Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[Chasmodes]

Maybe you can trade him in for store credit or something at your LFS after you catch him?

[Michael Hoaster]

Definitely! IF I catch him…

[Chasmodes]

"Ten thousand dollars for me, by myself. For that, you get the head, the tail, the whole damned thing.”

[eastlake]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Thanks chasmodes. In the last pic, the green plant towards the left is the tufted joint algae. The new caulerpa is seen at the far right behind the red gracilaria. Basically, there are two strands of it - with one at each end of the DSB, running back to front. I also put a piece up in the overflow-turned-refugium.

The blennies are doing well. Most of them hang at the right end of the tank, where they are less visible, which is kind of a shame, but they are still fun to watch. Having kept the barnacle blennies before, I expect they will explore more of the tank, over time.

I like your thoughts on gene pool mixing and pecking orders. My concern with the grammas is mostly due to the unnatural limitations of my aquarium. Big Daddy is large-probably four times the weight of any newcomers, and he's had the back wall all to himself, for months. An influx of new 'girlfriends' in nature, with unlimited room, would be no problem. Anyone that didn't feel welcome can just swim away. Not so in my tank. THAT is my worry. I remember the smallest member of the original harem struggling to integrate. There were times when it looked like it might not make it. How will having a large, established male affect the scenario? I suspect it will be something of a war zone, before things eventually settle down. But how many fish do I lose in the process? Would I lose fewer fish without him?

I think I'll go and set my fish trap…

Originally I had one big male gramma, similar to your present situation, and then I later added 2 much smaller gramma. The only struggle that occurred was that he couldn't find algae to build nests with fast enough lol, and then sadly when his girlies died he stopped eating as though he lost the will to live and passed. But each situation is unique, that's not to say that yours would just reject the newbies, it very well may be easier to start with a new colony I'm sure you'd have no problem rehoming the fellow you have now. But my experience was a positive one. Thought I'd throw my two cents in.

[Michael Hoaster]

Jaws?

Thanks for chiming in, eastlake. That's very encouraging to hear. I have faint hope of ever catching him. You said he was a good guy to the new girls, but then you said they died. He had nothing to do with their deaths?

[Chasmodes]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Jaws?

Yep. I love that movie. My demented mind moved from hiring a fisherman to a Jaws quote.

[BonesCJ]

Question: how many Mollies do you try to keep at a time?

[Michael Hoaster]

It's a classic for sure! Demented? Yep! Who puts oyster shells in an aquarium? Weirdotown, population: you.

BonesCJ, it varies with the mollies. As you may recall, I first bought them to make babies/feeders for my ill-fated Lookdown adventure. Then I kept them around to help with algae control, during hypo salinity. Now, I'm feeling like I don't need any, so I'm down to one in the display and two in QT. I still have the fish trap set, so hopefully I'll catch the last one. It was cool when they had a bunch of babies.

Sorry for the vague answer. In my opinion, the most important number is how many males to females. If you want babies, two females per male is recommended. If you don't, then no males, or no females. If I had an algae problem, I'd try to get their population up again, or if I needed feeders. If you don't mind the rather freshwater look of them, they are very handy to have on hand!

[Chasmodes]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Yep! Who puts oyster shells in an aquarium? Weirdotown, population: you.

You've got me pegged!

[Michael Hoaster]

It was my highest form of compliment.

[JohnZena]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Thanks JohZena! As I wait impatiently for the seagrasses to come around, all the other plants are doing nicely. I'm also seeing new stuff popping up on the back wall that looks kind of 'turfy'.

You back wall idea sounds amazing! How about some 'in process' pics? You could do a thread just for your wall alone. I have questions. How are you keeping the live rock alive, through the process? How are you affixing the rock? What is the wall's purpose? I'd love to hear more!

It is actually a funny story. I had wanted Fiji rock and hyperthetically I qas willing to go to Fuji to get it. A dozen trials and tribulations later I couldnt find any decent Fiju rock. So I bite the byllet and get some gorgeous clean Caribbean rock. About a month later Im reading on a site called Offer Up and thia guy is selling Fuji Rock for dirt cheap. Long story short he has 200 pounds of Fiji rock sitting in a horse watering vatt filled with saltwater for the past 2 months. It was a beautiful purple with sponges and pieces of coral all over it. My heart was pounding. $200 later it is sitting in a Brut garbage pail filled with saltwater growing like mad. Waste not want not I came up with the idea for a wall. I made a little mock up and it was way beyond my wildest dreams. It was awesome. Now keep in mind that in between all this I am being tranferred and am in the process of moving. Hence the delay.

Sent from my LGMS550 using Tapatalk

[Michael Hoaster]

Sweet! Keep us apprised of your progress. Good luck with the move!

[Chasmodes]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

It was my highest form of compliment.

That's the way that I took it. Thanks!

Do you have any pics of your blennies? What fish species are now in your tank (stock list)? How are the Chromis doing?

[Michael Hoaster]

Right now I have three sailfin blennies, four barnacle blennies, a molly and a royal gramma. I haven't gotten any good pics of the blennies lately, as most of them hang in the shady end of the tank. They just look like rocks! I'll try and make an effort to get some decent pics.

The three blue chromis are doing well in QT and eating well. They prefer the smaller cyclops to the mysis. They are a gorgeous blue color. It sucks I lost two, but I'll learn from this and add it to my experience with them. I'd love to have a large school of them, but maybe it's best to start with fewer, while I get to know them. I'm very curious to see how they differ from blue green chromis, in regards to how well they get along in the confines of my tank. So far, observing them in QT, they seem much less aggressive. I've yet to see a singe squabble.

The back wall is getting less and less bare. Lots of unidentifiable stuff popping up. I'm seeing some cool, turf algae as well. A couple of them are starting to show what look like small, round 'leaves'. I think they are caulerpa racemosa, coming back from the grave! I'm trying to think how to get rid of them without leaving a trace. Maybe I incorporate a plastic bag in the removal process. I could also inject the site with ammonia. I guess if that stuff comes back again I'll have an excuse to get another Atlantic Blue Tang, or another herbivorous fish.

[Chasmodes]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

The back wall is getting less and less bare. Lots of unidentifiable stuff popping up. I'm seeing some cool, turf algae as well.

I love that aspect of trying to replicate nature. It makes a tank that much more exciting as long as the things popping up aren't pests!

[Michael Hoaster]

Me too! Making my tank look like a natural place is the goal. I have truly enjoyed my fake wall. It's a fascinating challenge, combining random, encrusting organisms with things like plants that you purposely plant. Last weekend, while pruning, it occurred to me that what I'm doing is basically gardening, with the added complication of ecosystem building, all in a pretty confined, underwater environment. Aquarists are an ambitious bunch, aren't we?

I feel like I'm learning a lot more about the natural world, utilizing nature's players, to achieve some semblance of balance. It seems so normal to me, yet I often feel like a very tiny minority, in this rather tech-obsessed hobby. Where some see excessive detritus, they think mechanical filtration, and I think detrivores. To each, his own!

[Michael Hoaster]

Here's a pic of two of the sailfin blennies:



I must admit, I'm a little disappointed with them. I'm not seeing any of the 'flagging' demonstrations they are known for. The largest male is rather pugnacious, trying to prevent the others form eating, including the barnacle blennies. I much prefer the interactions of the barnacle blennies alone. I'm concerned the barnacle blennies may not get enough to eat. If this keeps up, I may decide to move them to QT or trade them for store credit.

[Chasmodes]

Cool little fish. Too bad they're all in the same area of the tank. Seems like a tank that size should have plenty of other hiding spots (the barnacle blennies, I mean).

I bet if you put a mirror up along side the tank, you'd get that flagging behavior! Unfortunately, that might make them more aggressive. Maybe they only do that when they're about to spawn?

Good luck with them. Hopefully, they'll come around and behave. If not, gotta do what you gotta do!

[Michael Hoaster]

I'm just back from a great eclipse camping trip! Mother Nature put on a great show!

So, the big sailfin blenny (I'm calling him Leroy) did some 'flagging'. It was directed towards the remaining, small molly. So this was territorial defense flagging. There is also male to male flagging and male to female flagging. In case you're wondering, it is a display in which they rapidly erect and collapse their sizable dorsal fins. I'm still not really digging them. It would be so much cooler to just have more barnacle blennies, who are much less aggressive.

[Michael Hoaster]

I forgot to mention I added a sea cucumber to the detrivore crew last week. It's a pretty, beige one. It's been hiding during the day. I should go take a look now, at night... Nope. Well, the lights haven't been off that long.

Also, today I exchanged my 5lb CO2 tank for another. I have to change it 2-3 times a year. It a great way to get the most important nutrient to your plants.

The recovery continues. The red macros are coming back nicely. Sponges are popping up here and there. Even the seagrass looks better. The new tufted joint algae and caulerpa look OK. I think they'll make it. Back wall flora is coming along. I've gotten several plants wedged in and holding, plus, there's the small patches of caulerpa racemosa making a come back.

I still haven't eradicated the aiptasia anemones, but I'm keeping them at bay, sort of. If I keep at it, I think I can beat them. I'm still using a syringe to inject them with ammonia, which also serves as a nitrogen supply for the plants. Ammonia is not as safe as potassium nitrate, but plants prefer ammonia over nitrate. Plus, I have a very low fish load right now and a lot of plants, and the dosage is low.

The 3 blue chromis still look good in QT. I think they have another week or two to go. I sure look forward to the injection of life and color and movement to the tank!

[Michael Hoaster]

I lost yet another blue chromis in QT. So, now I have two. It's pretty discouraging! On the bright side, It's much better happening in QT rather than the display.

I'm hopeful that getting CO2 going again will get the seagrasses growing at a decent rate. They have looked better lately, but they aren't growing explosively. The macros look good, with the exception of the caulerpa cuppresoides. The two strands on the sand bed are falling apart. That's exactly what happened when I first added racemosa. Then it came back when conditions were favorable. There is one piece high up on the back wall that is doing very well, and another, I think in the overflow. Those small turfy looking tufts I have popping up do appear to be racemosa, so I also have that coming back. I had hoped to get rid of it but I have to admit, looking at old pics, the tank looks better and more natural WITH it than without. So I think I'm not going to put up a fight. It could also give me the chance to try another herbivore to control it.

The (blue) hypnea pannosa is coming back nicely. The grasilaria hayi is really coming back strong on the fake roots, which looks so cool. The nemastoma looks great too, with such a vivid red. Various turf and micro algae are popping up as well, which adds to the natural look as well as water purification. All in all, I'm happy with plant growth. I'm not to lush and beautiful yet, but we're getting there!

I think I'm approaching a fully-staffed detrivore community. Lot's of great worms and pods, serpent stars, the fighting conch and now the cucumber. The only thing missing is bivalve mollusks, which I'd like to have, but are not easy to find. I have seen one burrowing clam available, but I think it is more of a filter feeder than a detrital deposit feeder, which I'd prefer. Maybe it's something I can get with occasional additions of live sand.

With the exception of the depressing chromis, all is well, and I'm on my way to having a pretty tank again!

[Michael Hoaster]

I've thought of a couple more detrivores I'd like to add: micro brittle stars and mysis shrimp. I'll wait a bit on the mysis, to make sure I have enough plant cover for them. I'll add micro brittle stars when I find them available.

Ulva is mounting a comeback. Several small plants have popped up, including one on the fake root. This is exciting because it is naturally and securely attached, and it looks cool in the current. Botryocladia is also popping up, which is cool, since I've never had success with them.

I added another three plant tabs to the DSB, to see if they can help me get those grasses growing. Since I haven't had much luck with them so far, I did just the 3 to see how they do. These tabs have high phosphate, and since seagrasses prefer root uptake of phosphate, it seems like they should be helpful.

[Chasmodes]

Hey Michael, how is the tank doing? I need my Caribbean fix!

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Ulva is mounting a comeback. Several small plants have popped up, including one on the fake root. This is exciting because it is naturally and securely attached, and it looks cool in the current. Botryocladia is also popping up, which is cool, since I've never had success with them.

It's cool when nature shows us that it can do better than we can, even in our own systems

[Michael Hoaster]

Not much to report. The macros are still growing well and the grasses still aren't. Lots of turf algae (which may turn out to be C. racemosa) popping up on the fake wall. My voracious plague of snails has kept a lot of the small stuff small.

I'd like to get the grasses figured out before I do much of anything else.

[Michael Hoaster]

Snapped a few pics before I prune this weekend.



Red and Brown Grasilaria has taken over the rock wall of the DSB planter. Tufted joint algae just behind. Seagrass looks pretty good but it's not multiplying as fast as I'd like, but I'm working on it! Big Daddy and Seymour, the beautiful sea cucumber, showing off. There is a turf emerging on the back wall that looks like it might turn out to be the caulerpa racemosa I thought I'd wiped out with hypo.



Leroy Brown. Big ol' sailfin blenny.



G. hayi on the fake root. On the back wall, I've used push pins to affix some blue scroll algae. I tried this one before, in dim light without success, so these are in brighter light.



End view.