30g. Florida/Sargassum Biotope

[Redstratplayer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9054021#post9054021 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmanrow
In Summer months the Gulf Stream's warm waters bring juvenile tropical marine fish, and I'm sure Sargassum Weed, up to the northern Atlantic states of the US from the South. Although they will not survive the winter, they can be collected during the warm months.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9029924#post9029924 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fishfreak218

Thats what i thought because i have seen alge that looks like his pics^^^^^^.Also i have seen what look like some kind of Damsel.

Ill try and collect some.

In fact i set up a 10gallon local jersey shore biotope every year for collecting and studying fish,crabs,snails,alge and micro fauna.

 

[Fishfreak218]

hmm, never knew that... I stand corrected.. anyway do you guys this 2 Maxi Jet 900's on a wakemaker pointed at surface will be enough for the Sargassum?

 

[skylsdale]

Since it's all based on the idea of a floating bed of Sargassum, I would ditch the substrate all together and stick to a BB setup, mimicking the open water with the attention on the actual Sargassum patch. Just let it go wild and wolly in there, allowing the IT to become the substrate (which is what happens in the wild).

 

[alexlaser]

oh my god, i wish i lived near the ocean so bad. does anyone know were you could buy saragssum and fish that live in it?

 

[got2envy]

This is an awesome idea! following along

 

[curlykid]

^+1 i've always daydreamed of grass-bed and sargassum tanks.

 

[ctenophors rule]

sounds cool

I'm in FL too (561 represent), i went tothe beach last week and caught a bunch of golden pilot jack like 1-3 inches long. and those can be pricey, i thinkthey sell for 60 bucks on liveaquaria for similar size.

also, have you thought of a juvenile look down? just throwing that out their.

and when he gets older you can sell him and make a boat load of cash lol.

now, i have heard that when the pneumatocyst pop they release chemicals that will kill fish. I think its that the algae has a secondary metabolite that deters predation. i'm not sure if its true or not, have you looked into that?

also are you going to sterilize the algae or go au natural? they often have byrozoan colonies and hydroids, though i have occasionaly scene anemones that resemble aptasia.

and, what kind of sargassum shrimp are you getting? I have the target one, and he is B.A. he would taunt my sargassum frog fish, he even taunts and attacks me when i stick my hand in the tank lol. anyway the reason i bring this up is some of them glow green under the right lighting.

have fun and be sure to post picks.

 

[small alien]

Very cool. I see you already have the 30 and that's a really pretty tank, but the surface area of the water is just not all that big. Is there really room for this to work. Your fish list also just seems extremely heavy for a 33 gallon tank. A 90 gallon cube would be more like it imo.

But it also sounds totally awesome!

Good luck.

 

[johnmaloney]

awesome idea! will be following for sure. One thing I have noticed about sargassum species in drift with air bladders etc.. is they need intense light and a good bit of cabon b/c just a bit will yellow water quickly.

 

[Glendor]

Old thread, but how did it turn out? Were you able to keep the sargasum alive long? I tried this about 5 years ago, and didn't have any success, but I would like to try it again.

 

[Mangodude]

Very cool thread! Nice to see another highschooler into this!

The cool thing about living in FL is if something dies we can get a replacement or if we don't like it anymore we just return it from where we collected

I've been trying to do somewhat the same thing as you with a 50g tank but I'm trying to avoid sargasum due to its high flow demands.

Just an FYI, the filefish are very hard to keep. I've tried at probably 10 of them and have yet to get them to live very long or eat. Most don't live longer than a day saddly.

One really cool fish you should add to your prospective list is the banded sea robin. I know they are common on the gulf coast but I dont' know about where you live.. Really cool fish and they eat easily. "walks" along the bottom on its wiskers. Just something different..

Keep us posted! :lol:

 

[skabooya]

sounds pretty neat. staying tuned in

 

[Plantbrain]

Well, if you live in the biotope(South coast FL).....then collecting more prey is a bit of work, you might be out here and there, depends if you own a boat and head out to fish etc often or not, or are mostly an urbanite.

No big deal then.

 

[ocean_eyes]

I have a sargassum swimming crab who is quite big. Any advice? How can i make him happier?
He's in a small tank cause I'm just starting out, but i have mock sargasso sea weed while i get more advanced and grow my own sargasso.

 

[rbla51]

does ANYONE have long term success
keeping pelagic sargassum?