Today is the day!

When you absolutely, positively MUST get there fast! Part 1 of my Tampa Bay Saltwater order arrived at the airport's cargo delivery center today. 4 hours round trip and it's beginning it's cycle at home. ALL SORTS OF LIFE ON THIS STUFF!!

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Oh wow!! I wanna see inside those boxes!! :D

Nice car. I can't wait to see the inside of those boxes:-)


Everything was quadruple bagged and had a perfectly fitting styrofoam insert! 2 boxes of sand, and 4 with rock. Each rock box had 2-4 rocks, just covered with life!

So far, this what I've seen (or heard):
Black Urchin 2"
Clam/Scallop (lost in the cloud when dumping the sand)
Dark blue Cucumber with maroon accents
Mantis Shrimp, red and dark greenish (I'm hearing many clicks elsewhere too). He built a nice wall of shells in his hole to block out my watchful eyes...
Micro Tube corals
Blue-Green Anenome
Thousands of live, feeding barnacles (I'll try to keep them as long as possible)
Stone, Gorilla Crabs and "other" crabs everywhere, but many now in the sump
Sponges and Tunicates and slimy things
Snails of every size and shape
Tiny striped brittle Stars

I'm sure there's so much more, but I only had a half hour... and Richard ships the critters in Part 2! LOL

This rock is going to stack like it's glued too! Super holey and textured.

Pics tomorrow night hopefully!
 
Although a little cloudy from moving things around, here are the first cycling pics with the rocks arranged in no particular order...

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Where the Mantis lives, for now...
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Cucumber
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Wow, congrats on the new system, looks fantastic. I like the 2 island setup, think that's what I will be doing when I order my rock from Richard.
 
Any updates on how the tank is doing?

My ammonia hasn't gone above 0.1 yet in 5 full days! Nitrates and nitrites are still both a little high, but are on their way down. Hopefully everything zeros out tomorrow and I can make the call for part 2. I have to wait until a week from this Tuesday to pick it up at the airport either way, so...

For now, I'm spending the 19 hours a day my light isn't on looking around with a flashlight LOL.

Fed the Mantis in my sump today, although he wasn't really into it. He's living inside of an old clamshell that's covered in coraline. I caught him exploring today, but as soon as he realized I was there he zipped off to his lair. I think there may be a couple more in the display tank though, they are snapping away. I'll have to try trapping methods as I cannot locate them.

Lot's of tenticles and feeding going on in there. Every time I look there's something I didn't see last time. I couldn't even begin to know what half of it is! I saw a tiny Porcelain Crab today too!
 
So your total cycle was less than 7 days? Thats pretty good!

I am on day 3 with ammonia levels in the .5-.6 range though the color seems a tad bit lighter, so maybe my levels will start to decline.
 
So your total cycle was less than 7 days? Thats pretty good!

I am on day 3 with ammonia levels in the .5-.6 range though the color seems a tad bit lighter, so maybe my levels will start to decline.

My ammonia never really got above .25, and is now 0!

Richard said it was a go, and I figure he is the expert... cannot wait!
 
I am just blown away by the amount and quality of stuff Richard sent me yesterday. I spent nearly six hours last night acclimating it and frankly, just trying to fit it in. So, I ran out of time for pictures... Maybe tonight... I'm exhausted! LOL
 
I am just blown away by the amount and quality of stuff Richard sent me yesterday. I spent nearly six hours last night acclimating it and frankly, just trying to fit it in. So, I ran out of time for pictures... Maybe tonight... I'm exhausted! LOL

LOL...I hate when that happens!!

You got the benefit of "Richard is going out of town for a week" tank clean out syndrome....

be back in town the 6th....
sea ya

Richard TBS
www.tbsaltwater.com :lolspin::lolspin::lolspin:
 
LOL...I hate when that happens!!

You got the benefit of "Richard is going out of town for a week" tank clean out syndrome....

be back in town the 6th....
sea ya

Richard TBS
www.tbsaltwater.com :lolspin::lolspin::lolspin:

I can't thank you enough Richard. You have the best deal going, and you do it right. Enjoy your time away!

I more than doubled the rock from part 1 (I may have to buy a nano tank now!), and this stuff makes the first part seem void of life by comparison. I received no less than 10 fans, sea whips, and other gorgonians. There are 6 sponges, 4 cucumbers (yellow, black, blue, and polka dot), several invertibrates and anemones, a flame scallop that I can't find now, a huge crab (decorator by the looks of it), 5 or 6 small to large coral pieces, and loads of beautiful macro for my fuge. The bags just kep coming and coming. I couldn't believe it. :dance:

Most or all of the polyps were extended right from the get go, and I had a real show last night. My wife had to demand I go to bed!

I spotted a <1cm green Mantis this morning (good luck getting him), and a few Pistol Shrimp.

I can't wait to get home!
 
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