Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[Michael Hoaster]

Yeah. It was just an unfortunate coincidence.

[sam.basye]

Michael, how do you go about tying the macros to the root with fishing line?

Tying that crap is a big enough pain out of the water..

Do you have a secret method I don't know about???

[Michael Hoaster]

It is kind of tricky. I tie it around the root loosely, then insert the plant, before tightening it down. That worked for me.

[Michael Hoaster]

For the record, I have begun ammonia dosing today. It replaces nitrate dosing.

I have made this change in response to reading that seagrasses prefer ammonia over nitrate, as a nitrogen source. Previously, I had dosed ammonia in the substrate, to limit its exposure to the bulk water. Then I read that seagrasses prefer ammonia uptake through their leaves, rather than their roots, so I'm dosing the water column.

I'm very curious how this will affect both the seagrasses and other tank residents. I of course, am proceeding very cautiously.

Next, I may try substrate fertilizing with a plant tab higher in phosphate, than the tabs I'm currently using. The reason for this is, I read that the grasses prefer phosphate uptake through their roots. I've always assumed that phosphate was always present in high enough quantities, that I never needed to dose it. Maybe it's time to test that assumption.

I will test these two new dosing methods separately, so only one variable will change at a time.

[taricha]

I considered ammonia source over nitrate, but gave up on it after I concluded that ammonia is harmful at such low levels, that I could provide only what I felt was a minuscule amount of N via ammonia (like 0.1ppm) and could provide much more N safely as nitrate.(Like 10ppm)

I also suspected ammonia as a possible cyano booster, but the evidence for that is thin.
It'll be interesting what effects you see.

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[Michael Hoaster]

Very interesting, taricha. Thanks for sharing your experience. You make great points, especially about the different levels of harm, by nitrate v ammonia, and how that affects the levels of benefit. I will redouble my efforts to be careful. I don't want to throw everything out of whack.

[ichthyogeek]

Sorry if I have it wrong, but aren't tangs in general super sensitive to ammonia? What about the gorgonian? The blennies? I can get behind dosing nitrates in planted tanks because they aren't as toxic...but ammonia?

Also, aren't you just feeding the beneficial bacteria in the tank? Or is it different because plants are better at absorbing the ammonia?

[saltydog07]

Love your tank!!! Mind if I ask where you got your red and blue macro from?

[Michael Hoaster]

Yes, icthyogeek, I think the tang and the anemone would be the most sensitive to it. I did not dose ammonia today. I've just been observing. Do the grasses benefit? Does it harm other organisms? These are important questions. I'm not sure it's worth the risk. And yes, it is different because the plants soak up the ammonia efficiently. But, my first concern is all my pets' health. As I said before, I don't want to throw everything out of wack. Reconsidering!

Let me do a little more studying…

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks, and welcome, saltydog07!

live-plants.com.

[Michael Hoaster]

So, I've been observing the tank, looking for signs of ammonia poisoning. Everyone looks fine. But, I think I'll revert to nitrate dosing, until I can find more information. The risk/reward situation is not clear enough for me. And since things are going well as they are, I'm less willing to upset the applecart.

I did track down a quote right here on this thread: "I drip 5ml of ammonia is a high flow area of my 55G tank, once or twice a week" - Subsea. He keeps several soft corals and tangs in his macro tank.

In the end, ammonia dosing feels a bit like a risky shortcut. It may be too toxic to other organisms, to dose in high enough amounts to really benefit the seagrasses. Instead, I am upping the nitrate dosage, as a more low-risk change. I also hope to add ammonia the old fashion way-by adding fish.

[Michael Hoaster]

The seagrass meadow grows denser and taller.




Zippy keeps changing.




His constant motion makes it so in order to get a sharp pic of him, everything else is a blur.




Here he pauses momentarily, before turning and making another lap.

[sam.basye]

Sweet fish. One of my favorite tangs. How many pictures does it take to get 1 good one of Zippy? Lol

Who is to blame for the visible foam wall? Seems like either you're getting overzealous with the pruning or Zippy's appetite has grown substantially.

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[Michael Hoaster]

Sometimes I get lucky, or I'm gradually learning how to best shoot him, but usually it takes a lot!

It's actually the caulerpa's fault. It grew so thick at the top, that it shaded the rest of the fake wall, leading to sparse growth lower down. I have since removed the huge caulerpa overhang, allowing lower plants to come back.

[ichthyogeek]

Is that aiptasia in that last photo? Popping out of the racemosa? If so, are you planning on keeping it? Is it time for another fish like Mr. Zippy who prefers Aiptasia?

[sam.basye]

Originally Posted by ichthyogeek

Is that aiptasia in that last photo? Popping out of the racemosa? If so, are you planning on keeping it? Is it time for another fish like Mr. Zippy who prefers Aiptasia?

Yeah, Michael. Someone needs to get on that..

Did it get introduced with the caulerpa?

[Michael Hoaster]

I'm drip acclimating a new peppermint shrimp today, for the aiptasia anemones. I've had good luck with peppermints in the past. I had bought one a few weeks ago, but he must've been eaten, because I've seen no sign of it, and the aiptasias continue to proliferate. I looked into filefish too. My concern is that once they eat the aiptasias, they will go after something else. If I decide to add some zoas, I may consider one, as a grazer to keep them from overgrowing.

One thing I've noticed, after removing a huge amount of caulerpa a few weeks ago, is that my tank doesn't soak up the nutrient additions as quickly as before. So instead of increasing the nitrate dose, I need to decrease it. I also tried out the new iron supplement over the weekend. It's the Flourish brand, which is a little different, because it is the ferrous (Fe+2) form, rather than the ferric (Fe+3) form that I've used in the past. It's supposed to be more easily taken up by the plants, but it clouded the water for two days. I'm going to halve the dose for awhile. It definitely worked though. The reds are redder and the greens are greener.

All but one of the codium frags I had glued to the fake roots came loose. So I had to hand tie them - PITA! Putting two hands in the tank is tricky. A little while later, the last glued one came unglued…

[Michael Hoaster]

[Michael Hoaster]

[jraker]

Wow! Zippy is blue now. He looks cool.

[Michael Hoaster]

Well, the aiptasias are getting out of hand. The peppermint shrimp have been ineffective, other than being rather pricey fish food. You wouldn't think the royal grammas would be big enough to eat them, but they are and they do.

So, it's time to bring in the big gun-a file fish. I swung by the LFS, where they were unbagging new arrivals. They had a filefish still in its bag. I saved them the trouble, and brought him home.


Here's Phil, the new guy, doing his best impression of a leaf. These fish are sexable, so I may have to change it to Phyllis-we'll see.

[ichthyogeek]

Wait, but that species of filefish is native to Indonesia, not the caribbean. Is this a cheat species? Wouldn't Caribbean Berghia nudibranches be a better more native option?

[Michael Hoaster]

ichthyogeek, have you noticed that 99.9% of your posts to my thread call into question my methods? I have. It's insulting and it's getting old. I was hoping to return the favor, but I see you're not currently keeping an aquarium. Please, stop using my thread to show off your theoretical aquarium knowledge, and police someone else.

[ichthyogeek]

I thought about sending you a pm, but since you phrased it that way, I want to explain myself to the community/those who follow this thread.

Michael, I'm sorry. Without any advanced form of expression besides emoticons, I can't exactly show how I'm asking you questions. It's hard to convey the tone of voice when you're reading words on a computer screen. In my time here on RC, I've tried my best not to actively and intentionally negatively criticize any one person. Some of my comments could be read as that of some stuffy uppity person who has read everything and never touched a drop of water. But MOST (not the 99%) of them are me suggesting, commenting from practical experience with other things, and always with a tag along the lines of "not meaning to criticize." Yeah, my knowledge is predominantly theoretical with a little bit of practical. I read as much as I can so I can expand upon what I know, so that when I transition to more practical knowledge, I can build upon others' mistakes, and not repeat them. I have questions. You have, or are getting, answers that I want. Therefore, I want to expand my knowledge by asking you every question under the rainbow. Why this? Why that? Why, why, why? Did I ever intend to insult you? No. Am I trying to police you? Why would I, since, as you say, I just have theoretical aquarium knowledge. You have the (imo) more superior knowledge, since you're actually physically doing stuff. Experimental data trumps Theoretical data anyday.

When I have the time, I go through the newbie forum. I try to post on things I know about, like not keeping a lionfish or yellow tang in a 10 gallon. That's where I, as you call it, "show off", because what I say/ask is backed up by years of documented stories and data. With your thread, I ask questions, since I don't know the answer. Is there absolutely anything wrong with that?

Yeah, I want to know why X comes before Y. I want to know why A and B happen. I. question. everything. I question myself, and I question others, because I don't know everything, and want to know how others did it to get that knowledge.

Finally: I do keep a tank. It's a beautiful 55 gallon show tank with pairs of fish I plan to breed. But I'm in college, and can't afford to post a picture every week like you do, since I'm currently 5 states away from it, and it's being supported my automatic fish feeders and topoffs via my parents generosity. If/when I get my Banggai cardinalfish (the first pair of fish that will reach maturity in the tank) breeding this summer and post about it in the breeding section, please, question me. I like answering questions, since it forces me to answer.

Oh, and if you still want me to stop, just shoot me a pm to cease and desist or something. No need to crumb up this thread with 50 useless back and forths between two people.

[Michael Hoaster]

Phil is a temp. I'm in a near desperate situation here, and I couldn't find out whether caribbean filefish eat aiptasias or not. He will go into the qt or back to the fish store, once his job is done. Having said that, he is a cool fish! Kind of similar to a sea horse, but without the need for a species tank. I love watching him change colors to match his immediate surroundings. Fascinating!

Let me go ahead and confess another crime, for any other Biotope Police lurking. I don't think the tiny strombus snails, that are critical to my system, are caribbean-specific either. They used to sell them at Indo-Pacific Sea Farms, so I suspect they're from Indonesia. My justification for having them, is that I would think there is a caribbean equivalent species, and for all I know, these are them. Most importantly, they are VERY effective at keeping my seagrass and macros free of micro algae. The key, besides their diet, is that they stay tiny enough to climb seagrass blades that are only millimeters wide. Plus, they are one of two snail species I know of that reproduce prolifically in aquariums.

So am I disqualified from Biotopistry? I don't know. This is my first biotope. I'm figuring it out as I go. As much as I'm trying to emulate nature, and also be biotope-correct, I also have to deal with the reality of keeping all this stuff in a big, plastic box.