How many strikes with a sledgehammer...

[Cearbhaill]

... does it take for a 50 year old lady to break up a 45 lb. TBS rock?

27.

PLEASE tell me it looks better?

Before-
http://www.cearbhaill.com/DSC02032.JPG

After-
http://www.cearbhaill.com/DSC02053.JPG

[paintballgoth]

I like it better. what size tank and how many lbs of rock do you have in there?

[ReefRob]

Nice work.

Shall we call you "Toniangelo" now with your new found sculpting talents?

I'm curious how porous you found the rock to be? Were there many big worms or other things inside?

If there were any mantis shrimps on that rock I think you've intimidated them into submission ... nice technique.

[Cearbhaill]

what size tank and how many lbs of rock do you have in there?
90 gallon tank- 200 lbs of rock- maybe 20 lbs is now rubble in my refugium. So that's 180 lbs you're looking at.
I'm curious how porous you found the rock to be? Were there many big worms or other things inside?
Not porous at all- a large part of it was a black quartz looking substance- very hard to bust up. No wonder it is so heavy.
No creatures inside at all- but I chose the most boring, heaviest "base rock looking" piece to break.

[bjolly]

looks good! I like the "2 islands" look much better than the "wall of rock" look, generally.

[DCDeacon]

I think you did a great job. Very nice.

[docklink]

Actually (looks embarassed toward toes) I liked what you had (ducking to avoid rubble bits coming this way), though it looked kind of precarious. Don't get me wrong... I like the current arrangement, too. Kind of what I had imagined for my own tank.

[hdtran]

I kind of prefer before to after too... But then, I like anchovies on my pizza, so my sense of aesthetics is very suspect.

[docklink]

Cearbhaill, I've been looking at the new arrangement on and off for the rest of the day and I have to admit that it's growing on me. I think ya done good.

[draper4312]

The after set up is much better. I added some Tongan Branch to mix up the shapes more in my tank. I broke some TBS up by accident and it was very porous; I barely hit the rock and it cracked in half. I also got some very good looking shapes. I would have been very disappointed if all the LR I got from TBS was a round ball. I've noticed many pictures of TBS LR and the tanks look like they have basket ball down to baseball sized and shaped LR. I feel like I got lucky with the shapes of LR I got. One of the pieces looks like the Matterhorn at DL.

The biggest difference between the TBS and Tongan that I have noticed is that there is coraline algae all over the TBS and hardly nothing on the Tongan.

Nothing on my LR has died. It is really cool to watch but when you start getting corals, anemones, and other stuff the life on the TBS become boring.

As for the ease of an instant reef set up TBS is the fastest way that I have seen. I would order from them again as long as I can pick the shapes that I want.

[Dexter1334]

I like the new look:)

I had to break a big flat piece so it would fit better, knocked off a corner so I could get it away from the front glass. Also knocked off 4 or 5 pistol shrimp, (They looked like one armed Popeyes).
thirteen crabs also took a walk during the process. The little mantis ran around a lot but buried himself in a hole in the middle. He is still there, I can here him laughing :).

This piece of rock was sandstone fortunately and broke exactly where I wanted it to.

One of my other pieces is more the bowling ball type and I think it is probably granite. I am glad I didn't have to break that one. I may replace it down the road or trade it.
Very heavy and not much of interest on it except a few shellfish.