saltjohnswharf
Conscientious Member
e30???
Dying Reef Biotope
- Thread starter saltjohnswharf
- Start date
SkullV
They Got My Number
The BMW in their avatar.
saltjohnswharf
Conscientious Member
So its a chassis. We should all know what chassis our car is. Mine is a B5.
saltjohnswharf
Conscientious Member
The dying reef has shown signs of life. Algae growth has resumed. Copepods are beginning to occupy the sides of the glass. There is hope.
saltjohnswharf
Conscientious Member
Got some packages today:
And check out this 15 gallon rimless I bought. I got this aquarium, a Rio 1700 and a Koralia nano for $50. Could not pass this up. This will be a freshwater planted system.
And check out this 15 gallon rimless I bought. I got this aquarium, a Rio 1700 and a Koralia nano for $50. Could not pass this up. This will be a freshwater planted system.
100%hydrophylic
New member
oohhhhh fun dip!!!!
(sweet new rimless by the way
)
(sweet new rimless by the way
)
saltjohnswharf
Conscientious Member
Yeah wanted to use the rimless for yet another nano but I had agreed to let my wife do a freshwater planted before I picked it up. As soon as I saw it I regretted it... Ah well. It will look nice as a freshwater.
On another note one of the rocks in the Dying Reef has sprouted a mushroom.
On another note one of the rocks in the Dying Reef has sprouted a mushroom.
saltjohnswharf
Conscientious Member
Restoring natural balance to the reef by means of a proper wave pump
saltjohnswharf
Conscientious Member
More goodies
saltjohnswharf
Conscientious Member
Observations and realizations
Observations and realizations
It really is amazing. When a reef suffers massive destruction, either by nature or man, there are a lot of things that happen. Some things I have been noticing with the dying tope are amazing:
I started this thread somewhat of a joke and somewhat as an attempt to inform people. Playing on peoples humor a bit I hope I have a few extra followers. Of course this is no joking matter. This is real.
The dying reef biotope was essentially just a tank that was curing some live rock. I got this rock for free from a fellow reefer and decided to set up the tank in a "dying" fashion. I started out with a Marineland double bright LED light and a Rio 296 GPH pump. It was really reminiscent of a dying reef. Poor lighting and flow was a recipe for algae. The first sign life was still there. The sand bed began turning brown and ugly was too nice a word to describe. Much like the real dying reef.
I upgraded the light to a Coralife 96 watt quad light. Algae went from brown to green in 3 days. Copepods were popping up. The sand bed had settled making the water clearer and allowing light to penetrate better. Later I removed the Rio pump and put in a Koralia nano. A much nicer pump with more natural wave motion. What I thought were dead zoas began to open and take in the light. I changed half the water and a day later a tiny mushroom sprouted. Signs of real reef life and all I had setup was a power head and a light. No heater, no skimmer, no filtration other than water movement and a water change.
Today things got interesting. I received a Vortech MP10es and set it up on a short pulse to make a constant wave motion. I noticed a lot of detritus floating about that was not there before. The live rock was excreting which gives further sign of life. When filtration is added to remove this detritus everything should get even better.
When a large area of reef dies a lot happens. A forest of colorful SPS branches bleach a haunting white as their skin disintegrates. As the skin seems to peel off it exposes the calcerous bone which is very porous. Other forms of marine life inherit these pores as new homes. Much of the life is just bacteria but some tiny crustaceans manage their way in. Free floating cnidarians and sessile inverts may settle on these old skeletons right away, or hundreds, or thousands of years later.
When I discovered the zoas opening and the mushroom growing I realized how much a reef tries to fight its own demise. My rocks are not being exposed to extreme temperatures or hazardous chemical. My rocks are sitting in clean water being exposed to a good light and flow. These rocks are in good shape and can only prosper. But what about in the wild? Once conditions get bad they often remain bad. A reef that ultimately is void of coral and the more sensitive invertebrates is not necessarily lost though. In our own little way we are all marine biologists. We are, if nothing else, learning about the needs of the reefs. Many animals rely on coral for survival. Including us. If coral starts to go extinct what can we do? We can aquaculture from our own aquariums to help repopulate the reef.
I want to encourage everyone out there to aquaculture your coral and buy aquacultured and tank bred marine life. If you do propogate your own coral please don't try to make a business out of it. Share your frags with others and encourage them to do the same. Every time you sell a frag give away a frag. :love2: You are never going to pay for your hobby with frags. The numbers do not add up.
Long post. Wanted to share what I had learned while observing my dying tope and wanted to encourage everyone out there, who may still be reading this, to try to be reef friendly. :fish1:
Observations and realizations
It really is amazing. When a reef suffers massive destruction, either by nature or man, there are a lot of things that happen. Some things I have been noticing with the dying tope are amazing:
I started this thread somewhat of a joke and somewhat as an attempt to inform people. Playing on peoples humor a bit I hope I have a few extra followers. Of course this is no joking matter. This is real.
The dying reef biotope was essentially just a tank that was curing some live rock. I got this rock for free from a fellow reefer and decided to set up the tank in a "dying" fashion. I started out with a Marineland double bright LED light and a Rio 296 GPH pump. It was really reminiscent of a dying reef. Poor lighting and flow was a recipe for algae. The first sign life was still there. The sand bed began turning brown and ugly was too nice a word to describe. Much like the real dying reef.
I upgraded the light to a Coralife 96 watt quad light. Algae went from brown to green in 3 days. Copepods were popping up. The sand bed had settled making the water clearer and allowing light to penetrate better. Later I removed the Rio pump and put in a Koralia nano. A much nicer pump with more natural wave motion. What I thought were dead zoas began to open and take in the light. I changed half the water and a day later a tiny mushroom sprouted. Signs of real reef life and all I had setup was a power head and a light. No heater, no skimmer, no filtration other than water movement and a water change.
Today things got interesting. I received a Vortech MP10es and set it up on a short pulse to make a constant wave motion. I noticed a lot of detritus floating about that was not there before. The live rock was excreting which gives further sign of life. When filtration is added to remove this detritus everything should get even better.
When a large area of reef dies a lot happens. A forest of colorful SPS branches bleach a haunting white as their skin disintegrates. As the skin seems to peel off it exposes the calcerous bone which is very porous. Other forms of marine life inherit these pores as new homes. Much of the life is just bacteria but some tiny crustaceans manage their way in. Free floating cnidarians and sessile inverts may settle on these old skeletons right away, or hundreds, or thousands of years later.
When I discovered the zoas opening and the mushroom growing I realized how much a reef tries to fight its own demise. My rocks are not being exposed to extreme temperatures or hazardous chemical. My rocks are sitting in clean water being exposed to a good light and flow. These rocks are in good shape and can only prosper. But what about in the wild? Once conditions get bad they often remain bad. A reef that ultimately is void of coral and the more sensitive invertebrates is not necessarily lost though. In our own little way we are all marine biologists. We are, if nothing else, learning about the needs of the reefs. Many animals rely on coral for survival. Including us. If coral starts to go extinct what can we do? We can aquaculture from our own aquariums to help repopulate the reef.
I want to encourage everyone out there to aquaculture your coral and buy aquacultured and tank bred marine life. If you do propogate your own coral please don't try to make a business out of it. Share your frags with others and encourage them to do the same. Every time you sell a frag give away a frag. :love2: You are never going to pay for your hobby with frags. The numbers do not add up.
Long post. Wanted to share what I had learned while observing my dying tope and wanted to encourage everyone out there, who may still be reading this, to try to be reef friendly. :fish1:
saltjohnswharf
Conscientious Member
More tools have arrived. Also got 30#'s Bulk Reef Supply Eco Rox and 2 pounds dry rubble but I have already put it in a curing vat.
saltjohnswharf
Conscientious Member
GFCI installed. Almost ready to move into living room.
If the weather is nice tomorrow I drill and paint.
If the weather is nice tomorrow I drill and paint.
Audi A4 or VW Passat?
My chassis code is A5. Some would call it the MkV.
Funny tank, by the way.
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