Oyster Reef Ecosystem Tank

[Chasmodes]

I wasn't very optimistic about the eel grass, because I haven't been able to find any at my collecting spots. My friend has a good source that can get it, plus, he has a bunch now and said he'd give me some. So, I'm a bit fired up about it. I would like to get a bunch of stuff done this weekend, that's the goal, anyway. Now that it's a realistic possibility to get some, I'm very motivated!

Thanks for the info on the phyto culture kits. I wouldn't rule out ordering from them. But, the plan now is to make a DIY set up. My friend who has the eel grass also has a phyto culture going and will set me up for that too. It's good to have friends in the hobby that are interested in the same stuff (he has an oyster reef too).

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I'm fired up too! Exciting time for you. That is awesome you have a friend doing the same things. You'll be able to help each other out so much.

If you really get after it this weekend, make sure to keep us apprised!

 

[Chasmodes]

Looking back at Michael's thread, I was trying to refresh my memory of what exactly he did...from the thread:

...I got it from Florida Pets. It is actual, black, stinky mud. So you don't need a lot.

Rather than planting in clean sand, I want to give the grasses a fertile home right from the start, rather than waiting for nutrients to build up. And since they are true, rooted plants, they take up a lot of nutrients from the soil.

So hopefully, my dirty sand bed will provide a good home to both the grasses and micro fauna, adding nutrients and diversity to the foundation of the ecosystem.

While we're on the subject, I wanted to elaborate on the reasoning for using multiple sand grain sizes. Layers of different grain sizes are conducive to different pore water oxygen levels and thus different kinds of bacteria. By layering with coarse at the top, medium in the middle and fine on the bottom, I should get a gradient from aerobic to anaerobic to anoxic conditions. This should foster diversity in bacteria, which is a good thing. Also, the coarse top layer provides habitat (and refuge) for pods and other tiny creatures to feed on accumulating detritus.

Now, my check list:

1) Black stinky mud - check. We have plenty of that in the Bay. It should have plenty of critters in it too.
2) Live sand - check. I will have to keep this tank fallow of fish for a time period, because I'll be collecting my own sand.
3) Different grain sizes of sand - Since I'm collecting my own, my version of this will be regular sand mixed with small shell fragments, which are abundant in the Bay. There will be plenty of life in it too. I'll be sure to add some shark teeth in my sand bed to in honor of the great number of miocene fossils found along the Bay's shorelines. This should provide cover for pods and other critters. I'll also use regular play sand from HD, which is probably a different grain size. That sand will be washed, since it's store bought.

Since this tank will have a good amount of flow, I'm hoping that it will stay in place. If you can imagine by looking at the oysterscape video below, I'm thinking that the grass will grow in the cavern. My flow will be generated by a Maxspect Gyre. Will I be able to keep the sand and mud in place? I have no idea. I guess I will have to test it out before attempting to plant anything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0d8HfyIGMg

 

[Michael Hoaster]

That all sounds good to me. I'd recommend putting and inch or two of sand on top of the mud, to help avoid cloudiness. When I reworked my sand bed to slope like a sand bar, my dirt layer got 'randomized'. That gyre pump is likely to move sand around in an 18 inch deep tank. To prevent that from happening you could put a layer of very course crushed coral gravel on top. In addition to not getting blown around, it provides great refuge space for pods, etcetera. Basically, put the finest sand/mud at the bottom and the coarsest stuff on top. I added a bag of play sand as well. It is a silica sand, so it should help fuel diatoms, sponges and snails growth. Most aquarists try to avoid diatoms, but they are the foundation of all life that will come after it.

I have no experience with Eelgrass, but I'm sure their's some info on them out there somewhere. How deep of a sand bed do you have planned?

I'm psyched for you!

 

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Michael for the suggestions! They make total sense. I was hoping for a 2-3" sand bed.

Yesterday, I made a bunch of progress on my build. How? By almost finishing the roots. I applied the grout to the roots and I'm pleased with how they turned out. I may need another coat of grout...I'll know more once it finishes curing. Next weekend, if it's ready, I'll paint the roots with Drylok/cement dye to seal them in for good. This will prevent the pH problems that grout or cement create by sealing everything in. After that, the roots will go into the 75g tank, freeing up my workbench to become my tank stand for the big tank.

I hope to have the 75g stream tank up and running very soon. Next steps after the root is done are to collect gravel, sand and rocks, then cycle the tank, then collect fish! Yay! This was a huge burden off my mind. It's been bothering me for a long time. I'm ready to roll now.

Here's a video of the 75g stream tank build so far: My US native fish stream tank build is back on track. Yesterday, I made a good bit of progress on the DIY root construction by adding brown grout to the root structure. The next steps toward setting up the tank are to paint the roots with Drylok mixed with cement dye, collect rocks/gravel/sand for the substrate, fill up the tank with water and cycle the tank, construct a top for the tank, purchase lighting capable of growing grasses and plants, and collecting fish. This tank should be up and running in a few weeks! Here's a video update of the build so far:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb-OR9ZatNE&t=6s

 

[Chasmodes]

I took a few pics of the latest version of the roots in the tank, to get a sense of what the roots and rock wall will look like. Sorry that the pics look a bit blurry.

This view from the left side of the tank shows the functionality of the root design. The big hole underneath is where my powerhead will be, mostly hidden from view by the root structure from the front of the tank. That was my goal with the roots, to hide equipment. Another thing that I'll do is paint the side and back of the tank with Drylok/black cement dye, to hide the silicone adhesive and equipment from view.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

The stream tank looks great! I look forward to seeing how it ends up. Your fake roots turned out fantastic. You've made great progress!

 

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Michael. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

 

[Chasmodes]

Yesterday afternoon, I had some time to work on the roots. However, when I went downstairs, I remembered that my paintbrushes were all ruined. Also, I opened up my can of Drylok and it was solid as a rock. When I first bought the can a couple years ago, it fell out of my truck, opened up, and spilled white Drylok on my driveway. Apparently, when I put the lid back on, I didn't put it on tight enough, and air got in there. I was also out of the charcoal color cement dye, which is necessary to bring out the deeper nooks and crannies of the work. So, I went to HD and they had everything that I needed in stock.

When I got home, I slapped on the first coat a Drylok, pretty thick too, to make sure that all of the root surface was covered, to seal everything in. Drylok tends to shrink when it dries, I think, because sometimes, small holes in your work tend to open up when it dries and they require a touch up. I only found two of those last night, so I'm really happy about how this coat went on. The roots look pretty good now, as the pink foam is finally covered, but, they aren't the rootsy color that I want. I will add a few new coats of Drylok to add color and try and bring out some realism. I may add a few tricks to do that too, regarding texture. I need to think about how to do that, and if I can pull it off, I'll review the how afterward.

Here is the Drylok that I used. I prefer the Gray. It's important not to get the "extreme" Drylok product because it has mold inhibitors and other chemicals that could be harmful to the tank. This is latex based Drylok. I mixed it with Quikrete charcoal color cement dye. It's easy, just pull out some paint, pour in the liquid dye, and stir it in.

I painted the first coat on thick because I really want to seal everything in to prevent pH issues from happening.

First coat finished, from the front left side.

A close up of the split bark section. It looks much nicer with the pink foam board finally covered up. I'm really happy with how this turned out. Drylok is great because if you have detail carved into your work, it does not fill in the gaps and cover it up. This is the only exposed foam after the grout coating.

Showing the knot and hole. I think it turned out too big, but I can live with it.

More of a left side view.

It's getting there...I can't wait to get home from work and work on it again tonight.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

That looks amazing!

 

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Michael! Almost there!

 

[Chasmodes]

I made a short video to introduce everyone to the crabs that are currently in my tank. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8Fdcr6Pwuc&t=5s

By the way, the blennies killed one of my crabs. After filming this, I found a dead one, upside down, with the belly eaten out. I've seen them attack the crabs before. This one was picked on the most, because the last time I saw an attack, a male blenny lopped off the victim crab's claw. It's interesting, because they leave the hermit crab alone!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Cool crabs vid! How big are they now, and how big can they get? Will your clean up crew by crab-based in the big tank?

 

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Michael. The Harris mud crab only gets to be about an inch and a half in diameter (carapace). The black-fingered mud crab gets a little bigger to about 2" wide. The hermit crabs may get a little larger than the one that I have, but not much.

The crabs will definitely be part of the CUC. Now that I've seen how the fish and other crabs react to the hermit crabs, I want more of them. Why? The mud crabs are fine, but, they hide a lot and don't roam around, so their clean up duties aren't that effective. The hermit crab is all over the place. I want snails, but, I haven't found them at my collection sites (probably not looking in the right places, and, they weren't really on my radar). Keeping them long term depends on how the fish react to them. Will they ignore them? Or, will they kill them? I have a ton of different worms and lots of little anemones and jellyfish polyps, so, they help with the clean up too.

 

[Chasmodes]

Sad news...After work on Thursday, I found my largest skilletfish, the one that was guarding eggs in some of my videos, dead. It stopped eating for a couple weeks, but the last month has been eating heartly and was back to normal. I have no idea what happened. I'm down to one skilletfish now.

The rest of the fish are doing great.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Well, bummer. Mystery deaths are the worst. You don't know what to fix.

 

[Chasmodes]

I did some research, and although I couldn't find any info on this species, I found a journal that documented another closely related and similar looking species from the South American Atlantic, and it said that they have short lifespans, and described the behaviors and adaptations of those clingfish as a result of the short lifespans.

So, maybe my clingfish have short lifespans too? They grew extra fast, and were tiny when I caught them, less than an inch long. They reached adulthood in just six months, and bred like crazy. I lost three clingfish in the last six months, all with no signs of disease. This one lived over two years. I have one left, and it is behaving normally. I hope that my other species live longer lives than these, if that is the case. If not, maybe I need to rethink my fishkeeping methods. Come to think of it, I caught a skilletfish many years ago and kept in my FO tank, and it only lived about two years.

If anyone has kept skilletfish before, how long did they survive?

 

[Chasmodes]

I'm almost finished with the roots! I only have one more coat of paint to dab on there. I brushed on a thick coat of dark brown last week, and this yesterday, dabbed on a lighter color of brown with the sponge. I will dab on an even lighter coat this weekend to finish up the painting.

Here's a pic taken when I was finished, no flash.

It was hard to see any detail in this picture under the room lighting. So, I took one using the flash on my phone.

I liked how the flash shows more detail, so I put the roots in the tank. Then, I brought in the two shop lights and put them over my tank and lit up the background and snapped these pics. First, full tank shot:

Zoomed in on the roots:

Looking in from the right front view of the tank:

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out so far. Next steps after the last coat will be another dabbed on coat of paint for highlighting. Then, I may seal it in with tile adhesive...I'm not sure yet. I'm a little concerned about durability, because I had some cracking and a soft spot. I don't understand why that happened, but maybe the tile adhesive will cinch things up. I have some silicone mess to scrape off the right side of the tank too.

I am planning on going fishing this weekend, and my plan is to gather some rocks and gravel from the river. If I can do that, then I can start running the tank! I need to purchase lighting for this tank too, so I will do that soon. I want an LED fixture that can grow plants. It will be nice to get the 75g stream tank done so I can focus on finishing my oyster reef build.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Nice work! I can't tell it from the real thing. That's going to be a beautiful tank.

 

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Michael!