oh my gosh!!!!!!

[we_want_Nemo]

We got our first shipment last night. I took my kids to the airport at night because none of them wanted to stay home and go to bed!!!
I have to admit, I expected alot from this shipment since I've been following all the experiences from others here on the board. But what we got, took my socks off!
Now I know, what you guys mean by, the pics don't do the rock justice. I had no idea it would be so full of live and color.
While I unpacked the kids where squeeking and giggling the whole time. We found a couple crabs (good ones I hope), three little Brisstle Stars, tons of little white worms, and about 10 mussles (?) that open and close all the time!
If this is "only" my first shipment ... I have absolutely no idea, where I should put or stack the "nicer" rock of the second shipment. I don't think there is a single spot on the rock that isn't full of something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm so glad I bought the rock from TBS. The customer service (Mary) rocks!!!!!! And so does the rock!!!!
Now I'm going back to watching my rock!
Take care,
Manuela

[kaiyokanman28]

It's a rather nice dilema to be in, isn't it...:) Where to put the REALLY good stuff? :)

Trust me...you'll be even MORE impressed when the coral rock comes. :)

Cheers!

Andy :wildone:

[seacritter]

You will be amazed on the second shipment. I received my second shipment about 3 weeks ago and am seeing new things everyday, especially many diferent types of brain corals and zoo's everywhere.

[we_want_Nemo]

It's a rather nice dilema to be in, isn't it... Where to put the REALLY good stuff?

It's still very hard to believe, that there could be even better looking rock out there!!

By the way, I've seen the head of a new creature. He was peaking out of a hole. He had big front claws (feet? he didn't stick around long enough). Can't wait to see him again, and try to figure out what it is. I just hope it's not a Mantis MONSTER

[kaiyokanman28]

Big front claws? No...wasn't a mantis. A mantis shrimp will look pretty much like it's namesake...a Praying Mantis. It will have large eyestalks on the top of its head.

You saw either a crab or a pistol shrimp. If you hear loud cracking like pistol shots every now and then, you have yourself a nice pistol shrimp. They're harmless to your reef. If you hear CRACK CRACK CRACK in rapid succession...you have a mantis loose somewhere in your reef.

If you get a look at the little beastie again, look closely at the claws...If it's an overall purple or white with purple speckles, it's a porcelain crab, and it's a good guy. If the claw has black tips, then it's most likely a gorilla crab, and you want to chase the guy down and get him out of your reef.

Hope that helps!

Cheers!

Andy :wildone:

[Sgt Fury]

I guess we got our first shipments on the same day....AWSOME!! It was around 9pm when i finally got my boxes from United Cargo...they lost my boxes and took 3hrs to find them....baffoons!!!! Fortunately, that was my only bad experience. I got home and quickly tore into the boxes.....WOW! Life everywhere!! Even after empting only the sand bags in the tank, i saw life.....white worms shooting about and a pistol shrimp that had just molted....amazing. Anyways, it's been a great experience and my two boys are just glued to the tank looking for life. Great!!!!.....Mary you rule!!!!!

[jjmg]

I've seen their pics on the web site and heard all the raves about the rock from people who have it, so do you think the life that comes on it could cause problems placing corals that you buy in the future? I know my bare rocks ran out of room awfully fast.

[kaiyokanman28]

I haven't had a problem yet with placing new corals. You're going to have a natural die-off over time...it's the nature of the beast. Chances are good, especially if you're a beginner, that you're not going to have the rock look exactly the same or have everything survive over time. I've had a few sponges die off, but nothing significant. But the upside of having a difficult time finding places to place coral is that you already have a lot of life and corals already there. For me, it's a definite plus on a limited budget.

Cheers!

Andy :wildone:

[we_want_Nemo]

Hi Sgt Fury,
what a coincidence ... same day, and my kids can't get enough. We started to write a journal, where they can write down, if they discover something in the tank.
And yes, I'm still amazed on all the live I've got in the tank now. I had "millions" of those white worms in the sand when I first put it in. Now they've all disappeared.

so do you think the life that comes on it could cause problems placing corals that you buy in the future?
I'm not sure about that ... but with all the corrals already on it, I'm glad I don't have to buy anything right now, to make it look "better"
I do have some room on the bottom floor, for a "tree looking" corral (over time, and I'm not sure about the correct name)
Manuela

[okiebones]

:) Congratulations! I just heard from Mary that my 2nd shipment comes in tonight at 9:15pm so I guess I know what i'll be doing late into the night!
I'm amped and feel they'll be hard-pressed to top what they've already sent but from what I've been reading it seems to be the standard
You know..If my initial experiences in setting up my tank had not been so enjoyable I can see how easy it might be to get discouraged or feel alone out there. This column and input from people like Mary and Mark have really made this thing a whole lot easier.
Thanks to all!:D

[Sgt Fury]

Well I dont think placing corals will be much of a problem given the inevitable die off. But my gosh! I've got 120lbs of rock sitting in my tank that is full of life.....vs. 120lbs of "cured" lifeless (with the exception of some hard algea etc...) rock sitting at my local fish store. The LFS owner was going to give me a break on 100lbs of Fiji rock...5.99 lb. " what with the trade restriction going on and all. A great price!" And you know what the best part is.....Ive got another 120lbs of "the good stuff" coming when this batch cycles.....all i have to do is call. Oh, and the clean up crew to .....240 blue legged hermits crabs and friends??!!! Unreal.... Anyways, Ive got a few pieces of coral on my new rock that may or may not make it through the cycle. Now off to my tank........I think I spotted a brittle star......see ya

[we_want_Nemo]

With my red flash light I found our "MONSTER" It seems like I have two of them.

They didn't quite stay still long enough so I couldn't get a very good look, but this is how they look like.
It has white antennas, a long yellow/white/brown body, two claws (like a crab) and a tail like a dolphin!
I tried looking up some pics on the internet, but none look like my monsters. (maybe a lobster?????)

They are building a cave under one of my live rocks. They are having a big cleaning going on right now.

Any ideas? Good guys or bad guys?

Thanks
Manuela

[lllosingit]

Originally posted by jjmg
so do you think the life that comes on it could cause problems placing corals that you buy in the future?
Here's a funny story about coral placement and TBS rock.
I had a couple friends over and they were looking at the tank and one of them said...
"WOW I never saw a coral move like that"

Me what? "Hard corals don't move".

Him that one just did.

Me your seeing things

Him I swear that coral just moved
Now that coral is moving!

I made him think he was crazy for about 15 minutes and before I finally explained that I had glued corals on the top of some of the clams and mussles that came on the TBS rock and they were closing causing the corals to appear to move.

[liverock]

Originally posted by we_want_Nemo
With my red flash light I found our "MONSTER" It seems like I have two of them.

They didn't quite stay still long enough so I couldn't get a very good look, but this is how they look like.
It has white antennas, a long yellow/white/brown body, two claws (like a crab) and a tail like a dolphin!
I tried looking up some pics on the internet, but none look like my monsters. (maybe a lobster?????)

They are building a cave under one of my live rocks. They are having a big cleaning going on right now.

Any ideas? Good guys or bad guys?

Thanks
Manuela

Is a pistol shrimp, good guy!
Richard TBS

[we_want_Nemo]

Thanks Richard,
I'm glad they are good guys, I already liked them. They where building a house under my rock the whole night. I would hate it, if I had to case them down!

Manuela

[Gatorfan]

Heh, my pistol that came with my TBS rock has made a cave under both of the bottom rocks I have in my little 5.5 gallon :thumbsup:

Jon

[we_want_Nemo]

He dipped the big rock on the glass bottom last night. I don't even know how he does it .... but the rock is now on glass!
He is just so busy ... we named him "Duke" (John Wayne) ;)

Manuela

[garygary]

Dear all,

I'm a new comer. Can anyone tell me what is "TBS" refers and the price and where to order,
THX!!

gary

[liverock]

Check out

www.tbsaltwater.com

Thanks
Richard TBS:rollface:

[garygary]

liverock

Thx. I've just spent an hour to browse the tbsaltwater.com. The rocks there are wonderful. I really wanna order the rock and live sand but I'm afraid that it will cost so much in transport as live in Hong Kong!

Regards

gary

[liverock]

International shipments are VERY expensive.....$200 CITIES permit.....freight about $500 up to 100 pounds.....plus customs fees on your end......we do it all the time, but is costly..

Thanks
Richard TBS
www.tbsaltwater.com:rollface:

[we_want_Nemo]

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to give you an update on our tank!
My ammonia level has been undetectable since last Tuesday. So I called Richard today, and he thinks we're ready for the second part of "the package". Now I keep my fingers crossed, that he gets some nice diving weather soon!
Man, am I excited.

It has been a great experience. We've had the tank for two weeks now ... and I'm amazed how wonderful this is. Both my husband and I have been totally new to this hobby, and all we did was, read on reefcentral and buy lots of books.
And now we're so excited, that we can hardly wait for our second shipment.
Especially since I'm not quite sure, how you can possibly top the first shipment. I can only say it again ... when people say that the pics don't do the rock justice ... I T ' S T R U E !
When I researched TBS I didn't really know, what they meant by that. Now that I have the rock .... I know!
You can't catch the life and the color on a picture.
Every day we find something new on the rock.
So far we found:
3 or 4 brissle stars
1 x-mas tree worm
1 huge feather duster
about 20 "baby" feather dusters
maybe a cucumber (worm that doesn't seem to have a front or end and moves rhythmically)
2 pistol shrimp
2 good crabs
2 "evil" crabs (that we can't catch)
and tons of sponges and clams.
Since a couple days we got some algae, but it's dark red, and looks quite beautiful.

And then we have something new growing. It's pink and on it's surface it looks like someone stiched over it with a sewing machine (zick-zack) and dark purple threat. Anybody know, what that might be?
Oh, I ordered Fenners book on reef creatures, so I can finally identify all the other live creatures, worms, plants, sponges and corals! I just wish it would be here by now.

Manuela

[delta]

the evil one are easy just wait till they are in the act of doing something they are not surposed to be and squash them

I use a long wooden spoon handle end it get in the nooks and crannies, they never see it coming :)

[landlord]

I have had good luck with the "evil ones" using a pair of medical forseps. I was able to rip the "boxing mits" off of a mantis shrimp in my tank last week using that technique. Unfortuneately they will grow back :(

[we_want_Nemo]

thanks, will try the "bottle" tonight, and see what happens!
Any idea what that pink thing might be??
thanks
Manuela

[we_want_Nemo]

test image of my tank

[hdtran]

Nice pic, but kind of small? I think you can go up to 500x400 (or something like that) before you hit the 50K limit.

[we_want_Nemo]

It worked, it worked, it worked ...
I just had a friend over, who showed my how to resize my picutres! And how to post them here!
Now, maybe I find some time to play with it, and figure out, how to get the size and the quality a little better, but at least you can see my rock!!!!!!!!
Jippiiiiiiiiiiii

Thanky Hy for the compliment, the pic was taken the day after the first shipment arrived. I'm thinking about moving the middle one over to the left, it seems like those two would fit great together, as a stronger base for shipment No2.

By the way, I'm still hoping for better diving weather, just found out today that I won't be getting my second shipment until at least a weak or two from now.

Manuela

[we_want_Nemo]

if it works, this is the left rock

Manuela

[we_want_Nemo]

and the middle

[we_want_Nemo]

and the right side. This rock has tons of mussels and colorful sponges on it. So far we only lost two of them! There is also a x-mas tree worm on it, and a feather duster!

Manuela

[hdtran]

Manuela,

Excellent rock! You don't have to downsize your photos quite that much! I find that a 600x400 (or something like that) jpg will be just under the 50K limit for posting, and opens a much more visible picture :D

Can't wait to see your reaction to Part II!!!

Hy

[we_want_Nemo]

Helly Hy,

I went back to my resizing page, and started from the very top. And every time I've made the pic smaller I tried again to download it to "my gallery". They are the first sized that got accepted!
Now I'm not so sure, how to make them bigger again and still get them accepted ... oh well, since I won't be getting my second rock anytime soon :( I should have time to play on the computer!!! (when I'm not busy doing a "good diving weather dance")

Manuela