TBS strikes again!

[Ikaria]

I received my 30 gal package today (took delivery of both parts since my tank was pre-cycled). All I can say is WOW! There was so much stuff on the rocks. I had a heck of a time getting it placed.

I added it on top of about 60 lbs of rock I already had, and in about 2 hours my water was almost clear.

The sand had tons of mini brittle stars. The best things of note were a big serpent star (in addition to the one in the package), and a red mithrax crab. Also after sifting through all the left overs, My daughter and I found probably 20 tiny sand sifting clams, so don't throw away your silt, until you check it out.

Haven't spotted any gorilla crabs yet, but I have seen lots of porcelain crabs.

I did get the obligatory mantis shrimp. He was hiding in a beautiful softball sized rock. We were able to spot him before he made the display, so that rock is in the sump until I can trap him.

Total weight was 160 lbs, and freight was $64.30 to ship from Tampa to Jacksonville.

Want to say a big THANK YOU to Richard for the awesome rock, and friendly service!

I will try to get pictures up asap.

 

[Ikaria]

Make that 2 mantis shrimp!

 

[Ikaria]

Sorry, make that 3!

 

[HowardW]

Yes.....please post some pics!


Must be mantis shrimp breeding season in the gulf or something, everyone seems to be getting them now

 

[Ikaria]

Yeh! I expected one, but to get 3 was really cool. 2 reds and 1 green. I got them out of the rock this morning by giving them a squirt of hot water with a turkey baster.

I think I'm going to get some tank dividers and a 10 gallon tank to keep them in.

 

[RunnerFL]

So far I haven't found any Mantis in my rock at all.

 

[Ikaria]

Wow! That's great. I guess you got all the gorilla crabs, and I got the shrimp. I still have a knocking sound coming from the tank, so there is either a pistol or another mantis in there somewhere.

 

[RunnerFL]

I found one gorilla crab in the silt in my bags but he was already dead.

 

[Ikaria]

Hey, that's not bad at all! I'm still trying to decide what to do with these mantis. Have them in a 10 gal. with some pvc pipes for homes.

 

[RunnerFL]

Ok, I've now found a live gorilla crab in my rock but I was able to grab him with a long set of plastic tongs I bought.

I have just now however heard, and seen, a red mantis shrimp in one of the big rocks I got. Let the fun begin!

 

[RunnerFL]

And the mantis has been captured... Along with all the eggs that were in the same cave in the rock.

Strange creature the mantis shrimp... I've put him/her in a bucket that had pre-mixed water for a water change. It swam around for a bit, swam to the top then just stopped swimming and fell to the bottom on it's back. Stayed there for a while and did it all over again. Odd.

 

[mecold]

You know, people pay big bucks for those mini brittle stars

 

[domino1c]

Got my order about 2 weeks ago and i got a whole bunch of gorilla crabs and 2 mantis shrimps so far. I think there might be another shrimp in there because i hear a clicking sound still. All this with only 40lbs of rock!!!

 

[HowardW]

domino,

How did you remove your mantis?

I used the hot water and turkey baster method on the first one, but I think I killed some stuff on the rock in the process. I'm going to try the plastic bottle trap on the 2nd one I found to try and avoid removing the rock this time.

 

[Ikaria]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7023190#post7023190 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by domino1c
Got my order about 2 weeks ago and i got a whole bunch of gorilla crabs and 2 mantis shrimps so far. I think there might be another shrimp in there because i hear a clicking sound still. All this with only 40lbs of rock!!!

If you hear just 1 or 2 clicks, then it probably is just a pistol shrimp.