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  #51  
Old 03/03/2006, 10:11 AM
drk70 drk70 is offline
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You should see how mine has spread.



The orginal piece was the branch on the left. All the orangy tan color on the rocks are the fire coral growing. All the rock gets those little hairs all over it. Strange thing is the fish swim around it and the crabs crawl on it and it doens't seem to bother them but if you touch it with the back of your hand or wrist you will know it.
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Dennis
  #52  
Old 03/03/2006, 11:00 AM
patsan patsan is offline
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Danielle,
Your pictures are great! In the first picture, is that all mushrooms on the upper left hand side?
Yep, it sure does look like fire coral to me. I'd keep an eye on it as Dennis has said and showed how it does spread.
I also love your hammer. I love how it curves like that.
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Pat
  #53  
Old 03/03/2006, 11:08 AM
krajacich krajacich is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by patsan
Danielle,
Your pictures are great! In the first picture, is that all mushrooms on the upper left hand side?
Yep, it sure does look like fire coral to me. I'd keep an eye on it as Dennis has said and showed how it does spread.
I also love your hammer. I love how it curves like that.
Thanks Pat! It is all mushrooms in the first pic....they actually aren't completely expanded in that pic. My clowns are hosting in them....silly clowns
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Danielle
  #54  
Old 03/03/2006, 11:16 AM
patsan patsan is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by drk70
You should see how mine has spread.



The orginal piece was the branch on the left. All the orangy tan color on the rocks are the fire coral growing. All the rock gets those little hairs all over it. Strange thing is the fish swim around it and the crabs crawl on it and it doens't seem to bother them but if you touch it with the back of your hand or wrist you will know it.
Dennis, have you removed any or attempted to take any out? If so, has it grown back?
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Pat
  #55  
Old 03/03/2006, 11:22 AM
drk70 drk70 is offline
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Nope, but I should do something before it takes over the whole rock.
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Dennis
  #56  
Old 03/03/2006, 11:32 AM
BrianPlankis BrianPlankis is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by drk70
Nope, but I should do something before it takes over the whole rock.
I actually sold off my fire coral colony as it was just too big and I found it encrusting another rock. I chipped off the little bit growing on the new rock and it hasn't come back. I did keep one frag and have mounted it on a small rock. I'm going to keep that rock on the sandbed so hopefully it doesn't spread and the only choice it will have will be to branch

Brian
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Currently redesigning my 90 gallon tank system to support coral and invertebrate breeding. Click on my red house to see the thread with the progress.
  #57  
Old 03/03/2006, 11:44 AM
krajacich krajacich is offline
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I was just realizing that I've had Part 1 for more than a year now....so I thought I'd show some recap pictures

Part 1 after the dust settled:



Waiting for part 2:



Still waiting:



Finally got Part 2



More recent pic:

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Danielle
  #58  
Old 03/03/2006, 12:22 PM
patsan patsan is offline
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WOW!!! Your tank sure has come a long way!!
I remember when it had all the algae growing all over it! LOL
When did you get part 2? I remember you waited forever....just don't recall how long.
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Pat
  #59  
Old 03/03/2006, 12:25 PM
krajacich krajacich is offline
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I got part 1 on 2/25/05 & part 2 on 5/16/05. So I must have waited about 2 months for part 2. I desperately needed a clean-up crew in a few of the pics I was looking through my photobucket account and couldn't believe the difference between then & now....personally I like it better without all the hair algae
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  #60  
Old 03/03/2006, 12:31 PM
patsan patsan is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by krajacich
.personally I like it better without all the hair algae
Me too!
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Pat
  #61  
Old 03/03/2006, 04:38 PM
jezzeaepi jezzeaepi is offline
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Woot! Ill have some pics to post on monday! Part 1 finally coming for me =)
  #62  
Old 03/03/2006, 04:53 PM
bkelley02 bkelley02 is offline
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That's excellent news!

Quote:
Originally posted by jezzeaepi
Woot! Ill have some pics to post on monday! Part 1 finally coming for me =)
  #63  
Old 03/03/2006, 05:37 PM
patsan patsan is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by jezzeaepi
Woot! Ill have some pics to post on monday! Part 1 finally coming for me =)
EXCELLENT!!!! I'm sure you're going crazy. Please make sure you take tons of pictures. We don't care if you post pages of them.....we love seeing pictures.

Don't know how long you've been following this thread, but we have some little tips for you. We tell everyone getting their TBS this.

Have a bucket of salt water made, and swish each piece of rock around in it before you put it in your tank. It will clean off some of the silt that comes on the rock. (the rock is very dirty when you get it).

Also, pull off any crabs, urchins and bad critters you might see before you put it in the tank. Keep the crabs in a bowl and show us the pictures to know if it's a good guy or not, if you don't already know. The only crabs you "really" want in the tank are the porcelains. All the others will wind up doing damage down the road.

I'm sure there is more....but I can't think now. I am too excited!

Where is it coming in....JFK?
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  #64  
Old 03/03/2006, 05:39 PM
bkelley02 bkelley02 is offline
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The sniff test Pat!! You forgot about the sniff test!!
  #65  
Old 03/03/2006, 05:42 PM
patsan patsan is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by bkelley02
The sniff test Pat!! You forgot about the sniff test!!
See? I knew there was more. You tell. I can't think right now. I'm busy reminiscing about when I got mine.
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Pat
  #66  
Old 03/03/2006, 05:55 PM
BrianPlankis BrianPlankis is offline
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WOW...we are going to get pictures of new TBS rock!!! I'm EXCITED!!!!

:need pics: OK FINE! I can't get the "This thread is worthless without pics" graphic to work.

Brian
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Currently redesigning my 90 gallon tank system to support coral and invertebrate breeding. Click on my red house to see the thread with the progress.
  #67  
Old 03/03/2006, 06:01 PM
patsan patsan is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by CirolanidHunter
WOW...we are going to get pictures of new TBS rock!!! I'm EXCITED!!!! :need pics: Brian
I know....it's been WAY too long.

Now, everyone try and remember any tips we can give jezzeaepi or anyone else for that matter, that's getting new TBS.

Jezz....another thing we suggest is to SMELL each piece of rock. If it smells like butt, there is dead sponge/turkey wing. Remove and dead stuff before you put it in the tank, or else you're ammonia will spike really badly, and you'll have a super rouch cycle.

Make sure you have water made up in case you need to do a water change. If you're ammonia level gets up around 1 or over 1, you need to do a water change ASAP, and may have to do daily water changes until the ammonia levels get down to safe levels.
Bob will be able to help you out with that more than I can. He had a really rough cycle with his first batch of TBS. (his gulf rock)
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Pat
  #68  
Old 03/03/2006, 06:48 PM
BrianPlankis BrianPlankis is offline
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I had a REALLY bad cycle too, my ammonia got up to 8ppm! I was doing daily water changes and when it got up to 8ppm I did two water changes. But most people don't face that, so don't let me alarm you

Brian
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Currently redesigning my 90 gallon tank system to support coral and invertebrate breeding. Click on my red house to see the thread with the progress.
  #69  
Old 03/03/2006, 09:58 PM
krajacich krajacich is offline
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jezzeaepi: Congrats! You have to post TONS of pics. We LOVE pics. My recommendations (in addition to the ones above) are:

1) Have some tarps or towels ready to set the boxes on....sometimes they leak quite a bit

2) Get a Seachem Ammonia Alert....these aren't probably as accurate as an actual test kit, but do let you keep an eye on the tank's ammonia level whenever you walk by the tank

3) Depending on the package size, have someone on hand to help you lift the sand & rock into the tank

4) Enjoy the entire process....you've been waiting a long time to get the rock. Don't get stressed out if you have a rougher cycle (I had a week & a half of water changes with each part). Just think how pretty the tank will look when you get your entire package in there

5) Did I mention take & post lots of pictures
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  #70  
Old 03/03/2006, 10:55 PM
jezzeaepi jezzeaepi is offline
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Hehe, I been waiting so long I had enough time to save up for a nikon d50 =P Should be able to post some nice pics providing I can figure out the light balancing issues. 60mm macro will be showing up the day after the package.

Its a 40 gallon tank, so would a 5g/day water change be good to start with? I say 5 gallon because I only have 5 gallon buckets.

Peace,
Jesse
  #71  
Old 03/03/2006, 11:18 PM
BrianPlankis BrianPlankis is offline
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Jesse,

I would recommend only changing the water if your ammonia gets above 0.5ppm.(That is 0 POINT 5, not 5ppm) You need to let the tank develop its biological filter and if you do water changes every day you will just delay the end of the cycle.

Brian
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Currently redesigning my 90 gallon tank system to support coral and invertebrate breeding. Click on my red house to see the thread with the progress.
  #72  
Old 03/04/2006, 01:21 AM
jezzeaepi jezzeaepi is offline
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.5 huh? ok sounds good. How long did it take to recover from your 8ppm amonia spike!?!

How much water did you have to remove from your tank to accomidate your rocks and sand? Currently the tank is completly full. This should be enough to fill up the "swish" bucket right?

When I find dead sponges, how should I go about removing them? How long should I spend examining and sniffing? I know keeping the sponges out of water for even a short time is really bad.

Guess Ill have to show my roomate how to use the camera since my hands will be full =P(although I may be borrowing his nose... Mine doesnt work that well.. im sure hell appreciate that lol)

Peace
  #73  
Old 03/04/2006, 08:28 AM
patsan patsan is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by jezzeaepi
.5 huh? ok sounds good. How long did it take to recover from your 8ppm amonia spike!?!

How much water did you have to remove from your tank to accomidate your rocks and sand? Currently the tank is completly full. This should be enough to fill up the "swish" bucket right?

When I find dead sponges, how should I go about removing them? How long should I spend examining and sniffing? I know keeping the sponges out of water for even a short time is really bad.

Guess Ill have to show my roomate how to use the camera since my hands will be full =P(although I may be borrowing his nose... Mine doesnt work that well.. im sure hell appreciate that lol)

Peace
Jesse...if you can, try and get a Brute garbage can(or 2). They sell them at Home Depot. This way, you'll be able to store water in it for when you'll do your water changes, and you won't need to have a bunch of 5g buckets. Because when you make up water in preperation for water changes, you'll need to circulate it (and heat it if necessary) for about 24 hours before the change.
Also, do you have a refractometer? I highly recommend one over a hydrometer.

If you find dead sponge, just scrape it off. You might not even find any. I'm sure Dennis will chime in. He had one piece of rock that didn't smell good and he scraped it well before he put it in the tank.
As far as how long do you sniff it?....you'll know right away if it's good or bad. At least that's what everyone who's had "butt" rock says.

I removed about 15g of water from our 90g tank. I don't remember if I had to add any back once all the rock went in.

That's awesome you have a nice camera to take pictures.
Just keep everything on auto settings until you get more comfortable with the camera. This way, at least all your first pictures will be in focus. The flash will take care of the lighting if there isn't enough in the room while you're unpacking your TBS. Then once you get it in the tank, the tank lights will work sufficently, and you can turn the flash off.
If you want, I can make a copy of the learning DVD I just bought for the Nikon D-50 and mail it to you. If you'd like that, just PM me your address.
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Pat
  #74  
Old 03/04/2006, 04:51 PM
BrianPlankis BrianPlankis is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by jezzeaepi
.5 huh? ok sounds good. How long did it take to recover from your 8ppm amonia spike!?!
The 8ppm only lasted 2 days, then it dropped to 4 after two days and was under 1ppm two days later. That is because I found the source of the ammonia. I had a rock with many clams covering it and a small piece of dead sponge sticking out. I tried to remove the piece of dead sponge and it caused a clam to fall off the rock, revealing more dead sponge, then another clam fell off, more sponge, more clams off...more sponge showing...all dead and STINKY. It was the size of a large softball.

Quote:

How much water did you have to remove from your tank to accomidate your rocks and sand? Currently the tank is completly full. This should be enough to fill up the "swish" bucket right?

When I find dead sponges, how should I go about removing them? How long should I spend examining and sniffing? I know keeping the sponges out of water for even a short time is really bad.
I had my 75 full and my 20 sump full as well. I also had another 15 gallons ready to go. I ended up using about 15 gals out of the tank and another 5 gallons from my extra.

I wouldn't spend too much time sniffing, minimize air exposure. I did a quick sniff on each side of my rocks and dunked them in the tank.

If you can QT the rock, at least for a few days, in some other container that would be great. That way all the initial die-off doesn't go into your tank.

Also, don't be too quick to throw out hitchhikers, some of them are very cool and I've seen some people throw out hitchhikers without waiting for an ID. I floated a 32oz cup in my sump where it couldn't fall over and all unknown hitchhikers lived in there for many days with no problems.

Brian
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Currently redesigning my 90 gallon tank system to support coral and invertebrate breeding. Click on my red house to see the thread with the progress.
  #75  
Old 03/04/2006, 05:37 PM
patsan patsan is offline
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I got some nice pictures of the foxface yesterday:


And a nice one of the Angel:
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Pat
 

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