Oyster Reef Ecosystem Tank

[Chasmodes]

I have some good news. A buddy of mine was able to collect some eel grass and is using it in his tanks. He said when I'm ready to start up the big tank, he'd give me some or we'd go collect more at his spot. I want the grass to take off, so, I will be modeling my big tank a lot like your v2! Thanks for paving the way Michael!

My big tank will be up and running this summer. I did more work on the roots last weekend. It wasn't picture worthy, but progress. I plan to paint the grout on them this weekend, and maybe the Drylok too, if all goes well. After that dries and if it looks good, the FW stream tank will be ready for set up, and that frees up my stand (converting my work bench back into an aquarium stand).

Regarding the stand, I think that I'll just use it as it is, to get the tank up and running. I may just paint it and leave it open. If I finish it to look like a nice piece of furniture, then I'll do it later, maybe build a facade. That way, it won't affect the operation of the tank at all.

So, other than just doing it, what else do I need?

1) I need to figure out a way to hang my lights, and it's not a problem, I just need to make a decision on how I'd like to do it.

2) I need to upgrade the electrical infrastructure to accommodate all of my equipment. It's not a deal breaker and won't stop me from the initial set up.

3) The sump... will be in the basement, so, I need to run plumbing through the wall in a way that it doesn't look bad. This isn't a deal breaker either, because I can always add that later.

4) Deciding on an overflow and drilling the tank, once I take action on the sump.

5) I have yet to set up my RO/DI. I need to do that, but, it won't stop the tank set up. I've been using well water all along without the filtration, so, this would be an enhancement down the road. It is something that I can do right away though.

6) The last thing that I'd like to do is set up a nice water changing station. It's not a deal breaker either. I'm OK shuttling buckets.

So, simple first, then improve later. I'll start sumpless. The only difference in the set up of the tank from my current tank will be to build the substrate like you did, Michael, then establish the ecosystem, with plants. I'm sure at the point, the grasses and macros will do much better than in the tank that I have right now.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

That is good news! That's a good idea, listing the things you need to do. I love a good list. Be careful on putting off some of it. Ask yourself, "when is the best (easiest) time to get this done?" Or, "if I do this later, how will I do it?" Just some thoughts.

Good luck with the new setup(s)!

 

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Michael. Thank you for the advice. I'm listening, for sure.

I could set up the sump in the same room for the short term. Putting it in the basement is for convenience, where my RO/DI unit will be (and future water changing station).

 

[Michael Hoaster]

My pleasure, Kevin. I just don't want my only influence to be to 'hurry up and get it up and running'. It probably feels that way, sometimes.

 

[Chasmodes]

Ah, not at all Michael. Trust me, it pains me to not have this project moving along faster. I have plenty of motivation to get it done. Even my wife asks about it and wants it done. Most of the procrastination is me overthinking things combined with other life events getting in the way (some good and some bad). I want to be able to finish the project so I can enjoy my dream tank. The fact that anyone else in the world is interested is great, and adds plenty of inspiration for me, in a positive way, to finish the project.

 

[Chasmodes]

Well, I'm going to spam y'all with another video. I filmed this the other night to try and capture all of the life in my tank. I guess that I did, but after watching it on YT, it turned out better than I thought at first. I panned the fish first, then the invertebrates (barnacle, anemones, jellyfish polyps), then back to the fish. I hope y'all like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARw8tgqlGNs

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Pretty cool! It makes me wonder if conditions were just to their liking, would those anemones become invasive, like aiptasias?

 

[Chasmodes]

Pretty cool! It makes me wonder if conditions were just to their liking, would those anemones become invasive, like aiptasias?

I think it's the former, conditions to their liking. The fish don't seem to mind the anemones or jellyfish polyps. They're probably not good for the fish larvae though. But, if I'm going to raise the larvae, then I'll remove them from the tank anyway.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

That makes sense. A few is fine, right? Thousands, not so much.

I don't know if you remember how bad aiptasias got in my previous tank, but it was one of several invasive species I had that convinced me to tear down my tank. I had hoped that my obsessive level of going after them would win the battle, but it didn't. I have no idea how bad yours can be, but I'd hate to see you go through what I went through.

 

[Chasmodes]

Fortunately, the sting of this species of anemone is much more mild than that of the sting of Aiptasia anemones, so I don't really mind much of they populate the tank. I guess the only danger that these present is that they will consume the pods and perhaps fish fry. My thought is that since there aren't any corals in the bay, these would be my version of corals. Eventually, I think that their numbers will stabilize. I will add more other invertebrates as time goes on. Perhaps adding more filter feeders will increase competition and result in the population stabilzing more.

One thing that I've noticed is that the anemones seem to prefer the sand bed, while the jellyfish polyps seem to prefer attaching to shells. Some of the jellyfish polyps in the video seem like their in the sand, but there are shells underneath the sand that they're attached too. The gobies constantly fan sand out of their hidng spots and cover up the cniderians.

 

[Chasmodes]

After a more research, I think that the anemones in the fish tank are actually a different species, the Starlet Anemone - Nematostella vectensis. This would explain why they prefer the sand bed to the shells. They're a type of burrowing anemone. There is another species of burrowing anemone, Edwardsia elegans, also whitish or clear. But, after looking at photos of each, I'm convinced it's the starlet anemone. "This anemone is now a widely used experimental animal for studies of genetics and developmental biology, because of its hardiness and simplicity." --National Exotic Marine and Estuarine Species Information System

 

[Chasmodes]

There's a study of the venom of these anemones, and the effect on grass shrimp, killifish larva and killifish adults. When observing grass shrimp touching an adult polyp, the grass shrimp darted away, suggesting that the anemone's sting was a good defense.

Anemone adult polyps, when in contact with killifish larva, captured and ate the larvae.

Adult killifish will eat the adult anemone polyps.

So, the sting of these anemones shouldn't bother adult fish in my tank, but, as I suspected, will eat fish larvae.

Edit:
The study was, "Dynamics of venom composition across a complex life cycle" by Yaara Y Columbus-Shenkar, Maria Y Sachkova, Jason Macrander, Arie Fridrich, Vengamanaidu Modepalli, Adam M Reitzel, Kartik Sunagar, Yehu Moran

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Good research. I love me some scientific study articles! You can learn so much from them. And because they are from outside the hobby, they aren't 'infected' by aquarists' perspectives. Not that that's a bad thing, I just like the 'pure' stuff, that I can add my own perspective to.

 

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Michael. I try to find out as much as I can about my critters, and scientific publications are sometimes the only reference you can find.

This was an exciting weekend in some ways. I went with some friends on a collecting trip. On the down side, record rainfall over the past 16 months reduced the salinity in the Chesapeake bay dramatically, so much so, that it's almost fresh water. Blue catfish are regularly caught throughout most of the Maryland section of the Bay. In the past, their range was about the most upstream Northern section of the Bay.

As you might suspect, our collecting results were tough. We managed only 9 benthic fish (2 tiny skilletfish, one huge female striped blenny stuffed with eggs, and a handful of naked gobies). We also caught one pipefish, a few small american eels, some grass shrimp, a bunch of juvenile mummichogs, silversides, mud crabs, a half dozen fourspine sticklebacks, and grass shrimp. Of what we kept, most of it went to our local public aquarium.

I kept a pair of sticklebacks for my 20g high (second video), a few oyster shells with live mussels, and 5 mud crabs. I also collected some Ulva and floating widgeon grass. Within the widgeon grass looked like strands of Elodea. I also collected another species of macroalgae that I have yet to identify (in the first video). Widgeon grass, some Ulva and Elodea, grass shrimp, amphipods, and the sticklebacks went into the 20g high (second video). Some Ulva and Elodea went into my 20g long fish tank, along with a couple oyster shells with mussels on them, and the mud crabs.

My friend that I went with also has an oyster reef tank, and gave me a small hermit crab and an oyster shell with barnacles on it. I'm not sure if the oyster is alive or not.

This video is my 20g long, my fish tank, showing the new additions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPijclay-boaikj8&t=16s

This is the 20g high, featuring a ghost anemone and the sticklebacks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT4Jqrl3xag

Enjoy!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Collecting sounds awesome, and sometimes, hit or miss. That's so cool you donate stuff to your local aquarium. Good luck with your new flora and fauna!

Clicking on your vid links yields a "Video Unavailable " message.

 

[Chasmodes]

Thanks Michael.

Sorry about that. I forgot to make them public. Fixed now.

 

[Chasmodes]

Last night, I took another video of the fish tank, because the one that I posted yesterday was filmed when the water was still cloudy, and there were some really blurry scenes. The water in this video is much clearer, probably because the live oyster has been doing some filtering! Also, notice how fat the female striped blenny is. She is full of eggs. She has been laying eggs a couple times each week and is ready again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAX4H5PnVhM

And, that is the subject of the second video, the live oyster in my tank. When my friend gave it to me, I didn't realize it was alive until after I put it into the tank. It has a lot of small to tiny barnacles on it too, along with some other life. I was watching it with my magnifying glass, and decided that it was cool enough to deserve it's own video. Plus, a mud crab photo-bombed the whole thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xsRo7kDFy0

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I like the color injection from the plants. You've got a fun community of fish there. I'm sure they give you hours of entertainment! The Oyster with the attached Barnacle is cool. What do you feed them, phytoplankton?

 

[Chasmodes]

Thanks Michael. I need to get another view of that oyster. It's loaded with little barnacles and I think, tiny tube worms.

I feed my filter feeders Oyster Feast every other day. I may need to change to every day. I want to start my own phyto cultures to save money and then I can feed them daily. Oysters need a lot of food, as do the mussels.

I'm going to build my sand bed after your design. My friend has some eel grass that he'll give me. After seeing it in his tank, it looks great and I want some. I think that using your methods, with the new lighting, I should be able to keep most plants alive. I need to get it in gear and get it done.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

You probably know this already, but Florida Aqua Farms sells phyto culture kits at: http://florida-aqua-farms.com/

That's exciting your going to get eel grass. Woo! I'll be following!