Long-Term Assessment
- Thread starter tmcchicago
- Start date
I got my TBS starter package 3-4 years ago now (how the time flies!) and loved it!! Yep, had some hitchhikers - pulled out the gorilla crabs when they were easy to catch until they were finally gone. Caught a mantis that I grew to respect and like in the process of trying to catch him so set up a tank for him, still have him, he's great! (Easiest way I've found to get a mantis out is pull the rock out of the tank, have had two pop right out that way now.) Honestly the worst part of TBS rock to me is that it had so much life on it that I had trouble stacking it without covering some of it up and had trouble adding corals cause the rock already had so much on it!! As with some of the others, some of the life has died off over the years, some my fault, some not. But I sooo enjoyed getting to see that life up close, even if it didn't make it long term, things like barnacles and tunicates are just amazing!!! And some life lives on of course, serpent & brittle stars, purple gorgonian, ... Would I do it again on a new tank startup? Depending what my long term goals for the tank were, yes!
I make up the following mixture for the 5-6 different octocoral species I have and target feed them 2-3 times a week with a small pipette and all pumps and skimmers turned off:
DT's Premium Reef Blend Phyto
Frozen Cyclopeeze
DT's oyster Eggs
Reef Chile
Hikari Frozen Baby Brine
Golden Pearls 100-200
This mixture gives me a huge variety of food sizes from 2 to over 800 microns and there is likely something in the mix that benefits each different species. I also stir up a small part of the substrate 1-2 times a week which the purple sea whips seem to like.
