Part 1 came on Wednesday, 8:40 p.m. flight. No problems, 10:00 p.m. rock was in the van and we were home at 11:00 p.m. Direct flight from Tampa to Milwaukee. Guys at Midwest air cargo were really nice. By the time I was done paying, my friend and an air cargo guy had the rock and sand in the van. My wife and I are new to saltwater and have been reading and learning since the end of last year and took the plunge now. Somehow we talked each other from a 55 gallon tank up to a 180 gallon with a 55 gallon sump/refugium.
Was up until 3:00 a.m. screwing around with the sand and rock, loving every minute of it. Tried to follow instructions, rinse the rock, etc. I had a 5 gallon of tank water nearby that I was shaking the rocks off in. A couple of the rocks didn't fit in the bucket.
We got a 200 gallon package. Part 1 came in 10 boxes. Nine of the boxes were the regular, (18" x 18" not exactly sure of the size) that Richard ships in, and one box was 2 or 2 and half feet long. Three of the boxes were even marked sand right on the top, so I could start there. Dumped the water out into a rubbermaid container with a little sand, and then put the bag in the tank and slowly dumped in the sand, and spread it out. Then I took the sand from the rubbermaid container and put in the refugium.
It was like Christmas opening the other boxes. Boxes and bags were all over the kitchen like wrapping paper on Christmas morning. Anyway, the larger box contained a huge, I don't know how much it weighed, rock. It was almost a couple feet long and was really super. It's the one in the middle of the tank in the pictures. It made like a perfect natural bridge when put on a couple of the of rocks.
Here is the only problem I encountered, although I kind of laugh about it now. It would be a pretty funny practical joke, but I'm sure it wasn't meant that way. Plus I think it says somewhere to open all the boxes first, which I didn't do. The last box I opened had instructions on top of the styrofoam box cover. Oh, oh. Yep, I opened the last box and it had ... sand in it. Argh!!! I wish I had opened this 200 pounds of rock boxes ago. It wasn't a big deal though, the refugium needed a little more sand, and in the tank, one end nedded a little more. So I shifted the rocks around and put it in and then spread the rocks back out.
Note to Richard: If you write "SAND" on the boxes, write it on all the boxes that have sand.
The rocks were amazing, tons of life. It's just like people say, you see something new whenever you look at the tank. Thanks Richard, the rocks and sand are super. And that big rock is just awesome.
My wife took a bunch of pictures, different tank lights, on and off, different angles, flash, no flash, etc. They're in the photo album in the link below. Anybody has any questions or comments, please reply. This is our first tank and we welcome tips or suggestions for what we can do better and learn.
There was something in the rock that I don't know what it is. It jumped out of the rock as I was putting it in the tank, and I saw this yellow blur swim to the bottom of the tank and under a rock. The next day, I was moving rock around and I saw the yellow blur scurry under a different rock. Any idea what this could be? Probably 2 to 3 inches long.
Link to Part 1
Was up until 3:00 a.m. screwing around with the sand and rock, loving every minute of it. Tried to follow instructions, rinse the rock, etc. I had a 5 gallon of tank water nearby that I was shaking the rocks off in. A couple of the rocks didn't fit in the bucket.
We got a 200 gallon package. Part 1 came in 10 boxes. Nine of the boxes were the regular, (18" x 18" not exactly sure of the size) that Richard ships in, and one box was 2 or 2 and half feet long. Three of the boxes were even marked sand right on the top, so I could start there. Dumped the water out into a rubbermaid container with a little sand, and then put the bag in the tank and slowly dumped in the sand, and spread it out. Then I took the sand from the rubbermaid container and put in the refugium.
It was like Christmas opening the other boxes. Boxes and bags were all over the kitchen like wrapping paper on Christmas morning. Anyway, the larger box contained a huge, I don't know how much it weighed, rock. It was almost a couple feet long and was really super. It's the one in the middle of the tank in the pictures. It made like a perfect natural bridge when put on a couple of the of rocks.
Here is the only problem I encountered, although I kind of laugh about it now. It would be a pretty funny practical joke, but I'm sure it wasn't meant that way. Plus I think it says somewhere to open all the boxes first, which I didn't do. The last box I opened had instructions on top of the styrofoam box cover. Oh, oh. Yep, I opened the last box and it had ... sand in it. Argh!!! I wish I had opened this 200 pounds of rock boxes ago. It wasn't a big deal though, the refugium needed a little more sand, and in the tank, one end nedded a little more. So I shifted the rocks around and put it in and then spread the rocks back out.
Note to Richard: If you write "SAND" on the boxes, write it on all the boxes that have sand.
The rocks were amazing, tons of life. It's just like people say, you see something new whenever you look at the tank. Thanks Richard, the rocks and sand are super. And that big rock is just awesome.
My wife took a bunch of pictures, different tank lights, on and off, different angles, flash, no flash, etc. They're in the photo album in the link below. Anybody has any questions or comments, please reply. This is our first tank and we welcome tips or suggestions for what we can do better and learn.
There was something in the rock that I don't know what it is. It jumped out of the rock as I was putting it in the tank, and I saw this yellow blur swim to the bottom of the tank and under a rock. The next day, I was moving rock around and I saw the yellow blur scurry under a different rock. Any idea what this could be? Probably 2 to 3 inches long.
Link to Part 1
