My Caribbean Biotope Tank Build

[Subsea]

Consider Red Grapes for another $10. It is a gorgeous deep water macro that is middle of the road on nutrient uptake. In the red sampler pack you may get sprigs of it. When you order it individually you get several plants that were attached to rocks are substrate. Because it grows in deeper water, I would not place it directly under the MH but on the dimly lite side. I cultivate it under T5 at 100 PAR. The lamps that I use are actinic and 6500 daylight that combine to 10K.

 

[jraker]

I was looking at that along with several other macros, but they were out of stock. Hopefully I will get some in the red sampler because it does look very cool.

 

[jraker]

For the last two days, I have been ghost feeding my tank with some old fish food that I don't use anymore to get some nitrates. I got my new nitrate test kit in the mail today and it reads between 12 and 25 for my water test.

Macros are arriving tomorrow.

 

[jraker]

Got the macros today. They sent a TON of macroalgae, and a huge diversity of species.

They were shipped very well, with 2 gel heating packs and each one was double bagged.

Acclimating.

I ordered some snails also. Just some nerites and ceriths.

Here is all the macro in the tank. I will take some more shots when the lights come on.

Quick question: How would you secure all the macros? Almost all the caulerpa and reds are not attached to the rock, and as soon as I turned my pump on, they all went tumbling. Should i try and glue everything to the rocks, or should I let the plants grow onto the rock themselves?

 

[jraker]

Some pics:

 

[Subsea]

I would not put Caulerpa near my rocks unless you want a macro rock. It's holdfast will spread everywhere. Just use your finger and push into substrate. In time it's holdfast will go everwhere.

You have already sandwiched the Reds between rocks. Experiment with trying to glue a few. Depending on the species, it may be happy in substrate. I would try a few each way.

 

[jraker]

Thanks. I started gluing some macros today, mostly reds. I know what you mean when the caulerpa's holdfast goes everywhere. Some hitchhiked into my main reef tank, and trying to remove the holdfast is annoying, because it goes deep into the holes in my rock.

 

[Subsea]

Thanks. I started gluing some macros today, mostly reds. I know what you mean when the caulerpa's holdfast goes everywhere. Some hitchhiked into my main reef tank, and trying to remove the holdfast is annoying, because it goes deep into the holes in my rock.

Caulerpa Prolifera is the worst with respect to holdfast on rock. Caulerpa Paspoides is not so bad. Once, to stop the progression of of take over of Prolifera on a rock, I immersed the complete rock in a 15% ratio of hydrogen peroxide to water for 10 minutes.

 

[jraker]

I got the rest of the macros glued today. I glued most of the reds to pieces of rubble so I can move them around easily in the future if I need to. I put most of the caulerpa in the sand, but I also put some on the rock. The tank is super cloudy right now because I just stirred up a bunch of sand, so I won't take a picture right now.

 

[jraker]

Nitrates have dropped from 20ppm to 5ppm. I have continued ghost feeding the tank to get nutrients up. I was going to start dosing KNO3, but none of my 3 local hardware stores had the right type. I had to order it online. I will also be getting some fish soon, from KP Aquatics. That should help with adding nitrates to the tank.

 

[jraker]

Some pictures of the tank I took today:

 

[jraker]

Got my first order of fish in today. I ordered from KP Aquatics, who I would recommend to anyone ordering fish. I ordered:

3x Yellowhead Jawfish
2x Sailfin Blenny
1x Chalk Bass
1x Blue Chromis
And also two gorgonians (photosynthetic)

They were nice, and shipped an extra jawfish and an extra gorgonian. I got the package in this morning, so the fish have had a few hours to settle in. I haven't turned the lights on, so I don't have many pictures. Some of the jawfish have already emerged, so I got to take a few pictures of them:

The jawfish are already amusing. The smallest started to make its burrow in the very front, where I could see it perfectly. I was surprised at how much they could lift, my 1" jawfish was lifting up some of the larger pieces of crushed coral easily. Shortly after I took those pictures, another jawfish stole the smallest one's burrow, and now the smallest one is just staring at it. I can tell they are going to be very amusing creatures.

 

[jraker]

Some good news and some bad news:

Good:

The two jawfish have separated and have separate burrows about 3" away from each other. All they do is stare at the other, occasionally digging deeper.

I am noticing growth on my caulerpa.

I am noticing growth on my reds.

The gorgonians are starting to open.


Bad:

My blue chromis died.

I only see two of my jawfish.

 

[Subsea]

Some pictures of the tank I took today:

Tank pictures are looking good. I see you got some Red Grapes.

 

[Subsea]

Some good news and some bad news:

Good:

The two jawfish have separated and have separate burrows about 3" away from each other. All they do is stare at the other, occasionally digging deeper.

I am noticing growth on my caulerpa.

I am noticing growth on my reds.

The gorgonians are starting to open.


Bad:

My blue chromis died.

I only see two of my jawfish.

With respect to Chromis, I have found that to thrive they need to be in a school of five or more fish.

 

[Subsea]

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1634+115&pcatid=115

I am considering 20 of these in my 150G mixed reef with decorative macro.

 

[jraker]

I actually found another one of my jawfish. It was hiding under a rock. I think I saw the last one, so it seems like everything else is alive. All the fish ate well, and the chalk bass actually came out to eat (it was hiding in a crevice all day). The sailfin blennies are funny, whenever you look away from them, they are always in a different spot.

Tank pictures are looking good. I see you got some Red Grapes.

Thanks. I'm loving my red grapes so far, and I am actually seeing some new grapes.

With respect to Chromis, I have found that to thrive they need to be in a school of five or more fish.

I haven't ever kept chromis in more numbers than 3, but IME they did just fine alone.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1634+115&pcatid=115

I am considering 20 of these in my 150G mixed reef with decorative macro.

I have actually never seen more than 8 or 9 chromis in an aquarium. I would be very interested to see how a large group of them does.

 

[jraker]

The jawfish all came out as soon as the lights turned on today. There is a little aggression between them, but nothing too bad, just some chasing. I have noticed that they made entirely new burrows today, and that they are getting bolder. Instead of hiding in their burrows, they are swimming above them in the open water now. They move pretty quickly, but I managed to get some pictures:

I managed to get a picture of one of my sailfin blennies. These guys are really good at hiding.

 

[Subsea]

Very nice picture. The jaw fish are very beautiful. Did you get a purple gorgonian with your macro?

 

[jraker]

Thanks. Along with the fish, I did order some gorgonians. I ordered 2, but KP sent 3. They are all opening nicely and responding well to the coral foods I put in the tank.

By the way, there won't be updates for the next few days. I am going out of town.