Bob never emailed me any acclimation instructions
They're probably in the box. If not, here ya go...
Please be sure to thermally acclimate each bag by floating them. Also slowly add tank water to the bags to further acclimate them before adding them to the system. Again, I suggest a slow acclimation - take a good hour to fill the bags completely.
I strongly suggest you add all the water from the bags. While this is not a typical practice, it is when adding planktonic life. This water may be very dirty by the time it gets there -- from shipping. Each bag has alot more life in it then the numbers promised in the auction. Most of these are very small so I would literally wash the bag out in the tank -- after all other acclimation procedures are completed. This will insure nothing is stuck to the side of the bags.
The bag with the plants also has the snails and loose
pods. If you want to see them you must look up through the bag. You should hold the bag directly over your head and have the bag directly under a light (like a ceiling light) -- look for them on the bottom. I gave you several species of Macro. It is important not to add to much macro at once or it could absorb all the nutrients and then crash. Allow smaller colonies to grow to the extend your systems nutrient load can sustain them. You have a good mix of species. The
pods will live here as well.
The sand should be added to your system in one pile -- as deep as it gets. This can be changed after a day or so but it is best to leave it in a pile initially so the critters can acclimate and crawl away on their own. Some of the worms are very small and some are not. Please try not to create to much of a cloud when you add this bag. This is where you will find tremendous species diversity. There is plenty of life in the sand -- if you want to put some in the main tank it's ok. Look for stars crawling out.
The shells are also live and house many
pods and worms. Again, please put this in one or two deep piles. You might move substrate away from the front glass and add the shell pile there. Then you will be able to see the
pods live and grow in the gaps between them. These shells seriously help pod growth. If you put them in a refugium, again please keep them in a pile and dont mix other substrate with them.
Please turn all powerheads off when you actually add the bags to the system -- just for 10 minutes or so. Please add the shells before the plant/snail bag and then add the plant/snail bag contents to the system directly over the shell pile. You will have a much higher survival rate if you do this.
Please contact me with your thoughts at your convenience. If there is any problem at all, do not hesitate to let me know. And I am always available for questions and want to be sure you are pleased.
Thank you
Robert Sullivan
