Thanks for the rocks

[stewie24]

Jeremy / rest of PA gang:
Thanks for the shipment of marshall islands / fiji rock.
Your customer service is great.
Ups ground shipping arrived in 2 days. Paper was still damp, and the heat packs still a little warm.
The rocks look nice! They have nice shapes and nice sizes.
Alot of nice coraline as well.
Only thing that I was a disappointed in was the amount of life on it. I searched each piece of rock before I put it in the tank and found nothing but a dead sps coral skeleton and a molt of some sort of crab. Didn't see the crab, but maybe he'll be in there. Rocks are curing now, and only thing i've seen is one worm. (not sure what kind yet, only saw it for a second.). It did come with some algaes but I was more interested in the hitchhikers that i thought i'd get with it.
Of course i guess you can't expect to have much life with only ordering 10 lbs.

Here are some pics of the rocks:

Thanks again guys.
Stewie

 

[Jeremy B.]

Thanks again for the order! Be patient with it, as the rock progresses you will definitely notice more and more life start to pop out, especially in the next week or two. Keep an eye on your levels during curing as well, treat it as you would coral, keep everything in line as much possible to keep the amm/nitrate at a minimum and you will maximize the amount of life that will in turn start coming back out.

Thanks again!

 

[sixliner6]

That looks like more than 10lbs.

 

[stewie24]

I don't know if it is or not. The shipping package (box and styrofoam) weighed 11.8 lbs. So if its not 10 lbs, its not that much over. Still not seeing much life on it. I know that i sure didn't get any hitchhikers (like crabs, snails, etc). I've only seen one worm so far.
Stewie

 

[jjmg]

Nice looking shapes. Keep up with the water changes to keep the levels as close to zero as possible and you'll be amazed at what will show up. The shrimp, crabs and stuff normally come from the Gulf rock, but I wouldn't rule out a surprise or two yet.

I've never been unhappy with PA.

 

[stewie24]

Yeah, i'm keeping up with the w/c's. I'm not unhappy with the rock at all! I think its got great shapes etc. I just figured i'd have a hitchhiker or two, but since this is my first venture into uncured rock land, perhaps you guys will be right about new life showing up! :-D

Stewie

 

[stewie24]

Well here's an update for you guys:
I recieved the rocks friday morning. Its now Saturday night (about 36 hours later).
I have the rocks curing in a 10 gallon tank with a cpr bak pack dual w/ 2 airstone mods running.
First 24 hours: Ammonia went from .5 to 1.0. No Nitrites reading. Didn't test nitrates.
At the 36 hour mark: Ammonia came back down to .25. Nitrites are reading .50. Haven't tested nitrates yet.

I'm going to do a 3 gallon water change right now, and hopefully (not trying to rush anything) sometime this week the cycle will be complete. I've heard others comments about how fast the PA rocks cycle. I'm trying to keep everything as clean as possible, so i'm thinking with having the ammonia already spiked, and the nitrites already showing, the cycle is well under way.

Stewie