First Birthday
First Birthday
September 24th marks the one year mark, of The Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank. It still feels pretty young. As I said before on this thread, I expect this tank to take two years (or more) to come to fruition. There's more work to be done on its food web. I hope to get some decorative sponges to thrive, and double as living filters. And the more tiny critters I can add to the mix, the better. And some more fish would be nice.
I'm also looking into clams. Not the giant kind, but the ones that live in association with seagrasses, buried in the sand. I just read some very exciting articles regarding the mutualism of these clams, housing a bacteria that consumes the sulfide that builds up in the leaf litter/detritus in seagrass beds. I wonder if these clams could be brought to the hobby. I would imagine they'd be great for deep sand beds.
Taking stock, I'm mostly happy. I did made some mistakes. One was to carbon dose too early in the tank's life, before it had stabilized. I think this, combined with the (feeding of the) barnacle blennies, caused the cyano bacteria outbreak.
I really have enjoyed the red macros, but I'm not sure they're a perfect match for my tank. There's too much current for most of them. I've removed almost all that are not secured to something. This gets back to trying to optimize conditions for multiple species, where no one is totally happy. Since seagrasses have turned out to be pretty challenging, it may have been better to have just focused on them alone, at least at first.
I don't regret not adding a separate refugium or sump. I love the simplicity! I also love that everything works together, right in the display.
Converting my coast to coast overflow into an in-tank refugium, simulates "the shallows" of a lagoon environment. It's full of cheato and other algae. It's difficult to inspect it, but I would think it's well colonized with pods 'n stuff.
I've learned a lot! Modeling an ecosystem of primary producers (plants), seems like a more natural and sustainable method of aquarium keeping. The inhabitants themselves do most of the maintenance heavy lifting, processing nutrients, ultimately making my job easier, and my gizmo count low.
First Birthday
September 24th marks the one year mark, of The Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank. It still feels pretty young. As I said before on this thread, I expect this tank to take two years (or more) to come to fruition. There's more work to be done on its food web. I hope to get some decorative sponges to thrive, and double as living filters. And the more tiny critters I can add to the mix, the better. And some more fish would be nice.
I'm also looking into clams. Not the giant kind, but the ones that live in association with seagrasses, buried in the sand. I just read some very exciting articles regarding the mutualism of these clams, housing a bacteria that consumes the sulfide that builds up in the leaf litter/detritus in seagrass beds. I wonder if these clams could be brought to the hobby. I would imagine they'd be great for deep sand beds.
Taking stock, I'm mostly happy. I did made some mistakes. One was to carbon dose too early in the tank's life, before it had stabilized. I think this, combined with the (feeding of the) barnacle blennies, caused the cyano bacteria outbreak.
I really have enjoyed the red macros, but I'm not sure they're a perfect match for my tank. There's too much current for most of them. I've removed almost all that are not secured to something. This gets back to trying to optimize conditions for multiple species, where no one is totally happy. Since seagrasses have turned out to be pretty challenging, it may have been better to have just focused on them alone, at least at first.
I don't regret not adding a separate refugium or sump. I love the simplicity! I also love that everything works together, right in the display.
Converting my coast to coast overflow into an in-tank refugium, simulates "the shallows" of a lagoon environment. It's full of cheato and other algae. It's difficult to inspect it, but I would think it's well colonized with pods 'n stuff.
I've learned a lot! Modeling an ecosystem of primary producers (plants), seems like a more natural and sustainable method of aquarium keeping. The inhabitants themselves do most of the maintenance heavy lifting, processing nutrients, ultimately making my job easier, and my gizmo count low.