Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

Thanks a lot, JZinCO! Kind words!

You're off to a great start with your new tank. I look forward to following your progress.

The first six months of planted marine tanks can be tough. There's just not a lot of consensus on how to proceed. Even with a very low bio load, I had a three month battle with cyanobacteria. It seems we all have to go through a difficult phase with our tanks. How we get through that phase and progress is is the key.

Good luck and keep us informed!
 
Michael Hoaster said:
Thanks, Chasmodes!

Any news on your tank? I look forward to seeing your vision come to fruition.
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I'm at a standstill because of $ :idea: That said, I'm optimistic that I can be back on track within a couple months, maybe sooner. There isn't any hurry to get it going because all of the fish that I want have been moving deep, so collecting them isn't realistic now. Still, I want it up and cycled with some life in it before I start adding fish.

I've been working on my freshwater tank background and should have that done soon. I'm still carving it, trying to get it to look as realistic as possible. It's tough to translate what I have in my head to making it real, but it's getting there. I have almost all of the equipment that I need for that tank and should be able to set it up and get it cycled.

Until then, I'm living through tanks like yours and a couple others on here. My wife thinks that your barnacle blennies are really cute, so maybe there's a nano macro tank for me in the future (that sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it :lolspin: )
 
I was asked if I had any rules of thumb to pass along. I came up with a few, but really, a lot of this stuff is a mystery to me. Planted marine tanks are still a bit of a wild frontier. I've got one foot standing in the old school of basic aquarium husbandry, and another exploring new ideas.

After years in the hobby, it is very difficult to let go of old habits and rules of aquarium keeping. We all seem to be clinging to the notion that aquariums should be this clean, idealistic showcase of what we have accomplished technologically, rather than a place where we let nature take its course.

One thing that has become abundantly clear to me, is that planted tanks have considerably different needs than reef tanks. For example, detritus. Reef keepers are obsessed with removing detritus, employing all manner of techniques and gadgets to rid their tanks of this pesky problem. In planted tanks, this stuff is very important. As it is processed and decomposed, it releases nutrients that plants need. This is why I have made efforts to build a big, diverse detrivore community. It's also why I do not vacuum the sand bed, nor do I keep sand sifting fish or sea stars. In nature, as well my aquarium, the sand bed is not a filter, it's a home, to a cast of thousands, willing and able to help me keep this little ecosystem humming along.
 
I'm 99% of the way with you there. IME, the goby also doesn't put a dent in sand-dwelling invertebrates compared to how much my starry blenny decimates pod populations. So, I don't know what's wrong with a sand sifting organism sitting at the top of a trophic cascade. At any rate, I see my goby as filling a unique niche and he's not going to crash any communities of sand dwelling invertebrates.

Anyway, I agree with your general sentiment; though these are systems we can't manage them in a command & control fashion because there are many dynamic interactions among its components. What'd John Muir say? Something about when you pull on one thing you find it connected to everything in the universe? In my industry, we've seen command & control philosophies lead to devastation of ecosystems because of our hubris to think we understand the system's components. Our new paradigm is adaptive management.

I kind of like to just let it be. At each stage, there are a myriad of ways the tank can evolve and we can nudge it but we can't drag it with us. Don't manage for getting every thing right. Even if getting everything right simultaneously is feasible (some goals might be incompatible), the micromanagement of a tank is just one step away from a mistake. Instead I just manage my tank to avoid the undesirable consequences. That way I passively allow it to evolve towards 99% of its potential pathways that are not undesirable instead of actively managing for that most desirable 1%.
 
Lot's of great jargon in there but I disagree. I see your sand-sifting goby filling a unique niche, and that is preventing a diverse detrivore community from ever forming in your aquarium. Those fish routinely starve to death in aquariums, once they have completely wiped out their food source. I think the problem is scale. My 180 gallon tank produces pounds of caulerpa every week. I added a juvenile Atlantic Blue Tang to handle the pruning for me. This four inch fish wiped out almost ALL of my macros in less than six months. I seriously doubt a 20 gallon tank could support a detrivore population big enough to reproduce in numbers sufficient to keep one goby alive, long term. I did find an article by a guy that figured out how to train them to eat introduced foods: http://www.oocities.org/stylatin/gobies.htm I hope it helps.
 
After noticing my grammas have been a lot less visible lately, I removed two of the biggest females and the largest male molly from the display. These three seemed to challenge the grammas the most. Five days later and I can see the grammas again, so it appears to have worked.

Next up will be a big export/pruning. With the caulerpa going sexual more frequently lately, it would seem to indicate that plant biomass has outgrown available nutrients. My dosing regime has gone from every other day to once a week, so I need to reduce plant biomass to match inputs.

I really wish the mollies would get on with the baby-making! That's the only reason I got them-to provide a natural food source for Sheldon and the other fish. As a bonus, they've been quite visually dazzling, but they've been a little too dominant overall, for my taste. I'll probably reduce their numbers further, once I get a better sense of how prolific they are, and who is more prolific than others. And of course, I will remove them all if I can't find the right combination. If they don't benefit the overall ecosystem, they're gone!

On the other hand, if they do what I hope they'll do, it could be a very good thing.
 
I'll give you a very personal opinion about your tank. Everything in it is wonderful except for the Molineas! They simply do not match the biotope ...

I know what your purpose is with them, but both are out of context that are bothering the Grammas ... I think you really should consider their convenience in the overall context ...
 
I agree with you, Edimar, to some extent. I brought them in to provide a live food source, not to be the stars of the show. They have been hogging the show a bit!

However, if you consider the southern tip of Florida as part of the Caribbean, and I do, then the mollies are biotope-appropriate. They are found from North Carolina, all the way around Florida, to Texas. Remember, I am modeling an inland lagoon with variable salinity. That pretty much describes the mollies' preferred habitat.

As I said above, if they don't provide the benefits I'm looking for, they will be gone. So far, they provide no convenience at all! But if they start pumping out babies, like they should any day now, I'll be better able to decide if their inclusion is worth it.
 
You are right, they are more brackish than pure marine. But so is my tank. I think what you are saying is the mollies don't go with the other fish. As I said, I kind of agree with you, but really, they are biotope appropriate. If they'll just make some babies, I'll be better able to evaluate their qualifications as positive community members.

My pivotal species, Manatee grass prefer a salinity of 25ppt, which is a bit lower than natural seawater, at 35ppt. So my aquarium is not a pure marine tank. Seagrass lagoon biotopes are a melting pot of inland creatures and plants, and also pure marine species. So I have more options.

The mollies are kind of an experiment. I'm trying to figure out if there is an optimal number of them to reproduce prolifically, without being too numerous and detrimental to the ecosystem. We'll see!
 
Michael, I could not read much of the posts yet, so I had not yet read your information on the lower salinity. It makes perfect sense then ... Now I understand the "general" idea of your system!
 
Thanks Edimar!

My lower salinity has not been discussed much in this thread, so it would be easy to miss! In my opinion, it's not a big deal. There is no "right" salinity, only the best for what we are keeping. In researching manatee grass, I found its preferred salinity, and decided to match it in my tank.

All other tank residents have adapted well, I think. If I had to guess which resident is least happy with it, I'd say the sponges. They have shown the least growth. I doubt salinity is the biggest factor though. With dosing, pruning and varying fish stocking levels, my aquarium isn't a model of stability.

I am happy to say my purple condylactis anemone is doing very well, going on two years now. For a creature that lives to be two hundred, it's not much to brag about, but these anemones have a terrible survival record in the hobby.
 
Michael Hoaster said:
I am happy to say my purple condylactis anemone is doing very well, going on two years now. For a creature that lives to be two hundred, it's not much to brag about, but these anemones have a terrible survival record in the hobby.
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I killed 2 condys. Both lasted about 2 weeks...

2 years is long in my book for a condy. Lol
 
Thanks Sam. I think my tank is maybe better suited to condy keeping, than a typical reef tank. With no other stinging sessile invertabrates present, my condy has been able to wander around, without doing damage to itself or others. It's got good lighting and I feed it well, so it seems pretty happy.

I considered adding a second one, so they could have sex, but it's growing so well, it's already taking up valuable real estate on the DSB. So I'll just keep the one. I've seen big ones while snorkeling and they are unbefreakinglievable.


picture.php

4/17/16. This was maybe the best pic I got of Spot, the spotted anemone shrimp. He disappeared while I was camping. I may try adding another one, when the nem gets bigger. It always seemed to me it was a bit small for hosting.
 
sam.basye said:
I killed 2 condys. Both lasted about 2 weeks...

2 years is long in my book for a condy. Lol
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Really!?!? I find that curious. I've had a couple, one I had for 4+ years before I sold it to a friend who still has it 3 years later. They were (past tense) so easy to collect in the Keys. Due to a cold winter a few years ago they experienced a big die off and now they are a protected species and can't be legally collected in Florida with a basic saltwater license. But we always found them quite hearty.

Love seeing one with an anemone shrimp. The shrimp are such cute little guys!
 
Ron Reefman said:
Really!?!? I find that curious. I've had a couple, one I had for 4+ years before I sold it to a friend who still has it 3 years later. They were (past tense) so easy to collect in the Keys. Due to a cold winter a few years ago they experienced a big die off and now they are a protected species and can't be legally collected in Florida with a basic saltwater license. But we always found them quite hearty.

Love seeing one with an anemone shrimp. The shrimp are such cute little guys!
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Not sure why, but I was never able to get either to attach to anything. The first one I bought was probably fist size and tan, the second was golf ball sized and white/red foot. Neither would attach to anything and would end up floating around the sandbed or upside down. Keep in mind they were both from Petco and neither were attached when purchased.

One of the funniest things I've ever witnessed my tank was the look of fear and panic in my hermit crabs eyes when the first condy grabbed ahold of its shell and started pulling it in. I've never seen a hermit crab run and fight for its life like that one did. Lol


That is a great pic, Michael. One of your better ones ;)
 
I think you pinpointed the problem with the store name! Luckily, none of the big box pet stores around here carry marine stuff. So this cheapskate isn't tempted! Condies are from shallow water and need very bright light. I suspect yours were too long removed from their homes and were never able to recover in Petco's system.

Thanks for the pic compliment, Sam! It may be my best pic ever. It's one thing to get the nem and shrimp in focus, it's a whole other thing when you capture its eyes looking right into your own!
 
Yeah, I was excited to get a local Petco a couple years ago, but this one is somewhat of a disappointment.

I've been in one that would carry carpet nems and fully stocked coral tanks that were all thriving. Sadly, this one is not all that great..

Aquaria photography is a fickle B****. Lol
Most times you pretty much have to take a butt load of pictures to get one or two good ones.
 
Yes, taking aquarium pics is a real challenge. Fish are so uncooperative!

You pretty much summed up my photo methods. I shoot a ton, I mean butt load, then I hook up my phone to my iMac, and see what I got. Then it's delete, delete, delete! I'll shoot a hundred to get five. Once I have it down to the decent ones, I'll play around with editing.

I have to admit, I'm getting excited about doing more videos. I've still got to watch the CJ vid on editing in iMovie!
 
Me and editing software don't get along. Lol

It blew my mind when I watched the video where he is sitting in his car and says that his car is his sound booth and records all the audio in it.

I don't think I bothered to watch the iMovie one being I don't have an iPhone or Mac. Lol
 
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