Another log of a Newbie starting out with TBS rock!

[Scuba Oz]

whats your arive-alive guarantee? LOL

[patsan]

Originally posted by Scuba Oz
whats your arive-alive guarantee? LOL

ummmm....he can have all the others I get out of the tank????

[liverock]

Originally posted by patsan
I also didn't mark the box "Live" I just wrote "this side up" on all 4 sides of the box. They put the shipping label covering one whole side of the box.

Which is a good thing as Fed ex policy is not to ship anything alive....unless you become a certified Marine life shipper with them, by providing one of your shipping containers to them for evaluations and approval.

Ours is 17x17x10 inches....and up to 20 pounds is a minimum charge of $80, anywhere in the US.

They charge by weight and dimension, dimension being the key here as it is a rather large box, but constructed with an inner Styrofoam box and lid, with and outer heavy duty cardboard, to withstand temp changes and abuse by handlers/drivers....remember the fed ex warehouse/trucks are not heated, so wintertime is a gamble.....it is the same box we use for shipping air freight on the airlines....

TBS

[H2OLUVSME]

[lossman]

Know it's off topic, but trying to get some advice. Still researching the lighting thing.

I pursued this topic in the Lighting, Filtration, ... forum, under New Tank Lighting for a Newbie. Added some more specifics.

Please have a look if you don't mind.

Thanks

[H2OLUVSME]

Originally posted by liverock
Which is a good thing as Fed ex policy is not to ship anything alive....unless you become a certified Marine life shipper with them, by providing one of your shipping containers to them for evaluations and approval.

TBS

thanks for the "heads up" TBS. i think it varies by local chapter though. not to contradict you, because maybe its different with marine life, but ive recieaved live animals via FedEx before. i have recieved two different shipments of frogs, one of lizards and tons of feeder insects. the place i get insects from now told me the same thing though. they send everything priority mail. all the FedEx packs ive recieved all were clearly marked too. i think its wierd i had a person at my local FedEx tell me they could and that they were the carrier for all of the priority overnite deliveries for the US mail. it would be wierd if they would carry the US mails live deliveries, but not make ones of their own . of course this was a $6 (maybe low) an hour counter clerk, and may know very little about the true "live" rules. im not sure, i just get em how they send em. if something crazy happens we'll go airborne express next time

Landon

[liverock]

Originally posted by H2OLUVSME
thanks for the "heads up" TBS. i think it varies by local chapter though. not to contradict you, because maybe its different with marine life, but ive recieaved live animals via FedEx before. i have recieved two different shipments of frogs, one of lizards and tons of feeder insects. the place i get insects from now told me the same thing though. they send everything priority mail. all the FedEx packs ive recieved all were clearly marked too. i think its wierd i had a person at my local FedEx tell me they could and that they were the carrier for all of the priority overnite deliveries for the US mail. it would be wierd if they would carry the US mails live deliveries, but not make ones of their own . of course this was a $6 (maybe low) an hour counter clerk, and may know very little about the true "live" rules. im not sure, i just get em how they send em. if something crazy happens we'll go airborne express next time

Landon

The shippers you used also have been approved as we went through this years ago......were shipping many boxes to Paris via fed ex...when they actually took time to find out what was inside the boxes, we were refused transport, directed to their web page for marine life certification, and had to go through that process to be approved...you can slip stuff by them, but is best to be on the up and up when shipping. The post office also will not ship anything alive, officially, although I have had them ask "anything liquid or alive" in the box, as the clerk is sitting there shaking the box listening to the water slosh inside, I just tell them "no".....and off goes the Package, it may be more of a liability issue with them....

TBS

TBS

[H2OLUVSME]

Originally posted by liverock
The shippers you used also have been approved as we went through this years ago......were shipping many boxes to Paris via fed ex...when they actually took time to find out what was inside the boxes, we were refused transport, directed to their web page for marine life certification, and had to go through that process to be approved...you can slip stuff by them, but is best to be on the up and up when shipping. The post office also will not ship anything alive, officially, although I have had them ask "anything liquid or alive" in the box, as the clerk is sitting there shaking the box listening to the water slosh inside, I just tell them "no".....and off goes the Package, it may be more of a liability issue with them....

TBS

TBS

yeah, the people i bought frogs and lizards from both only ship about 12-15 packages a year (my guess). the insect guy he prolly sends more than that a week.

Landon

[H2OLUVSME]

Originally posted by dwculp
Look at this this page which has pics of my crab.

thats almost definatly him. it didnt say the exact size since it was written to cover the genus. it does say they get big enough to be a threat to small fish.

Landon

[dwculp]

One thing I did notice, and it is hard to tell from the pic is that this crab appears to have three legs on each side and mine has four. Hard to tell from the pic though.

[H2OLUVSME]

...M. cinictimanus has banded purplish legs and associates with anemones and corals....

yours looks more like purplish banding than the other i picked.

[dwculp]

Well, I have not updated in a few days. I have been VERY busy lately. I had to travel to OK this weekend to attend a robotics teachers conference which is part of the robotics contest we enter every year, I also had to visit a dying uncle and a few other things. I was off work Friday to drive up etc....

Anyways, the tank looks great excelt for being a little low on water and a nice green algea film on the glass. Water parameters are normal and havent really changed from last time, although I did not test Nitrite yet today.

One of the hitch-hiking brains is pretty much dead, one of the peppermint shrimps was picking the remaining bits of flesh off of it this morning. It didnt loook good coming in anyways.

Now for something interesting. My favorite fish, my Niger Trigger is gone. No body, no bones, nothing, gone. I doubt he died of disease as he was one healthy fish, ate with gusto anything you put in the tank. He showed no signs of sickness and was always swimming around the tank. None of the other fish in his tank look sick or diseased. So, I think I know what happened. I placed the infamous GIANT crab into that tank wed. The crab was actually about the size of the trigger (4 inches). I bet the trigger was sleeping next to a rock and Mr. Crab grabbed him and consumed him. What do you guys think?

I will get more pics and more data up when I get time.

[patsan]

You really think the crab ate him Dave? This was in the tank that didn't have LR in it, so it can't be hiding anywhere?

[dwculp]

It has about 30-40 pounds of LR, he has plenty of places to hide. Both the grouper and the trigger would hide out in the rock. They both had a "nest" they would retreat to for the evening.

I can think of nothing else. Big giant crab got him, thats my theory and Im sticking to it until a better one comes around.

[patsan]

It almost sounds like your stories like your mystery fishes disapearance.
Hope the crab didn't get him, but this one almost seems like it very well could have!

How's the mystery fish? Did you see him today?

How did your robotics conference go?

[dwculp]

Yep, he was out and about this morning.

The trigger is gone, no ifs ands or buts about it. He is gone, there is not a lot of places for him to hide and they are obvious.

[patsan]

That's too bad. Do you think the crab will nab any of the other inhibitants in the tank?

[dwculp]

No, they are much bigger than him and more aggressive. Heck, the grouper tried to eat him when I put him into the tank!

[Grenadino]

WOW!! I can't believe I read all that stuff. Great Thread!! I have a 30Gal reef tank myself and a lot of stuff I got from local reefers. I'm on a limited budget so I guess I don't have a choice. I guess this is going out to Pat; there are a lot of great reefers that can help you out locally with frags (quite cheap) and a lot of times LR. All of my LR was picked up from people that were breaking down their tanks for one reason or another. I need a skimmer and upgraded lighting now, so I'm kinda restricted to putting more SPS and softies in the tank. I have 130W pc's but I think I need a 250w MH.

Pat check out: http://www.manhattanreefs.com/ if you havent already done so. It's a great forum and a lot of nice ppl.

Steve.

[patsan]

Originally posted by Grenadino
WOW!! I can't believe I read all that stuff. Great Thread!! I have a 30Gal reef tank myself and a lot of stuff I got from local reefers. I'm on a limited budget so I guess I don't have a choice. I guess this is going out to Pat; there are a lot of great reefers that can help you out locally with frags (quite cheap) and a lot of times LR. All of my LR was picked up from people that were breaking down their tanks for one reason or another. I need a skimmer and upgraded lighting now, so I'm kinda restricted to putting more SPS and softies in the tank. I have 130W pc's but I think I need a 250w MH.
Pat check out: http://www.manhattanreefs.com/ if you havent already done so. It's a great forum and a lot of nice ppl.
Steve.

Thanks Steve. I will check out manhattanreefs.
I had met someone from LIRA and he was helping me out somewhat, but I guess I was such a newbie he couldn't take it anymore answering so many of my questions. I had planned on joining LIRA this month, but have since changed my mind.
I have gotten almost every question I have asked answered here on RC and I feel comfortable enough that I can ask just about anything.

I find, many of the questions I had asked seem simple now, but they sure weren't when the arose. I didn't even know how to put the plumbing together for our RR tank.
I also purchased a TBS package, so I will be getting plenty of LR when my 2nd part of the package comes. I only got my first part on Thursday, so we have to go thru the cycle before I would even think about getting the 2nd half.

[H2OLUVSME]

how big is that BA coral banded shrimp Dave?

[dwculp]

Coral Banded Shrimp?? I have one in Qt who isnt very big, a couple of inches max.

[H2OLUVSME]

i thought you had a coral banded shrimp in your 75 FO. one that had lived with the other trigger and lion for a while.....am i mistaken?

[dwculp]

Ohhhhh, no. The guy I got the tank from had the CBS in there, which I understand was quite large. He eventually disappeared, more than likely down the gut of the other trigger fish that was in the tank, and Undulated Trigger. He got rid of that trigger before I got the tank and I put a niger trigger in there.

[H2OLUVSME]

ok, i was suspecting any CBS that could live with a lion and undulated triggr could easily take out a 4" niger. prolly the big crab, i guess.