That is a big undertaking, JZinCO! All 3 tanks will be connected? This should be very interesting, learning how each ecosystem interacts with each other. Can't wait!
Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank
- Thread starter Michael Hoaster
- Start date
The grasilaria hayi is back to its full glory.
sam.basye
New member
Tank looks incredible, Michael!
The grasilaria hayi is back to its full glory.
Minus the little flowerbed of aiptasia? lol
How do you think it got in there in the first place? Attached to some macro you added somewhere down the line?
Thanks for the kind words regarding my wall
Thank you, Sam! It is kinda pretty right now, thanks to some obsessive/compulsive pruning!
What, you don't like my thick, luxurious (aiptasia) meadow? They may have come in on some snails. I guess you have to be ready to get the good and bad, with the freebies! I have at least four macros I didn't pay for.
So, I started with one aiptasia. I did the chemical squirty thing, which seemed to work well. A couple days later I had ten…
Four peppermint shrimps and one filefish later, and they're back. They both worked well, but they also went after stuff I didn't want them to. So now, I'm doing the Berghia nudibranch thing, which will take some time. But it is working! In the meantime, I'm pretending they're pretty…
Your welcome, on the wall envy! I haven't seen one done better. FTS?
How 'bout some more eye candy:
What, you don't like my thick, luxurious (aiptasia) meadow? They may have come in on some snails. I guess you have to be ready to get the good and bad, with the freebies! I have at least four macros I didn't pay for.
So, I started with one aiptasia. I did the chemical squirty thing, which seemed to work well. A couple days later I had ten…
Four peppermint shrimps and one filefish later, and they're back. They both worked well, but they also went after stuff I didn't want them to. So now, I'm doing the Berghia nudibranch thing, which will take some time. But it is working! In the meantime, I'm pretending they're pretty…
Your welcome, on the wall envy! I haven't seen one done better. FTS?
How 'bout some more eye candy:
Tufted joint algae, among the seagrasses. Cool, weird plants!
The condylactis anemone seems happier than ever. I think 3 factors contributed; lowering my dosing frequency to once a week, not having a shrimp hosting in it anymore, and finding its spot in the tank, finally.
Darth_Tater
Member
That anemone does look good! Sponges look happy too.
sam.basye
New member
The condy has nice coloration. What would you say in regards to its growth?
Tufted joint algae, among the seagrasses. Cool, weird plants!
The condylactis anemone seems happier than ever. I think 3 factors contributed; lowering my dosing frequency to once a week, not having a shrimp hosting in it anymore, and finding its spot in the tank, finally.
Doesn't look much bigger than when you got it. They get really big, so I was wondering why you think it hasn't grown much?
Thanks, jraker and Darth_Tater!
And sam.basye, why you gotta busta ma balls? I guess that's kind of a good question…
The anemone has grown a bit, but it's definitely not exploding with growth. It's probably because I have not optimized conditions for it. My salinity is around 26ppt for the manatee grass. Dosing things like nitrate and ammonia is likely the worst thing it has to put up with. It really has been my "canary in a coal mine". Maybe I should feed it more? I've been feeding it once a week, plus what it gets when I feed the tank. Maybe an occasional big meal would help. I wonder if it will grow more now that it appears to have settled down. Maybe it has allocated its resources for finding a home, and now, if it has indeed stopped traveling, it can put more energy towards growth.
It would be cool for it to get bigger. But at least I haven't killed it. I've had it for a year and a half or so. Condylactis anemones have a pretty dismal record in the hobby. Maybe I'll take a look in the anemone forum and see if I can find some good info.
By the way, did your green bulb anemone make it?
And sam.basye, why you gotta busta ma balls? I guess that's kind of a good question…
The anemone has grown a bit, but it's definitely not exploding with growth. It's probably because I have not optimized conditions for it. My salinity is around 26ppt for the manatee grass. Dosing things like nitrate and ammonia is likely the worst thing it has to put up with. It really has been my "canary in a coal mine". Maybe I should feed it more? I've been feeding it once a week, plus what it gets when I feed the tank. Maybe an occasional big meal would help. I wonder if it will grow more now that it appears to have settled down. Maybe it has allocated its resources for finding a home, and now, if it has indeed stopped traveling, it can put more energy towards growth.
It would be cool for it to get bigger. But at least I haven't killed it. I've had it for a year and a half or so. Condylactis anemones have a pretty dismal record in the hobby. Maybe I'll take a look in the anemone forum and see if I can find some good info.
By the way, did your green bulb anemone make it?
sam.basye
New member
Haha, at least yours is still alive! I've never had any luck with condylactis nems. The two I tried wouldn't attach and eventually died.
No clue what happen to my gbta... It was doing better before I left for that trip and when I came back - completely vanished. Never turned up anywhere.
Luckily, it didn't nuke my tank while I was away! Disappointing that it "died", but all things considered I'm glad it didn't take the whole tank down with it.
Thanks, wilder!
It is fun, watching it change and evolve.
It is fun, watching it change and evolve.
I got a package from Florida Pets. Tiny serpent stars and live mud.
With the mud, I turn off the pumps, dump it on the sand bed, and immediately cover it with sugar sized sand. Then I turn the pumps back on and wait for it to clear. I was able to get in there pretty quickly and do some caulerpa pruning, while I waited. Hopefully, it clears before lights out.
I may wait on dosing, just to give the tank a chance to adjust to the new mud. I found a shoal grass shoot, so I planted it. That mud is such an inexpensive source of biodiversity. Pretty wild, dumping black mud into an aquarium!
With the mud, I turn off the pumps, dump it on the sand bed, and immediately cover it with sugar sized sand. Then I turn the pumps back on and wait for it to clear. I was able to get in there pretty quickly and do some caulerpa pruning, while I waited. Hopefully, it clears before lights out.
I may wait on dosing, just to give the tank a chance to adjust to the new mud. I found a shoal grass shoot, so I planted it. That mud is such an inexpensive source of biodiversity. Pretty wild, dumping black mud into an aquarium!
Tank cleared up nicely. Everything seems well.
Well almost everything-the dictoya appears to be gone. Oh well. The tufted joint algae looks happy, and it goes so well with the grasses. The blue scroll algae is still just 4 small fragments, but they look like they'll make it. As I said before, I'm pretty excited about this one.
I'd love to add some fish now, but I want to wait for the berghias to finish off the aiptasias first. I can't take a chance that the fish would pray on them. So I wait. I expect it may be months. That will give the new mini stars time to get established, and see what pops out of the mud…
Well almost everything-the dictoya appears to be gone. Oh well. The tufted joint algae looks happy, and it goes so well with the grasses. The blue scroll algae is still just 4 small fragments, but they look like they'll make it. As I said before, I'm pretty excited about this one.
I'd love to add some fish now, but I want to wait for the berghias to finish off the aiptasias first. I can't take a chance that the fish would pray on them. So I wait. I expect it may be months. That will give the new mini stars time to get established, and see what pops out of the mud…
sam.basye
New member
Where exactly does the mud come from? Is it like a mangrove mud?
What kind of fish??
I would guess it comes from a marsh or mangrove swamp. It looks like pluff mud. It's black and soft, very fine grain-it's actual mud, not some dirty sand.
For fish, I'm considering a biggish school of silversides.
For fish, I'm considering a biggish school of silversides.
sam.basye
New member
I bet there's a ton of nutrients in the mud that you grasses will like. Interested to see if you get increased growth in the next few weeks.
A big school of silversides will look great! Especially when they venture into the"blue zone". The light with shimmer off of them nicely. Got an idea how many??
A big school of silversides will look great! Especially when they venture into the"blue zone". The light with shimmer off of them nicely. Got an idea how many??
Yes, sam.basye, I think the grasses will like it.
Silversides would be great. Not sure how many until I know how big they are. A big school would look really cool in the grasses too.
Silversides would be great. Not sure how many until I know how big they are. A big school would look really cool in the grasses too.
