with sand (single-bagged, held up nicely even though the styrofoam box broke); 2 boxes with rock (triple-bagged, ditto). There was some leakage through the rubber bands, I think (because the boxes were quite wet), but the bags did not appear punctured.
I followed the instructions (by the way, spreading the rock on a tarp is not on the instruction sheet?), putting in sand first, (didn't realize I had two bags of sand--hint for all of you: Open all the boxes first
), then, rock on tarp or dry bucket, then lift rock & see crabs on tarp or bucket, place rock in tank, then, powerheads on.
Too many critters to count: Lots of the clams or oysters, lots of cup corals (I think), yellow sponges, orange/red sponges, lavender sponges, barnacles, at least one large feather duster, lots of small feather dusters, red brittle star, brown/white serpent star, a sea slug?, baby hermits, unidentified snails, spaghetti worms, burrowing red worm (maybe peanut worm?), chicken liver sponges (love that name!), and of course, several porcelain crabs (and a few non-porcelain crabs). There's also a pistol shrimp in there somewhere, I think (only evidence is a solitary click once in a while). My mantis/crab trap is still empty .
At 24 hrs, the chemistry is still good. Water is standing by.
I've attached a photo of the full tank with the rock in it (it's a 120H tank, I only wanted 55 gal's worth of package, as I'm intending to keep a light bio-load, and want a roomier aquascape).
I'll put up a personal web page with lots of photos as things progress, and indicate a pointer there.
Great stuff, can't wait for the cycle to complete & get the second half!
Hy (btw, Richard, first name is pronounced "Hee". My nose was not glued to the tank this morning because my wife sent me shopping
:lol: ).
200# in 4 boxes: 2 boxes with sand (single-bagged, held up nicely even though the styrofoam box broke); 2 boxes with rock (triple-bagged, ditto). There was some leakage through the rubber bands, I think (because the boxes were quite wet), but the bags did not appear punctured.
I followed the instructions (by the way, spreading the rock on a tarp is not on the instruction sheet?), putting in sand first, (didn't realize I had two bags of sand--hint for all of you: Open all the boxes first
), then, rock on tarp or dry bucket, then lift rock & see crabs on tarp or bucket, place rock in tank, then, powerheads on.Too many critters to count: Lots of the clams or oysters, lots of cup corals (I think), yellow sponges, orange/red sponges, lavender sponges, barnacles, at least one large feather duster, lots of small feather dusters, red brittle star, brown/white serpent star, a sea slug?, baby hermits, unidentified snails, spaghetti worms, burrowing red worm (maybe peanut worm?), chicken liver sponges (love that name!), and of course, several porcelain crabs (and a few non-porcelain crabs). There's also a pistol shrimp in there somewhere, I think (only evidence is a solitary click once in a while). My mantis/crab trap is still empty
.At 24 hrs, the chemistry is still good. Water is standing by.
I've attached a photo of the full tank with the rock in it (it's a 120H tank, I only wanted 55 gal's worth of package, as I'm intending to keep a light bio-load, and want a roomier aquascape).
I'll put up a personal web page with lots of photos as things progress, and indicate a pointer there.
Great stuff, can't wait for the cycle to complete & get the second half!
Hy (btw, Richard, first name is pronounced "Hee". My nose was not glued to the tank this morning because my wife sent me shopping
:lol: ).
