Frahs or fish first?

[ActiveAngel]

Ooo... I even found an awesome 5” Hawaiian flatworm once. It was hiding on a Euphyllia (not live rock, but still on topic) pretending to be a sponge or tunicate. Nobody believed me when I said this sponge looked funky. It stayed still for a couple weeks.

Then I decided to dip it, and began poking it Vigorously with the pipette tip, and it jumped off and started swimming. So he got his own little tank! Such an awesome creature. I’ll see if I can find a photo or video sometime to upload of him.

 

[NanCrab]

I think you just provided evidence demonstrating how you don’t enjoy all the life... only most of the life. Lol.

As mentioned, i also love love love the 99.9% good and not-as-bad critters. The problem is that 0.1% that is “the devil”, as you put it. (However, for me, I don’t think whelks are so bad. They’ve been easy enough for me to catch and QT in my dedicated pest-critter tanks.) But unfortunately, there are thousands of organisms on every rock. So when talking about live rock, the odds are against us. Most likely, you will encounter at least 1 such pest. And each of these nightmare pests can potentially cost thousands of dollars and potentially crash a tank.

We are way too new to this to know how to handle even 1% devil. I think I'm going to stick with my dead, dry, white rock I bought from ARC Reef in Miami and purchase some of their freshly bottled the day its shipped coralline algae.

 

[ActiveAngel]

We are way too new to this to know how to handle even 1% devil. I think I'm going to stick with my dead, dry, white rock I bought from ARC Reef in Miami and purchase some of their freshly bottled the day its shipped coralline algae.

Myself, and/or others, can give you coralline scrapings to seed your tank!

Plenty of ARC members here sell dry rock for about $2/lbs. but each person is different. Myself included, but I’m almost out of stock (thankfully! It takes up way too much space).

As for any of the bacteria-in-a-bottle products, they mostly seem very similar. All of them will advertise that they are the best and other brands are rubbish. If I had to make any comments about particular branding, I’d say Fritz Turbostart (Saltwater) is really good quality.

Plus if you use CaribSea Arag-Alive sand, that comes with bacteria already in the sand too, which is why it’s wet in the bag. “Special Grade Reef Sand” is their most popular. It’s grains are small, but large enough that they aren’t blown easily by powerheads.

 

[Adam]

When I first started my tank in 2016 I got a batch of snails from Atlanta Aquarium and Live Aquaria. The next day I caught a polyclad flatworm scooting across the sand bed. Don't know which snail it was in. So glad I got it as fast as I did. I was a complete noob and I just knew it didn't look right.

 

[NanCrab]

Myself, and/or others, can give you coralline scrapings to seed your tank!

Plenty of ARC members here sell dry rock for about $2/lbs. but each person is different. Myself included, but I’m almost out of stock (thankfully! It takes up way too much space).

As for any of the bacteria-in-a-bottle products, they mostly seem very similar. All of them will advertise that they are the best and other brands are rubbish. If I had to make any comments about particular branding, I’d say Fritz Turbostart (Saltwater) is really good quality.

Plus if you use CaribSea Arag-Alive sand, that comes with bacteria already in the sand too, which is why it’s wet in the bag. “Special Grade Reef Sand” is their most popular. It’s grains are small, but large enough that they aren’t blown easily by powerheads.

The CaribSea sand you mentioned is exactly what I have sitting in boxes waiting to be used. Thank you for the offer of the coralline algae from your tank. One day I will know something about all this! Thanks again for all your feedback and help, I'm so grateful for the help we've received here and I can't wait to share our baby pictures on here. That's how I feel about it. We are in the pre natal stage now. Each addition will be like a milestone in the "life" of our child. Children take time to grow and mature and so it will be with our reef tank. Just so thankful to have found such an amazing group of people here.

 

[ZapataInc]

The CaribSea sand you mentioned is exactly what I have sitting in boxes waiting to be used. Thank you for the offer of the coralline algae from your tank. One day I will know something about all this! Thanks again for all your feedback and help, I'm so grateful for the help we've received here and I can't wait to share our baby pictures on here. That's how I feel about it. We are in the pre natal stage now. Each addition will be like a milestone in the "life" of our child. Children take time to grow and mature and so it will be with our reef tank. Just so thankful to have found such an amazing group of people here.

It makes me happy to hear this from a member. This is exactly how I felt when I found ARC and I know there are plenty more members here that have felt the same way.

 

[urbanknight]

@ZapataInc I know exactly how you feel. I have been in this game over 20 years. I am constantly amazed with the vast amount of knowledge available to us here on this forum. There are members who prior to starting their setups read everything they could find to prepare themselves for the journey. There are members who have experience from the retail side of the hobby with vast knowledge in techniques of reef keeping and critter identification and care. When I started, I used a hydrometer to get my salinity, compact fluorescent lights , a few rocks a fish or two and suddenly I was a reefer! :clapa: With developments in equipment, theory and husbandry, and eager hobbyist like @NanCrab, the hobby will continue to flourish. I am continuously blown away reading our member responses to questions and issues. I see this as ARC University. The place to study and learn reef keeping! Many thanks to you guys for teaching an old dog new tricks!

 

[Shawn]

Man. I learn new stuff every day. The plumbing info I got from @anit77 this last weekend made me rethink my entire setup.