Part ii arrived in alaska

[reefak]

Had a late but great night. Pictures are worth a thousand words, because all I can say is what everyone else says WOW!

<a href="http://s992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/?action=view&current=P1030783.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/P1030783.jpg" border="0" alt="Part II"></a>

FTS of Part I

<a href="http://s992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/?action=view&current=P1030785.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/P1030785.jpg" border="0" alt="Part II"></a>

First box of goodies. I really wanted a sea fan, thanks Richard.

<a href="http://s992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/?action=view&current=P1030788.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/P1030788.jpg" border="0" alt="Part II"></a>

Where am I going to put it all?

<a href="http://s992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/?action=view&current=P1030789.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/P1030789.jpg" border="0" alt="Part II"></a>

Critters in the sump.

<a href="http://s992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/?action=view&current=P1030809.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/P1030809.jpg" border="0" alt="Part II"></a>

Full tank shot. A little cloudy, I was arranging.

I'll post more pics later. Anyone see anything that should be moved or have flow adjusted, etc. please let me know. This is my first reef tank so input is appreciated.

Thanks to Richard :love1:

 

[reefak]

More Pics

More Pics

Here are some more pics, they are a little disappointing, the tank looks MUCH BETTER in person.

<a href="http://s992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/?action=view&current=P1030811.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/P1030811.jpg" border="0" alt="Part II"></a>

<a href="http://s992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/?action=view&current=P1030812.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/P1030812.jpg" border="0" alt="Part II"></a>

<a href="http://s992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/?action=view&current=P1030813.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/P1030813.jpg" border="0" alt="Part II"></a>

<a href="http://s992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/Reef%20Tank/Part%20II/?action=view&current=P1030837.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/dawnkrey/Reef%20Tank/Part%20II/P1030837.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

A few questions, if anyone can help. My cucumbers are up on the rocks, is that normal? And one of them looks deflated, I have a pic but you can't really see him because he blends with the rock so well.

Do I need to attach the sponges, or is sitting on/in the sand and on the rocks ok.

So far ammonia is staying < .5, but I am watching close and it hasn't even been 20 hrs yet.

 

[noahm]

You can gradually mount the gorgs and sponges as you get time. The purple sea fan is going to be the picky one. Get it into the highest flow area for maximum polyp extension and feed phyto. They actually grow oriented to catch the most flow like a big flat net. Try the ESV spray-dried as it is not so expensive and doesn't require special shipping. A 2 oz container is pretty big. All of your filter feeders will love it. Lots of cool stuff man!

For mounting anything, mix up a ball of underwater epoxy. Flip the coral/sponge so the base is at the waters surface. Squeeze a good blob of superglue gel onto it. Push the epoxy ball on and give a small twist. Now put more gel on the epoxy ball and press/twist onto the surface of the rock. The twisting will break the skin on the superglue gel. Hold for 30 secs and let her go. Epoxy doesn't like to stick well until it is cured, so the superglue acts as a good interim stabilizer. You can stick anything anywhere with this superglue/epoxy sandwich method.

How big is your tank btw?

 

[reefak]

Thanks for the info, when do you start feeding. The instructions that came with part II where the same as part I and it doesn't say anything about feeding or when to increase the hours of light per day.

The tank is 90 gallons, already wish I got bigger, but not so easy up here. Shipping a tank is expensive.

 

[riverviewmike]

You can gradually mount the gorgs and sponges as you get time. The purple sea fan is going to be the picky one. Get it into the highest flow area for maximum polyp extension and feed phyto. They actually grow oriented to catch the most flow like a big flat net. Try the ESV spray-dried as it is not so expensive and doesn't require special shipping. A 2 oz container is pretty big. All of your filter feeders will love it. Lots of cool stuff man!

For mounting anything, mix up a ball of underwater epoxy. Flip the coral/sponge so the base is at the waters surface. Squeeze a good blob of superglue gel onto it. Push the epoxy ball on and give a small twist. Now put more gel on the epoxy ball and press/twist onto the surface of the rock. The twisting will break the skin on the superglue gel. Hold for 30 secs and let her go. Epoxy doesn't like to stick well until it is cured, so the superglue acts as a good interim stabilizer. You can stick anything anywhere with this superglue/epoxy sandwich method.

How big is your tank btw?

Where do you get the underwater epoxy? What is the brand name? Are they all safe to be used in your tank?

 

[d2mini]

Thanks for the info, when do you start feeding. The instructions that came with part II where the same as part I and it doesn't say anything about feeding or when to increase the hours of light per day.

Either the instruction that come with it or the instructions on the TBS website say not to feed the tank for 5 days. I'd give it at least that much time before you start increasing the light. Everything in my tank is still doing well. I didn't have any fish until this week, so after 5 days I started feeding Phytofeast every 2-3 days. It's been a couple weeks and everything still looks as good today as the day i got it. So far... knock on wood! Now that I have fish I feed Rod's Food every other day and that also has some stuff for the filter feeders.

And your LFS or any online aquarium supplier should have the epoxy. Find the purple one if you can since that blends the best with coralline algae. But its much harder to come by. Usually i find the green one which is white after mixing.

 

[Yogre]

Aquamend is available at Home Depot, it's cheap but it does dry white. After a while it does grow coralline on it... but there are some RC sponsors that sell epoxy that's colored, both red and purple.

 

[noahm]

Aquamend is available at Home Depot, it's cheap but it does dry white. After a while it does grow coralline on it... but there are some RC sponsors that sell epoxy that's colored, both red and purple.

+1

Pretty much any NSF approved plumbers epoxy (don't confuse with plumbers putty) will work. I have used lots of brands, and color seems to be the biggest diff.

I think Yogre and I both feed Rod's and Reef Chili FWIW. I wish I had used the ESV spray dried phyto earlier as it seems to really help the filter feeders like my sea apple. Don't worry about feeding for a week or so. There is going to be gobs of stuff from the rocks. Let the critters do some house cleaning.

Just a note: These tanks in general require much less food than you would think even with fish. Don't repeat my mistake or you'll be fighting nitrates etc. Test a lot in the first year especially so you get a feel for what goes on.

 

[Yogre]

+1

Pretty much any NSF approved plumbers epoxy (don't confuse with plumbers putty) will work. I have used lots of brands, and color seems to be the biggest diff.

I think Yogre and I both feed Rod's and Reef Chili FWIW. I wish I had used the ESV spray dried phyto earlier as it seems to really help the filter feeders like my sea apple. Don't worry about feeding for a week or so. There is going to be gobs of stuff from the rocks. Let the critters do some house cleaning.

Just a note: These tanks in general require much less food than you would think even with fish. Don't repeat my mistake or you'll be fighting nitrates etc. Test a lot in the first year especially so you get a feel for what goes on.

Yep, still feeding Rod's and Reef Chili. And, a BIG plus one to what you said, noahm, about TBS tanks needing less food. I must've been overfeeding recently 'cuz I've got hair algae coming back with a vengeance.

It's hard not to feed those little boogers when they come to the glass, begging like my dog, but I should know better. :hmm3:

 

[Mangodude]

That red ridge sponge you got is nice. I love the seafan! what critters did you get?

 

[reefak]

That red ridge sponge you got is nice. I love the seafan! what critters did you get?

That sponge is awesome, but it is hard to pick a favorite. I got the normal cast of characters; snails, hermit crabs, shrimp, cucumbers, stars, red mithrax crabs galore, the buy two get one free mantis shrimp special, porcelain crabs. The cutest little tiger goby, I thought I would never see it again because it is so small, but he pops out of his little area regularly.

Richard sent a huge crab that I can only guess is a decorator crab. It is the size of golf ball and has fuzzy clumps on its back. He sits in the same spot 24/7 but I can't get a good pic of him. After reading about crabs being more of a problem after they get big I wanted to let him have free reign in the sump, but my daughter loves it so in the tank it went.

The cukes are just hanging out on the rock by where we put them in the tank. Is this normal?

 

[Yogre]

The crab probably is a decorator crab. He really won't be much of a threat to anything except the polyps on your photosynthetic gorgs... at least that's been the case with my two.

I don't know if my experience is typical, but it was literally weeks before my 2 cukes did much besides hang out in the rocks. I was afraid they weren't going to make it, but they did. They're all over the place now, and they do a really nice job of detritus removal from the sand.

 

[reefak]

I don't know if my experience is typical, but it was literally weeks before my 2 cukes did much besides hang out in the rocks. I was afraid they weren't going to make it, but they did. They're all over the place now, and they do a really nice job of detritus removal from the sand.

Thanks for the info, I didn't think I would be this nervous about everything. Sometimes reading the forums can do more harm than good.:spin2: I still haven't seen even one manthis, but I can sure hear them. If getting them out is my only challenge I will be happy.

 

[Mustang Boy]

are you sure your hearing a mantis and not pistol shrimp because they sound very similar. also if you get a mantis in your rock i am very jealous because i didnt get a mantis hitch hiker and i was really hoping for one lol.

 

[noahm]

The crab probably is a decorator crab. He really won't be much of a threat to anything except the polyps on your photosynthetic gorgs... at least that's been the case with my two.

I don't know if my experience is typical, but it was literally weeks before my 2 cukes did much besides hang out in the rocks. I was afraid they weren't going to make it, but they did. They're all over the place now, and they do a really nice job of detritus removal from the sand.

Same experience here on both counts. At some point, my mantis dismantled the decorator crab though.

 

[reefak]

are you sure your hearing a mantis and not pistol shrimp because they sound very similar. also if you get a mantis in your rock i am very jealous because i didnt get a mantis hitch hiker and i was really hoping for one lol.

I should clarify that I haven't seen a mantis show itself after putting in the rock. My daughter saw several fall off the rocks as I was putting them in. We did manage to scoop one up with a net, but many more got away. I am also seeing barnacle fans (don't know a better term) floating around a lot, so I assume that is the work of the mantis.

If you lived near me you could come try and get them.:thumbsup:

 

[Mustang Boy]

hahaha id love to come snag one but im way way way too far away id rather just order one from TBS since im local lol

 

[reefak]

Day 4 Pics

Day 4 Pics

I am on day 4, everything is looking great. I have done two water changes, ammonia got up to 1-1.25, now ammonia has stayed at or below .25 for 24 hours.

This guy camouflages himself so well it is hard to get a good pic.

It was really cool to watch these guys move to where they wanted to be.

My experience with TBS rock has been fantastic. This is my first reef tank and I don't think I would have ordered the package without reading all about it here on RC. That is why I wanted to make sure to post pics of my experience so other future customers could see what a great product Richard offers. If I had gone the traditional route of base and half dead rock I think it would have taken me a year if not years to get to the point I am already at. You won't regret ordering the package.

 

[MOB1224]

WOW the tank looks great. Looks like you got a bunch of extras:bigeyes: I am waiting for my tax check to come in some time this week then I will be ordering a 29gal package from TBS for my new nano tank. After seeing all these cool pics of the rock and critters I can't wait.

 

[liverock]

Thank You!

Thank You!

I am on day 4, everything is looking great. I have done two water changes, ammonia got up to 1-1.25, now ammonia has stayed at or below .25 for 24 hours.

This guy camouflages himself so well it is hard to get a good pic.

It was really cool to watch these guys move to where they wanted to be.

My experience with TBS rock has been fantastic. This is my first reef tank and I don't think I would have ordered the package without reading all about it here on RC. That is why I wanted to make sure to post pics of my experience so other future customers could see what a great product Richard offers. If I had gone the traditional route of base and half dead rock I think it would have taken me a year if not years to get to the point I am already at. You won't regret ordering the package.

Thanks so much for the support, I really appreciate the kind words.....as this is what I do.....and I like to make tanks look like I would have here at home.....and I have the opportunity to supply live rock and critters, because of folks like you.

How many people would go through what you did....to get live rock all the way to Wasilla Alaska from The Gulf of Mexico...from Tampa...the freight to Alaska is double what it is in the lower 48......and the logistics...of shipping 300# of life...in the middle of winter....over nighting in Minneapolis where it was 5 degrees...and then on to Anchorage....and then Wasilla...TWICE......yet look at your incredible tank....you did the best job I could ask of a customer taking care of part one and two of the Package....and end up with a tank that looks like diving here on the aquaculture site.


Congrats!
and thanks...
Richard TBS:rollface::rollface::rollface: