Hey guys. I was active in the hobby up until around five years ago, when I stopped having tanks at home due to having a child and another on the way, and no time to deal with my existing tanks. I've kept a low-tech planted tank at work since then, and now that my kids are older and we have a bigger house, I've been itching to set up another tank - if I can only convince the wife.
Anyway, when I was active in the hobby, my favorite part by far was not the fish/ornamental inverts, or even the coral. It certainly wasn't the buildout - I hated that stuff. It was actually the live rock and seeing what hitchhikers came out of it. I liked the whole "ecosystem in a tank" aspect of reefkeeping.
I loved that different inverts developed breeding populations in my tank, from Stomatella snails to Asterina starfish to those micro-brittle stars (I had two varieties, a larger dark one, and a small white one). I liked the little Spiorbid worms, Scypha sponges, forams, pods, mysids, etc. The only "bad hitchhikers" I ever had a significant issue with were Red Planaria - things like Apitasia and digitate hydroids were pretty easy to deal with.
Regardless, I've been thinking about a concept for a very low maintenance tank I have heard about before, but never seen - just get a lot of high quality live rock (and perhaps some live sand) and leave it sit in the tank for a long time - maybe a year or more - in order to have a thriving tank ecosystem. I'd like to avoid a formal cleanup crew in the traditional sense, but I'd begin stocking with whatever snails and other inverts are known to reproduce well in tanks but which didn't hitch along on my rock. Later I'd add coral to taste, since it can grow asexually just fine in tanks. Maybe if I end up with a really thriving pod population (and I can argue my wife into a big tank) I'd try and introduce something like small gobies who could theoretically be supported based on the food the tank made by itself.
Regardless, the initial part of the plan - setting up a display tank, but adding nothing but rock for a year - would take discipline - particularly with two kids clamoring for something more interesting to look at. But I have a few practical questions.
1. If I went this route, what would be the best way to get maximum biodiversity from the rock introduced? Should I buy it uncured online from one site, since curing in tank won't be a big deal? Should I buy individual rocks from several different sources? What would you suggest.
2. If you have a tank with essentially just live rock and hitchhikers for a long period, would you have to feed the tank to some extent? Obviously algae eaters would do okay, but I'd be worried things like brittle stars and bristleworms wouldn't get enough food to form stable populations without being "fed" a few times per week.
Anyway, when I was active in the hobby, my favorite part by far was not the fish/ornamental inverts, or even the coral. It certainly wasn't the buildout - I hated that stuff. It was actually the live rock and seeing what hitchhikers came out of it. I liked the whole "ecosystem in a tank" aspect of reefkeeping.
I loved that different inverts developed breeding populations in my tank, from Stomatella snails to Asterina starfish to those micro-brittle stars (I had two varieties, a larger dark one, and a small white one). I liked the little Spiorbid worms, Scypha sponges, forams, pods, mysids, etc. The only "bad hitchhikers" I ever had a significant issue with were Red Planaria - things like Apitasia and digitate hydroids were pretty easy to deal with.
Regardless, I've been thinking about a concept for a very low maintenance tank I have heard about before, but never seen - just get a lot of high quality live rock (and perhaps some live sand) and leave it sit in the tank for a long time - maybe a year or more - in order to have a thriving tank ecosystem. I'd like to avoid a formal cleanup crew in the traditional sense, but I'd begin stocking with whatever snails and other inverts are known to reproduce well in tanks but which didn't hitch along on my rock. Later I'd add coral to taste, since it can grow asexually just fine in tanks. Maybe if I end up with a really thriving pod population (and I can argue my wife into a big tank) I'd try and introduce something like small gobies who could theoretically be supported based on the food the tank made by itself.
Regardless, the initial part of the plan - setting up a display tank, but adding nothing but rock for a year - would take discipline - particularly with two kids clamoring for something more interesting to look at. But I have a few practical questions.
1. If I went this route, what would be the best way to get maximum biodiversity from the rock introduced? Should I buy it uncured online from one site, since curing in tank won't be a big deal? Should I buy individual rocks from several different sources? What would you suggest.
2. If you have a tank with essentially just live rock and hitchhikers for a long period, would you have to feed the tank to some extent? Obviously algae eaters would do okay, but I'd be worried things like brittle stars and bristleworms wouldn't get enough food to form stable populations without being "fed" a few times per week.
