Oyster Reef Ecosystem Tank

Thank you Patrick and Michael. I can't get enough of them! I need to not spend so much time watching them and get working on the big tank though. I must not be satisified, but, it's difficult to think that way, LOL.

Patrick, I need to see that special. Do you remember what channel it was on? I'll look out for it.

Last night, when I went to feed the fish, all of the blennies came out to feed aggressively except one of the males kept hiding in his shell. This is the blenny that I dubbed, "King", because at one time, he was king of the tank. He no longer is, as the other males caught up to him in size and can hold their own against him while defending their piece of the rock. "King", staying hidden and not eating reminded me of the behavior of the one that went blind, so I was quite concerned.



After I finished dispersing the food, I decided to shine a light in the shell and see if he was OK or if I could find signs of disease. Just as I picked up the flashlight, he came out to feed, so I shined my light into the shell, and lo and behold, I found eggs. He was guarding eggs! This confirms my thoughts on a question that I had, that one female will breed with multiple males. I've seen two other males hiding out like this, the first was the one that I filmed guarding eggs a couple months ago. The second male blenny acted the same way, but I couldn't verify if he was guarding eggs or not, because his territory is in the back of the tank. This blenny was right in front. How convenient!



So, I went upstairs to grab my phone, brought it down and set it up on my tripod and waited for him to leave his shell and catch a vid of him guarding the eggs and also a good shot of the eggs. It took about an hour, and he came out to fight off a rival male, and gave me the opportunity to get a shot.



I have two videos, and I'll post the other one tomorrow. This is the second video that I shot, but it has a close up of the eggs, so I thought that I'd share it first. It also features what the other fish in the tank are up to. Hope you like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIWaQ_ySOOc
 
Cool vids! It amazes me that a fish that size would choose such a thin opening to hide in. Also your tank looks so natural with the marine snow and oyster shells! It's such a cool concept.

On the big tank progress, have you considered any other plan that would allow you to move forward? Maybe a closed loop, all in one, like mine? There is always another way. What if you were told to get your system up and running within a week, or it would be taken away. What would you do? I know it sounds kinda pushy, but I wanted to return the favor. You and Dawn and have really helped push me along! And honestly, I needed it.

You've got a great concept and a great tank to put it in.
 
Thanks Michael.

Yes, there are other options. My original plan was to have the sump and a water changing station in my basement. I had plumbing to that sight done for the water changing station, where I'll install my RO/DI filter and the sump. Then, plumb the sump to the tank through the wall. My biggest obstacle is that I need another electrical line installed to that location. Also, the stand isn't finished and would look ugly as is. I just need to get to work on that and get it done.

I considered just painting the stand as is, set the tank up sumpless, and eventually build a facade for the stand to make it look nice. I may do that. If I do, I could always plumb the sump in later. Another option would be to have a sump under the tank instead of in the basement.

So, that would also allow me to use the limited amount of room that I have in the basement to finish my water changing station until I can get the new electrical lines done.

But, you're right, I need to move on this. These fish need the room.
 
Putting your sump in the basement means a ton of head height for your return pump to overcome, so you'll need a very robust (and expensive) pump. Putting it in the stand means you may already have everything you need to get 'er done.
 
Thanks Michael. I was thinking about your other post, and really, maybe these are the pushes that I need to get moving.

As far as the basement sump goes, the location for it is only a few feet away, same level, on the other side of the wall. I need an electrical line there, and to figure out a way to plumb it through the wall to the tank. Head height is only about a foot. I have the pump and all the equipment that I need, just about, except for some of the plumbing parts and valves. However, I can get the tank up and running sumpless to start, and then build that in later. The same holds true with the stand, a couple coats of the drylok that I have laying around with some tinted dye over the stand will waterproof it, and I can build a facade later. This tank could be up and running pretty soon.
 
I think you are in a similar situation to mine. There's so many other things to do during the summer.

Oh, I see about your sump. But why put it in another room? Why not just put it in the stand, so you can see and access everything together? I had a remote sump at one point and it was a pain. Putting your water making station in another room makes more sense.

Anyway, you do what you think is best, on your own timetable. I really benefitted from your and Dawn's encouragement, so I thought you might benefit from a little push too.
 
I no longer want the sump issue to hold up the tank. I figure the 101 gallons is a lot better than the 20g long. The tank has a good footprint, 36"x36"x18" tall, so lots more surface area to work with. My initial plan was to have the sump on the other side of the wall, so that equipment and such would be out of sight. Then, I'd use the space under the tank for storage of food, etc.. My RO/DI and water storage would be directly next to the sump. I have a water line leading from the sink on the other side of the basement to that spot, and also are return pipe to pump water out of the sump back to the sink for water changes. I was going to design a gravity fed water changing set up. I figured most of the maintance would be in a room where everything was easy to get to. However, it's not integral to the success of the tank. Heck, now I just make my new water with well water, and I have fish breeding and everything, inverts thrive, etc., so, maybe sumpless, at least for now, will work just fine. I have 4 large sections of my oyster reef ready to go into a tank rather than just sit and collect dust.

I'm sick of toiling over the parts of the plan that aren't ready. The 20g long sort of satisfied my urge to have an oyster reef tank, but it's also enabled me to stall and procrastinate. No longer.

Michael Hoaster said:
I really benefitted from your and Dawn's encouragement, so I thought you might benefit from a little push too.
Click to expand...
So, I definitely appreciate the push!
 
Now I just need time to work on everything. This past weekend and the next one are booked up. This past weekend, I went fishing for two days, so I'm feeling a bit guilty :worried:

The male blenny in the last video that I posted is still guarding the same eggs. At least, I think that they're the same eggs. So far, 10 days and they haven't hatched yet. I expect them to hatch very soon.

Contrast this with skilletfish, who lay eggs about every four or five days. Their fry hatch that quickly. In addition, they will lay eggs even as the male skilletfish guards eggs from the last batch. I find that amazing.
 
I don't have much of an update, so I thought that I'd post another video update.

Many of the fish are hunkered down in their oyster shells, guarding eggs, some out of sight. The hidden ones only come out to eat, then right back to their egg guarding duties. Toward the end of this video, two males encounter each other and look like they're about to fight, but both of them decided that it wasn't a good idea. Notice how dark the back of the head on the blenny to the left gets...that's an aggressive coloration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBDCkMxp4uc&t=6s
 
So cool and natural. It makes me wonder why so many choose to set up a sterile 'showcase' tank. It's kind of like a Rambo Tank in miniature, with all the big boys keeping a truce. Considering all the eggs being guarded, it's amazing how peaceful it is. Nice work Kevin!
 
Watching your vids keeps me excited to get my tank back up and running again. Thanks for making them! You're inspiring me to make more vids too!
 
Thanks Michael. One of the reasons that I post so much about these fish, photos and videos, is because prior to me starting this tank and collecting these fish, I couldn't find much information about them, much less pictures or videos. If anyone ever becomes interested in these species for any reason, they'll have plenty of media to look at!
 
I went on vacation last week for about 10 days. I used an automatic feeder on the 20g long oyster reef tank with fish and fed them flakes. I must have opened up the door a little too much, because the glass was full of algae and the fish were fatter than fat! I had another feeder for my 20g high but it broke, so I asked the neighbors to feed that tank a pinch of flakes a couple times (crabs, anemones, shrimp, worms, barnacles, and mussels) while I was out. That tank also had a ton of algae on the glass. I'm sure both tanks received too much food, and the lights were on the entire time. I guess I need some timers for that. Anyway, all of the inhabitants of both tanks were just fine, and no disasters while I was out, so, life is good. Here is a video update of what the tank looked like last night after I cleaned the glass:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYR3ysaXarg
 
Another great vid! That music really went well with the scene too. I saw the barnacle! I think the key to your success with many fish in a small tank, is your oyster reef. With so many places to hide, everyone can get away. So even when they are guarding eggs, you have peace!

I'm so looking forward to your 101g!
 
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