Part I has landed!
- Thread starter d2mini
- Start date
d2mini
Premium Member
Richard sent me some sweet chunks of rock! Most boxes only had ONE huge piece in them!
Here's a few quick pics. I had to do a water change already (ammonia was getting up near .5 - 1.0) and I moved the rocks around now that I can actually see. So the water was still a tad cloudy. Got some nassarius and cerith snails, I think a red mithrax crap, I also think i saw a gorilla crab but he disappeared. Can't wait for part II!
Oh, and I did catch a Mantis Shrimp! Found him scurrying around after I moved the rock. Scooped him up with a net and tossed him in the sump. Now he keeps going back and forth between my fuge and skimmer section.
Still lots of popping noises though. Could just be Pistols. We'll see...
Here's a few quick pics. I had to do a water change already (ammonia was getting up near .5 - 1.0) and I moved the rocks around now that I can actually see. So the water was still a tad cloudy. Got some nassarius and cerith snails, I think a red mithrax crap, I also think i saw a gorilla crab but he disappeared. Can't wait for part II!
Oh, and I did catch a Mantis Shrimp! Found him scurrying around after I moved the rock. Scooped him up with a net and tossed him in the sump. Now he keeps going back and forth between my fuge and skimmer section.
Still lots of popping noises though. Could just be Pistols. We'll see...
noahm
Active member
Wow, looks like there isn't even water in the tank. Cleared up nicely. Just to give you a heads-up, you will probably get some whelks. They can look just like the nassarius, but will occasionally poach a snail, small clam etc. Here is a great pic of them side by side. Whelk on the right. The little white hash-marks are the easiest way to separate them. My whelks never really caused any damage except to a turkey wing and a few snails, but I just took them out whenever it was convenient. They will eat leftover food too.
That is a sweet tank btw. Nice viewing.
That is a sweet tank btw. Nice viewing.
d2mini
Premium Member
Thanks! Sapphire Aquatics here in houston built the tank and overflow, and another local reefer/wood worker built the stand from my drawings.
Check out my build thread for lots of pics.
So I put the rock in on Friday, ammonia seemed to spike right away to around 1.0 so I did a water change on Sunday and so far (2 days later) it seems to be holding steady at .25. Is this about normal? Do I need to do another water change at this point or wait for it to spike further?
Check out my build thread for lots of pics.
So I put the rock in on Friday, ammonia seemed to spike right away to around 1.0 so I did a water change on Sunday and so far (2 days later) it seems to be holding steady at .25. Is this about normal? Do I need to do another water change at this point or wait for it to spike further?
liverock
RC Sponsor
Thanks! Sapphire Aquatics here in houston built the tank and overflow, and another local reefer/wood worker built the stand from my drawings.
Check out my build thread for lots of pics.
So I put the rock in on Friday, ammonia seemed to spike right away to around 1.0 so I did a water change on Sunday and so far (2 days later) it seems to be holding steady at .25. Is this about normal? Do I need to do another water change at this point or wait for it to spike further?
Hiya!
You are over the initial spike...if it stays below 1ppm...you are golden!
No need to change water unless a ammonia is over 1ppm..or nitrates over 30 ppm...but nitrates will show up later...just test for ammonia right now...save your test kits....on everything else...your tank is happy already!
sea ya Richard TBS
liverock
RC Sponsor
Look...
Look...
Yo!
see my post here...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1771875
Look...
Cool, so i can get my Part II soon?
And what's the best way to catch these mantis shrimp. I saw at least two in one rock plus a crab. I pulled it and did a high salinity (1.045) dip but nothing came out.
Yo!
see my post here...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1771875
littlefish09
New member
WOW!!! now thats what i call live rock.
liverock
RC Sponsor
So i got a bunch of noisy pistol shrimp out and a bunch of crabs... from one rock.
What do i want to keep out of these? Anything?
All but four are good guys...porcelain crabs!....and pistol shrimps are great sand sifters...
sea ya
Richard TBS
MichaelBrock
New member
I'll take a stab at it. Most of the crabs are porcelain crabs, about as harmless as you can get as they are mostly filter feeders. Two are circled in green in the attached image. They are personal favorites (although the 2" red clam I just "discovered" after 3 months is close). The ones pasted with a red dot are I'm pretty sure gorilla crabs and I think they are the 4 Richard finds objectionable (I have trapped out a dozen or so and they have a colony now in my display refugium). I'm surprised you have no red mithrax crabs in there. They are similar to gorilla crabs in having hairy legs but differ by being more reddish and having no hair on their carapace. I have at least 1/2 dozen I see with regularity and I'm sure quite a few I never do.
I know I must have pistol shrimps in my rock (which is what all of your shrimp appear to be) but I have yet to see one (but I can certainly hear them...I lie awake at night to their chorus being accompanied by the mantis shrimp destroying my barnacles )
I know I must have pistol shrimps in my rock (which is what all of your shrimp appear to be) but I have yet to see one (but I can certainly hear them...I lie awake at night to their chorus being accompanied by the mantis shrimp destroying my barnacles
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noahm
Active member
What he said ^ exactly. Ditch the 4 baddies into the sump. The black tipped claws of the gorilla are the easiest way to tell them apart from the red mithrax if you ever do find any reds. The red mithrax also have a different claw structure that is made for scraping/pulling off algae. You will probably see one eventually, but they are kind of shy.
Lots of cool stuff btw.
Lots of cool stuff btw.
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