Part 2 has arrived!

[tektite]

Got part 2 yesterday Despite some hiccups getting the rock home (my car broke down in the 90 degree Texas heat), everything is looking good today. The rock is awesome as always! Plus some nice extras like plants, gorgonians, sponges, a fish, and rock anemones. One of the rocks had a part sticking out that was larger than a softball - of a LIVING coral. It's incredible, I love it! Lots of sponges, algae (a nice piece of some Nemastoma sp.), barnacles, mantis (caught 3 yesterday, a record for me ), a hitchhiker fish (when I saw it I thought it was the one Richard included, but then I saw that one next to it), an urchin, etc. etc. etc. One of the rock anemones flouresces very brightly under actinic lighting, its gorgeous! I really hope I can keep it alive.

I know, after all that its evil of me to not post pictures - I'm working on that Tonight or tomorrow I'll have them up!

Thanks so much Richard! I've been working for 9 months, slowly building up my equipment and knowledge, and now I finally have a reef tank up and running Its been a slow process but totally worth it.

 

[noahm]

Re: Part 2 has arrived!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14986235#post14986235 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tektite


I know, after all that its evil of me to not post pictures - I'm working on that Tonight or tomorrow I'll have them up!

Yeah, if you really want to be wicked, just say " I got a flame octo, banana crab, sea wizard, baby turtle, etc. etc." and then not post pics.

 

[birdz]

whats your technique for catching mantis shrimp?

 

[tektite]

I've applied lots of different methods to catch my mantis. Squirting club soda worked to get one out, but not many others. I abandoned that method because I didn't want to kill anything else on the rocks. Other ways I've caught some - grabbing the rock the mantis is in, and put it in the tank in a large net. It was important to not remove the rock from water at any point, if I did that the mantis was much more wary and wouldn't come out no matter what I did. Then with small tubing blow bubbles into their tunnel or gently prod around with a stick - they'll eventually come out and you can get the rock out quick leaving the mantis in the net. When one in the tank had just an entry and exit, I put a clear vinyl tube on the exit and blew bubbles into the entrance, the mantis went out the back into the tube which I got out quick. I haven't had any luck yet with traps set in the tank. I'm continuing to try other methods, but now I'm concentrating on pistol shrimp.

 

[tektite]

Pictures have arrived! Absolutely love part 2!

Couple pictures of part 1:
My favorite hitchhiker, my little anemone

Some coral, I tried to just light their clear arms at night, looked cool:

OK, part 2:
Critters in their box:

Gorgeous rock, as usual:

Critters acclimating:

 

[tektite]

Little hitchhiker, he was fast but I was faster

Cucumber exploring my glass:

Brittle star poking through holes in a rock:

Nice orange sponge:

Fish hitchhiker (identical to the one Richard included in my critters):

Giant coral, this one is around 5-6” long and wide, 3-4” high:

Big coral nicely extended:

 

[tektite]

Gorgonian starting to extend:

Feather duster:

Pretty red sponge:

Red tunicates (part of a part 1 rock, but still going strong):

Little crab, haven't identified yet:

 

[tektite]

Rock anemone, curled up from shipping still:

Hitchhiker anemone:

Another rock anemone starting to expand:

Macro algae with tunicates and a limpet (part 1 rock but cool):

Rock anemone, this one GLOWS under my actinics (hard to catch in a picture):

Close up of a gorgonian (?) extended:

Full tank shot, very tentative arrangement:

And so much more, but I had to be selective

 

[noahm]

Very nice stuff and some really cool hitchers. The fish is a tiger goby btw make sure he can't jump out. They just love to.

 

[Trandall]

Awesome rock and critters! Nice pictures too.
Thanks for sharing.