New rock part 1 (lots of pics)

[tektite]

So, I received my part 1 for my 125 gallon tank. Shipping went well, the boxes were packaged wonderfully. The rock was incredible. At least 2 of the rocks were over 12 inches long. They were covered in living things of all sorts. Within a couple hours of being in my tank, feather dusters were out, tons of barnacles were sweeping the water (very cool looking), snails were emerging, anemones opened, heard lots of click-clicking from mantis shrimp, you get the idea.

This rock was everything I hoped for and so much more.

So far I've seen species of (though I'm sure I'm missing lots of things) â€"œ crabs (gorilla, some red type, porcelain), mantis shrimp, lots of snails, limpet, octopus (yes, octopus), serpent star, coral, lots of copepods, anemone, bristle worm, lots of other worms, feather duster, barnacle, sponge, gorgonian, tunicate, and red macro algae.

Now I have to post pictures, of course

The boxes and packaging:

Quadruple bagged:

 

[tektite]

Rock out of the box:

Huge rock:

Porcelain crab hiding:

FTS with rock in (aquascaping later):

 

[tektite]

Living things â€"œ I'm no expert so I just guessed what some of these things were:

Red, blue, tan sponge/coralline algae (?):

Tiny feather dusters in red sponge (?):

Red tunicates/sponge (?) and red macro algae:

More red tunicates/sponge (?):

 

[tektite]

Snails:

Barnacle feeding (hard to see but its little sweeper was out):

Tiny gorgonian?

Feather duster:

 

[tektite]

Weird thing cruising my glass:

Bristle worm (?) it was iridescent, cool looking:

Something cool:

Second something cool:

Third something cool:

 

[tektite]

Crabs left in the boxes (3 gorilla?, 1 red kind, 1 hermit, 1 porcelain):

Little orange anemone of some kind:

Another anemone of some kind:

Mantis shrimp checking me out:

Coral:

Octopus (very tiny but cool):

 

[tektite]

Thought I'd share, this was some incredible stuff!

 

[divemonster]

you've got some REALLY AMAZING stuff there! That Lobed Star coral is huge. I can't imagine how old it might be. WOW!

Keep posting pics as you find stuff

 

[noahm]

Yeah, you can pretty much just label all of them 'More cool stuff'

Way cool!!

 

[Yogre]

Very, very cool!

How big is your tank? Looks huge!

 

[tektite]

My tank is a 125 gallon, 6ft. long.

 

[divemonster]

good size reef!

good size reef!

with a tank that size your cycle will probably be minimal. In fact you may think you are doing something wrong or get impatient while waiting for the ammonia to rise above 1.0 when it probably won't.

The guys who do have tanks your size and larger could give you more accurate info regarding their cycles. Mine looks like a nano compared to yours

 

[tektite]

I'm hoping I won't have much of a cycle. Two days into it my readings are:

Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 79.7
Ammonia: 0.05 mg/L
Nitrite: 0.8 mg/L
Nitrate: 1.3 mg/L
Alkalinity: 3 meq/L
pH: 8.0

Can't wait for part 2!

 

[Yogre]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14905262#post14905262 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tektite
I'm hoping I won't have much of a cycle. Two days into it my readings are:

Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 79.7
Ammonia: 0.05 mg/L
Nitrite: 0.8 mg/L
Nitrate: 1.3 mg/L
Alkalinity: 3 meq/L
pH: 8.0

Can't wait for part 2!

Your parameters look good! I had to check my logbook to recall my ammonia readings... my tank is just a wee bit bigger, it's a 215 (6' x 2' x 2.5') , and I had so little ammonia I never had to do a water change to lower it. With Part 1, I never saw a NH3 reading above 0.25ppm. With Part 2, NH3 never got above 0.5ppm. In both cases, NH3 peaked within 2-3 days, and then was at zero within a little over a week.

In talking to Richard about having not much NH3, he said his rock is alive when you get it and it tends to stay alive; I definitely agree. The freshness is just one reason I'm a big fan of TBS live rock.

You'll love Part 2!

 

[tektite]

HA!!! After about a 3 hour battle, I caught my main clicker dude. I don't know how many rocks I chased it around.

Pretty little guy, but noisy...

Also found this odd red thing, anyone seen anything like it? I haven't a clue where to start to ID it. Its about 1/4" long, and can stretch to 1/2", not including its arm thing. Its anchored in one place, but is quite active, wiggling, moving back and forth, stretching...

 

[NeonFish]

Nice pistol shrimp. You should keep it and get a goby so theyll pair up.

 

[divemonster]

It looks like it is transitioning from larval stage into something juvenile. It is hard to know for sure but it appears to be a crustacean. I am just guessing as there is so much odd macro life in the oceans and seas.

 

[noahm]

Looks like some kind of peanut worm. Some definitely look more like their name than others.

 

[divemonster]

I've heard of peanut worms but have not seen one. Nic photo, Tektite!

 

[g8gxp]

not sure, but the pic of the orange anemone looks like a mojano?!? If it is, probably want to get rid of it asap if it is. can anybody else verify?