Our first TBS order

ReefGirl77

New member
So, it's been three weeks since we went down the rabbit hole and got Part 1 of our TBS order.....before this we just had a 29 gallon reef that really needs an upgrade. My husband and his dad built a beautiful custom oak stand.....and we got the tank and the sump and took care of the plumbing...etc., etc. My husband was researching and found TBS. We looked it over, and decided it was way too cool not to do...plus, I grew up spending summers in the gulf, so for me it would be like having my own ocean in our room....pretty cool since we live in Northeast Ohio. I looked at photos on the TBS website, I watched videos of people getting their packages....but NOTHING prepared me for ours.

Part 1: We got a FISH. IN THE SAND!!!!! I really don't remember much after seeing the fish. I was elated. It was amazing.....and there were barnacles......ALIVE!! I felt like I did the first time my brother took me snorkeling when I was 8....amazed. The smell??? It took me straight to Seaside...a little place down the way from Panama City. Seriously. If this was part one, what the hell was going to happen with part two?? A religious experience??

I named the fish, a Belted Sandfish, Mr. Larry David. He is comical, a tiny bit cranky when hungry, a little confused about life (aren't we all?). He is personable, and has learned rather quickly that we are his food source. He swims up to us when we get near the tank. :)

Part 2: Friday, 7:30pm, we pick up our order from Southwest Airline cargo. (Awesome people there by the way!) Two boxes.....and we didn't go to bed until 5AM!!!! Fueled by excitement, determination, and delirium, we unpacked the extra sand and our rock. Then we got to the critters. Where do I begin?? With the starfish? The royal gramma? The flame scallop??? Fun fact, turns out that the same scream my husband has if he were being attacked by say....Jaws...is the same scream he has when handling a flame scallop. I poke fun....because I was dry and saying "just put it right over there by that rock" while the scallop was trying to clamp down on his fingers.

Fast forward to today, one week after Part 2 made into our 40 gal tank.....we have 3 fish, Tony, the Tiger Goby (get it?!?), a Royal Gramma, that has yet to be named, but I am confident we will have a name soon, and of course there's Mr. Larry David. We also got porcelain crabs galore, a brittle starfish, a flower anemone, a sea fan, a gorgonian, sponges.....I am forgetting something....sea cucumbers. It was and is ridiculous how amazing this process has been.

I am absolutely beside myself! So....thank you, Richard, it truly is everything everyone says it is!

Sent from my carrier pigeon
 
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Here are some photos...
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carrier pigeon
 
I am waiting for the waters to settle to receive part 2 myself. It's cool the Richard adds so much to an already stuffed order. It has been a joyful experience so far, seeing all the life within the rocks. I remember my first tank. I added a few rocks from Petco to the tank. We had 1feather duster and a mini brittle star on the rock. We would spends hours looking g at the rock Hoping something else would emerge. Now I have hundreds of things to look at. I'm sure it will take no thanks for years to discover it all. I can't wait for part 2.
 
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