Nat's 125 Litre Juwel Rio Marine!

[natwood]

I've ordered my 14kg of Indonesian Live Rock from aquaticstoyourdoor.co.uk which will be delivered tomorrow (at last I'll have some!)
Here's a list of the Ebay items I'm waiting for (some should arrive today):

Refractometer
2 x Suction Cups for Heater
Salifert Nitrite Test Kit
Salifert Nitrate Test Kit
Salifert Ammonia Test Kit
Salifert pH Test Kit
Sunsun Power Head Wave Maker Magnet (3000 Litres)

I've got 2 x Caribsea Aragalive Live Sand to go in straight after my rock.
Think I'm going to start having a look at nice aquascapes now to decide what I'm going to do with my rock. Properly excited now I know it's definitely coming! ^-^

 

[ben1987]

your mates, boyfriend or whatever will really start to think you are losing it.

"You paid how much for some stones?" you'll be keeping it all nice and warm and staring at it.

"no i cant come to the pub, theres something walking on my rocks"

 

[seffieuk]

Woo hoo,,,,,,,, not long till the pet rock watching begins

Seffie x

 

[natwood]

It came! Super fast delivery and the pieces of Live Rock I got are amazing! Loads of great shapes, sizes and colours. Really impressed! Also 3 of my test kits came (all except ammonia) as well as the suckers for my heater (1 of them won't seem to work). I've not tested my water yet so will have a go at that later.

I had some kind of shrimp like thing that was about 2 inches long when I first put the rock in but that's disappeared somewhere now. I've not really attempted to aquascape it yet, I just wanted to get it in the tank in a way that won't fall over. I'm looking at maybe using cable-ties or PVC pipes to get it all sturdy. Here's the rock anyway.

 

[AK77]

Very nice Nat! Got a few bits with coraline on it too, which will spread, given time and if your phophate levels remain low.

Do you have any fish food? If you don't pick up some marine pellet food and drop 1 or 2 near the front of the tank and wait to see if the shrimp comes out. Did you get a good look at it? There may be a possiblity that you have a mantis shrimp in there, that's hitchhiked its way in. If it is, then don't plan on putting any fish in there until you've caught it. Mantis shrimp + fish = supper time lol.

 

[natwood]

Very nice Nat! Got a few bits with coraline on it too, which will spread, given time and if your phophate levels remain low.

Do you have any fish food? If you don't pick up some marine pellet food and drop 1 or 2 near the front of the tank and wait to see if the shrimp comes out. Did you get a good look at it? There may be a possiblity that you have a mantis shrimp in there, that's hitchhiked its way in. If it is, then don't plan on putting any fish in there until you've caught it. Mantis shrimp + fish = supper time lol.

I've not got any fish food but I just googled Mantis shrimp and it did resemble these ones..

If I catch it do I have to kill it? I don't want to kill things! Haha.

 

[ben1987]

take it to your fish shop, some people keep them as they are quite interesting. Just dont want it in there!

Looks like nice rock aswel, all sorts of shapes.

Id test ammonia after 48 hours or so, no need to test the others just yet.

 

[AK77]

Some of the mantis can be very beautiful and are sort after for species specific tanks. Try and get a picture of it if you can. Luring it out with some fish pellets would be the best bet.

For now, avoid putting your hand in the tank and moving the rocks. Depending on the species, they can cause injury.

 

[ben1987]

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu6yrC6bjNo

not to scare you....just so you can see why some peole like to keep them

 

[natwood]

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu6yrC6bjNo

not to scare you....just so you can see why some peole like to keep them

That's horrible! Those things are really mean. That would be exactly my reason for NOT wanting to keep one. Haha.

Now I've spotted some kind of long flat black worm/millipede type thing wriggling around at the bottom, that I don't have a clue what it is. Can't believe all these things I've spotted already! Mad stuff.

 

[AK77]

A quote taken from an article about the mantis shrimp

While diving along a patch reef between two rocky cliffs, I discovered a small, 6-inch shrimp-like creature peering at me from under a large rocky slab. Its two stalked eyes followed my every move as I carefully lifted the slab. Once the protective rock was over-turned, the shrimp was easily scooped up with my hand-net. In order to examine my quarry more carefully, I reached into the net and grasped the wriggling crustacean. The moment I seized it, a stabbing pain in my index finger forced me to release it. Blood oozed from a half-inch laceration that went down to the bone.

They can be fascinating to watch and you don't have to feed them live food but, obviously you are very limited as to what else you can keep with it.

I spent a few weeks watching my live rock. Its fascinating to see all the macroscopic life on it.

 

[natwood]

Do you think I should wait until I've got my layout completely sorted before I put the sand in? I should be getting cable ties and maybe PVC piping tonight.

 

[Harry1996]

i like you live rock great shapes and sizes i would get you base rock sorted first then you can add the sand.

 

[seffieuk]

i like you live rock great shapes and sizes i would get you base rock sorted first then you can add the sand.

Seconded, oh you are going to have so much fun aquascaping

Seffie x

 

[natwood]

I wasn't going to use base rock, I was just going to use all live rock. Do I need base rock?