Arkayology Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 I didn't expect that, they said they usually see one for every 400-500 lbs. Well....3x lucky. Very. What are you doing with them? Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 I didn't expect that, they said they usually see one for every 400-500 lbs. Well....3x lucky. I volunteered to work on Saturday, I'll just have to tell them I'll be late but if I don't take them they'll die. I have to take these to the lfs and she opens at 11. Per chance I can get her to meet there earlier. Hopefully she'll give me a credit. She doesn't have a big place but I'm sure people have to ask every once in a while if she ever gets them in. I don't have my fuge going yet. Link to comment
gena Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Well....that is certainly LIVE rock. Now you have me wondering if there are mantis shrimp lurking in my tank!!!! I don't think so though, I probably would have heard snapping and I never hear that at all. Careful with that urchin. I also got one and it eventually started eating my green cloves. Those mantis shrimp ARE pretty cool!!!! No pistols? Congrats on the new rock. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 I'll remove the urchins once they get bigger and can't fit into the hole of a rock. I did find 1 clear shrimp, abt .5" , as long as the .5" green mantis- it swam differently and was slender. I couldn't tell against the bottom of the bag if it had any spots or not to be a Pederson's or anemone, nor if it was a pistol. Would the urchins and clear shrimp make it through the cycle even? Link to comment
gena Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 So were the shrimp running around the bottom of the bag or did you have to get them out of the rock? Did you have giant dead bristleworms at all? I had a few of those. Link to comment
Felicia Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 That is some great looking rock! Sounds like you got a ton of fun hitchhikers. At least you have some stuff to look at during the cycle. Makes me wish I had bought KPA live rock! Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 I took off the newspaper off part of it and flipped the rock over, it was the bottom side in the water. 2 of 'em sitting on the rock. The other one was in the water. Randi found him. I found some bright orange slimy looking skinny worm and then a couple dead brittles. We found one that wasn't good so we put it in the trash. The clear tiny shrimp was in the bottom of the bag. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 These tiny macro that are maybe a cm to 1/2 inch, do they typically live through the cycle or die? Tons of mini feather dusters. Link to comment
Lawnman Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 These tiny macro that are maybe a cm to 1/2 inch, do they typically live through the cycle or die? Tons of mini feather dusters.Do a soft cycle. Do small waterchanges to help keep Ammonia levels lower. This will help those macros make it thru the cycle. Link to comment
Felicia Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Macro algaes should be fine during the cycle. They fix nutrients that will be produced during the cycle, so they'll have lots to feed on. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 That is some great looking rock! Sounds like you got a ton of fun hitchhikers. At least you have some stuff to look at during the cycle. Makes me wish I had bought KPA live rock! I'm very pleased. My lfs says ugly rock, no caroline algae and sell it for more. Later will be reef cleaners for the CUC. Do a soft cycle. Do small waterchanges to help keep Ammonia levels lower. This will help those macros make it thru the cycle. I will be, if I remember correctly from her post she had to do 20% water changes every other day for a week, then proceed as normal. I still have to get the WP-25 in there on the lowest cycle. I know that will help having flow. Macro algaes should be fine during the cycle. They fix nutrients that will be produced during the cycle, so they'll have lots to feed on. Great, w/ them being so tiny I wasn't sure. Link to comment
Felicia Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Well if the ammonia spikes way too high, I'm sure it could cause them issues. Doing water changes to be safe if you really want to make sure they make it sounds like a good idea. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 What's odd to me is it looks like someone took grey cement and stretched it across some of the rock. What is it? Oh, and we didn't touch the mantis shrimp at any time, we just shoved them into the container w/ the lid. Link to comment
lnglostsurfer Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Good deal with all the critters! I got a lot of the same halimeda and other macro when I bought the gulf rock in the past. I love the look of halimeda especially but just be warned that it is calcareous and will use up a lot of calcium in your system trying to grow. However it is a very hardy macro and to be honest one of my favorites. I'm so excited for the tank! Hopefully if you get a free moment you can check out what I've been up to today on mine... Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Wow! Beautiful rock. It's exciting to find all the hitch hikers. Good luck! Link to comment
MarieH Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 That's very cool live rock, looks like its off to a great start. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 The rock has been in 24 hrs, ammonia is .5 I completely forgot that when I had the previous dilemma about tank stands that I had the 20long that I was going to use as a quarantine tank. Plan has changed for that. I was thinking the other day wouldn't it be nice to have some macros. I've decided on making it a Dual Mantis divided tank. I checked with a local place here and he stated these mantis from Fl tend to not get any bigger than 2.5- 3". And that these will not be able to break glass. I'm going to have one on each side, each w/ their own little AC50 or something and 50w heater. As long as I can keep them alive in the little containers they're in floating in the 34. I'll buy some acrylic to divide it. The stocklight that came with the 34 is what I'll use and I'll have it off unless I'm feeding. They'll share a light across but that's it, not that they need much since they're nocturnal. I can probably get one live rock from the lfs here and break it up for the 2 sections. These guys are so small. I'll end up putting it on my walnut chest and them moving the Aqueon Evolve into the bedroom now I think. I thought about them while I was at work and realized I was already really attached and hoped they'd be alive when I came home. They are. I'll make sure to keep their water clean and see if they'd like the tiniest nibble from something from the LRS Reef Frenzy. So I'll put low light macros and mushrooms and maybe a softy. The tank at no time is in the sun, house is facing wrong direction. Is this a good idea? Then I'll just buy like a 10g for a QT. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 2, 2013 Author Share Posted November 2, 2013 Good deal with all the critters! I got a lot of the same halimeda and other macro when I bought the gulf rock in the past. I love the look of halimeda especially but just be warned that it is calcareous and will use up a lot of calcium in your system trying to grow. However it is a very hardy macro and to be honest one of my favorites. I'm so excited for the tank! Hopefully if you get a free moment you can check out what I've been up to today on mine... I'm not going to do any sps in there so calcium will probably be ok. But yeah, I'll watch it. I'll be curious to see all that slowly grows out of the rock or comes out of this rock. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 2, 2013 Author Share Posted November 2, 2013 I bought 1/4 inch acrylic from Lowes to separate the 2 sections of the 20g. I'm going to try sand it down w/ the sander, always seems I need shorter than what the measurement was. If good then I'll silicone it in, put in the sand and water tomorrow and see if I can find 2 small rocks w/ a cave inside at the lfs after work tomorrow and start that cycling process. Since they were freebies I figure why not try. If they don't make it then I'll still turn it into a macro tank and find out what things won't eat macro, or they just clean it. Link to comment
gena Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 I'll remove the urchins once they get bigger and can't fit into the hole of a rock. I did find 1 clear shrimp, abt .5" , as long as the .5" green mantis- it swam differently and was slender. I couldn't tell against the bottom of the bag if it had any spots or not to be a Pederson's or anemone, nor if it was a pistol. Would the urchins and clear shrimp make it through the cycle even? My urchin made it through the cycle. What's odd to me is it looks like someone took grey cement and stretched it across some of the rock. What is it? Oh, and we didn't touch the mantis shrimp at any time, we just shoved them into the container w/ the lid. Could be dead sponges. Your rock is sooooo alive. Seriously...you definitely have more life in it than what I received. Your ammonia is really going to spike. Did they tell you how to soft cycle the rock? After a while the rock will get hair algae. Over time, this will go away. Each time I've ordered rock from KPA, it did this. It's completely normal, don't freak out about it. It will go away. I freaked out about it, but now I know better. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 2, 2013 Author Share Posted November 2, 2013 That's very cool live rock, looks like its off to a great start. It is, thank you, I just wasn't expecting the surprise of 3 mantis shrimp, a clear shrimp, 2 tiny urchins, nor all the colors of the coralline algae. And can't wait to have macro algae in there. When I come back after a trip to visit my brother (and for sure I'm checking out 2 lfs in Phoenix, Ocean's Reef and Reef Culture- good time to visit one when you know you can't buy anything)- I'll get the fuge up if it's not already and get macro algae in there and some in the DT. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 2, 2013 Author Share Posted November 2, 2013 My urchin made it through the cycle. Could be dead sponges. Your rock is sooooo alive. Seriously...you definitely have more life in it than what I received. Your ammonia is really going to spike. Did they tell you how to soft cycle the rock? After a while the rock will get hair algae. Over time, this will go away. Each time I've ordered rock from KPA, it did this. It's completely normal, don't freak out about it. It will go away. I freaked out about it, but now I know better. No they didn't tell me so I sent a wonderful email thanking them for my wonderful shipment and asked. I did research your post from your 28 gallon itch that you said 20% every other day. I just don't know at what ammonia level to start that though. I know I see tons of white fuzzies on the rock, don't know what those are. I really like all my shapes, it's going to be fun trying to figure out what looks best. It will definitely be 2 islands I believe due to the size of the rocks. And one small rock the size of my fist for gsp to grow freely. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 2, 2013 Author Share Posted November 2, 2013 Unpacking the box from KP Aquatics I smelled absolutely nothing. We're starting to ferment now. The last couple of hours I smell ocean. Not that bad though, yet. Link to comment
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