Mangrove tank

[carmelpi]

Very nice!! I'm going to be putting in lights over my sump for the mangroves i'm getting in three weeks. Where would you recommend i get the bulbs? I was going to go diy

 

[sixpackgarage]

really interesting tank. Subscribed.

 

[mzkrista]

The red fur ball algae looks like cotton candy macro algae

 

[saltwater sam]

Thanks RBKKREEF and sixpackgarage! Carmelpi: it all depends on how much you're willing to spend. I have a mix if expensive and cheap PAR 38s. My expensive ones are from coral compulsion, my cheaper ones are from ledwholesalers.com. Thanks for the ID mzkrista.

 

[saltwater sam]

Just another day in the luxurious lives of my clowns, chillin' in the macro forest with their butler the shrimp, no competition or stresses to speak of. Must be nice.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Nice! We all should post more pics more often. You've got a nice jungle going!

 

[saltwater sam]

I agree! My tank changes so much that I need to keep a record. When I look back in a few years I will be glad to have a lot of pictures to remember.

 

[saltwater sam]

Life is good

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Tank and mangroves lookin' good.

Still doing' the banzai thing, right? How's that coming? Are they responding to your manipulation?

 

[saltwater sam]

Thanks! The tree training has been going great.

Also this is fun: my male clown has begun "hosting" on one of my palm tree caulpera. I've seen them do this type of thing on other algaes too, this is one of my favorites though. He's been spending a lot of time there!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Dueling pic posts, sweet! Keeping photographic records is important.

 

[Genera]

Is your tank a 40 breeder? And I love the natural thing you have going on there! I let everything just grow however it wants too!

 

[saltwater sam]

Thank you, Genera! It is a 40 gal breeder. I like to be the intervening hand in the ecosystem that is my tank. It gets overgrown pretty regularly, so when I do algae removal, I take the time to balance the scales a bit and maintain diversity by preventing single species from taking over.

Another thing I haven't mentioned on here is that I have begun to move away from water changes for the most part. I've shifted to mostly topping off and supplementing essential elements and iodine every 1-2 weeks. I have definitely noticed an increase in health in both my algaes and trees.

 

[saltwater sam]

Here's a video of my clown loving up on my palm tree caulpera. Sorry about the audio, my son was watching Sesame Street!

http://flic.kr/p/yUjR1o

 

[e_rod]

Interesting setup! I wish I could get mangroves to grow like those!

 

[saltwater sam]

Thanks e_rod! Plenty of good resources in this forum to help you out!

Here is exhibit B of my clown hosting. This one is at night. Has anyone had clowns host in macro?
http://flic.kr/p/yFZiDy

 

[Michael Hoaster]

No I haven't, but I have had this:

Clowns are great!

 

[mkabrick]

your tank look great. keep the updates coming

 

[saltwater sam]

Went to a convention this weekend and picked up a sponge and a dragon's breath. The DB isn't attached to anything so I have it in a cup until I can tie it to a rock.

DB


Sponge (to the right of the mushrooms)


I also finally ID'd my red macro with blue tips, it called Chondria. It's gotten huge in over a year.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Ooh, new stuff!

Is the sponge the magenta-colored thing? Any idea what species it is?