The Thread: Act VIII - Scene One

damselblue

LOL.  HOLY COW. All I have to say is this makes me SO COMPLETELY UPSET that it makes me sick to my stomach! I have written you Birdfish and you have not written me back in private to discuss this matter.     (Psssssst ... I'm confused ... didn't Damselblue say that Birdfish wrote her and told her "TOO BAD" ?) LET'S   SEE  THOSE PICTURES !!!!!!!!!!! Let's see your NEW   PICTURES of what it REALLY looks like ... hmmm ???? I have tons of pictures. You want more? I'll give you more. I've got TONS of pictures.     Wonderful!   I can hardly wait to see some more of Damselblue's pictures!!

You are not sorry. If you were sorry you would try to help me by correcting this. You would at least send me an e-mail personally and tell me how sorry you were that this stuff wasn't the best. Let's see you want to get quoted too? "Second, I want to say that it does not look like our fanciest stuff that is usually shipped."     Damselblue must have missed the first part of what Birdfish had to say ... "First, I want to say we are truly very sorry that Damselblue is not completely happy with her rock." Well, if it's not fancy like your website shows, then tell a person.   Show a person what they actually should be expected to get.   Obviously, you are disappointed in the rock I got, so how come you would not tell me that privately in e-mail? Also, how come you cut out things that I have e-mailed you and twist your words?     Birdfish twisted his words? Actually, he quoted Damselblue verbatim. I am a good hard-working person here. I am honest. Doesn't your website say ... "I recommend curing in a garbage can, using a backpak skimmer at a temp of 71-73 degrees because I prefer cooler temps when curing?"

Oopsy! ... This isn't a quote from the website! Here are some actual excerpts from the page ... We're big fans of Rubbermaid-type tubs and trash cans ... I often use Bak-Pak skimmers for this with great success, but any skimmer will do." ... "You should be somewhere around 1.020-1.021 and the low '70's ... 73 or 74 degrees F. is fine.   75 degrees is OK, but I like it cooler, so daytime heating doesn't overheat the water. Well first off, I knew that temp was too cold to begin with.   I left the temp a little higher than your website stated.     I wonder why Damselblue won't follow the website recommendations? Why don't you post your website here somehow for us for the last few months back where you DID tell people to do the dip? ? The website SAID to do the dip ????   Never !! NO, you didn't say 1.035 ... you said 1.030. Where else would I come up with that ?     I wonder ... where ???? This rock is base rock. More than one person agrees with me here. My photo pictures are not crap. I will take as many pictures as everyone likes. Please, if you want them, I have them. I have a digital camera with good photo quality. I will take several more pictures for you if you like.     Take MORE pictures?   Didn't Damselblue say that she already had TONS of pictures?  I can hardly wait for her to share them! I promise, the newspaper was ... NOT covering anything special !! LOL ! Why would I lie? WHY ?!?! What would be the point ???? I have nothing to gain from this? Nothing at all !

I spent almost an entire paycheck on this. Yes when I ordered the smaller piece box I was told I'd get smaller pieces and maybe a few larger ones. I know that only actinic lights should be used during the curing process.   I started off slow. I didn't use the MH.   Even though I am a beginner, I have done my share of research.

Pacific Specifics Not a big deal. Rock looks perfectly fine to me. You obviously have not seen very much rock in person, but if you had, you would know what is realistic and normal with live rock. You seem to think you will get an instant coralline covered tank ... not that simple. There are many reasons it loses color, even from the last shipper to you. In the end it will be pretty bleached compared to any photo once you clean it and it sits in your tank for even a day. Your situation seems perfectly normal.

damselblue I've read a lot. I've been to   A TON   of reef meetings and I'm sorry, but I trusted them.  A little note here ... I have recently been informed that the live rock only comes in two times per month.   Hmmmm... I wonder how this is news to Damselblue?   She had to wait for a shipment from Fiji before her live rock could be shipped to her. It is all held at LAX.   It sits there. Someone whom I trust recently got a shipment of Fiji with spiders in it.   Okay, everyone is telling me they're reef bugs. LOL ... I'm sorry no. They were black spiders. I'm not the only one who has seen this. Well-known websites, whom I will not mention, all do this.   The rock sits there. So, I don't doubt my rock sat there.   Damselblue's live rock was immediately shipped to her after arriving to LAX from Fiji.   She stated that her live rock had LIVE snails and worms ... how long can live rock sit and still have live snails and worms? Somehow spiders got into the rock. WHATEVER.

I was grossed out by that alone, but when I saw the rock, my heart sank. Please tell me, how do I attach corals to rocks that are shaped like boulders? How can I aquascape with that ?? Please, give me some advice. I'm not a stupid person. I know what's good, what's not. I've seen MANY, MANY, MANY live rock shipments. Base rock is not void of all life as you state Birdfish. I'm sorry, but this is not good rock. E-mail from Birdfish:   No one ever complains about the "bad guys" coming in with it.  So, don't worry, except that it will be hard to identify all you find on your live rock!   That was in response to my question about the bugs and spiders. Here's more ...   Bugs are usually amphipods, very good to have in the tank.... The brown thing I can't get a size on from the photo, but looks like a retracted zooanthid if small, or a cucumber if larger, and neither a threat. The snails are not whelks. I am not sure which type of mollusk they are, but they are not whelks. I don't see anything here that is alarming.   Not whelks, hmmmm....not alarming? The snail I sent you a picture of was a coral eating snail!   The cucumber or retracted zooanthid, (laughing out loud) was a sipunculan, the snail you said wasn't a so-called "BAD GUY" was a Vexillum (Costellaria) exasperatum.     Okay everyone ... let's all laugh at Birdfish for not identifying Damselblue's photos! That Birdfish ... he's SO foolish!   Isn't he??? Also here is what you state on your Live Rock Curing page ... You should be somewhere around 1.020-1.021 and the low '70's ... 73 or 74 degrees F. is fine.   75 degrees is OK, but I like it cooler, so daytime heating doesn't overheat the water.   When the rock comes in, you should inspect it.   Using a putty knife, or screwdriver, or maybe a preferably gloved finger, search for soft spots. 70 ? That's pretty low.       Whoooooo said 70 ????? "... low '70's ... 73 or 74 degrees F. is fine ..." Here is what you state about coralline algae: Though purple coralline survives a week out of water, little else does.     This comment is in reference to live rock that has been out of water for a week or so and not flown in directly. I wonder why Damselblue is commenting on this? Her live rock wasn't out of water for a week and had live marine worms and snails! So if my pictures were so bad, where is all this coralline I was supposed to get?

Pacific Specifics I see much more than 5% on the rocks shown, even with the poor quality lighting. MUCH MORE. Looks over 50% to me, with much of it bleached. Try posting a pic with the lights on. You realize some coraline is green right? Brown? Red? etc..  I see lots of green coralline on yours, good stuff, mine eventually mixed with purple.   All of it is good, I like a mix. Sorry, he is right, base rock is completely dry and devoid of any life.   It can only be seeded with some live rock.

damselblue I know coralline is green and brown. Thank you for the input. Quote:  Sorry, he is right, base rock is compeletely dry and devoid of any life. It can only be seeded with some live rock. No, I'm sorry that is not true. Have you ever read The New Marine Aquarium? The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, or the Natural Reef Aquariums book by John H. Tullock? Base rock is still seeded with life. Check out those books.   They will tell you.

Continue to Act VIII - Scene Two ...