Dyepes
In Memoriam
I know people in the reef hobby typically dislike having an abundance of hair algae, probably due to color saturation from their bright stony corals.
But now that I have alot in my tank, I believe I can see how it benefits a more natural environment. All those grasslands provide excellent shelter and breeding ground to a host of critters, which provide an abundance of natural food for the smaller fish which are equally as colorful as their larger counterparts.
I have got a few kenya trees, thanks to my buddy college429. I ought to come by for a few more if ya got any, they help my tank look like a lil forest 'n such.
Thats the thing I enjoy about my tank, it reminds me of walkin through a nice grassy forest, with a grove of kenya trees swaying gently in the winds of an aquactic terrascape. The hills of the rockies meet, the forests of the east, and the grasslands of the midwest, with a taste of exotic tropical and native florida livestock.
I suppose you wonder what my setup is like, so I'll go ahead and esplain it.
The rockscape is mixed with large pieces of shell, particularly pen shells , and some different types of "conch-like" shells.
there some zooanthids, and protopalythoa dotted around, as well as several kenya frags, some kind of leather coral, some kind of stony coral, two kinds of GSP, not really sure what kind they are. I plan on dotting my forest with some shrooms/ricordea, and maybe gorgonians.
It's 72 gallons, but I feel like I need to get a new kind of sump or something in any case.
I have a yellow and a sailfin tang in there. They get along well, occasionally they frollic around and "do what tangs do" I guess, but I do not plan to have them probably for more than another year or so.
I would like to donate them to the aquarium, that way at least thousands of people from all over can enjoy their splendors in their own way, and have a really nice and open environment to live out the remainder of their captivity.
Ideally I would like to set them free in the Tarpon springs grassbeds, but there is always the chance they may oddly and coincidently meet up with some other tang that was released by who knows who else, and become an invasive species. That, and it is also an unlawful, and illegal act (PUBLIC REMINDER, IT IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE TO RELEASE ANY NON-INDEGENOUS FISH INTO A FOREIGN ENVIRONMENT, DUE TO THE THREAT TO THE ENDEMIC FUANA AND THE UNKNOWN CONSEQUENCES IT MAY HAVE UPON THE ESTABLISHED ECOSYSTEM. DON'T DO IT, EVER!)
Eventually I will get the right opportunity as they grow larger to swipe them out and donate them to the aquarium. Once I get them out, I will plant some turtle grass and manatee grass along the bottom of the tank. I think a 5" sande bed is deep enough for them to grow in a modest amount. I wonder if donating excess growth to local habitat restoration is a feasable idea, anyone got any clue? I know Tampabaywatch does some volunteer projects annualy.
I currently host 1 yellow tang, 1 red sea sailfin tang, 1 maroon clown, 1 hippo tang, 1 yellow watchman goby, 1 spotted dragonet (mandarin goby I guess), 1 royal gramma, 1 raindfords goby, 5 green-blue chromis, 1 cleaner shrimp.
One of these nights, I am going to just get up and suck my clown out of the tank with a wet-dry, so as to avoid knocking anything over, whereupon he qwill also go to either the St Pete pier, 3rd floor, Florida Aquarium, tarpon springs aquarium, or clearwater aquarium. I will just draw their names out of a hat.
My future fish inhabitants after I remove the big guys, will include a green clown goby, sunburst anthia, chalk bass, and a pair of flasher wrasse of some sort.
If anyone has a camera with a really nice zoom, I would like to offer a few bucks for some decent pictures I could blow up for my room. (I like blowing reef and aquarium setting photos into poster size and put em up in my room). Plus it would be nice to have some halfway decent pics of my tank in my profile.
In any case, I was just steppin up and putting out my thoughts of why I enjoy the "grassy hills" of the dreaded epidemic we call HAIR.
I would also like to throw out my compliments to mike 'mflamb' and all the work and creativity he put into his system. Thats a great work of art, and I cannot wait to see it full of life and vibrancy in '08. Just try not to make your room a dual use swimming pool again ya know
Cya 'round.
-David
But now that I have alot in my tank, I believe I can see how it benefits a more natural environment. All those grasslands provide excellent shelter and breeding ground to a host of critters, which provide an abundance of natural food for the smaller fish which are equally as colorful as their larger counterparts.
I have got a few kenya trees, thanks to my buddy college429. I ought to come by for a few more if ya got any, they help my tank look like a lil forest 'n such.
Thats the thing I enjoy about my tank, it reminds me of walkin through a nice grassy forest, with a grove of kenya trees swaying gently in the winds of an aquactic terrascape. The hills of the rockies meet, the forests of the east, and the grasslands of the midwest, with a taste of exotic tropical and native florida livestock.
I suppose you wonder what my setup is like, so I'll go ahead and esplain it.
The rockscape is mixed with large pieces of shell, particularly pen shells , and some different types of "conch-like" shells.
there some zooanthids, and protopalythoa dotted around, as well as several kenya frags, some kind of leather coral, some kind of stony coral, two kinds of GSP, not really sure what kind they are. I plan on dotting my forest with some shrooms/ricordea, and maybe gorgonians.
It's 72 gallons, but I feel like I need to get a new kind of sump or something in any case.
I have a yellow and a sailfin tang in there. They get along well, occasionally they frollic around and "do what tangs do" I guess, but I do not plan to have them probably for more than another year or so.
I would like to donate them to the aquarium, that way at least thousands of people from all over can enjoy their splendors in their own way, and have a really nice and open environment to live out the remainder of their captivity.
Ideally I would like to set them free in the Tarpon springs grassbeds, but there is always the chance they may oddly and coincidently meet up with some other tang that was released by who knows who else, and become an invasive species. That, and it is also an unlawful, and illegal act (PUBLIC REMINDER, IT IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE TO RELEASE ANY NON-INDEGENOUS FISH INTO A FOREIGN ENVIRONMENT, DUE TO THE THREAT TO THE ENDEMIC FUANA AND THE UNKNOWN CONSEQUENCES IT MAY HAVE UPON THE ESTABLISHED ECOSYSTEM. DON'T DO IT, EVER!)
Eventually I will get the right opportunity as they grow larger to swipe them out and donate them to the aquarium. Once I get them out, I will plant some turtle grass and manatee grass along the bottom of the tank. I think a 5" sande bed is deep enough for them to grow in a modest amount. I wonder if donating excess growth to local habitat restoration is a feasable idea, anyone got any clue? I know Tampabaywatch does some volunteer projects annualy.
I currently host 1 yellow tang, 1 red sea sailfin tang, 1 maroon clown, 1 hippo tang, 1 yellow watchman goby, 1 spotted dragonet (mandarin goby I guess), 1 royal gramma, 1 raindfords goby, 5 green-blue chromis, 1 cleaner shrimp.
One of these nights, I am going to just get up and suck my clown out of the tank with a wet-dry, so as to avoid knocking anything over, whereupon he qwill also go to either the St Pete pier, 3rd floor, Florida Aquarium, tarpon springs aquarium, or clearwater aquarium. I will just draw their names out of a hat.
My future fish inhabitants after I remove the big guys, will include a green clown goby, sunburst anthia, chalk bass, and a pair of flasher wrasse of some sort.
If anyone has a camera with a really nice zoom, I would like to offer a few bucks for some decent pictures I could blow up for my room. (I like blowing reef and aquarium setting photos into poster size and put em up in my room). Plus it would be nice to have some halfway decent pics of my tank in my profile.
In any case, I was just steppin up and putting out my thoughts of why I enjoy the "grassy hills" of the dreaded epidemic we call HAIR.
I would also like to throw out my compliments to mike 'mflamb' and all the work and creativity he put into his system. Thats a great work of art, and I cannot wait to see it full of life and vibrancy in '08. Just try not to make your room a dual use swimming pool again ya know
Cya 'round.
-David
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I thought it was a joke but you really do like hair algae. To me, reef tanks are like girls, I dont like'em hairy. I see your point tho with the grassbeds. I actually have a little something i'm doing in my sump that resembles what you like. Also since your occupation is walmart, they have some nice digital cams. If you buy one theres a photography section on rc with tons of info on taking nice pics.
