Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[sam.basye]

I wanna see those grammas living in all the condos you slaved over!

When will the fish list start burning a hole in your wallet??

[Michael Hoaster]

You and me both, Sam! It shouldn't be too much longer. Maybe a week or two.

I want to make sure I'm not adding new fish to an ammonia deathtrap. Having added the glutamic acid tabs the other day, which are a near pure ammonia source, I need to be careful. If all goes well, the seagrass, macroalgae and bacteria will be able to consume the ammonia and grow, keeping bulk water ammonia levels safe for fish.

So there's that, and then there's the 'wife factor'. I have to give a lot of 'credit' to her for my much-heralded patience. It would be much easier to 'get away with it', if I was just buying one fish at a time. But since I'm getting multiple specimens of each fish, and they need to be added simultaneously, it's kind of a big purchase.

So, I shop around the web for the best price on each fish and their shipping price, and compare to my LFSs', clear it with the wife, and THEN I pull the trigger. I make no impulsive fish purchases. I have a plan. I know how many of each fish, and their order of introduction.

Having twenty plus years experience helps me see the big picture, I guess. This tank is the biggest undertaking I've ever tried, and I'm putting it out there (here on RC), so I don't want to screw it up!

[Michael Hoaster]

Four days since I added two glutamic acid tabs to the DSB. No change. I kind of thought I would start seeing an algae uptick, but no. I pushed them very deep down in there. I'm trying to remember how long it took the first one to show any effects on the tank. It could've been a month. At first I thought it just contributed to the algae storm I got during cycling. Later, I noticed that one manatee grass shoot was growing a lot taller than the rest, and it was right where I put the first tab in. That shoot is still more than double the height of the others, with one blade over 24 inches tall and another about 18 inches now. So I have high hopes!

I'm not too worried about an ammonia spike in the bulk water. Between the grasses, the macros and the bacteria, I think any ammonia that escapes the DSB should be mopped up. But I want to play it safe with new fish additions. The remaining molly is showing no stress. In fact she seems to have adapted quite well to the increased current. And she cruises around, looking for tasty algae morsels. The other molly that went into the quarantine tank is getting fed some flake food, since there is no algae growing in there yet.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the tank's progress. The grasses are growing and the algae's receding. The fake wall and root seem rock solid, which is a huge relief! The one glaring mistake I made was putting the overflow about two inches(!) too high. So I have to run my water level almost to the top of the tank, to keep the ulva in it submerged.

Two solutions: abandon the 'field of dreams' refugium idea, remove the ulva and drop the water level. Or I could rip the overflow section of the fake wall out and cut down the overflow by two inches, and redo the fake wall section. Ugh! I don't think that's going to happen!

[sam.basye]

Crossed fingers for the grasses - still wanna see that thick jungle! Why don't you start rushing the process to get us to that point sooner?? Just throw all the fish in at once while you're at it.

I say leave the wall as is and deal with the high water level. The risk of not liking the end result isn't worth it and not to mention, the whole tank covered in foam dust!

[Michael Hoaster]

I can put the ulva further down, in the gap in the fake wall, lower the water level, and be done. If I can get my canister filter working properly again, I could go back to the separate fuge plan I had originally. I have a pump I could use if not.

I'm rushing the jungle along as fast as I can! I should post a pic. They're doing really well! I'm hoping they'll gain momentum and start spreading into a thick, lush meadow. All the veteran seagrass guys are telling me they grow rather slowly.

One thing I've heard repeated over the years is, in our aquariums, good things come slowly and bad things come quickly!

Even though the tank's not that exciting to look at right now, I carefully observe it everyday with two different power magnifying glasses. It's amazing seeing life on such a small scale! Fun stuff, for the obsessive compulsive aquarist!

[karimwassef]

I say go on vacation. Forget about it. Ignore it for a month.

A watched pot never boils ... And a magnifying glass scrutinized blade of sea grass doesn't grow (neither does coralline apparently).

[Michael Hoaster]

A month long vacation sounds lovely! Maybe somewhere I could go snorkeling. I can take my magnifying glasses!

[Michael Hoaster]

Not a jungle yet, but lookin' good!


The wall's geting a patina, and you can see the long manatee grass blades.


The red macros, adding some color.


End view, with the long blade visible.


Getting some new diatoms on the sand. Also, notice that grayish white patch on the sand? Using a magnifying glass, it looks to have some dark holes that look like oscules of a possible sand-dwelling sponge!

[JLynn]

It is certainly coming along. You bought the turtle grass as little seedlings, right? So it looks like they have grown maybe an inch or two... or maybe that is just wishful thinking on my part. The macro algae look happy, too. Good work!

It would be interesting if that was a sand-dwelling sponge. It would also be a minor miracle; how on earth could a sponge have survived the abuse that sand bags are put through?

[Michael Hoaster]

That's right, JLynn. The turtle grasses have grown substantially, except for a couple that may or may not make it. I'm hoping the glutamic acid tabs will help as well.

I imagine the sponge probably came in with one of the grasses, rather than the sand, which would be a miracle!

[saltwater sam]

Wow, looking great! The jungle will be filled in in no time!

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks Sam! How's the pickle weed? Any new mangrove species in the collection?

I'm hoping the grasses gather momentum.

I'm definitely seeing new diatoms on the sand, so I think the dosing is having an affect. If I trigger an algae bloom, so be it. If I get increased growth rates in the seagrasses, even better!

[saltwater sam]

The pickleweed project got scrapped, I'm not getting more mangroves until at least the spring! Getting some subzero temps already!

[Michael Hoaster]

That was a cold couple a weeks! I look forward to hearing more about your gorgeous mangroves!

Staring into my tank takes me to a tropical place, where the seagrass sways rhythmically in the current. I'm loving the movement of these plants! And they've got plenty of room to grow. And I can increase the flowrate as they grow in.

I was thinking about which invert I would add first to my tank. Out of anemones, gorgonia, or sponges, I'll start with some easy, photosynthetic gorgonia. I really need to get my plankton population to grow for these guys, though. At least the photosynthetic ones aren't wholly dependent on eating plankton. And they move in the current as well.

If the white stuff in my sand is in fact a sponge, I guess it already has a food source. I had planned to reinstate the bio pellets later, when I added sponges, as a bacterial food source. I wonder what this hitchhiker sponge is eating now. I'm amazed at the number of hitchhikers I've gotten from seagrasses and macro algae! Sea hares, aiptasia, a feather duster, and a few different worms. And now, this bizarre sponge, that rises from the sand!

[Michael Hoaster]

Just back from camping. Eight days since I added 2 glutamic acid tabs to the DSB. It looks like I've started an algae bloom. Lots of diatoms and a few spots of cyanobacteria.

As I said before, I'm willing to risk an algae bloom, with the ammonia dosing. If this one goes like my first one, that will be fine. And I expect to see the seagrasses gain momentum, like the one from the previous addition. Plus, more food for the clean up crew. Maybe it will even help my plankton population bounce back.

Here I am acting like an algae bloom is a good thing! I'll have extra padding in my padded cell, please…

My tank should have a higher capacity to absorb the surplus ammonia now, since cycling. So I don't expect it to get as gruesome, and for as long as my initial bloom.

One observation I can make is that the ammonia does not stay deep in my sand bed for long. I had theorized (hoped), that pushing the GA deep into the DSB would confine the release of ammonia to the sand bed. In the initial test I did in my fresh water planted tank, it appeared to stay in the bed, with no algae uptick. But that tank was root-bound and overgrown. The newer conditions in this tank appear to allow more pore water (interstitial?) flow-through than an older tank. Makes sense.

I think I'll move some of the macros back up from the QT, to the DT. Help out with nutrient absorption.

[Michael Hoaster]

A couple of the things I tend to buy at my LFS is salt and substrate. These items are heavier, and tend to be expensive to ship. Livestock too, can also come with a very hefty (overnight) shipping cost. So it's often cheaper to buy locally.

Online vender Pet Solutions, is making me rethink this strategy. They often have free shipping deals, where if you spend a certain amount, the shipping is free. Plus, their prices are already cheaper than most, to start with!

Right now, they have free shipping on dry good orders over $49, and livestock orders over $99.

I ordered 4 barnacle blennies at $25 each, a 200 gallon box of Instant Ocean for $44, and a digital thermometer for $7, all with free shipping. That's $151 worth of stuff and $0 shipping. Plus I saved $20 on the fish, and $10 on the salt, compared to the second-best-priced online vender! My inner cheapskate has a warm and fuzzy glow right now…

[JLynn]

Yay! The first fish!

[Michael Hoaster]

I found a great deal on barnacle blennies I just couldn't pass up. I ordered four of them. These are the smallest, most timid fish on my list, so they are the first additions.

Adding smaller fish first is a sound practice, that I've used for years. This will give them a chance to get comfy in their new surroundings without fear of harassment or predation by bigger fish. This also gives them first choice on housing. Hopefully, they'll live up to their name and choose the barnacle cluster I have, at the end of my DSB planter.

There is one exception to the 'smallest first' rule. For example, let's take another fish on my list, the Sunshine Chromis. These are considered a schooling fish. We all love it when our schooling fish swim around our tanks in a nice, tight school. But this behavior is often short-lived. Once the fish realize there is no eminent threat of predation, they tend to go their own ways. So, you can introduce a 'truant officer' fish to keep them 'in school'. This is a larger fish, that looks like it could be a threat, but in fact, isn't. For me, I could introduce an Atlantic Blue Tang, before the chromi, to keep them schooling. If I can get a decent level of algae going, that's probably what I'll do.

[karimwassef]

I agree on the truant officer. My big Naso is theory to keeping the peace I my tank. He's very very docile himself but his sheer size keeps everyone in check. That includes the schooling chromis I had for a week before they went down my oversize end to end weir netting... Holes in netting are larger than they appear.

They're schooling in my fuge and resist all rescue attempts.

My latest vid shows everyone feeding in peace.

[Michael Hoaster]

That's a nice vid, Karim. I had no trouble watching it, like the previous ones.

Plastic gutter guard is good for overflows. If you really want to catch those chromi, you can make a great fish trap, using a 2 liter soda bottle. Probably in the DIY section.

[karimwassef]

What do you think of the suspended rocks?

[Michael Hoaster]

I think it's brilliant! You've got lots of real estate to place corals, and lots of open space for the fish to swim. Plus it really looks unique.

What was your idea behind the configuration?

[karimwassef]

I was snorkeling in Mexico and I was against the breaking rocks between the open blue and the coral walls. The rocks reached above the water level but there were plenty of openings where the bright blue could shine through. The fish swam in circles in and around the rocks and the corals were being constantly crashed into by the waves on all sides.

It was like orchestrated chaos and all the life was healthy and vibrant.

So... I shamelessly plagiarized.

[Michael Hoaster]

Nice!

Modeling our tanks after specific places is much more interesting, than just filling them with a mishmash of stuff. Saying "I want to capture these characteristics in my aquarium" makes for a powerful vision! And can lead to some serious doityourselfin'…

[Michael Hoaster]

I moved a few of the red macros up to the display. I also bumped up the water velocity - bad combination. But, it lead me to try using superglue. I was successful at gluing several of them to small rocks. Yes!

I also moved some of the ulva down from the overflow, to the fake wall gap/overlap. So I've got extra macros available to soak up water column nutrients.

Another feather duster popped up. So that's two now. The new one's coming out of the substrate. The older one is on the DSB planter. More hitchhikers in a tank with zero live rock!

The algae bloom isn't taking off like I feared. The last one got worse and worse, everyday. This one, so far, isn't doing that. It seems no worse than yesterday. So, I'm cautiously optimistic that I didn't cause a massive algae bloom. Maybe just a small one…

I'm getting ready for the new fish tomorrow! I added some macro algae to the barnacle cluster, to help shade it. These guys will go right in the display, since the quarantine tank is cycling. I hope they like their new home. It will be so exciting, having these tiny fish with big personalities in the tank. The fighting conch is about to be seriously upstaged. I've watched a few videos of these little speedsters. The way they feed is…fast, like lighting-quick! Can't wait!