Sierra_Bravo's Waterbox Cube 10 nano and Murdershrimp lair. . .

[Sierra_Bravo]

Thanks for posting. On a separate note: One of these days I'd love to to hear any stories you have about fisherman who have marked your site that are there when you harvest - I bet with the relief of the rock on the bottom you've got your share of gags, mangrove snappers and then some. I'd be very surprised if your numbers aren't in a lot of GPS units


actually after about 20 years NOAA put it on the coast guard navigation charts as a 'fish haven', a few years ago...so it shows on the charts and Garmins map plotters. It is a fish magnet for sure. I have resident Goliath groupers up to ten feet long, probably 800 pounds that live there 24/7. The smaller groupers follow me around as I collect the rock and snatch their dinner as it is exposed. Pretty much every fish that occurs in the Gulf of Mexico hang out there as it is the only habitat that will support the smallest to the largest fish out there for miles.

That's very similar to a place we have marked about 10 miles outside of Ponce de Leon Bay. 16' - 18' depth for miles and miles around and all of a sudden 8' feet of relief, about a 1/4 acre all together. Probably a very industrious fellow dumped a bunch of rocks or concrete there back in the day. I'll never know exactly what comprises it because there is never a time of year where 9' bull sharks aren't all over the place - I'm not going in!

Loaded with anything that swims: goliaths, gags, trout, macs, permit, snook, snapper, sheepshead, cobia - you name it. Tons of turtles and bottlenose dolphin, too. One of my favorite places.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Wow, that is cool
Did he came as a hitchhiker?

Sorry Janci - didn't see your post. No, that's just an image I found of the species I want if I do decide to get one. Tank is still empty until my TBS rock and sand arrive tomorrow.

 

[Janci]

Sorry Janci - didn't see your post. No, that's just an image I found of the species I want if I do decide to get one. Tank is still empty until my TBS rock and sand arrive tomorrow.

Ohh
The tank will be very live tomorrow.
Curious what hitchhikers (good/bad) will be included.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

It's on its way! Thanks Debbie @liverock !

 

[JBKReef]

I rewarded myself with an office tank after I got a promotion last fall. Most enjoyable thing about work I've ever done. Cant wait to see it develop!

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Picked up the two boxes from Southwest's air cargo dock and brought them back to the office. My 120 had 10 or so boxes in total so two was easy. Airfreight was $53.

Everything is triple/quadruple bagged in very thick mil plastic.

I had pictures of the open bags and some pieces of rock I was holding for the camera. I have no clue what happened to them but they are no longer in my phone's gallery.

I swished the sand a bit to get the silt in solution and poured the silty water into a bucket before gently letting the sand slide out the bag and onto the bottom of the tank. I followed with the rock, not trying to stack it but just getting it out of bag and into the water. I did not see quite as much flora and fauna on this purchase as I had the last, but there were the usual assortment of gulf rock hitchikers: ceriths, hermits, a nassarius, a few mithrax crabs (which I left to feed the mantis). Had only a few sponges and a little macro algae. No visible urchins or gorilla crabs this time. I'm sure they'll pop up along with other critters that were in hiding. The rock itself is healthy, beautifully colored with coraline, and full of bivalves and barnacles.

As expected the water was pretty murky so there wasn't much to photograph, but it should settle by tomorrow.

 

[WallyB]

That's cool.

I haven't done real live rock in like a decade.
Now that tanks are mature I would be afraid.

Must be exciting to do live rock on a new setup. Many surprises in store on what will come out of rock. Hopefully all good things.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

That's cool.

I haven't done real live rock in like a decade.
Now that tanks are mature I would be afraid.

Must be exciting to do live rock on a new setup. Many surprises in store on what will come out of rock. Hopefully all good things.

I used the same rock for my 120 and can not see ever going a different route. Had a few gorilla crabs, but it was no big deal.

This tank will probably be a mantis tank (Gonodactylus smithii). I'll take all the crabs I can get - free food for the mantis!

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Tank was mostly clear this morning so I turned the lights on to take a few pics. I'll try to start to aquascape it in a few days.

Worms in the sand already hard at work :

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

24 hours later - pretty darn clear.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

This is one reason why I like using TBS rock: Yesterday I was at 0ppm NH3 and 10ppm NO3. Twenty-six hours after putting in the rock and sand I'm still at 0ppm NH3 and now at 20ppm NO3. I'm able to process the increased ammonia levels from the beginning.

 

[NY_Caveman]

The rock looks excellent! Tons of life. My current tank never registered any Ammonia either from day one with live rock (Pacific). Best thing about using it. I still let it mature for a while, of course.

 

[reef-rc]

Nice. This brings me 10+ years back when that was the only path to seed the tank.

 

[SicZ06]

following! Need one in my office too....

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Hitchhiking crab on my liverock. I'll let him be since he's a mithrax algae eater and once the mantis shrimp is introduced I'm pretty sure I won't worry about the crab population. . .

 

[ReefSlice]

Nice tank! I did the exact same thing with a 29 biocube, all TBS rock and sand, some serpent stars and a smithii. He just came out of molting yesterday! Don't be afraid when they disappear for 2 weeks. Good luck. I got mine on bluezoo after waiting 2 months.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Nice tank! I did the exact same thing with a 29 biocube, all TBS rock and sand, some serpent stars and a smithii. He just came out of molting yesterday! Don't be afraid when they disappear for 2 weeks. Good luck. I got mine on bluezoo after waiting 2 months.

I'm glad you posted - you seem the perfect person to ask some questions I have, if you don't mind:

• Did you try to incorporate any corals?
  
• Any tips on rock arrangement based on how the G. smithii behaved?
• How'd it behave with astrea or cerith snails?
• We're you ever able to acclimate it to brighter light?
• What was your feeding routine?

I bet you didn't think you were going to get pounced on for information when you replied to the thread. . .

 

[ReefSlice]

I'm glad you posted - you seem the perfect person to ask some questions I have, if you don't mind:

• Did you try to incorporate any corals?
  
• Any tips on rock arrangement based on how the G. smithii behaved?
• How'd it behave with astrea or cerith snails?
• We're you ever able to acclimate it to brighter light?
• What was your feeding routine?

I bet you didn't think you were going to get pounced on for information when you replied to the thread. . .

Not at all!
I have kept the tank pretty simple for the first 6 months. I just added the mantis and basically let it run with a fluorescent bulb just to keep macros and coralline alive. Right now however I am in the midst of hanging a mars hydro 150w above it to add some frags from my other tanks and make the tank pop, as the fluorescent definitely grows some cyano and GHA. I did do a few things to prepare for the Smithii, and have some advice for sure... I added a 2" pvc tunnel beneath the scape. He goes in here, but to be honest, it's probably the least used area in the tank! He picked a large rock front and center, spent a few weeks smashing away building his home and moving around shells and small rocks, and spends every night barricaded in there. I assume yours will be similar, mine is not very reclusive at all and spends most of his day walking around and staring at me through the glass.
There were a few snails on the TBS rock, some quite large. At first he left the large snails alone, but after a while they get bored and just beat on snails and that sort of thing for fun. All snails were gone within 2 months. Snails are probably his favorite food, even over crabs, although he'll go after anything small that moves in a shell (even feather dusters sometimes). I am lucky to be a fishing guide in SW FL and can easily acquire plenty of food for the little guy. He does however leave the urchin and serpent star alone, just smacks a serpent star arm once in a while when the star gets a chunk of food, but no harm done. I recently started feeding my mantis clams on the half shell and they're great and easy to use and freeze. He loves them. I feed him every 2/3 days, as they are very messy. Plan on doing large water changes, and I run filter floss and carbon as well.
When it comes to lighting, I definitely wouldn't say he is afraid of the light in any sense. He spends most of the day in the front of the tank, only maybe 20% of his time behind/under the rocks looking for food in the dark. Will update when I get a bigger LED fixture on there though.
Once every other month or so around the new moon, he disappears for 2+ weeks. I know he's in his tunnel but it's impossible to even see his entrance, and if you pick up the rock there's no sign of him! But one day he emerges out of nowhere. Very mysterious. I spend the 2 weeks cleaning the rocks and do a blackout for algae if needed. Apparently they like the lights off during molting, however I can't imagine there's any light in his tunnel regardless.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Not at all!
I have kept the tank pretty simple for the first 6 months. I just added the mantis and basically let it run with a fluorescent bulb just to keep macros and coralline alive. Right now however I am in the midst of hanging a mars hydro 150w above it to add some frags from my other tanks and make the tank pop, as the fluorescent definitely grows some cyano and GHA. I did do a few things to prepare for the Smithii, and have some advice for sure... I added a 2" pvc tunnel beneath the scape. He goes in here, but to be honest, it's probably the least used area in the tank! He picked a large rock front and center, spent a few weeks smashing away building his home and moving around shells and small rocks, and spends every night barricaded in there. I assume yours will be similar, mine is not very reclusive at all and spends most of his day walking around and staring at me through the glass.
There were a few snails on the TBS rock, some quite large. At first he left the large snails alone, but after a while they get bored and just beat on snails and that sort of thing for fun. All snails were gone within 2 months. Snails are probably his favorite food, even over crabs, although he'll go after anything small that moves in a shell (even feather dusters sometimes). I am lucky to be a fishing guide in SW FL and can easily acquire plenty of food for the little guy. He does however leave the urchin and serpent star alone, just smacks a serpent star arm once in a while when the star gets a chunk of food, but no harm done. I recently started feeding my mantis clams on the half shell and they're great and easy to use and freeze. He loves them. I feed him every 2/3 days, as they are very messy. Plan on doing large water changes, and I run filter floss and carbon as well.
When it comes to lighting, I definitely wouldn't say he is afraid of the light in any sense. He spends most of the day in the front of the tank, only maybe 20% of his time behind/under the rocks looking for food in the dark. Will update when I get a bigger LED fixture on there though.
Once every other month or so around the new moon, he disappears for 2+ weeks. I know he's in his tunnel but it's impossible to even see his entrance, and if you pick up the rock there's no sign of him! But one day he emerges out of nowhere. Very mysterious. I spend the 2 weeks cleaning the rocks and do a blackout for algae if needed. Apparently they like the lights off during molting, however I can't imagine there's any light in his tunnel regardless.

Very nice - I appreciate the detailed response. I may get him sooner than later and let him get settled in before doing anything else with the tank, but I would like to eventually add some softies.

FYI: I'm originally from South Florida and an avid fisherman. Although I've been in Texas the last six years I still fly home to fish Flamingo - it's cheaper to grab a Southwest flight and fish where I really want to than drag my Action Craft to the Texas coast and learn a whole new fishing ecosystem. I guess I've been spoiled!

 

[ReefSlice]

No problem! That's awesome, I'm not a native, moved down 7 years ago and fell in love. Spend most days on the water, boats down at Action Craft right now getting some warranty work done though, I run a 24 coastal bay!
Good luck and don't hesitate to ask. Corals should be fine, just need to get crafty and find a way to glue them down without getting smacked!