Yogre
Cheesehead Reefer
Hello all!
Well, Part 2 went in the tank last week! I would have had pictures up a while ago, but a bout of the flu followed by a 3 day trip took me out. So, here are some pictures:
The critters, particularly the sponges, may get moved around yet still. As everyone else has experienced with Part 2, the amount of life is amazing!
Pickup at Chicago Midway went without a hitch, only one box out of 5 leaked. The Southwest Cargo folks helped me put the leaker in a bag, which really helped for the 3 hour drive home. It took about 7 hours to get all of the rock in the tank and get the critters acclimated. The big rocks on either end weigh over 100 pounds each! Amazing pieces that Richard picked out for us, they definitely add to the look of the tank! It took both my wife and me to get them loaded in the tank. Aquascaping the next morning took another couple of hours.
Ammonia since Part 2 went in hasn't gone over 0.5 ppm, at least that I know of since I couldn't test for a couple of days. Everything seems to be settling in well. The condy anemones are wandering all over one end of the tank. I've had one possible fatality that really bums me out; Richard sent me a really neat blenny that had a lot of personality, but he's been missing for a couple of days. One of the flat olive-colored anemones that burrows into the sand was closed up and pretty fat; I suspect him in the disappearance of the blenny. The astrea snails seem to have a pretty high mortality rate. Dumb things get flipped over, can't get back upright, and then something eats them.
One of the more unique hitch-hikers that I saw is an eel! He's about 6-8" long, brown, and a little chunky. Richard said he's a cusk eel; I'm gonna have to figure out how to either feed or rehome him or he'll be a skeleton eel!
Lots of other really neat stuff too, like everyone else I'm just delighted with Part 2, and just can't say enough good things about working with Richard. He even called me at home to make sure I didn't bury one of the rocks that had a jewel box clam on it! So, now the ball is in my court, I've got to get busy learning how to keep all this cool stuff alive!
Cheers!
P.S. Any suggestions for critter care or moving stuff around are welcome!
Well, Part 2 went in the tank last week! I would have had pictures up a while ago, but a bout of the flu followed by a 3 day trip took me out. So, here are some pictures:




The critters, particularly the sponges, may get moved around yet still. As everyone else has experienced with Part 2, the amount of life is amazing!
Pickup at Chicago Midway went without a hitch, only one box out of 5 leaked. The Southwest Cargo folks helped me put the leaker in a bag, which really helped for the 3 hour drive home. It took about 7 hours to get all of the rock in the tank and get the critters acclimated. The big rocks on either end weigh over 100 pounds each! Amazing pieces that Richard picked out for us, they definitely add to the look of the tank! It took both my wife and me to get them loaded in the tank. Aquascaping the next morning took another couple of hours.
Ammonia since Part 2 went in hasn't gone over 0.5 ppm, at least that I know of since I couldn't test for a couple of days. Everything seems to be settling in well. The condy anemones are wandering all over one end of the tank. I've had one possible fatality that really bums me out; Richard sent me a really neat blenny that had a lot of personality, but he's been missing for a couple of days. One of the flat olive-colored anemones that burrows into the sand was closed up and pretty fat; I suspect him in the disappearance of the blenny. The astrea snails seem to have a pretty high mortality rate. Dumb things get flipped over, can't get back upright, and then something eats them.
One of the more unique hitch-hikers that I saw is an eel! He's about 6-8" long, brown, and a little chunky. Richard said he's a cusk eel; I'm gonna have to figure out how to either feed or rehome him or he'll be a skeleton eel!

Cheers!
P.S. Any suggestions for critter care or moving stuff around are welcome!