Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[jraker]

Originally Posted by sam.basye

Just remember; when you kill something you think is an easy addition and that you're the only one who ever has - you're not. You may be the only one to openly admit you have though. Lol
I've killed gsp, xenia, and cheap zoa's. Lol you're not alone...

Exactly. Fungia and favia have died quickly in my reef tank, but acropora and other SPS corals flourish.

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks guys. I'm not too bummed. I think it's healthy to admit failure. It doesn't happen that often. It's humbling.

I may have stared at the blue scroll algae enough to believe it's grown. Could be a Colorado thing…

[McPuff]

Perhaps I missed this but have you considered the Molly Miller blenny? It has been shown to consume aiptasia and cyanobacteria. And it's a funny little CARIBBEAN fish (very wide distribution in fact). :0)

[Chasmodes]

Michael, your tank is amazing. I haven't read every post on here, but have read many of yours from the beginning. When I get more time, I want to go back and study them. I'm interested in incorporating some of your ideas into my tank build. My biggest difference is that my current plan has a sump and that I'll have a heavier fish load. Well, the entire concept is different, but what I mean is your simple approach and letting nature take its course with your tank.

I really love the blennies and the gramma harem too. Another cool blenny would be the pike blenny sold on the site where you've obtained your other fish. I have never kept one, but have read great things about them. Also, that website sells a dartfish which might help full the middle of the water column. Gobies also do well and shouldn't be a problem with your other fish. The cherub angel might be a cool addition too and hopefully wouldn't be a bully.

Good luck with this tank and I will be following. I have some catch up reading to do though to fill in the blanks before I ask any questions. No need to rehash old stuff

[Chasmodes]

Originally Posted by McPuff

Perhaps I missed this but have you considered the Molly Miller blenny? It has been shown to consume aiptasia and cyanobacteria. And it's a funny little CARIBBEAN fish (very wide distribution in fact). :0)

Now I did have a molly miller for years, great fish and I agree with that choice!

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks for the suggestion, McPuff.

I've considered the molly miller blenny, but I figured with six barnacle blennies already… I had no idea they eat aiptasia and cyanobacteria! I'll reconsider them.

[Michael Hoaster]

Welcome Chasmodes and thanks for the compliments!

I'm glad to hear you like the concept of nature's solutions. I had originally planned to have a sump below and a refugium above the tank. But after some thought, I realized they weren't necessary for this type of tank, so I went on a simplification binge. In a world where everything is computerized, I just wanted a very simple aquarium situation, where I could rely on my experience and my giant head, and see if Mother Nature could be employed to "replace" all the gizmos.

Eventually, I'd like to have more fish, but I'm kind of picky, with the biotope thing and many other factors. Right now, I'm patiently waiting for the berghia nudibranchs to take out the aiptasias. Since predation is a concern, I have to wait on new fish.

That Pike Blenny is cool! What have you heard about it? All I've read is what they have on the KP's site. Also, can you tell me more about the Molly Miller? Does it perch and hop, like a lawnmower blenny? Can I have more than one? Herbivore? Omnivore? Anything you could pass along would be great. I've looked at the dart fish as well. It sounds like they live in association with jawfish, which I don't plan to keep. I bet they would adapt nicely to the gramma caves in the back wall.

I'm impressed you plan to read the whole thread! There's some great discussion in there. I look forward to discussing more with you!

[sellmecorals]

Not able to see the pics for some reason =(

[Chasmodes]

Oh, I understand where you're coming from. I read about the first 30 pages of the thread, then kind of skipped around for updates, and finally cheated to see where you are today Now I need to go back and find what I missed.

Pike Blennies: I think that they're similar in behavior and diet to your barnacle blennies, but they have bigger mouths, so I'm not sure if they eat shrimp or not, or even small fish. They don't forage much, rather, they're ambush predators. Males put on quite a show when they have their battles for dominance, but they're all bark and no bite. Other than that, not aggressive to other fish that they can't swallow. They find a tube or bottle or something that they like to hide in and pretty much hang out there. Check out the "Pike Blenny Ocean Realm" on YouTube.

Molly Millers: I kept only one, so I can't answer about more than one, but I think I remember a site that sells them and they captive breed them. They had a video with literally hundreds in a tank. They are omnivores. Mine preferred meaty foods, but once in a while it would graze on algae. They might be a problem with shrimp. My blenny had its favorite perches and did hop around like a lawnmower blenny. I also had a red spotted hawkfish, and although they did chase each other now and then, they seemed to get along OK with no damage to each other. The blenny can hold its own against larger fish, but it didn't pick on anything other than the hawk but only when it came too close. As far as blennies go, they aren't shy and you'll see them move throughout your tank and find places to perch. My molly miller lived for 4 years until a power outage wiped out my fish. It was nice and fat, and grew to about four inches. It was one of my favorites. They aren't colorful, but they would look really cool, blend in, and feel right at home along with your macros and manatee grass.

I don't know much about dartfish, but I was thinking that they'd fill out the middle of your water column some.

I love the idea of having silversides. You might find some info on the NANFA forum about their husbandry.

[Michael Hoaster]

Yeah, reading long threads is kinda tedious. I've done it with threads I'm particularly interested in, but not many. Feel free to ask me anything. I consider this a running discussion.

I checked out the NANFA forum. I found some info on silversides. It sounds like they are disease magnets and pretty fragile. Hmm… I'd really like to do a schooling fish, but yikes! This kinda puts me back on blue chromises or copper sweepers.

I also saw your thread. An oyster reef sounds very cool! After setting up this tank, I found some small mussels, but they disappeared. The tank was still cycling and I didn't have much plankton yet. It's refreshing to see someone else doing something other than the same old coral reef!

Thanks for the info on those fish!

[Chasmodes]

If I can ever get my tank going, once established, I will try to keep silversides perhaps. I think that the hard part is keeping them alive from the water to the aquarium. Once in a tank, I think that they do OK. I'm lucky that I think that I live close enough to collect them and keep them alive. We'll see. I'll let you know how it goes.

The clingfish that I catch locally are really cool. If you can find a Caribbean species, maybe that might be a neat odd thing to add. They aren't destructive, but their mouths are big for their size, and they will eat whatever they can catch and swallow.

Thanks for checking out my thread. Hopefully I will have something good to share soon. I'm now debating having a sump at all. My problem is what to do about an overflow. I have quite a bit of bracing all the way around my tank, so a C2C would be tough. Your success has me thinking if I need it at all. Maybe I'll save it for a future tank.

By the way, I meant to mention that the picture in your post 1902 is fantastic. I love that little blenny peeking out of the barnacle in the distance!

[Michael Hoaster]

Cool. I haven't given up on silversides, but what I read today gave me pause for sure.

Good luck with your tank!

On the overflow/sump question, if you're not putting the filtration in the sump, it has to be in the display. I did it with plants and detrivores and the food chain. What will you do it with? How about plants from the bay? That would be cool!

Thanks for complimenting the photo! I get a good one every now and then.

[cHRoNzZe 619]

Amazing looking tank .... I tried to go threw most of your comments/threads and wow I must say I learn a lot just by following this thread, it's great to see a big system with no skimmer(wait Im sure you don't have a skimmer right lol) hard to soak in all this info at once so I'll be stalking your thread for a while... I'm currently setting up a 150 tank for macro's and now I feel a bit more comfortable doing so after seeing how much info is in here... Really enjoy the look of a natural type system

[cHRoNzZe 619]

The dictoya didn't make it??? Wow that's a first I had a small piece that went ape $$$T on my display had to get 4 tangs in a 120 to control it .... I think I still have a few small batching growing in my macro tank but I also keep that algae trimmed ...

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks cHRoNzZe 619!

Yeah, there's a lot to take in! A lot of good discussion.

No skimmer, no sump, no mechanical filtration. I am using a canister filter as a multi-reactor, with CO2 injection and calcium carbonate media, bio-pellets for bacteria generation for sponges, and regular bio-media for nitrate generation. The rest is handled by the plants and various food-chain organisms.

A 150 macro tank sounds awesome! Got a thread for it? I'd love to follow along.

Yeah, the dictoya didn't make it. It was a bit ragged when I got it, and my tiny strombus snails just devoured it all in about 3 days. This wasn't that indestructible dictoya that overruns tanks, it was much more delicate and pretty. I have some hope that it may come back, but with the way those snails went after it, I kind of doubt it.

[Chasmodes]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

On the overflow/sump question, if you're not putting the filtration in the sump, it has to be in the display. I did it with plants and detrivores and the food chain. What will you do it with? How about plants from the bay? That would be cool!

That's what I'm thinking. Honestly, I was looking to do the same thing with the sump just being a big fuge, no filtration other than biological, using either macros or an ATS.

By the way, do you still have a gorgonian? If I ever get my tank to full salt, I may try and collect some further South in the Bay.

[Michael Hoaster]

With your oyster reefs, it may look weird to crowd them with plants, so it may work better to put them in a sump/fuge. Acrylic tanks are so easy to cut and drill, etc. I've done a ton of mods to mine. Regular, wood, hole saw bits are cheap and work fine, as do regular jig saws. Depending on how you place the tank, you could do a coast2coast, or a corner overflow. Plus, you can put them on the outside of your tank, so they don't take up any space. You can even skip the overflow and just use screened bulkheads, but you won't get the great surface skimming of a long overflow, and they could clog.

Do you have any plans to soak/cure your reefs? It seems likely those oyster shells would leach some stuff that might cause an algae bloom. A trash can or baby pool might be handy for that, or you could put them in the tank with no light, and change the water frequently until it's done.

I know it's a bit daunting to start hacking away at your brand new tank, but it may be about that time! Good luck!

I still have 3 gorgonians. None are thriving, in my opinion. I'm sure I could do more to favor them, but I want them to work without any special treatment, like target feeding. I know I'm way too lazy for that. They have to survive with my regular broadcast tank feeding.

[Michael Hoaster]

I got two new sponges and a tree grasilaria today. A red ridge sponge and an orange fan sponge. Ironically, the sponges looked much better than the grasilaria, upon arrival. Both sponges are in the four inch range, which I like. I want to start small and see growth. I got the sponges wedged into some live rock holes in pretty dim light, far to the right. I knocked lose all three of the fake roots in turn, in the process. They pressed right back on. I placed the tree grasilaria under the same rubber bands I used for the late dictoya. It looks cool on the roots, with the current. I don't think the snails will eat this one.

It's kind of fun to focus on the ecosystem-y stuff, while I wait for the berghias to do their thing. My sand bed is full of life, and I tweak it's composition as I see what it needs. The more diversity at the bottom of the food chain, the better. Sure, fish are the stars of the show, but the supporting cast is very cool too!

Rather than me maintaining a filter, I let everything settle out, right in the display, where it can be processed and recycled by the cast of thousands. It's just Mother Nature, taking care of my tank for me!

[Michael Hoaster]

I thought it might be fun to post some pics, showing the return of the macros, since I removed Zippy, the Atlantic Blue Tang.


April 19, 2016. Zippy is still here. Note the last remaining strongholds of caulerpa at the top of the back wall and around the barnacles. Most of the back wall, the fake roots and the DSB rocks are all but bare.


May 15. Not much caulerpa left. Fake root bare. Mom, the fighting conch, contemplates a big step down…


June 11. Almost no caulerpa! Seagrass is happy without the competition for nutrients, but the tank looks rather stark.


July 3. Caulerpa is making a comeback, on the back wall and DSB planter.

[Michael Hoaster]

August 8. After almost 3 weeks out of town, I returned to this. Massive caulerpa coverage, grasilaria hayi showing up on the roots, tons of coralline algae on the front glass. I wonder what's under all that caulerpa…


August 14. After a massive caulerpa pruning that filled a bucket, lots of other macros are revealed. Blue hypnea, and various red macros are bouncing back nicely.


August 29-two weeks later. Macros are growing like gangbusters! The blue light is added to the right end of the tank.

[Michael Hoaster]

The new guys:


Orange fan sponge bottom right. Top middle right is tree grasilaria.



Red ridge sponge left. Plating coralline algae mid right. Fan sponge shares a rock with a small ball sponge.



Both sponges visible, as well as tree grasilaria.

[JZinCO]

Not sure if you have addressed this but, do.you spot or broadcast feed your sponges?

[Michael Hoaster]

Broadcast. I'm feeding phytoplankton daily, for the sponges and the tiny crew. No mechanical filtration. Bacteria from the bio pellets. I'm dosing sodium silicate, for sponges and snails. Most aquariums produce lots of what sponges like, like DOM, dissolved organic matter.

[Michael Hoaster]

I pruned a lot of turtle grass. I pinched them off at ground level, so they are temporarily gone.



I like it.



The tree grasilaria and sponges.



Alien landscape.



Full tank.



After hours…

I pressed some plant tabs into the DSB for the manatee grass. I did the weekly dosing as well. I have upped the sodium silicate dosage, for the new sponges.

[Michael Hoaster]

I'm still liking the fewer turtle grass shoots. Less clutter, more negative space for the manatee grass!



We're a colorful bunch.



Right on que, the condylactis anemone is bigger. I fed it a larger piece of fish last week. Pretty conclusive!



Hey, this is my closeup!



The evil Corpse Bride Grasilaria. In this colorful company, it stands out being duller.