Yup, that's exactly what i did. They just came in today, along with my new lights, as soon as my camera's battery recharges i'll try to take some pics. I really do like the Marco Rocks, they were really nice.
Alright, i'm back from my vacation. And i'm glad i didn't have anything in the tank but rock, we had some really bad storms and we lost power for like 2 days Everyone i know lost stuff, one guy even lost most his tank because he couldn't find a generator until his power came back on... Well i avoided that catastrophe and i didn't lose any of my freshwater fish either, so i'm happy.
Well i think it's time for a cleanup crew and maybe my first fish or two. I've got green hair algae and what i'm assuming is a diatom bloom all over the tank, so i think i'll get my clean up crew first. Any suggestions on what i should get? I really haven't looked into the different kinda of snails and crabs so i don't know what each ones eat and what i should get.
The diatom bloom will go away on its own. What are your parameters? Are you sure that the power outage didn't cause some die off with an ensuing ammonia spike.
SG: 1.024 pH: 8.2 Ammonia: 0 NO2: 0 NO3: between 5 and 10 (i'm a little colored blind can't tell the differences between the two)
i've gotta pick up some kits for phosphates and calcium... haven't had a chance since i've been back. I'm pretty sure that the power wasn't off at my house for more than a few hours, but ya never know. Everything is looking good i think.
oh ps: while doing my tests a few minutes ago... i.. saw... an... AMPHIPOD!!! ( i was rather excited :-p )
Those params look good but you might want to give it a couple more days just to be sure. IMO you don't need to worry about Ca right now unless you are going to start your tank with corals. A good salt will have enough for snails, crabs, etc. There is a school of thought that advises adding herbivores (like snails) first, corals next and fish last.
I'd like introduce everyone to my new coral! It's a Green Star Polyp. Very mesmerizing to watch as it waves with current passing it. Looks like a wheat field with a nice summer breeze. I picked it up because my LFS is moving and is try to get rid of some extra stuff. It looked nice and i got a great deal on it. It also has some Mushrooms polyps on it, which i need to figure out how to move off that rock and onto a new one.
Here's a nice close up of the Mushrooms there are four there, two blue/purple(center and far low right), one green(left side), and one red/pink(center to the left of big blue... very small). I was surprised that all the polyps opened up on the GSP within just a few hours, everywhere i've been reading says it usually takes several days for it to acclimate and open up, maybe i'm just lucky.
I also picked up a few snails and about 6 blue legged hermit crabs which are fun to watch.
So i now that i have it all in my tank... parts of the GSP are not even connected to the rocks.. they are just kinda flapping around on the back and sides... after a few days or weeks (to let the acclimate more) i'd like to frag them off so they aren't just flappin' around. This i think i can handle on my own.
But, i want to get those four mushrooms of that rock, i don't want the GSP to overgrow and kill them.What would be the best approach? Chipping that section of the rock off with a chisel/hammer? Can i scrape them off and attach to a new rock with a rubber band? i have no clue how to handle that. Any suggestions would be helpful.
So i stopped by my first club meeting this week. After a little dedicated searching online and inquiring in all the local stores, i found out that there indeed was a local club. The meeting itself wasn't spectacular topic wise or anything, but i was excited in the amount of helpfulness and advice that people were giving. It's a small group and very friendly.
At the end of the meeting they have an auction! I picked up some more mushrooms (green this time) and a small rock of 10-25 polyps of Sunburst Zoa's. They have opened up nicely and the shrooms are starting to attach to rocks in a little bucket. I'm very excited and i'll take pictures later this week as i get less busy . I have an interview this week!! but, lots of school work as well
YES!! I got the internship I applied and Interview for! (I know this has nothing to do with my tank, the next one will i promise.) Any way, it's a year long internship for a world leader in the pharmaceutical and bio-tech research industry.
I'll be their newest IT Intern in about a week when i start. I'm excited cause i'll work on a rotation between 5 sub departments including Software development and Programing, Infastructure, Data Management, Help Desk, and a Service Center. I still haven't decided what part of the IT industry i want to work, and since i have about a year left till i graduate i need to figure out which i like best!
Anyway, next post is exciting to me too just waiting on the lame YouTube servers to finish processing it.....
icon under their name to add to their reputation. 
Everyone i know lost stuff, one guy even lost most his tank because he couldn't find a generator until his power came back on... Well i avoided that catastrophe and i didn't lose any of my freshwater fish either, so i'm happy.
