Part 2 came today and the sun came out and my wife smiled for the first time since I've begun this endeavor.
I had a very hard cycle with part 1. My ammonia level went off the charts,my house stunk and the rocks ended up looking really crappy.
It's been 3weeks and but for a red diatom bloom things seemed stable. Richard said I was ready. Nothing but to take a deep breath and jump in, huh? I mean I already paid and everything. No use being a scaredy cat.
4 big boxes and 1 really big box. Opening box that says to open first, I was amazed to find bag after bag. 4 condi anenomes in 1 (white ,pink and 2 purples). A tiny zebra goby in another. A Blenny (maybe a lawnmower) A rock with 3 rock anenomes and delicate macroalgae. A bag with 2 long branched red tree sponges with a pistol shrimp hanger on. A fist sized rock with a blade gorgonian. A purple and red sea fan in another. 2 large orange tree sponges with yellow ball sponges at the base. 2 bags of gorgonians, one gray and flat, the other brached nubby and purple. 2 different bags of macro with sandy bases, brushes, large single leafed varieties among others. There was a bag with a big prehistoric looking crab clutching a stalk of orange sponge and had a hermit buddie to boot. Let me break to a new paragraph,it looks better.
4 sea cukes, one black, one yellow, one orange, one green. A 4 inch brownish red sea star. 2 nasty and cool looking serpent stars. 4 orange snails, A bunch of turbos and hermits. Oh and the peppermints too but there were a few different varieties.
I found as hitchhikers, some whelks, a porcelain crab, a few small brittle stars, many tiny shrimp and little crabs.
The big box had a really big rock in it.(40 lbs.?) Beautiful. All kinds of color, macroalgae and very porous. The other 2 boxes had more rock all outrageously alive. Amazingly porous
Needless to say my tank is FULL. I need to get a grip on how to aquascape as I don't know really where to begin.
I hope and hell, I'll even pray for everything or almost everything to stay alive.
I read with chagrin and embarassment a recent thread which spoke of this rock being manmade and concrete and somehow representing that it was inferior to some ill-defined ideal. I've had Tonga branch and Fiji deco but nothing like this. It seems to me that what TBS does is renew the resource at really no impact to the environment. Old coral rubble to reef material. Kudos to Richard and TBS.
(BTW, Anyone want a Mantis in south jersey area? He's hanging out in a little cage now and I've got a few more to trap.)
Pics to come. I'm exhausted.
I had a very hard cycle with part 1. My ammonia level went off the charts,my house stunk and the rocks ended up looking really crappy.
It's been 3weeks and but for a red diatom bloom things seemed stable. Richard said I was ready. Nothing but to take a deep breath and jump in, huh? I mean I already paid and everything. No use being a scaredy cat.
4 big boxes and 1 really big box. Opening box that says to open first, I was amazed to find bag after bag. 4 condi anenomes in 1 (white ,pink and 2 purples). A tiny zebra goby in another. A Blenny (maybe a lawnmower) A rock with 3 rock anenomes and delicate macroalgae. A bag with 2 long branched red tree sponges with a pistol shrimp hanger on. A fist sized rock with a blade gorgonian. A purple and red sea fan in another. 2 large orange tree sponges with yellow ball sponges at the base. 2 bags of gorgonians, one gray and flat, the other brached nubby and purple. 2 different bags of macro with sandy bases, brushes, large single leafed varieties among others. There was a bag with a big prehistoric looking crab clutching a stalk of orange sponge and had a hermit buddie to boot. Let me break to a new paragraph,it looks better.
4 sea cukes, one black, one yellow, one orange, one green. A 4 inch brownish red sea star. 2 nasty and cool looking serpent stars. 4 orange snails, A bunch of turbos and hermits. Oh and the peppermints too but there were a few different varieties.
I found as hitchhikers, some whelks, a porcelain crab, a few small brittle stars, many tiny shrimp and little crabs.
The big box had a really big rock in it.(40 lbs.?) Beautiful. All kinds of color, macroalgae and very porous. The other 2 boxes had more rock all outrageously alive. Amazingly porous
Needless to say my tank is FULL. I need to get a grip on how to aquascape as I don't know really where to begin.
I hope and hell, I'll even pray for everything or almost everything to stay alive.
I read with chagrin and embarassment a recent thread which spoke of this rock being manmade and concrete and somehow representing that it was inferior to some ill-defined ideal. I've had Tonga branch and Fiji deco but nothing like this. It seems to me that what TBS does is renew the resource at really no impact to the environment. Old coral rubble to reef material. Kudos to Richard and TBS.
(BTW, Anyone want a Mantis in south jersey area? He's hanging out in a little cage now and I've got a few more to trap.)
Pics to come. I'm exhausted.
