Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[saltwater sam]

I had one that was so aggressive that it not only killed my fish and snails, but it would very ambitiously attack my hand whenever it went in the tank. I'm sure they're not all that bad, but it's a good example of what they're capable of.

[Michael Hoaster]

Good to know. I've been counting barnacle bennies every morning. So far, nobody's vanished.

It's tough to know what kind of trouble they might cause, since they hide all day. It's surprising, since there's no big fish in the tank that might threaten them. Maybe they're laying low with babies, or they're molting or something.

[carmelpi]

My pair are living in the "fuge" of a large peacock mantis shrimp tank. So they are not the aggressive critters in my tank lol.

[karimwassef]

Aggression is not always negative. When I see my little banded monster grab a hold of a footlong fireworm and snip it into small edible pieces, I feel complete satisfaction.

The sentry has fulfilled her part of the bargain!

[Michael Hoaster]

I don't think I've shown the tank from further out.






So cool and natural!


And from the end.

[carmelpi]

Love it!!

[karimwassef]

Awesome!

[Michael Hoaster]

One thing I've noticed is that my fake wall is turning into a pretty good algae scrubber. And the green macros are easy to rip out by the handful, for export. Plus, it looks very natural. I love the way all the plants move with the current.

[saltwater sam]

Everything is looking great!

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks, you guys! So far so good.

I'm dying to add new life, like more seagrasses, a condylactis anemone, and several sponges. Not to mention some fish! But I gotta hold down the spending for a while, after building up the new bike. That's OK, it keeps me from making too many changes too fast.

[karimwassef]

I'm snorkeling in Cancun and there are a few shallow zones here covered in seagrass and several other kinds of algae. The sargassum is extreme too. I don't think anyone has ever tried a sargassum tank!

[Michael Hoaster]

Jealous! Wish I was snorkeling…

Taking any pics? Keep an eye out for the Queen Angelfish-such a beauty, especially in the wild! I saw one snorkeling in Tortola once.

Yeah, sargassum's not the prettiest of the macros, for a display. But with its associated fauna, it could be a cool tank concept.

[carmelpi]

I had a sargassum tank once. Not intentionally, mind you - it came with my live rock and grew to epic proportion, taking up half of a 125. It was really really cool. I would like to plant it in my fowlr bc i have a queen angel and sargassum trigger who would live it.

[Michael Hoaster]

The Queen is one of my favorite fish! I'd love to have one in my tank but I think it would be too boisterous for the peaceful community I have planned. And my tank is probably a little small for one.

I'd love to hear about your experience with this fish. Would you care to share? I see you also have a Trigger, so are you rockin' a 'Rambo' tank?

[carmelpi]

I am rockin a 240g fowlr inhabited by quite the rambunctious group.
King of the tank is Bitey, my humu picasso trigger.
His second in command is Snappers, the sargassum trigger.
Queen of the tank is Veronica, our queen angel.
After those three we have Mr. Fabulous, our very large blue bird wrasse.
Harleen Quinzel, our harlequin tusk.
Sergeant Major Wiggins our sergeant major damsel.
thing 1 and thing 2 (thing 2 lives in the sump now after thing 1 turned on him) our black and gold chromis.
Kaylee our maroon clownfish.
Grandpa Nommers, algae blenny
Scribbles, scribbled rabbitfish
Mr. Freckles, purple tang.

My macro tank has one inhabitant and that's Ripley, my peacock mantis shrimp. In the fuge i have 2 bonded gold coral banded shrimp.

[Michael Hoaster]

Well, I finally added a new resident - a Purple Condylactis Anemone! I picked a spot for it and sort of made a little nest using some rocks. It took a few tries, but it seems to like the location. It hasn't moved in 3 days, so I'm hopeful!

I fed it a piece of shrimp. It seems happy, and so beautiful! I'll have the pics to prove it shortly…

[sam.basye]

Can't wait to see it!

[Michael Hoaster]

Here it is from a little ways back, so you can see where it is in the tank.


A little closer. Probably the best shot I got this morning.


From another angle-a bit blurry.


Close-up. Not too sharp, but you get an idea how pretty it is.


I really got lucky with this one. I knew that I wanted to add a condylactis anemone next in my tank. I wanted to see if I could get one to settle in and not wander around killing stuff, before I added anything else. I also wanted a purple one. I saw a few available online, but the cost of shipping, (and the stress to the animal) was discouraging. I wandered into my LFS one day and there it was! And cheap!

I, of course, have been studying up on them. One of the key factors with this one is very high light. These guys tend to live in the brightly lit shallows, like in a seagrass lagoon. My 400 watt MH at 6500K seems to be keeping it happy. It has never moved from the original spot I placed it. I think it gets a little of the food I feed the tank, plus I target feed it a couple times a week.

So I'm psyched! I love anemones. Like the seagrasses, they move with the current, which is just mesmerizing!

[karimwassef]

You should get a sea whip and gorgonia forest like Cancun reefs

[Michael Hoaster]

I was planning on adding gorgonians. I have a small one now, but even though it's a photosynthetic variety, it's not doing so well-just a long slow decline. I talked to a guy who was in charge of a gorgonian tank, and he said it was a pain to maintain, with constant live plankton feeding, to keep them healthy. Which doesn't sound too compatible with this confessed, lazy aquarist! So, I may rethink the gorgonians, unless I can find one I like that is easy to keep happy (and alive). We'll see.

A gorgonian forest tank would be awesome, but I'm really more focused on a seagrass meadow for this tank. I think it would be tough to provide ideal conditions for both.

[karimwassef]

The photosynthetic ones do well under MH.

Based on my snorkeling last week, the turtle grass grows in deep (10') and turbid conditions.

[Michael Hoaster]

That's what I heard too, but mine is not doing well. I really want to keep Caribbean gorgonians, but I won't if they're too difficult. I'll keep an eye out for an easy one though. I'd like one that required no direct feeding on my part. Relying on photosynthesis (and an occasional random morsel) for all its needs would be best. Hopefully, I can find one compatible with my slackness…

Assuming the condylactis stays put, I may add a flower anemone or two next. Then I'll add some symbiotic shrimps and crabs. That will be cool!

By the way, the pair of coral banded shrimp I added a couple weeks ago, are still hiding in the fake wall. All I ever see of them is the tips of their antennae. I guess they're doing their thing under cover of darkness. One of them did molt, and it looked like one of them may have had babies when I bought them, so who knows. I still have a lot of snails. But it doesn't seem as out of control anymore. I think I'll go take a peek with the flash light…

[karimwassef]

The water motion is a constant back and forth rocking. Nothing close to anything I've seen in a tank.

Even my surge doesn't do it right. I have alternating water flow - flowing from the left, the right.

The real motion is literally the entire water column shifting to the left and then right... Shifting - Not flowing ...

Did that make sense?

[Michael Hoaster]

I understand the surging water movement you're talking about. The Monterey Aquarium does a good job mimicking that. I've seen wave boxes in home aquaria do that as well. Are you suggesting I attempt that for gorgonians?

Isn't it funny, when we see the real deal, we realize how inaccurate we are with our tiny boxes!

I'm attempting to mimic a strong tidal flow, like in a protected lagoon, with the pumps I already have. I have them set up for a gyre flow pattern, which does move a lot of water, but not in a surging/rocking motion you speak of. More like a rectangular whirlpool! If I had more pumps, I'd love to mimic the tidal cycle, reversing the flow every six hours or so. I guess the ultimate flow pattern would combine tidal and surge flows.

I did take the flash light to the tank last night. Sure enough, the coral banded shrimp were out and about! I couldn't see if they were going after snails, but, like I said, they don't seem to be quite as out of control as they were before. So, between the 2 coral banded shrimp and the 4 blue legged hermits, I think I got what I wanted - a mild predation that keeps their numbers in check.

[karimwassef]

I've seen the Monterey and it's good. My surge is pretty good too. The difference is that the natural action has no flow. There is no outlet pushing water this way or that. It's the entire space of water that is shifting.

The only way I can describe it in a small reef tank is to put the entire rock work on a moving underwater dolly. The move that back and forth. The sensation to the corals (and me as the diver) is not that of 'flow'. It's of complete translation against the surrounding water.

The coral motion is also not 'flow'. The shearing ripping flow from a surge is nothing like having every particle of water move at the same speed in the same direction against a fixed reference, gently and gradually. It is comparing the cube of water volume being instantaneously shifted, to the same volume being pushed at one location or another. It's different.

The corals and grasses sway very significantly as if the flow was massive, but the flow pattern is so uniform that they're not stressed...

Dirt doesn't settle and it literally feels like the ocean is breathing in and out and every sessile organism breathes with it.