Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

Michael, are you still doing seagrass? Still mostly Caribbean themed? Still similar philosophy? Then I don't think a new thread is required.
I mean you certainly CAN, I just don't think you NEED to.
 
Michael Hoaster said:
Thanks, vlangel!

It's really not that big a deal. The tank will look pretty much the same as before. No big changes, really. More like several small changes that need to get done, and I need to take it down to do them. As I said, some things that bugged me have just been piling up, so I think this is the best way forward.

2018-01-26_06-07-16 by Dawn Gilson, on Flickr

Looking at your tank and subsea's inspired me to make some changes in the seahorse tank, (hopefully not to their detriment).
I loved the idea of a DSB area and I was tired of my tank looking so sterile. Hopefully I have achieved a good balance of natural and clean (as in pathogenic bacteria).
Click to expand...
 
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vlangel said:
2018-01-26_06-07-16 by Dawn Gilson, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Curious, what is that blue thing?

This is such a clean looking tank! One thing I would add is something tall. It does look like the gorgonian(s) could serve that purpose if you let it get tall. Otherwise, some type of rock spire would really complete the aesthetic. Please know I'm not criticizing (this tank is beautiful), just thinking out loud as it were.
 
I too thought about your aquascaping, but I was distracted by the beauty of the individual rocks and some of your coral.
Do you have a thread? I'd like to pick your brain
 
McPuff said:
Curious, what is that blue thing?

This is such a clean looking tank! One thing I would add is something tall. It does look like the gorgonian(s) could serve that purpose if you let it get tall. Otherwise, some type of rock spire would really complete the aesthetic. Please know I'm not criticizing (this tank is beautiful), just thinking out loud as it were.
Click to expand...

Thanks McPuff, I appreciate the kind words and your honest thoughts. Actually my hubby said the same thing so I tried to add a tall dead staghorn skeleton. It was just too big and clunky. This morning I added some caulerpa prolifera in the right back corner. It is stuck to a dead gorg skeleton (to keep it confined) and it grows pretty fast. It will be tall in no time and the scape could use some green so killing 2 birds.

O yeah, the blue thing is my diy seahorse feeder, ha ha! Seahorses are so messy and one way to control the mess is to train them to come to a feeder. They need hitches while they are eating so I cut up a rubbery dog toy for hitches. I needed the feeder to be up high or else my piggy peppermint shrimp eat most of the mysis. Since its up high I can use a turkey baster to put their food in and keep my hands dry too.
 
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JZinCO said:
I too thought about your aquascaping, but I was distracted by the beauty of the individual rocks and some of your coral.
Do you have a thread? I'd like to pick your brain
Click to expand...

Thank you very much JZ. Because of following Micheal's thread for quite some time and reading some of subsea's posts, I was inspired to make a big change to my tank. It had been a bb to be cleaner for my seahorses. I loved and I hated it. I loved that it was easy to keep clean for the ponies, but the sterile appearance finally got to me, especially as I loved Michael's tank. I do not have a build thread on RC because the seahorse and pipefish folks here just don't seem to follow build threads. Anyway, here is what my tank looked like last week before the big change.
2018-01-17_03-05-59 by Dawn Gilson, on Flickr
 
Subsea said:
Nice. What is the red macro that is at top/right on the right side of tank.
Click to expand...
It has the same appearance as a macro I got 3-4 years ago that I was told was red titan. It is a redder shade than the original which was more maroon. Also it grows in a plating fashion and it grows very fast. It makes a great macro for pod life.
 
vlangel said:
Thank you Chasmodes! I would really like to see if there are FL or Caribbean blennies that are compatible with seahorses, ones that wont try to scrape algae off the ponies.
Click to expand...

There are a few good ones:

- roughhead blenny (Acanthemblemaria aspera), similar to a barnacle blenny. A plankton and pods feeder. Small size, about 2"

- goldline blenny (Malacoctenus aurolineatus), eats pods, small size, about 2-3"

- Caribbean sailfin blenny, pod eater, about 3"

- saddled blenny, pod eater, about 1.5-2"

- yellowface pikeblenny (Chaenopsis limbaughi), carnivore (small crustaceans, worms and small fish, maybe baby seahorses), about 5".

None of these blennies forage on algae and likely wouldn't harm seahorses.

Michael, what do you think about the sailfin blenny for vlangel? You're pretty familiar with them...
 
Yep, sailfin blennies should work with seahorses. Since they are basically bottom feeders, they shouldn’t interfere at feeding time. They’re easily sexable too, with females lighter, males darker. They’re not particularly showy, and easily blend in, so they may not appeal, depending on what you’re looking for.
 
Glad you're back Michael. How are you and your tank doing? Any progress on your plan, or with planning the plan?
 
Technically I’m not back. I’m out right now. I’ll be back in couple days. I still have big plans for the plan. But I’m still planning. It’s nice to get away and go blank for awhile before getting full nutcase...I’m getting excited to git after it!
 
Michael Hoaster said:
Technically I'm not back. I'm out right now. I'll be back in couple days. I still have big plans for the plan. But I'm still planning. It's nice to get away and go blank for awhile before getting full nutcase...I'm getting excited to git after it!
Click to expand...

OK, I'll be patient. :bounce1: :bounce2: :bounce3: :wavehand:

Hope you're having a good time!
 
Michael Hoaster said:
Yep, sailfin blennies should work with seahorses. Since they are basically bottom feeders, they shouldn't interfere at feeding time. They're easily sexable too, with females lighter, males darker. They're not particularly showy, and easily blend in, so they may not appeal, depending on what you're looking for.
Click to expand...

Thanks Michael. I actually don't care about being showy, I care more about personality and being able to get them to eat. Also is it easy to get a male/female pair?

PS and I am sorry for sidetracking your thread with all of my posts. I think I will start my own thread here in the macro algae section.
 
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