My TBS..Thank you Richard!

[Spiffyguy]

Got the first package without any issues. Boxes were not damaged except for some cracked Styrofoam in the rock box. This is part one of a 29 gallon package. So far I have seen a bunch of critters I have pulled out about 8 small Gorilla crabs, but no mantis yet. I do hear an occasional snap, not sure if it is mantis or pistol shrimp yet. I have a trap baited so we shall see what I catch.

I have also found a few whelks that got moved to the 10 gallon. Also a white Cowrie. Looked like a white sponge until it started moving. I did not remove that one yet. Anyone know what kinda damage it will do. It is all white with a few "greyish" spots. The shell seems to have color but I did not peel it back. I have also seen a worm that was swimming, not sure if I moved it and it was trying to get back to land or that was locomotion.

I have seen a few more Gorillas in there. Also a black crab that was very small. THere is a bunch of macro on all the rocks. My existing rock looks a bit bare and dead compared to the TBS stuff. Bunches of tube corals and some barnacles I think. I will get better pictures once the tank clears up some. I think there is some stony corals too that look like maybe a candy cane skeleton. Just before lights out I thought I saw some flesh popping out.

One question is when I turned my skimmer on after about 5 hours it immediately tried to foam over, even with the cup at the highest settings. I have it off now but any ideas?

Here are the pics. A full tank shot.

Boxes.

Open boxes. Sand on left and rock on right. Crazy bagging. No leaks at all.

3 inch serpent star.

The tube corals

one of the smaller rocks

Same serpent star I think?

The big rock.

small tube coral frag with a feather duster on it. Cool stuff.

My thanks to Richard for make this a very good day. The rock looks great and it was the easiest thing to get. Boxes where packed excellent. Thanks again.

 

[ybenormal]

Lookin' good!

Yes, your skimmer will go nuts at first but will settle down after a few hours or maybe a couple of days.

 

[Spiffyguy]

lol it started pumping water out. Lucky I caught it. It started to fill up the drain bucket too.

 

[scowiii]

Hopefully you didnt run the skimmer for several hours after you added the bacteria that you put in. But I didnt even run a skimmer yet on mine just letting it go through the cycle which its almost done. Highest I got was 2.0 ppm on ammonia now its hovering around .5 - .75 ppm and its been 8 days. So hopefully next week I can get my second part of my shipment.

 

[Spiffyguy]

no I waited a good 6 hours after the bacteria was put in. Also I had an existing 30 pounds of rock and sand from a tank that was set up for a few years. I probably won't get too much of a cycle. All the rock smelled good too.

 

[scowiii]

Cool

 

[Spiffyguy]

i just need my skimmer to stop foaming the whole tank out lol. I just turned it on and had another instant foam volcano. Crazy stuff. I think I have a pistol shrimp. I hear occasionally a single snap. I thought mantis made more pops than singles.

 

[scowiii]

Yeah I hear a snap once in awhile but never see him. Found another Gorilla crab and the little bugger took off and cant find him now.

 

[Spiffyguy]

the small ones are hard to catch. I have been doing well with my 10 inch tweezers though. but that is only out in the open. They go in the rock they are safe....for awhile

 

[Spiffyguy]

Round two I take a lot of pictures lol.

Sneaky serpent star. I would like to note that I mixed the TBS sand with 35 pounds of my own. That is why there is a bunch of little white chunks.

Best pic I could get right now of the Cowrie. This guy looks like a sponge, white with little grey dots. It is semi center in the picture. This is not a sponge. I have held it in my hands and it moves lol. Just curious if anyone knows what type of cowrie it is. It seems to be nocturnal.

Here is some type of toothy coral. It is on the rock to the right of my galaxie coral. Not sure what it is. there is some tentacles coming out though. The sweepers are clear and there seems to be a slit or mouth in the center. Any ideas?

here are some individual rocks now that the water is cleared up some.

Nice yellow type sponge. I hope it makes it.

I have been using my existing rock as base rock and the TBS to cover it up. Can't wait to see part 2.

The big boulder.

Side view

 

[scowiii]

Looks good. Sponges if you get a large ammonia spike pull the rock and sniff it like Richard says. Then scrape it with a knife or something. The one picture it looks like a bigger tube coral. I have several of those on my rock also. Also found three Apastia which Im not going to disturb at the moment as I will just get a shrimp that will eat them.

 

[Amyandlars]

the coral that you are wondering about are cup corals. Just wait and you'll see a ton more, or once you get part 2 you'll see loads of them. They are a very nice easy coral to keep. They always seem hungry, but I've had them grow in several types of lighting. I have some on the top with MH's on, some on the bottom of the tank, and there is even a pair growing in complete shade. They grow pretty quick, but stay a good small size.

 

[Spiffyguy]

that is probably what it is. Thanks for the info.

 

[Spiffyguy]

Here is a short video of some things I need to get an ID for. It is kinda blue, I need to work on my video camera skills. These lights are a bit bluer than the one in the 24 gallon.

1. I think this is an Abalone
2. Tiny black crab. White tips on claws and legs.
3. Some type of cowrie. It moved since yesterday so it appears to be nocturnal.
4. Scary worm I am sure is Eunice worm? Need to get him out some how.

Enjoy

Identfication Please 20mb WMV

 

[scowiii]

Those are Eunice worms. I have a couple my self. They eat stony coral. If you see them you need to get some tweezers and try to remove them.

 

[Spiffyguy]

I was thinking about trying that. I was worried they may be segmented and would break on removal. That would make the problem last a bit longer. I may try club soda. I heard that can work well.

 

[scowiii]

Heres an article about them.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php

 

[Spiffyguy]

Holy moly part 2!!!!! How do you mount or keep in place sponges? The long finger types? Same with gargonias 9sp? bah) Pics to will come lol.

 

[scowiii]

For the gorgonians I just planted in the sand. The sponges I just wedged it in some rock.

 

[Spiffyguy]

I mounted up the gorgonians up to some rocks. They seem to be staying put. There is a purple whip one that has polyps out already. I think one of the hardest parts about this rock is getting the aquascape down. I am sure it doesn't help that my 55 is so narrow. I still need to move some rocks around to get it right. But the new stuff looks excellent.