Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[Michael Hoaster]

I got a descent pic of the purple anemone!



About time! I love this beautiful creature, and its elegant life form. It's also a new responsibility. It should outlive me.

[Michael Hoaster]

Also, notice in the background to the left is my long suffering tan sea whip. I moved it to a less bright but more favorable current position, so maybe it will be better able to catch food. And moving it out of the brightest light might be beneficial as well.

[karimwassef]

It's a gorgeous pet

[Michael Hoaster]

I've been thinking about the next phase…

Sponges. What do I need to do to accommodate them?

Right now I can provide them with good hard attachment points-the fake wall, the fake root and the live rock. The right one third of the tank is dimly lit, compared to the left, and there is a ton of water current churning through that end of the tank.

So, I'm in good shape so far, but the real key will be to provide the right food for them. I'll have to keep tweaking the recipe to my 'tank brew', which is what I feed the tank as a whole. Ideally, that would be the only feeding I do. Tyree's book, Environmental Gradient covers the employment of living sponges to filter aquariums, specifically, reef tanks. I am going to try to use these methods in my seagrass tank.

I may reemploy the bio pellets. Having additional bacteria should be good for sponges and other filter feeders. Not having to dose with vinegar again will be a bonus!

[ichthyogeek]

I'd assume that you'll need phytoplankton, which some of the macroalgae is constantly producing, bacterial floc (a byproduct of the results of vinegar dosing), and some other form of filter-feeder food, maybe a fine-grade coral food. Which species are you looking at? There's this awesome blue one that looks like Montipora at first, and the "infamous" chicken liver and pineapple sponges, as well as the giant barrel sponges, but what do you have in mind and where do you think you want them?

[Michael Hoaster]

I've had the blue one! It's photosynthetic (rare for a sponge) and a Pacific species, so it won't go in this caribbean biotope. Great sponge though! I had a Moorish Idol and he loved it, unfortunately…

I've been adding powdered phyto and zooplankton to the daily feeding, and I hope the sponges will consume some, but I imagine it won't be that easy. I expect to have to feed them some live food too. Hopefully, the sponges will eat stuff that other tank mates produce.

I've been looking at the caribbean species, like tree and ball sponges. What I'd like most of all is the purple tube sponge! As I noted above, the right side of my tank should be ideal for them. I hope to attach some to my fake mangrove roots.

[ichthyogeek]

Did you say Pacific photosynthetic sponge? Well then...I know what my reef tank is getting next!

I've heard that powdered phyto has a larger diameter than other types of phyto, something about needing to put it in a blender for a bit to get it to small enough particle sizes.

Additionally, maybe invest in some Caulerpa racemosa or similar Caulerpa macroalgae? The species that quickly go sexual, I think, would provide great food for the sponges.

[Michael Hoaster]

If we're talking about the same blue sponge, I highly recommend it!

I've heard that about the powdered stuff too. Hopefully, I can figure out an 'easy' way to keep sponges happy. I think the bio pellets will help.

I've got caulerpa racemosa all over the tank. It disappeared, then came back…everywhere!

[Michael Hoaster]

I was just examining my live rock. Each piece has some kind of sponge(s) on it. Most are encrusting types. I have one that looks like a small, yellow ball sponge. They all appear to be doing well, but not springing up and taking over.

I guess I could call these my test sponges. If I can keep them alive and happy, then maybe I can add some more decorative varieties…

[Michael Hoaster]

New addition! A Pederson's Anemone Shrimp. He's a monster, at over one inch long! Not a great pic, but I'll try again later.



Ironically, he cost more than the anemone! Still, I saved cash buying from my LFS and not paying for overnight shipping.

Introduction for this guy is particularly tricky. He's small enough that the barnacle blennies could take a shot at him while he's exploring. You can't just dump him on the anemone. He'd get eaten. He's got to first find the anemone, then do the gradual process of covering himself with anemone slime, so he can hang out. He's been as close as 8 inches to it, so maybe soon…

[sam.basye]

Is not cleaning the front glass part of your minimalist plan??

Neat shrimp! How much do they move throughout the day? I've seen one at my lfs that looks like a dead molt because it doesn't move.
I'll have to look through my honeymoon pics - I think I got a picture of one hiding in a nem. Hard to see the shrimp. I'll post it if I can find it.

The seagrass and macros are looking great as well!

[Michael Hoaster]

I know, it's bad! I didn't want to spook the little guy, and with all the snails, I hardly have to clean the glass these days. But its pretty obvious in this pic!

He hardly moved at all yesterday after introduction. Today, he's exploring more and eating stuff. I let him have a few bites of the shrimp I was feeding the anemone. I was hoping to lure it closer, but he didn't follow.

Yeah, the macros are just sorta finding their own homes, like tumble weeds. The seagrasses are doing great. I'm getting lots of daughter plants from the turtle grass. Not as many with the manatee grass, but several have grown all the way to the surface. One of these days I'll have a nice little meadow!

[karimwassef]

Love that shrimp. I got one by accident in a bubble coral.

[Michael Hoaster]

More pics!

The Lagoon is coming along nicely. So much motion and color!


So much current coming out of that end of the tank! The macros can barely hang on here.


Anemones are just stunning to me… not to mention the blue macro hitchhiker!

[Whiterabbitrage]

Another important thing for sponge health/ growth are silicates. They need silicates to build their spicules, which is like their skeleton basically. I've had really good results dosing Sodium Silicate that I got from a chemical supply house. Do a search on RC and it will bring up dosing details. Good Luck.
Nice Condy 'Nem by the way. Gorgeous color.

[Michael Hoaster]

Thank you Morgan, for the tip and the compliment! Sodium silicate.

So you've had really good results with sponges? Would you care to elaborate? Or share a thread? Any experience you could share would be very helpful.

There are veins of silica sand throughout my substrate, that I added just for sponges.

Today I reinstalled the bio pellets. This will generate additional bacteria, that the sponges themselves will consume, as well as other tiny stuff sponges eat. It's cool to feed the very bottom of the food chain. I'll watch the test sponges to see if they respond favorably.

In the initial deployment of bio pellets, my tank wasn't mature enough. There weren't enough tiny mouths to feed at that stage. And I got an excess of bacterial films and clouds, so I discontinued its use. My setup is more mature now, with lots of plant material, some sponge and feather worms, and a healthy pod-pulation, etc.

[ichthyogeek]

Hmm...just thinking out loud, but how would veins of silica sand help? From my understanding of using silica sand in saltwater aquaria, organisms (specifically diatoms) can't utilize the bound silica. Wouldn't dosing regular amounts of live diatoms like Isochrysis species be more beneficial since it provides nutrients and silica? Adding sodium silicate does sound like a good idea though...

Speaking about bacterial blooms, I've found that hatching brine shrimp with their cysts on leads to very clouded hatching water (read: bacteria)...so if you feed brine, you end up feeding bacteria for the filter feeders, and zooplankton for your zooplanktivores...

[Michael Hoaster]

So, the sponges can't get at any silicates from the silica sand? I thought that was one of the reasons people stopped using silica sand, that it led to excess diatoms. Oh well! I like your idea of feeding sponges with diatoms. I guess I've got some studying to do!

[saltwater sam]

It's looking great, Michael! Very nice colors and movement.

[Michael Hoaster]

Thank you, Sam!

I was just posting a few pics and everybody's gone all 'siencey' on me! Thanks guys!

By the way, Mr Pederson, the shrimp, still hasn't gone to the anemone. I actually herded the little guy over next to it. He checked it out, and wanted nothing to do with it, wandering away. So, at least he knows it's there. I'd feel a lot better about it's chances to survive if it would 'move in' soon.

[ichthyogeek]

Silica sand: That's what I heard, that diatoms are a result of nutrients, not the sand used. Personally, I never got them when I set up my first tank with silica sand (but a lot of cyano though).

Do you know if your shrimp's compatible with the anemone? I know that some anemones/shrimp aren't compatible with each other...so it may be that you have incompatible species; alternatively, maybe hte shrimp doesn't feel "threatened" enough, so doesn't need to go to the anemone?

[Michael Hoaster]

Yes I'm pretty sure Pederson's shrimp is compatible with condylactis anemones. But they aren't the only anemone they cohabitate with.

Interesting thought about him not feeling threatened enough. Maybe he hasn't bumped into the coral banded shrimp in the night.

[Michael Hoaster]

So I did a little reading, and it seems there is some disagreement/discussion on the point of silicate availability when using silica sand. So I'm going to take away that my silica sand additions are not harmful and are possibly helpful for sponge growth in my tank.

I'm not finished reading, but here is a quote from Randy Holmes-Farley's Advanced Aquarist article: "I’ll discuss issues around measurement of soluble and insoluble silica, and also describe some of the sources of soluble silica in reef tanks, including a demonstration that release from “silica” sand can be substantial."

I'll do a bit more reading and report what I learn shortly.

[Michael Hoaster]

OK, so after doing some more reading here's what I got: (and these are broad generalizations)

Sponges feed on very small dissolved organic matter (DOM), which we have plenty of in our aquariums - on the order of 10x natural seawater.

They need soluble silica in the water, so they can build their spicules. Our tanks are rapidly depleted of silicates, so dosing is suggested, using Sodium silicate.

They also feed on bacteria and only the tiniest of the phytoplankton, namely Nannochloropsis.

Depending on the species, some larger planktons may also be consumed. Assuming we already have these in our tanks, I think supplementation of these is unnecessary.

For me, going forward, I want to change only one thing at a time, to see what's helpful.

I have first, implemented bio pellets, to increase bacteria production. I'll observe my test sponges over the next month or so, to see if there is any change.

Next I will dose sodium silicate.

After that I'll try feeding with nannochloropsis and/or a food containing diatoms.

With all the algae I have in my tank, I may already have enough phytoplankton to keep sponges happy. With the silicate dosing, diatoms should increase in my tank, and cleaning the glass will be de facto feeding diatoms for them.

[sam.basye]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

and cleaning the glass will be de facto feeding diatoms for them.

You actually have to 'clean' the glass for that to be effective..

Your condy is really pretty and looks like it belongs in your biotope, like it was naturally growing there! The vibrant splash of purple really pops.
Side note - is it a 'dyed' nem? I read somewhere recently that collectors/exporters in foreign countries often dye some anemones because they think it adds value for when they sell them to us. I want sure if the condy comes in a color other than cream/purple tips and reddish/orange stalk.

I found the pics I was referring to, but the shrimp came out blurry in all them.

Keep it up! Can't wait to see a jungle o' seagrass in there one of these days.