"The Package"- Part 1 has arrived!

[AFL]

I know it's been said again and again, but I have to say it once more. Richards rock is simply amazing. I picked up my sand and rock part 1 on Saturday evening from San Francisco Airport and sped home to peek inside. I was simply amazed. A couple of the neighborhood kids came over and helped unpack, and THEY were amazed.

This package is going into a nano cube 12dx, and as much as I can't wait for part2, the abundance of life in part1 will definitely keep me fascinated during the cycling. I've got some great looking sponges, cup corals, snails, limpets, crabs (hermit, porcelain and emerald), feather worms, a jewelbox clam, and more.

This is my first post, so please excuse me if the pics below don't come through.... Also still trying to get the settings right on my camera to get some better in tank shots.

Jewel Box Clam:

Tiny white crab:

Cup Coral:

Feather Wormhe has been turned right side up since this pic)

Too many images... cutting some, trying again.

 

[AFL]

More pictures.

Hermit Crab: (the neighborhood kids have named him Kyle)

My FAVORITE rock, caverns, sponges, this is where all the crabs hang out.

BRIGHT red sponge, and a greyish white sponge top left:

Unknown creeper:

 

[AFL]

And the last of them for now.

No idea what this is, but I ended up putting him in the tank anyway. For size comparison, he is in a 5ml test tube.

Richard has been great, and responded to every email so quickly. I'm planning an in-wall build at the end of the year, and can't wait to see a larger batch of 'the package'.

 

[lougotzz]

I think thats a spaghetti worm.

 

[lionbacker54]

nice AFL! thanks for posting pictures. good score on the crabs and clam. this stuff is just too fun...

 

[Madratter]

Welcome to the club! This rock is terrific, isn't it. I'm still discovering stuff on my rock that I didn't know I had. And there is plenty of stuff that I don't know what it is. The other day when I got my part II, I went to rearrange my rocks in the one tank and two of the pieces were stuck together. There was a sea cucumber that was hanging on to both pieces.


I still find myself getting up in the middle of the night to sneak down and see what is going on with my tanks and what might be out that I did not know about.

Just keep on top of your water changes so that you don't lose more of this awesome stuff than you need to. I think I am going to end up losing a cup coral, and I did lose a bunch of barnacles and some chicken liver type sponges. But overall, it is amazing how much of the stuff made it.

 

[lionbacker54]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15550244#post15550244 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Madratter


I still find myself getting up in the middle of the night to sneak down and see what is going on with my tanks and what might be out that I did not know about.

ha! i'm not alone! i do that too, and my wife thinks i'm silly...

 

[liverock]

Good Job!

Good Job!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15546229#post15546229 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AFL
And the last of them for now.

No idea what this is, but I ended up putting him in the tank anyway. For size comparison, he is in a 5ml test tube.

Richard has been great, and responded to every email so quickly. I'm planning an in-wall build at the end of the year, and can't wait to see a larger batch of 'the package'.

You got me on this one......is it still alive?

Was diving today and got your part 2 rock!

oh yeah...the 'creeper' is a cucumber!



sea ya
Richard TBS:rollface: :rollface: :rollface:

 

[AFL]

That's great Richard! can't wait for the part 2! Come on ammonia... stay down!

Wow, that cuc is TINY then! It's length is about that of my pinky nail. He creeped out again last night, but I could not get a good pic.

As for the little worm, I havent seen him since I let it loose in the tank, I'll let you know if it turns up again.

After last nights water change I finally got to see the clam open up for a while!

Immediately after the water change the hermit crab decided to move into a snail shell, the snail was less than thrilled about this, so the crab promptly tore it up and ate it. I must have sat and watched it for an hour. It was really neat watching him clean out the shell.

I've been playing with the settings on my camera, and have a few more pics....

Cup Coral:

"Kyle" in his new house:

Purple sponge:

Sponge? Chicken Liver? (and a tiny orange blob)

 

[coral_lagoon]

Sweet! I love those cup corals to..

 

[AFL]

Yep, the cup corals are great, there are groups of them on a few of the rocks from part 1. All seem to be doing well. The ones in the pic are on a small rock I put right near the front of the tank.

I really can't say enough about TBS. It has forever changed my definition of "LIVE rock".

 

[AFL]

More pics, new critters! ID help?

More pics, new critters! ID help?

I'm still finding more critters!

First of all, I found a tiny pair of twin baby snails. TINY. (pics below) One decided to play a little game of "hide in the power head", and hasn't been seen since. The other is still cruising the glass. For size reference, the big circle next to it is a quarter. I can see a nice little tunnel against the glass where they dug their way out of the sand. Too neat!

Baby Snail:

Next find was a worm, kind of earthworm looking, about 4 inches long poking out of a hole in a rock, its a fast mover, retracted back into the hole between pictures.

Brown Worm:

My hermit crab was digging in holes in one rock munching away, and must have disturbed this guy, the picture doesnt do it justice. It is VERY BRIGHT fluorescent yellow. About 3 inches long, and he ended up crawling over 4 different rocks before finding a hole he liked.

Yellow worm:

Finally, there's this little guy. It's the only one in the tank I can find, he's not even as tall as a pencil eraser. Anyone care to ID? Thanks!

 

[Madratter]

Not sure if the brown worm thing is a bristleworm or not. The picture isn't quite clear enough.

I have also see the yellow type worm you have in my rock.

I also have a white worm with occasional brown stripes that I see from time to time.

 

[AFL]

After looking at all the pictures of bristleworms I can find, I am pretty certain this is NOT one. I know the picture is bad, but the worm looked more like this one:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=11491882#post11491882

Similar to a bristle, minus the bristles, and most seem to agree they are harmless.

Some googling also lead to me a thread on another forum the ID'd the yellow worm as "Phyllodocidae" and also described it as harmless for a reef tank.

 

[small alien]

wow.

 

[AFL]

I say that at least once per night lately.

 

[AFL]

ready for part 2?

ready for part 2?

I think I'm ready for part two! Ammonia is at almost zero right now, was at .25 last night, and I haven't done a water change since Thursday. As far as I can tell, things are all falling in to place! Just e-mailed Richard, and assuming he agrees, part 2 should be coming soon!

All my sponges started sticking their tubes out on thursday, they hadn't done that at all till then. One of the largest ones has had a thin film over it since I got it, and thought maybe it was a goner. I'm glad I held out, because it's AMAZING now! As soon as the ammonia stabilized it's tubes started sticking out all over the place.

Red and green sponges in a crevice. The red "V" on the right is a tiny bit of macro algae I think? It's really more of a "y" but the stalk is hard to see in this picture.

Tiny bit of purple sponge with three tubes extended:

And, my MONSTER purple sponge, about ten sets of tubes and it wraps around the rock. Compare this shot to the one above where it had that film all over it. Looking good, no?

Richard, thanks so much for providing such amazing rock. I'm in awe every time I sit in front of the tank. It's like diving in my living room.

 

[lionbacker54]

sweet. thanks for posting pics. can't wait to see part 2!

 

[Madratter]

Re: ready for part 2?

Re: ready for part 2?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15577886#post15577886 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AFL
Tiny bit of purple sponge with three tubes extended:

Pretty sure this is a tunicate. Compare to photo in article on tunicates on Wikipedia.

 

[AFL]

Thanks for the correction Madratter. So, the large purple blob in the pic after this little one, same thing?