Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[nawilson89]

Thanks, nawilson89. I think they're happy too!

The whole idea of building a tank that tries to approximate the conditions best suited to the fish kept, is a good one, I think. Really, the whole inspiration for the foam wall with the plastic bottle caves, came from reading about royal grammmas. The phrase that stuck in my head was, "grammas like vertical walls with caves and overhangs". And since I had planned to use little to no live rock, I knew I had to come up with some alternative to accommodate them, or not keep grammas.

I have another harem planned for this tank too. Cherub Angels!

Recreating an environment that is suited to the fish is an amazing concept, which is what biotopes are all about.

As I continuously find myself back onto your thread when i do my research for my next build, I am once again finding myself with more questions with answers. When you first started posting about your Grammas and showing pictures, I started thinking abit more of building my tank around a fish or "environment". I wanted to try mangroves, but I've been pulled back to seagrasses. My new plan for my 29g is to separate my seagrass from my macro algae, this way I wont have caulerpa taking over my seagrass bed, like my 20g. The seagrass area will be raised to about 6 inches of sand bed with a mud mix at the bottom. I would like to have Jawfish to inhabit that area also (my primary concern is if the Jawfish be able to burrow with the mud at the bottom). Ofcourse the lower area of the tank will have macro and possibly home a pistol shrimp/goby combo and other small fishes (probably more florida goby and a chalk bass).

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I am so glad to hear this thread is helpful! I'm also envious of you guys that have multiple tanks to test theories and ideas!

nawilson89, your plans for the 29 sound great! I doubt the jawfish will go deep enough to cause any problems.

One of the best things you can do, in my opinion, is to decide what is the most important species in the tank you're planning. Then you research the heck out of this 'pivotal' species, and make the tank as accommodating as possible. Of course it's not that simple. We all like to keep multiple organisms in our little boxes, so it's better to keep organisms that have similar needs.

So for me, ending up with a biotope tank was just a logical progression of trying to keep everybody happy!

 

[sam.basye]

Recreating an environment that is suited to the fish is an amazing concept, which is what biotopes are all about.

As I continuously find myself back onto your thread when i do my research for my next build, I am once again finding myself with more questions with answers. When you first started posting about your Grammas and showing pictures, I started thinking abit more of building my tank around a fish or "environment". I wanted to try mangroves, but I've been pulled back to seagrasses. My new plan for my 29g is to separate my seagrass from my macro algae, this way I wont have caulerpa taking over my seagrass bed, like my 20g. The seagrass area will be raised to about 6 inches of sand bed with a mud mix at the bottom. I would like to have Jawfish to inhabit that area also (my primary concern is if the Jawfish be able to burrow with the mud at the bottom). Ofcourse the lower area of the tank will have macro and possibly home a pistol shrimp/goby combo and other small fishes (probably more florida goby and a chalk bass).

I have a few concerns for your plans, they all have to do with the mud base in the planter - not plant related. I believe the jawfish will make a burrow, much like a pistol shrimp and might get into the mud and disperse it. Not entirely sure..
My main concern is the pistol shrimp. Mine is a real pain in the a**. When I built the foam wall for my tank, I left a space behind it as a sort of refugium. In it, I had three layers; fine sand on the bottom, crushed coral as a mid layer, and small coral rubble on top. My shrimp found a way through the wall and now the nice three layers have become one retarded layer; in addition to little bitty bits of black foam scattered throughout.
I wouldn't want to see the mud everywhere when the shrimp finds its way to the planter wall and makes it through to the other side.
Just something to think about.


Michael, you should add a pistol shrimp. Lol

 

[karimwassef]

Michael - do you have any cyano in your system? My macro seems to be a magnet for them lately.

The rest of my system is fine and I have an ATS that's helping with more nutrient export, but I love my chaeto fields with shrimp residents and I hate seeing it spoilt with a bacterial infection.

 

[nawilson89]

I have a few concerns for your plans, they all have to do with the mud base in the planter - not plant related. I believe the jawfish will make a burrow, much like a pistol shrimp and might get into the mud and disperse it. Not entirely sure..
My main concern is the pistol shrimp. Mine is a real pain in the a**. When I built the foam wall for my tank, I left a space behind it as a sort of refugium. In it, I had three layers; fine sand on the bottom, crushed coral as a mid layer, and small coral rubble on top. My shrimp found a way through the wall and now the nice three layers have become one retarded layer; in addition to little bitty bits of black foam scattered throughout.
I wouldn't want to see the mud everywhere when the shrimp finds its way to the planter wall and makes it through to the other side.
Just something to think about.


Michael, you should add a pistol shrimp. Lol

You're definitely right and it was my concern in my current tank that has a mud bottom with a pistol shrimp. On my thread with my FTS you can see the left side of my tank is purely caulerpa and seagrass, the right has rocks with various macros. The left side is raised slightly higher and has a much larger concentration of mud then the right. The pistol shrimp has only dug on the right side and no mud has come out, though the tank has been a bit cloudy.

For this tank the seagrass will be on top of a six inch sandbed and then separated by rock. I was also thinking of adding a small 4 inch wall of glass between the two areas. Anyways my goal is to have a small bed of mud on the macro side with a large area of sand. If the mud gets out it may not be alot or not much of a problem in the long run (well... i hope...)

 

[Subsea]

Michael - do you have any cyano in your system? My macro seems to be a magnet for them lately.

The rest of my system is fine and I have an ATS that's helping with more nutrient export, but I love my chaeto fields with shrimp residents and I hate seeing it spoilt with a bacterial infection.

IMO, cynobacteria are not an infection. Cyno is the link between bacteria and phosynthic organisms. Like many things, in moderation it is healthy.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Sam does make some good points. I guess it depends on the pistol shrimp, nawilson89. Sam's appears to be a bit bigger (and way more mischievous) than the one I had. I had a tiger pistol (I think), and it was barely longer than an inch. Its hole, under a rock, displaced maybe 3 tablespoons of sand. Though he constantly worked on it, the hole never really grew or got very deep. I would think the jawfish would be a greater threat to reaching the mud at the bottom of a DSB.

If you provide conditions ideally suited to your charges, in the location you want them, you should be able to avoid problems. For example, jawfish much prefer rubble to fine sand. Put rubble in one corner of your tank, that's where he'll set up shop.

 

[sam.basye]

I have a little wild caught bastard. lol Hand caught in Naples Florida. It was about an inch then, and now 2.5" long. He spends a lot of time snapping at the wall he has made a hole through.. I watched him yesterday fighting with a hermit over a new shell they both wanted. The hermit and shrimp both pulling at the shell in update directions.
At one point I had it in a 2.5gal with fine beach sand. Clouds of sand would constantly go flying, cover corals, and get sucked up in the filter.
Next time he shows himself, I'll try to get a good pic of him. I might pull his rock out as it needs pruning of gsp in the next few days.

 

[nawilson89]

Sam does make some good points. I guess it depends on the pistol shrimp, nawilson89. Sam's appears to be a bit bigger (and way more mischievous) than the one I had. I had a tiger pistol (I think), and it was barely longer than an inch. Its hole, under a rock, displaced maybe 3 tablespoons of sand. Though he constantly worked on it, the hole never really grew or got very deep. I would think the jawfish would be a greater threat to reaching the mud at the bottom of a DSB.

If you provide conditions ideally suited to your charges, in the location you want them, you should be able to avoid problems. For example, jawfish much prefer rubble to fine sand. Put rubble in one corner of your tank, that's where he'll set up shop.

Conflicting theories! So more research to be made on my next build. Going to spend alot of my lunch today researching Jawfish then.

I have a little wild caught bastard. lol Hand caught in Naples Florida. It was about an inch then, and now 2.5" long. He spends a lot of time snapping at the wall he has made a hole through.. I watched him yesterday fighting with a hermit over a new shell they both wanted. The hermit and shrimp both pulling at the shell in update directions.
At one point I had it in a 2.5gal with fine beach sand. Clouds of sand would constantly go flying, cover corals, and get sucked up in the filter.
Next time he shows himself, I'll try to get a good pic of him. I might pull his rock out as it needs pruning of gsp in the next few days.

You seem to own a monster pistol shrimp. My old tiger Pistol was barely an inch long and i had him for over a year. He never grew very big, but his tunnels were vast around a 29g.

My current pistol (not sure of his lineage) is a bit bigger and he was also locally collected in the Gulf, but his tunnel is MUCH smaller, probably because I only have a bit of rock. I think he's hit mud in a few places and I hear him popping at times, I kind of think he's using his pistol to blow through mud.

 

[nawilson89]

Surfing reddit. Saw a post about Blue Spotted Jawfish.... opened it and it hit me. PVC Pipe tunnels. DUH. I can add them to my DSB side, that way its a nice big area, put some rubble around the hole and my jawfish is good to go.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

The Blue Spotted Jawfish is a living jewel! PVC tunnels - awesome! You could put 45s on each end, so they have front and back doors! You could probably house two jawfish, if you segregate their pipes. I've heard they're fun to see interact, stealing rubble from each other n' stuff.

 

[nawilson89]

The Blue Spotted Jawfish is a living jewel! PVC tunnels - awesome! You could put 45s on each end, so they have front and back doors! You could probably house two jawfish, if you segregate their pipes. I've heard they're fun to see interact, stealing rubble from each other n' stuff.

Don't get me all excited for something I can't start until after the Holidays!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

 

[nawilson89]

So we definitely need a video of the grammas. They look awesome.

 

[cksss]

Beautiful Atlantic Blue Tang!
Does it feed on the algae you are growing in the tank?

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Yes, a video would be great! I'm still working it out in my head, but I'll try to make it happen.

The Blue Tang does eat the algae growing in the tank. It doesn't eat when I feed the tank, it just cruises around grabbing snacks. I bought some sinking algae discs, but he never found it. I'll try again, but he doesn't look like he's starving. I think he'll eat a lot more when he gets bigger.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I thought it would be a cool idea, getting a harem of grammas, but nothing could have prepared me for the eye-melting beauty! They've gotten less shy and they're starting to associate me with food. So, in theory, I should be able to get some good pics of them. In practice, I'm still struggling.

Here's 3 from today:

 

[nawilson89]

These looks really good. No wonder why Royal Gramma are some of my favorite fish! It must me a marvel to see them interact in a group setting!

 

[sam.basye]

Very cool!
I've found that it isn't all that difficult to get a few good pics of one fish, but as soon as you're trying to get two or more fish to swim still near each other and cooperate with the camera, it becomes 100x more difficult. You just want to cuss all the fish by the time your done because every picture has something wrong with it or you finally take a perfect one except for the one fish that is blurry or looking at you funny. Lol

 

[Michael Hoaster]

That's true, nawilson89, the interaction pushes it off the charts!

Sam.basye, you are right about that. Right now, I'd settle for one good pic of one fish! It shouldn't be too long now, as they get more comfortable with me - and the phone…