My Weed Garden...

M

mmittlesteadt

New member
Yes I love Soft Corals, so I thought appropriate to post this here...

Yes, I'm setting up a weed garden. I absolutely love Xenia, GSP, Mushrooms, etc. that just take over an entire tank. While I know many hate them (and for obviously good reasons), I think they are my favorites.

I have a 40 gallon breeder tank and this is what I have so far...Some GSP, Silver Xenia, Kenya Tree and a nice rock with Zoas and Mushrooms on it. I also have two Occelaris Clownfish, a Firefish, a Twin Spot Goby (yes I know all about them and have posted other threads about him) and today will add a Chalk Bass.

I have outgrown my 40 gallon Breeder Tank Build thread and so I'm going to start this thread as a continuation of that thread.

I plan on taking periodic photos and videos of the growth and spread. Perhaps others will find it interesting, although it's certainly not for SPS or LPS lovers. :D

Here's some pics and videos for y'all to enjoy.

junetank.jpg


twinspot2.jpg


firefish-gsp.jpg


firefish-goby2.jpg


firefish-goby.jpg


Xenia2.jpg


Xenia3.jpg


Zoa-Mushroom.jpg


Twin Spot Goby

Twin Spot Goby Part 2

Xenia and GSP (Xenia moved to a new spot)
 
I'm looking forward to seeing how this one comes out. I've always liked soft Coral tanks that are fully grown in.

What are your plans for lighting and filtration?
 
I have a 65 gallon sump in the basement (below the 40 gallon breeder display up in the living room) with a 27 gallon refugium section. A large 100 GPH Eshopps skimmer, and I'm lighting it with a single Kessil A160WE.
 
we have similar taste, I like the weed style growers too.

I'll keep an eye on this thread.

i picked up my first xenia yesterday, i havn't seen any gsp locally yet though sadly.
 
Yes, coral weeds. They are beautiful in their own way. They present their own set of challenges...dirtier water, yet not too dirty. They can overgrow, which in some cases can be preferable so managing the overgrowth is a bit more of a challenge.

While I can understand those who prefer the challenge of hard corals, soft corals have their own amazing way about them, which I tend to prefer.
 
Both Xenia and GSP utilize both nitrate and phosphate, two things most coral keepers are adamant about keeping at low to non-existent levels. I think of those soft corals as part of the natural filtration of my reef.
 
mmittlesteadt said:
Both Xenia and GSP utilize both nitrate and phosphate, two things most coral keepers are adamant about keeping at low to non-existent levels. I think of those soft corals as part of the natural filtration of my reef.
Click to expand...

yeah i have some elevated nitrate and phosphate in my tank, and when i first put in my xenia it looked like it was going to shrivel up and die off, now 2 days later it looks like its thriving.

only thing is my flow is very high, and the piece i got from the lfs slides around my tank in the flow lol

i need some rock rubble so i can lock it into place. i'm afraid to try to remove them from the piece i got from the lfs.
 
atraperegrinus said:
yeah i have some elevated nitrate and phosphate in my tank, and when i first put in my xenia it looked like it was going to shrivel up and die off, now 2 days later it looks like its thriving.

only thing is my flow is very high, and the piece i got from the lfs slides around my tank in the flow lol

i need some rock rubble so i can lock it into place. i'm afraid to try to remove them from the piece i got from the lfs.
Click to expand...

Yet another thing I love about my weed garden is that it requires lower flow so I need not concern myself with blowing my corals off the rocks like they are in a hurricane. LOL.

There are some excellent YouTube videos on how to frag corals...particularly Xenias.
 
A little update on my 40 gallon breeder Coral Weed Garden.

Here's a pic of my tank from June...

junetank.jpg


And how it looks now here in July. All of my corals are doing great...Zoa and mushrooms, GSP, Xenia, Kenya Tree and even my Goniapora is doing quite well.

There are also 4 of my 5 fish in one pic. Anyone spot them all (Firefish, Twin Spot, one of my two Ocellaris Clownfish and Lawnmower Blenny)?

My Twin Spot is doing great and he is really keeping the sandbed clean (left side is totally clean now) and the Blenny is going to town on my rockwork.

My Chalk Bass would have been front and center during this pic. RIP Chalky.

This is being lit by a single Kessil A160WE and the intensity is only about 75% with the spectrum shifted a bit more towards daylight (but not full on)...

july-tank.jpg
 
Some update shots...

Kenya Tree is growing like mad along with my Xenia...

KenyaXenia.jpg


Got a pic of my Twin Spot, Blenny and my biggest Hermit in the same shot...hanging out at the Algae Diner...

blenny-twinspot.jpg


And one of the Blenny hanging out in the shade...he really blends in...almost chameleon like...

blenny4.jpg
 
I noticed the 'toxic green' GSP grows like a weed vs. my other GSP that hasn't really grown at all in 7 months. Just a tip, if you're looking to grow weeds :)

and that's funny about the blenny. My son always asks me 'where's Rocky?' (that's my lawnmower's name).. and he's always right in front of his face..
 
Kenya Tree is really taking off. It's bigger, has spread and I have it growing all over.

kenyatree2.jpg


kenyagoni.jpg


kenyazoa.jpg


Xenia has started to grow in two new places on the frag plug too. GSP has spread all over the frag plug now. Goniopora was fully out until I stuck my hand in the tank and adjusted the light for the photo. So far it is doing well.
 
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