d2mini's "Essential Focus" Mixed Reef Build

[d2mini]

Tampa bound?

Those tix will take me anywhere, but Tampa sounds good to me! ;)

Lucky dog!

I have an order for Richard in my not-too-distant future, too bad I couldn't tee that up for him now so that you could personalize my order for me ....

I'll try not to take all the good stuff. :D

 

[reefwiser]

Say hey to Richard. I very old friend. [emoji3]

 

[FrankAbagnale]

Sweet! Right on track!

 

[d2mini]

Wellllllll.... unfortunately the trip is a bust. :(

The reefing gods were against me. Two flights I tried to get on standby and denied both times.
I think the nasty weather was causing some delays and people from other missed flights getting on ahead of me. Paying customers come first I guess.

It would have been a blast but at least I had the opportunity to do it once before.

So I'm back at home. On to Plan B!
The tank will have TBS rock very soon, one way or the other. ;)

 

[FrankAbagnale]

Dang man. No Bueno!

 

[revhtree]

Wellllllll.... unfortunately the trip is a bust. :(

The reefing gods were against me. Two flights I tried to get on standby and denied both times.
I think the nasty weather was causing some delays and people from other missed flights getting on ahead of me. Paying customers come first I guess.

It would have been a blast but at least I had the opportunity to do it once before.

So I'm back at home. On to Plan B!
The tank will have TBS rock very soon, one way or the other. ;)

Oh dang man! BOOOO! :(

 

[Flipside]

So, you're just going to order like a normal human being? And pick it up at the airport? (LOL)

 

[d2mini]

So, you're just going to order like a normal human being? And pick it up at the airport? (LOL)

Funny guy! :p


And ummmmm..... looks that way. :D
6 boxes, heading to H-Town!
If I have to part flood waters, I will get there and back.

 

[Flipside]

Haha! Awesome!

Let me know if you need some truck-help there, Moses. LOL!

 

[d2mini]

If it could stop raining for a minute in Houston, that would be nice.
Look what I had to do just to get some lunch! o_O

Here's the flight path of my rock. :confused:

 

[Black Pearl]

What did you get crabby patties? Houston we have a problem

 

[d2mini]

So a lot of people are curious about the whole process of ordering rock from TBS.
Here's a quick explanation with pics! :D

As you can see above, once the order is placed, Richard will send you the flight info which you can then track on the world wide interwebs.

Then when the time comes, head to your airport!
But don't freak out... you don't go to the actual airport, you go to the Southwest Cargo/Freight office.
Just drive right up and park by the loading area. Nice and quiet, no actual "airport" stuff to deal with.

There will probably be a few other cars/trucks/vans picking up.
You might even see your LFS there! (no such luck today)
And the guys/gals working the desk are always super nice.
I had already checked in with them and now just waiting for them to find my boxes and bring them out.

Snacks are available!
Sofia wasn't too thrilled with the peanuts.
She's more of an almond or cashew kind of girl.

Pretzels on the other hand.... score!

Then one of the happy SW employees bring out your boxes and you get to load them into your car.
6 boxes for us today! This is Part 1 of "The Package". All the sand and the first batch of rock.
Sofia is ready to take the goodies home!

Here she is a few years ago picking up another shipment.

Once home, look for the box that says "Open Me First".
This will be your sand (or part of your sand) and the instructions. Read carefully.
And here is a box of rock opened up. Box, then styrofoam cooler, then lots of heavy plastic bags, and inside... reef gold!

And finally, here's a few quick pics of some rock and a cloudy tank.

Once the tank clears up I can get some better pics and start playing with the rock layout.
As soon as the Ammonia levels stay below .25 we'll get the second batch of rock and all the fun stuff!

I hope that helped clear some things up! :)

 

[FrankAbagnale]

Very cool! You have to be so pumped.

 

[revhtree]

Beautiful rock! Do you not worry about hitchhikers or did I miss that post?

 

[Black Pearl]

So true Rev, I've had such a battle with Aptasia that live rock shivers me timbers, but tha rock from Tampa Bay is really sweet

 

[d2mini]

I've never gotten nuisance algae or aiptasia from TBS.
There is one decorator crab in the pics and I saw another. Also saw a bunch of porcelain crabs.
Oh and a pistol shrimp.
That was just while unpacking.
Have not seen gorilla crabs or mantis shrimp yet but probably will eventually. Those are really the only two things to worry about. I also pull out whelks as I see them.
The benefits far outweigh the couple pesky hitchhikers. :)

 

[Flipside]

LOL! Felt appropriate...

Nice write up on the process, bro. I've been threatening to buy a TBS package for a long time, but I always forget. That rock is propa'!

Oh, and baby girl's getting big! Thanks for making me feel older! LOL

 

[d2mini]

LOL! Felt appropriate...

Nice write up on the process, bro. I've been threatening to buy a TBS package for a long time, but I always forget. That rock is propa'!

Oh, and baby girl's getting big! Thanks for making me feel older! LOL

LOL!
That's always me dancing and singing when I open these boxes.
Minus the dress. :p

 

[Clayton Jessup]

Looks great to see this beautiful aquarium , start to come to life .. cant wait for progress of this amazing tank. :);):D

 

[james77515]

LOL!
That's always me dancing and singing when I open these boxes.
Minus the dress. :p

You know you wear the dress!! Lol