Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank
- Thread starter Michael Hoaster
- Start date
I dosed iodide yesterday. I'm hoping it will halt deterioration of my grasilaria hayi. Since it's just about the only macro Zippy has no interest in, I'd like to keep it alive and happy. Speaking of Zippy, he has begun joining in the feeding frenzy at feeding time, despite it being all carnivore food. I still don't know yet whether caulerpa growth is keeping pace with his consumption. He's wiped it out in some places, left it alone in others. If I had to guess, I'd say he's slowly reducing plant mass.
I attempted to remove some of the coralline algae from the leaf tips of some of the manatee grass plants, gently pulling on them and scraping with my thumbnail. I was rewarded with those blades dieing. Guess I won't do that again! It's too bad because one of those blades was over 4 feet long. Oh well. There's more coming up.
I attempted to remove some of the coralline algae from the leaf tips of some of the manatee grass plants, gently pulling on them and scraping with my thumbnail. I was rewarded with those blades dieing. Guess I won't do that again! It's too bad because one of those blades was over 4 feet long. Oh well. There's more coming up.
A little over a week later, and I don't see any cotton candy algae on the fake root, where I tried out a technique of rubbing the algae on the root. I thought it was a brilliant idea, but so far, no dice.
The manatee grass seems to like the plant tabs. It's growing well! Someday I'll get up the nerve to dose ammonia in the water column.
I wish there were more caribbean chrommises and damsels to choose from. Almost all of them get duller and meaner as they age. The blue chrommis stays pretty, so that's the frontrunner, though they get mean to each other too.
The manatee grass seems to like the plant tabs. It's growing well! Someday I'll get up the nerve to dose ammonia in the water column.
I wish there were more caribbean chrommises and damsels to choose from. Almost all of them get duller and meaner as they age. The blue chrommis stays pretty, so that's the frontrunner, though they get mean to each other too.
I definitely saw some hints of blue on Zippy's gill covers. I'm psyched how fat and healthy he is. I'm really amazed how much I like this fish-maybe the least popular tang in the hobby!
So far, my fish community has been awesome! I look forward to adding more in the future, but this group is a great mix. I love fish community building! When done well, both the fish and fish-keeper have less stress.
So far, my fish community has been awesome! I look forward to adding more in the future, but this group is a great mix. I love fish community building! When done well, both the fish and fish-keeper have less stress.
sam.basye
New member
Is Mr. Pederson living with the condy full time?? Or is the pic from a few days ago him just stopping by to check on it?
I still like how your little snails crawl all over the seagrass blades. Pretty cool.
Why do you think Zippy's kind isn't very popular? They are definitely one of the best looking IMO; especially if you can get your hands on a juvi. It's like getting two fish in one as it changes colors.
I still like how your little snails crawl all over the seagrass blades. Pretty cool.
Why do you think Zippy's kind isn't very popular? They are definitely one of the best looking IMO; especially if you can get your hands on a juvi. It's like getting two fish in one as it changes colors.
That's Spot in the anemone-he lives there full-time. Mr Pederson never goes into the anemone. He just forages around the DSB. I've thought of adding another host organism for him, like a ricordea, flower or even another condylactis anemone.
The giant army of tiny snails is amazing. They keep everything clean and free of micro algae. They are everywhere.
I think the reason atlantic blue tangs are less popular, is because they start out gorgeous in the yellow phase, but turn blue and perhaps a bit duller, as they age. Plus they get pretty big, requiring tanks 180 gallons and up. If it started blue and turned yellow, I bet it would be much more popular. I agree it's like two fish in one, and I have really enjoyed the yellow phase. With the vivd blue accents, it's beautiful! I also look forward to the blue. If he's healthy and well fed, he should still look good.
The giant army of tiny snails is amazing. They keep everything clean and free of micro algae. They are everywhere.
I think the reason atlantic blue tangs are less popular, is because they start out gorgeous in the yellow phase, but turn blue and perhaps a bit duller, as they age. Plus they get pretty big, requiring tanks 180 gallons and up. If it started blue and turned yellow, I bet it would be much more popular. I agree it's like two fish in one, and I have really enjoyed the yellow phase. With the vivd blue accents, it's beautiful! I also look forward to the blue. If he's healthy and well fed, he should still look good.
sam.basye
New member
Hmmmm... You sure? Lol
Apparently my shrimp recollection in the 'tope has escaped me.. Haha
It's slowly coming back to me now.
What kind of shrimp is Spot?
No. One's a White Spot Anemone Shrimp, the other's a Pederson Cleaner Shrimp. They're both in the Periclimenes genus.
Periclimenes pedersoni
Periclimenes yucatanicus
Periclimenes pedersoni
Periclimenes yucatanicus
sam.basye
New member
Ah, does Zippy let Mr. Pederson clean him? It's a species of cleaner shrimp, but how comparable to a scarlet skunk cleaner are they?
I was looking around online and think you should add a carribean pipefish pair to live among the grasses!
Unless of course Zippy would harass them or there is to much root flow going on.. Lol
I was looking around online and think you should add a carribean pipefish pair to live among the grasses!
Unless of course Zippy would harass them or there is to much root flow going on.. Lol
Good question. Indeed, these two should form a cleaner/client relationship, but they haven't yet, as far as I know. These shrimp are considerably smaller than skunk cleaners, barely more than an inch. They do have the big white antennae, like all cleaners, but are still pretty hard to find on the sand bed. I got the tang pretty young, so he might not have figured out the cleaner thing yet, and there are no bigger, mature fish to demonstrate the process.
I'd love to do some pipefishes! But I'd worry that they would decimate my pods and/or not be able to compete at feeding time. I have looked for seagrass-living fish. How about some of those fish that swim vertically, shrimp fish? Cowfish are grass dwellers as well, and could work, if gotten rid of it before they got too big. I'm not sure they could compete at feeding time either.
I don't want to have to target feed anything in my aquarium. I know from experience I won't keep up with it.
I'd love to do some pipefishes! But I'd worry that they would decimate my pods and/or not be able to compete at feeding time. I have looked for seagrass-living fish. How about some of those fish that swim vertically, shrimp fish? Cowfish are grass dwellers as well, and could work, if gotten rid of it before they got too big. I'm not sure they could compete at feeding time either.
I don't want to have to target feed anything in my aquarium. I know from experience I won't keep up with it.
A tiny red plant starting up, just above the grasilaria hayi, on the fake root.
Obligatory end shot.
I'm getting some nice coralline algae.
One more.
Obligatory end shot.
I'm getting some nice coralline algae.
One more.
All of a sudden, one of the grammas is bigger, and is starting to challenge Big Daddy. If it is a male, I may have to remove it. I don't think two males will coexist peacefully. Could be time for the old soda bottle fish trap!
I'll have to keep an eye on them and see if it progresses. It is possible they could chill I guess. Maybe they could split the harem? Seems unlikely in the relative confines of my 180.
Hypnea pannosa, Botryocladia, and the weird macro have all been nearly wiped out by Mr Zippy. Other than the G. hayi, there aren't many red macros left in my tank, except for a few, mostly hidden under caulerpa. It's fun to study his grazing habits, and see how he changes the landscape. Except for a few small targeted prunings, I haven't had to export macro algae for months. The way he picks at the caulerpa seems to help it grow more robust. It looks better!
I'm starting the second week of Iodide dosing. I think the grasilaria hayi is showing slight improvement, but it's still a bit soon to know. The tiny red plant I pointed out in the above post, may be another G. hayi. That would indicate progress. There are also some red wine colored spots on the fake root. I'm hoping they are the bases for new cotton candy algae. They may just be more coralline algae though.
The manatee grass is doing very well, growing more tall leaves. The plant with the suspected flower has not changed in a couple weeks. That reinforces the flower theory. If it was just branching, there would be growth. I'm guessing it's a male plant. The bud looks tall and thin, rather than round, like a female flower. There's no sign of any other plants flowering. But hey, it's still winter! As the temps warm up, that could cue other plants to flower.
I'll have to keep an eye on them and see if it progresses. It is possible they could chill I guess. Maybe they could split the harem? Seems unlikely in the relative confines of my 180.
Hypnea pannosa, Botryocladia, and the weird macro have all been nearly wiped out by Mr Zippy. Other than the G. hayi, there aren't many red macros left in my tank, except for a few, mostly hidden under caulerpa. It's fun to study his grazing habits, and see how he changes the landscape. Except for a few small targeted prunings, I haven't had to export macro algae for months. The way he picks at the caulerpa seems to help it grow more robust. It looks better!
I'm starting the second week of Iodide dosing. I think the grasilaria hayi is showing slight improvement, but it's still a bit soon to know. The tiny red plant I pointed out in the above post, may be another G. hayi. That would indicate progress. There are also some red wine colored spots on the fake root. I'm hoping they are the bases for new cotton candy algae. They may just be more coralline algae though.
The manatee grass is doing very well, growing more tall leaves. The plant with the suspected flower has not changed in a couple weeks. That reinforces the flower theory. If it was just branching, there would be growth. I'm guessing it's a male plant. The bud looks tall and thin, rather than round, like a female flower. There's no sign of any other plants flowering. But hey, it's still winter! As the temps warm up, that could cue other plants to flower.
Thanks, Sam! I'm getting coralline all over lately.
I'm pretty much winging it with calcium levels, but the coralline growth reveals my "calcium reactor" chamber in the canister filter is working.
I'm pretty much winging it with calcium levels, but the coralline growth reveals my "calcium reactor" chamber in the canister filter is working.
nawilson89
New member
Updates are looking great!
I'll change out media whenever I want to try something different. I'll clean it when I do water changes-about once a month, these days.
I did talk about not doing water changes, as an ideal, but I never seriously considered not doing them. Things build up, things get depleted. Water changes help. For all my talk of letting Mother Nature do most of the work for me, I still think water changes are good practice. Lucky for me, I don't need to do them very often!
