215g Caribbean Inspired Reef

[euromomtx]

My little oyster cove is up. Got 3 small spiny oysters. (had a big one before and it was so heavy I left it sitting on the sand)
The 3 inch oysters were small enough to glue to the side of the rock work.
One has very pretty pink/orange ricordea growing on it.
The other is very fuzzy on top with red sponge underneath and the third is fussy on top with green/orange ricordea on the side.

 

[Trichome]

That has to be neat watching the group of jawfish. I love the a lot. I am going to try and get a pair of them in my 180g tank i am setting up. Your tank is looking great. If you looking for a cool school of Caribbean fish check out the Blue reef chromis, (Chromis cyaneus).

 

[dfd189]

Looking good....

 

[euromomtx]

Thanks!
Trichrome. I've looked into the blue chromis. They are so beautiful! What I found out though was that they mostly school naturally as juveniles and then later pair off and don't want to school anymore. Perhaps that's one of the reasons you hear of people keeping chromis successfully for a little while and then eventually have them die off until only one or two are left.
I like to keep my fish for many years so I decided to not take a chance on the chromis.
My schooling fish are another cheat: anthias.

 

[euromomtx]

a video of the whole tank
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[Chihuahua6]

Wow! I love your tank! The shadowbox is superb, the nicest background I have ever seen. I love the gorgonians, the aquascaping and of course the jawfish are adorable. Just one question regarding your Carribbean inspired theme. Where is the Royal Gramma? That just happens to be my favorite fish ; )

 

[euromomtx]

Thanks Amanda. I cheated a bit on the fish since I had some of my old fish moving over too.
I heard that the Royal Gramma can be quite territorial and most of my fish are very chilled out. I didn't want to risk adding a trouble maker (it's hard to catch them in such a big tank).
I am still considering the addition of perhaps a chalk basslet and a small group of masked gobies. Maybe a pair of rusty gobies.
Of course none are as stunning as the RG but I don't want to jinx it now that everybody is doing well and nobody is bothering the others.

 

[Chihuahua6]

Aaahh rumors ; ) I actually had a harem of five Grammas and it was spectacular. I never had an overly territorial or aggressive one and I have had a few over the many years in the hobby. I understand your concern though.

I enjoyed watching the videos of your tank. It is truly unique and stunning. It's nice to see something so different from the usual that really works.

 

[Paul B]

This was taken in the Caymans if it helps you

 

[adddo]

Very nice tank!

 

[euromomtx]

Oh Paul, nice Montastraea!
As you know hard corals are not offered for sale from the Caribbean but I got a nice Pacific Montastraea from Blue Zoo that looks a lot like its Atlantic cousins!

 

[Paul B]

Looks great

 

[euromomtx]

a little more progress... my feeding finally got far enough ahead of the biopellets for some macro to do okay in the tank

Cute little anemone shrimp found a ric:

Some of the jawfish are getting pretty pudgy. I wonder if they are fat or gravid?

 

[The Punisher]

That FTS is pure gold, I think you pulled off exactly what you were trying to achieve.

 

[adddo]

That FTS is pure gold, I think you pulled off exactly what you were trying to achieve.

+1

It really does looks like a piece of the ocean!

 

[Briniel]

I completely agree with what's been said above. Great tank, I personaly like this natural look a lot more than those candy-coloured SPS tanks. Need some movement

 

[auem]

the tank really looks cool...great job....

 

[Bello]

I don't really post often... but this is brilliant!!

The tank looks awesome, unique! You've had something in mind and pulled it off perfectly.

Wish I could see more biotope tanks like this!! And its not just the livestock... Your aquascape looks pretty good too!!!

Excellent!

 

[CorkPullerPHL]

My new favorite tank? I think so. It's as natural of a reef environment as I've seen in a home aquarium. Awesome.

 

[euromomtx]

Thanks! It's actually currently my favorite tank as well. I am enjoying it quite a bit.
I am not into SPS but I'd love it if once the tank matures I could add a couple of brown staghorn acro to the display. I think it would really complete the look.

This has been a lot of fun so far. It's neat to be able to speak to the collectors and have them get specific stuff (like the spiny oysters I got from Dana at Cramer's Caribbean Critters) or all the info that comes with livestock like the items I got from SeaLife Inc. And it's wonderful that everything is doing so well probably in large part due it not sitting in some holding container forever. The time from collection to my aquarium seems to be very short.

I also like how things are not so obvious. I have to point out the oysters to visitors or they go unnoticed. I love watching the porcelain crabs at night reaching for food, find out where the scallops decided to attach to and which Ric the anemone shrimp choose.

I also got a little group of masked gobies yesterday but am still waiting to see them emerge. Hopefully nobody ate them... :0