Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks Chasmodes. It was tough to confess all the fish losses, especially after giving advice to others. This hobby will humble you quickly! I guess the lesson for me is, that despite pushing in a new direction, a lot of the old rules still apply-like quarantining fish.

As for new fish, I think the grammas will be fine. I'm in the process of catching them for quarantine. I may try and add a few other caribbean basslets, like the swiss guard, chalk and black cap. I'd like to get more barnacle blennies, and maybe some sailfins and a few other little guys. I may finally get some blue chrommis, and possibly try the cherub angel harem thing. My hope is that they'll be so involved with each other, they'll be less inclined to hassle other tank members. I think I'm done with lookdowns! They're really cool fish, but a little too much trouble to keep well-fed, without overfeeding the tank. For me, they're a fish for another day and another tank. I think I may keep three mollies, for both algae control and live food production. The school of sixteen was just a bit too much, overwhelming the blennies and the grammas. I may even get another atlantic blue tang! I miss that fish. If I do, this time I'll be sure to get the tank overgrown, and I'll feed it veggie food as well. It was so nice not to have to prune! We'll see.

 

[Chasmodes]

Sounds like a good plan. Good luck catching the grammas. Would a swissguard basslet have too big of a mouth for keeping barnacle or sailfin blennies? If you get one, and you need a larger blenny, molly millers, or seaweed blennies, and maybe a redspotted hawk might be good options. Both of those blennies will eat some algae along with meaty treats. A redlip blenny might also be a good choice for algae control. If you go that route, you could probably keep small cardinalfish too.

But dang, those barnacle blennies are so cool!!!

 

[Chasmodes]

Here's a cool basslet from the Diver's Den... out of my price range though, LOL:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?c=2733+3&ddid=336230

If you get barnacles or sailfins, this goby might be a good option:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?c=2733+3&ddid=336234

Seems like more Caribbean stuff than usual in the Diver's Den.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

"Good luck catching the grammas". Ha! You aren't kidding! So far, I have caught none. Even the last three mollies are resisting capture, but I know I can net them if I have to. The grammas are looking to be a real challenge.

Good question on the swiss guard basslet. I think if I get the smallest fish in first, it'll be okay. I'll look into it to make sure. Thanks for all your suggestions! I've never heard of those two in Diver's Den.

At the moment at least, I'm not in need of micro algae control, what with the 'plague of snails' and mollies. What I'd like, is a macro algae grazer, that crops back my macros, without wiping them out.

 

[pfan151]

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.

What about just using saltwater live bearing minnows? They would seem to fit in better than the mollies and would provide food.

 

[pfan151]

If you can't catch them give these a try. They are incredibly small.

http://www.tenkarabum.com/micro-fishing-hooks.html

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks pfan151. I chose to use mollies because they are readily available, and do well in any salinity level. And as I mentioned above, they are biotope-appropriate for my tank, and their appetite for algae is a bonus. I have not heard of salt water live bearing minnows, nor have I seen them for sale online. Is there such a fish? I agree they'd look more 'authentically salt water' and natural. Do you know of a source?

It's funny you should mention the tiny hook thing! I've used them before, and that may be what I end up doing again. It's kind of fun, fishing in your own aquarium, because you can see all the action and make adjustments on the fly, so to speak.

I really do want to get them ALL into quarantine, both to cure them of ICH, and to eradicate the ICH from my tank, by running it fallow. By the way, after reading an excellent article on ICH, I've decided to treat the fish with hypo salinity, rather than copper, etc. It's the cheapest, least dangerous to the fish, and easiest method to maintain proper levels, with stuff I already have.

 

[pfan151]

Thanks pfan151. I chose to use mollies because they are readily available, and do well in any salinity level. And as I mentioned above, they are biotope-appropriate for my tank, and their appetite for algae is a bonus. I have not heard of salt water live bearing minnows, nor have I seen them for sale online. Is there such a fish? I agree they'd look more 'authentically salt water' and natural. Do you know of a source?

It's funny you should mention the tiny hook thing! I've used them before, and that may be what I end up doing again. It's kind of fun, fishing in your own aquarium, because you can see all the action and make adjustments on the fly, so to speak.

I really do want to get them ALL into quarantine, both to cure them of ICH, and to eradicate the ICH from my tank, by running it fallow. By the way, after reading an excellent article on ICH, I've decided to treat the fish with hypo salinity, rather than copper, etc. It's the cheapest, least dangerous to the fish, and easiest method to maintain proper levels, with stuff I already have.

I'll try to find the scientific name for them. They look basically just like freshwater mosquito fish. They are all over down here in Florida.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I tried my luck googling to no avail. I found some brackish minnows (like sheepshead and another one with a funny name), but none were live bearers.

 

[sam.basye]

Sheepshead minnows!!!!

 

[sam.basye]

Mumichog/killifish are also cool

 

[pfan151]

I'll try to catch some next time I am on the coast. They look identical to this:

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Reeffarmer2]

Bull minnows


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[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Mummichogs and sheepsheads are not livebearers. pfan151, thanks for the minnow pic, but it looks no more saltwater than a molly. Bull/mud minnows aren't livebearers either.

 

[sam.basye]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Mummichogs and sheepsheads are not livebearers. pfan151, thanks for the minnow pic, but it looks no more saltwater than a molly. Bull/mud minnows aren't livebearers either.

Male sheepshead minnows turn a really pretty blue and orange during mating season. Worth a look!

Do you really Need live bearers??

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Good to know, Sam.

No, I don't really NEED livebearers, but that was the whole point of getting mollies. So if I were to substitute them with something else, I'd LIKE them to be livebearers, to provide a live food source for my hunting carnivores. I originally got them for the lookdowns, who were only eating live feeders, and that was getting expensive. Now that the lookdowns are gone, that need is reduced. But the appeal of a (sort of) self-generating food source added to the food web in my little ecosystem is still valid, hence the livebearer requirement.

 

[sam.basye]

Here's a different perspective on live bearers.

You want them to provide a food source to the rest of the fish. What is the real difference between having live bearers vs egg layers? One pops out live fish and the other eggs..


One way or the other you still get little baby fish swimming around as a food source. You don't have to do anything to the eggs for them to hatch.
At hatch, you still have the same fry as you would with the mollies, if not more if the clutch of eggs is larger than what a Mollie can hold while pregnant.

Given a week or two, you will get the same end result as with a live bearer will you not?

Moving away from mollies could open the door to more options, yet still yield the same results.

You need sheepshead minnows

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Great pic of your minnow, Sam!

Your logic makes sense. However, without a proper food source and very special conditions, you never get fry in decent numbers to be effective. My royal grammas have been spawning for over a year now. I've never seen a fry. Not even one. The only salt water fish that I've heard of, that produces good numbers of fry without specialized conditions, is the banghai cardinal fish, which aren't caribbean, and are rather boring, in my opinion.

I'm not married to mollies, but they are cheap, easy, they eat algae, are prolific spawners and biotope-correct. Back when I still had Norbert (the larger lookdown) in QT, I had mollies in there too. They produced babies with no help from me. He hunted them with gusto and that was cool! Also, it looks cool to have various sizes of fry swimming around, very similar to what you'd see in just about any body of water.

If I could find a fish that does as well as mollies, but looks more "salty", I'd be all over it.

 

[Chasmodes]

Michael, if you're interested in getting some native fish like the sheepshead minnow, you can special order them from Jonah's Aquarium. You can find the link on the NANFA forum. Click on their fish list, then the special order section.

I read that the rainwater killifish is one of the most common fish along with the goldspotted killifish. I don't know of anyone that sells the goldspotted. But, the goldspotted are very similar to sheepshead minnows, which Jonah's has, along with the rainwater.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Mr Condylactis has been exploring again. Not great pics, but I wanted to post some before he moves again! Over the last two years, I've come to realize, quite by accident, that this tank is ideal for this wandering anemone. Not being in a reef tank means he has no-one to harm or harm him. It has been really fascinating, watching him relocate from time to time. I never dreamed he would climb the fake mangrove root, but there he is! I wouldn't have thought he gets enough light there, but he looks pretty happy, writhing in the strong current.

With tree gracilaria in the foreground.

From on high, so to speak… Also, note the huge caulerpa growth on the back wall. You may be able to see the 2 liter soda bottle trap at the bottom, with fluorescent fishing line, trying to blend in with the seagrasses.

One more from the end.