OMG!!! Watch this space for pics

OgreMkV

OgreMkV

New member
Teaser for you guys

So I e-mail Richard at Tamp Bay Saltwater Sunday night and said, "hey my ammonia is less than .75 and trending downward. When do you think we should go with the next shipment." Last night the ammonia was .25 and this morning it was non-existent. [For you cycle gurus, let me say that Richard told me to contact him when the ammonia level went below 1ppm and stayed there.]

So I get to work and there's an e-mail. "Shipped this morning. Be careful setting the rocks in... lots of life."

Since this is a teaser, I had my wife take pictures of the process and we'll start aquascaping when the boy goes night-night. But, since I like torturing you let's just give a few hints...

imagine my surprise when one 'hitchhiker' was a fish.
Of course there is a crab and a lobster bigger than the fish
oh, and a six inch tall 2 inch diamter coral stack.
 
that is an EVIL teaser!!

my ammonia is < .25 ppm and i was thinking, "this is a happy tank and needs its clean up crew and rest of the package!" my students keeping telling me that the tank looks great. and it does. my porcelain crab has established its hole, one of the decorator crabs was playing dress up and riding in the current today, the feather dusters are growing, and the tunicates are definitely bulking up.

but with my teaching schedule this week i am afraid i'll be doing open water training dives on 4 hours of sleep or less if i get my part 2 this week.

i can't wait to see your pics! do keep us posted Evil Ogre
 
Last edited:
Pics

Pics

As promised a huge picture up load.

Richard is without a doubt, the man. I didn't order 'the package', just rock. He didn't have to send me anything else, but he did. Of course, he'll get it all back when I convince my wife to let me have the 600 gallon reef tank.

Richard, a heartfelt thanks from all the McCarthy Family.

Now, if someone could help us identify this stuff and tell us how to care for it...

Christmas in July... literally (I can't afford Christmas this year now ;)
SW001.jpg


This is so cool... this is the best empty bag of water there is.
SW002-1.jpg


No, really, it's an empty bag of water.
SW003-2.jpg


No. It's a goby!
SW004-1.jpg


Happy Crab, the really big hermit
SW012.jpg


Cuke. My wife almost came unglued over this one. "Your not putting that in the tank are you?" "Heck yeah I am!"
SW014.jpg


The coolest hitchhiker ever. "Daddy, I'm helping."
SW017.jpg


Introducing Red Thing, the giant long nose crab thing...
SW020.jpg


Mandy the Lobster... don't tell my sister inlaw it's named for her.
SW021.jpg
 
More


FTS after some aquascaping... forgive the glare. This was a wet messy process.
SW022.jpg


Coral tower
SW023.jpg


SPS coral? of some flavor
SW025.jpg


A crummy picture of the sea urchin.
SW005-1.jpg
 
branched thing with small polyops is a gorgonian.

an "octocoral".

they do very well and in a year you will have all you want.
you can cut a branch and it will grow a new colony.
 
I found a giant predatory isopod today. Fortunately, it was dead. It was about 1/2" long. White, with large black eyes. Scary.

I 'hand fed' the mantis today. Actually, I sucked up some frozen brine shrimp with a baster and held them at the end of the tube while the mantis ate from it.

Pretty cool.
 
by the way, i've found a very small version of the predatory isopod as well. i've seen them on schooling fish in large reef areas (like in Bonaire on Brown Chromis) did the one in your tank make its presence known once the Tiger Goby was introduced?
 
No, I had seen it once right after the first part arrived. Then we never saw it again. It was huge though.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12922825#post12922825 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by OgreMkV
Anyone know what the red crab is? I've been looking for two days on-line.
Click to expand...

it might be a "slipper lobster" has it moved to make a hole in the sand bed?

if you move a stick / probe / your hand does it use it's tail to escape?

can you get a better full body photo?

here is a wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slipper_lobster

Decapod means "ten feet" or "Ten Legs"
 
No, the red slipper lobster didn't make it.

I'm talking about the long nose bright red crab... 2nd picture form the bottom in the first set.
 
i got one of those crabs, too. I'll try to identify it today and let you know. mine was feeding on algae so it is a good crab to have around.

sorry to hear about your lobster not making it :sad2: Richard sent two in our package! after lights out, they both promptly jumped a sluggish astrea snail and proceeded to feast. now they've nestled into the sand.

here is one of them eating its astrea snail:
tank012.jpg
 
Nice. No that lobster didn't make it... I'll have to get another one, he was so cool. However, I've found the pistol shrimp. He's tiny... about the size of our neon green mantis.

I think Richard sent me a crab egg mass. We must have two dozen crabs all smaller than a pencil eraser.

The worms and brittle stars/serpent stars are coming out too. I know a lot of stuff has died. I've got upside down crabs and at least one brittle star. On the other hand, the stuff that's left is having a field day.
 
I have to say, the coolest thing is the pink gloves! :p

That little red crab is really striking...I wonder what he is? It's amazing the diversity of life in the ocean.

You guys with the large tanks are making me insanely jealous. After I get the knack of this and my ship comes in, I hope it has an 180g aquarium on it! I'd definitely be emailing Richard once it was set up! I can't imagine how much time I'd spent staring at all the rock in one that size! :lol:
 
actually i think my tank is considered a nano since it is only a 55 gallon. my father in law has a 90 gallon tank and has been keeping saltwater critters for years. When I showed him the TBS website he got all excited. He told me that his fiji "live" rock is still 90% dead after 3 years.

your tank will have you captivated. i have mine here at work and i can't get anything done for all the time i've spent standing in front of it in total awe completely mesmerizied
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12927913#post12927913 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by divemonster
actually i think my tank is considered a nano since it is only a 55 gallon. my father in law has a 90 gallon tank and has been keeping saltwater critters for years. When I showed him the TBS website he got all excited. He told me that his fiji "live" rock is still 90% dead after 3 years.

your tank will have you captivated. i have mine here at work and i can't get anything done for all the time i've spent standing in front of it in total awe completely mesmerizied
Click to expand...

55 is a "normal" tank size.

Nano is when you are talking about say 10 gallon more or less.

then there is "pico" which seems to be around 5 gallons more or less.
 
thanks for the information, Denny. for some reason I was thinking that "nano" referred to the tanks below 55G.

Hey Ogre! We've not heard anything from you lately. How's your tank coming along?
 
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