What came with my TBS rock??
- Thread starter allendehl
- Start date
liverock
RC Sponsor
Well,
My TBS rock just came and to my newbies eyes are WONDERFUL. It came with an insane amount of life on them. So much that I got a baby octopus with them!!! No sure what to do with it so please let me know quick. I kept it in the bag with water until I know if I can put it in the cycling tank or not.
Below are several pics. Of course I have no idea what is in the rocks so I'd greatly appreciate if you help me I'd.
Thanks!!!
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IT is sad that the information on live rock has become so skewed. The industry has changed so much in 30 years as what is available to you the hobbyist in the stores now is dead rock, fake rock, ceramic rock...ect.
Real live rock has been around and used for over 35 years in reef tanks. Bio diversity is a wonderful thing for a reef tank, unfortunately there is not enough real live rock from the ocean available, thus you as hobbyist are stuck with fake rock in your local stores.
All the life is beneficial for your reef tank, including macros. Like anything else some pruning of them is needed eventually but the benefit of them is immense in a saltwater tank.
The octopus will do fine, it is a gulf dwarf. I have sold thousands of the over the years and they are great and interesting critters for a real saltwater tank. Dr. Caldwell from University of Berkeley has done a lot of research on them over the years from specimens we have supplied him. Easy to keep, just keep it fed. They have a two year lifespan, yours is a Juvenal, most likely less than a year old.
The knee jerk reaction of real life on the rocks is a direct result of what is not available to you the hobbyist anymore in your stores. Like any anemone observed on live rock is instantly labeled, "Aptasia" horrible, kill it, remove it from your tank. Where in reality there are many, many anemones that occur on real live rock that are fine for saltwater tanks. You have been conditioned by the internet to "Kill" any anemone that pops up.
See that coral growing on the rock, and all the other life...it will do fine in a saltwater tank. Personally to me a saltwater tank is an mirror of what the real reef in the Gulf looks like, not a pile of white dead rock or painted rock.
To each his own.
and this email just came in as I was posting this.... so I will add it....this is what happens when real live rock and sand from the Gulf is used...
I'm sure you hear this all the time but hopefully you don't get tired of it: That rock and sand is amazing! I had set up my tank with dry rock but no sand yet. I found out about your live sand and decided that was the way to go. The tank had been cycling for about one month, was looking good but the water was still a little cloudy. I put in your sand and the couple pieces of rock I ordered, and within one day the water was crystal clear! And the live rock of course puts the dry rock to shame. If I ever set up another reef tank it will be 100% TBS rock and sand. Nothing beats mother nature!
Thanks again,
Jared
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Hey Ron, have you thought about a Wrasse? I've also read where Peppermint Shrimp eat flat worms. I have no idea if that is true or not though. Just a thought.
d2mini
Premium Member
Preach, brother!
I was scrolling through this thread about to go off on a rant and then this guy goes and says it all and more.
I didn't know about the Octopus though! Didn't realize they existed in the gulf. That's pretty cool.
Allendehl, enjoy that rock! Did you get "the package" or just the rock?
That bit above about the sand is especially true.
ginpang
New member
What came with my TBS rock??
I would try to get to a public aquarium.
I happened to me where I used to work.
I had been in the hobby for about a decade back then.
I bought a closed aquarium for it and siliconed the openings for the wiring.
I fed it live ghost shrimp and baby hermits.
Kept it in a dimly light room and covered 3 sides of the aquarium to reduce the stress.
Finally when I figured he was acclimated and used to me approaching the aquarium to feed him 4 weeks later....I tried to take a picture and it inked itself .
I didn't have enough water ready to do a major to complete water change so it dragged for about an hour .. and he didn't make it.
[emoji853]
So basically if you want to try this have at least 3 times the volume of saltwater ready to go just in case he nukes the tank.
A good stash of carbon , purigen or whatever other efficient organic remover.
Also stress zero confined to a separate room where no one goes for awhile.
Good luck
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I would try to get to a public aquarium.
I happened to me where I used to work.
I had been in the hobby for about a decade back then.
I bought a closed aquarium for it and siliconed the openings for the wiring.
I fed it live ghost shrimp and baby hermits.
Kept it in a dimly light room and covered 3 sides of the aquarium to reduce the stress.
Finally when I figured he was acclimated and used to me approaching the aquarium to feed him 4 weeks later....I tried to take a picture and it inked itself .
I didn't have enough water ready to do a major to complete water change so it dragged for about an hour .. and he didn't make it.
[emoji853]
So basically if you want to try this have at least 3 times the volume of saltwater ready to go just in case he nukes the tank.
A good stash of carbon , purigen or whatever other efficient organic remover.
Also stress zero confined to a separate room where no one goes for awhile.
Good luck
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Thank you all, this is why I am so glad to have found this forum, I can't say it enough times. Bunch of good people, with lots of experience and very respectful of newbies and everyone in general.
Now Jared, I gave the octopus away to a LFS but I could call them and take it back if it won't become a peril to my tank or fish or vice-versa. The fella is sticky as hell and I have a rimless tank, I am afraid I may find him on my bedside any morning and that's the end of my marriage
Also the tank just started cycle about 4 days to go so it still have some time left. Would it be safe to put it in there?...if so, what does he eat?
About the rocks, I apologize for the dumb question but...which one is the coral? The blue crystal-like? I though so but it is soft to the touch, on the other hand the spongy like brown stuff with the white spot on it is hard, I was told it is a dead coral by the guys in my LFS.
Thank you!
Ron, is there anything I can do to rescue as many sponges as possible? Also...is it a problem them dying in the tank?...should I be worried about phosphates or the health of the tank in general with so many potential sponges dying in it?
liverock
RC Sponsor
No 'rescue' needed....everything will be fine in your tank.....best not to expose the rock to the air...do some reading here from folks who have the rock...
http://tbsaltwater.com/testimonials/index.html
d2mini
Premium Member
Here's my current TBS tank after just 4 months.
I already had a lot of the coral and had no choice but to put it in, immediately following the addition of Part II.
Everything survived. No pest issues. Macros, tunicates and sponges slowly wither away or get eaten which is expected, but now I'm at the 6 month mark and still have some of the sponges and other stuff can still be found.
I've also got this guy...
You'll probably see a lot of these pop up too.
I already had a lot of the coral and had no choice but to put it in, immediately following the addition of Part II.
Everything survived. No pest issues. Macros, tunicates and sponges slowly wither away or get eaten which is expected, but now I'm at the 6 month mark and still have some of the sponges and other stuff can still be found.
I've also got this guy...
You'll probably see a lot of these pop up too.
ginpang
New member
+1 expose to air as little as possible , thought sometimes the fear or dying will make them multiply depends on the type of sponge.
This happened when I was pulling out rocks to scrub with a potato brush to get rid of dynoflagellates.
About 6 months ago , I'm thinking aplysilla species. 1 big one exploded into 25-30 babies.
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liverock
RC Sponsor
use this list.... http://tbsaltwater.com/thepackage/organisms.html
and ck out #19
http://tbsaltwater.com/thepackage/organisms.html
Cool that's where I'm from. Have to check them out nd see prices
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DavisGandJessie
New member
Keep it in your tank. My ammonia never went up when I cycled my tank because of all the good bacteria in the rock. It'll be cycled in a couple weeks. You might get a 1ppm ammonia, do a water change. I had zero loss on everything that came in with the rocks. 2 starfish, 4 urchins, crabs, snails, rock anemone, and so much more. Only problem is all those sponges will most likely die as you kept them out of water so you may have spike in ammonia. I would definitely say keep the Octopus. Those rocks are really really good with cycling new tanks.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Ron Reefman
Active member
Thanks for the idea, as it turns out I just got 2 wrasses a few days ago. These flat worms don't cause much trouble. They seem to gather on live rock, bare sand and the tank glass but not on any corals? However, they do reproduce like rabbits and make the tank look bad. The population in my 50g anemone tank seems to be going down slightly, probably due to over population.
