Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[sam.basye]

We all want pics of the new fishes in their new home!
Sounds like everything is going smoothly as well.

[Michael Hoaster]

Absolutely! Pics are forthcoming. I have no idea when to expect fedex delivery, other than some time before 8 pm. My guess is early/mid afternoon. Fedex tracking page does not load, so I used their 800 number.

Yes, everything does appear to be going smoothly, which is a little hard to believe. I guess I'm not making the same mistakes the 'old me' used to make. Maybe I've learned a thing or two over the years. I'm not bragging so much as struggling to comprehend it!

The algae bloom seems to be stalling. As I hoped, the tank's 'carrying capacity' seems to be large enough to handle the extra nutrients from dosing ammonia in the DSB. I've been carbon dosing all along as well, using vinegar.

All the dosing I've been doing is just for the seagrasses. Hopefully, I have optimized conditions to help them get established. I've been careful. I tested the effectiveness of the glutamic acid pills by only using one at first. The result was pretty conclusive, with the one manatee grass shoot closest to the pill growing much bigger than any of the others. So this time (post cycling), I added two. So far, I've gotten an uptick of diatoms and a tiny bit of cyanobacteria. In another week or two, I expect to see an uptick in seagrass growth.

With the addition of carnivorous fish, I'll have to start feeding. This will provide nitrogenous waste and phosphate. Carbon will likely be the limiting factor, so I'll continue with carbon dosing.

After observing the tank this morning, I spotted a couple of new anemones, I think. They are tiny and white/clear. They don't appear to be aiptasia, which, even at that small size, are obviously pink/brown. So, if I had to guess, I'd say condylactis. Yet another freebie/hitchhiker!

[Michael Hoaster]

Four barnacle blennies arrived safe and sound today. I'm drip acclimating them now. I was nervous because I had to make an errand run, and it's pretty cold out. I went through a receiving procedure with my wife, just in case, and she did great. The fish arrived 5 minutes before I did. There was a heat pack in the cooler. Assuming all goes well, I can heartily recommend Pet Solutions for livestock.

These guys are pretty tiny! Hopefully they'll take to the barnacle cluster, where they can easily be seen. They are comically small relative to my tank's size!

Pics on the way!

[Michael Hoaster]

Just to warn you these are not very good…


See him in the barnacle?


This one has been hanging around the DSB planter.


This one hides in plain sight. He's so small, he just looks like the substrate.

I placed them all close to the barnacles on introduction. 3 out of 4 went right in. Then they started wondering around…

I fed them a little and they ate well. I have no idea where they'll all end up, but they seem to be doing pretty well. The molly has been curious, checking them out. If she gets too close, they strike a fearsome pose, with their mouths agape. Their eyes are ridiculously big for their size, and they move independently, so they don't miss much!

[sam.basye]

Happy blennies! Them barnacle blennies look tiny in a 20 gal... not to mention the enormous biotope you've created.

Barnacle blennies don't eat algae like the tailspot or bi-color species do they?

When will the next addition of fish be??

[Michael Hoaster]

Yes, they're hilariously tiny in my tank. Correct, they don't eat algae. They are zooplankton pickers. Their feeding behavior, lightning fast advance and retreat to snatch a bite and hide again, is very entertaining. And their large eyes seem to express their feelings.

They seem to be settling in well. I'll know more tomorrow.

Not sure when and which fish will be next. I'll probably give the tank a little time to adjust to food input. I could add the royal grammas next, or the chromises, or the blue tang before the chromises. It'll be cool, watching the tank gradually coming alive with fish!

[JLynn]

Wow! Those cuties are itsy-bitsy! Nice to know that Pet Solutions has good livestock. I have never heard anything about them before.

Why would you add the tang before the chromis? Aren't you supposed to add the most aggressive/dominant fish last to prevent bullying? I am pretty sure tangs are more aggressive than chromis...

Also, what is the plural of chromis? I am pretty sure it isn't chromises, but just plain chromis doesn't sound quite right either...

Yeah, it will definitely be neat to see the fish trickling in.

[sam.basye]

Goose Geese

Moose Meese lol

Chromis Chromees :P

I don't think anyone really knows the plural form. It's Chromis' for all I know.

[karimwassef]

chromii if chromus, but it sounds good

[Michael Hoaster]

You know, I asked the interwebs, and they said chromises. I had been calling them chromi.

JLynn, I brought up the idea of a 'truant officer' fish, to keep schooling fish in school, the other day. The tang is a more boisterous fish, but not a real threat to the chromises, as they don't compete for food. But having a bigger fish encourages them to school. And I love seeing fish school in my tank!

It's a counterintuitive idea, for sure. You've got to be careful. And you have to be prepared to remove a fish, if it doesn't work out. But it can be an effective stocking strategy.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! I'm thankful to have such a fun group of guys to talk about this hobby/obsession with!

Cheers!

[karimwassef]

Every fish has a different personality. I was lucky with my Naso. We was another keeper's fish for years before he got too big for his tank. His demeanor and temperament were exceptionally well understood. I wouldn't trust a wild fish or a recent arrival to a LFS.

[Michael Hoaster]

I've got some new pics of the turtle grass, but first, can you spot the two barnacle blennies in this pic?

The smaller ones like to sit out on the substrate, while the biggest one likes the barnacles.


Four out of six turtle grasses are showing very good growth.


I'm seeing blades in the 6 - 7 inch range now.


I can definitely say I've seen an uptick in growth rates in the last couple days. Woohoo!

I'm really psyched with my seagrasses! Only two of the thalassia are struggling, and they still might make it. And the shoal and manatee grasses are doing even better. I think my methodology is working. It will be interesting to see if their progression in my tank mimics their progression in nature. Shoal and manatee grass are pioneering species, getting established earlier. Turtle grass moves in later, after the pioneers provide the conditions that better suit them.

Bottom line is, I'm just glad I didn't kill them!

[saltwater sam]

Love the seagrasses! Glad to see them coming around!

[Michael Hoaster]

We have a guest coming, so I did a quick (ha!) tank spruce-up. I needed to re-glue some of the red macros to rocks. If I can get these plants to lock into the rocks, it will really help. It makes it so easy to move them around and adjust them. Perfect for the obsessive compulsive aquarist!

The barnacle blennies are eating well. Today, two of them started exploring the fake wall. They were hunting down some benthic plankton! Very cool to watch them maneuver on the vertical surface, in the current. They plugged themselves into some tiny holes too!

I'm getting some height on more of the manatee grass. I think this is my favorite. We'll see how the turtle grass grows. They're all beautiful.

[sam.basye]

Hows the foam wall holding up? and have you decided which fish will be invited next to join the biotope?

[Michael Hoaster]

I'm seeing an uptick in algae/cyanobacteria, since I got the blennies. I may be feeding too heavily. I will have to adjust the meal sizes.

I swung by the LFS to see if they had any nassarius snails. It appeared they did not, but one of the sales guys found four tiny ones for me. Nassarius snails are great for cleaning up uneaten food. They are not algae eaters, but their scavenging helps to prevent algae, by consuming food before it can 'feed' the algae.

I also bought a gorgonian frag. This one is tan/orange, and around eight inches tall. It's photosynthetic, so I won't have to feed it much. After trying different placements, I settled on putting it on the DSB, in the grass bed. It gets a good flow of current and plenty of light, so I hope it will be happy there. So far, it's not fully extending its polyps, so I'll give it a few days to see if adapts.

[Michael Hoaster]

The fake wall is doing very well! By which I mean it hasn't moved. It's getting a nice variety of algae and other unidentifiable stuff. I've gotten a little bit of a preview of the holes and caves being used, by the blennies.

Royal grammas are likely the next guests. Not sure when though.

[sam.basye]

"Royal grammas are likely the next guests. Not sure when though" - How about tomorrow???

It must be tantalizing having to look at the tank without the 'vision for the tank' (grammas) actually living in it. I'm sure the sea grasses definitely help keep you from rushing the process though. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to see those royal grammas utilizing them caves!

How do you feed the tiny blennies? Seems like a difficult concept with the drastic size comparison.

And post a pic of the gorgonian for us to see.

[Michael Hoaster]

Tomorrow sounds great! It is tantalizing, for sure! Imagining a 'wack-a-mole' wall of grammas in my tank is exciting. True also that my first priority is to get the seagrasses going well. With cyanobacteria growing, I need to get nutrients under control again. It's an adjustment, changing from not feeding at all to 3 feedings a day!

I just put the blennies' food in the current, and it circulates through the tank. So they get more than one shot at it as it circles around. They've gotten pretty bold too, being the only fish besides the molly.

I'll try and get a pic of the new 'sea whip' tomorrow. I'm hoping for the polyps to extend, as they haven't yet. If they don't within another day or so, I may move it to a different location.

[Michael Hoaster]

Still no polyp extension on the new gorgonian. I think it might be in too strong a current. I'm going to move it. Luckily, it's mounted on a plug, so it's easy to move. It maybe time for a water change. I'm cutting back on fish food amounts at feeding, but I'm not liking the cyanobacteria. Time for some export…

[karimwassef]

Did you check in the dark?

[Michael Hoaster]

Yes I did. Several times. It just doesn't look happy, for lack of a better word.

[karimwassef]

Water change?

[sam.basye]

I had two sea whips in the past. They are very strange, but pretty.

I found a yellow one and a red/pink one washed up in the surf in SC. To my surprise, they were still alive when I looked in my bucket of ocean water. Full of white polyps on each.

Sometimes they would both have all polyps extended and other times only half would be out or the yellow one had all polyps out and the red had none.

I had it under light to light/moderate flow and probably not the best water parameters.
They lasted about 6 months until I had to make room for more corals.

Hers a pic of the red one.


Good luck with yours!

[Michael Hoaster]

No water change yet, but I did export some cyanobacteria. I also moved the gorgonian, reglued macros to rocks, and modified the flow deflector on my turbelle classic. I filed it out, so it doesn't deflect as much. I really like the flow much better. We'll see how the gorgonian likes it…