Oyster Reef Ecosystem Tank
- Thread starter Chasmodes
- Start date
The Oyster Reef lives! Cool video Kevin. Good idea putting Ulva in there. It should help keep the ugly stuff at bay. Have fun with it!
vlangel
Premium Member
I watched your videos a while back Kevin but the hecticness of life got in the way and I never got around to commenting. Anyway, your biotope is super cool. Some shots where the glass can not be seen could look like they were taken in the wild. I say that as the highest praise possible, because that is always what I want to achieve in my tank. Excellent job, ya done good!
What Jesse saidHi Dawn. Nice to see you.
vlangel
Premium Member
Thanks Jesse. With the change of seasons I will probably be on RC more. My aquarium always gets more attention when the weather outside is not as nice!Hi Dawn. Nice to see you.
vlangel
Premium Member
Thanks John. I look forward to being more of a presence on RC with the cooler weather coming on.
Chasmodes
Well-known member
Well, a lot has happened since my contest entry. The first thing to report is that I won the North American Division of the contest. It was quite an honor just to be part of it. I never thought that I'd win, so that was a nice surprise. I have to thank the BAP, the judges, and my fellow contestants. If you haven't visited their YT channel or web page, I highly encourage it. There are tons of cool biotopes and biotope tanks, and lots of species of fish that I never knew existed, and many of those are quite beautiful and/or interesting. So much talent too, that it blows me away how good they all are. I can't believe that I was able to compete with that. To get there, just go to the last video that I posted and you can see links and stuff, or at least check out their YT channel.
I will shoot a video soon to show how the tank has matured. I added a new species since the last videos that was in QT during that time, and I think they really add to the tank. The bad news was that my Ulva died back almost all the way, and a bacterial bloom, followed by a green water algae bloom took place. All of the inverts and fish are all fine though, but it was ugly. I didn't even want to go down and look at it. I bought a UV sterilizer but never set it up. My first attempt to fix the problem worked. I turned off the lights for a full week, only turning them on for 20 minutes for fish feeding time, and I cut back feeding fish to every other day. About 10 days ago, I set my photoperiod to 4 hours daily, and the water is clear again. I resumed daily feedings too. I plan to increase the photoperiod to 8 hours, adding an hour per week starting next week. My fuge light, where the Ulva still resides, hanging on, goes for about 6 hours at night. During my lights out period, I cut it out the whole time too.
The good news is that there is a small spot of Ulva clinging to the rock in the display, so it might come back. If it doesn't come back into the disply, that's not a big deal, because it breaks loose and clogs the overflow, and I'm tired of cleaning and worrying about that. But, it can grow in the fuge all it wants. The Gracilaria is growing like mad and looks fantastic. It really accentuates the overhang and cavern of the tank. The fish are all doing very well too. The tank looks great. So, stay tuned for another video update soon!
I will shoot a video soon to show how the tank has matured. I added a new species since the last videos that was in QT during that time, and I think they really add to the tank. The bad news was that my Ulva died back almost all the way, and a bacterial bloom, followed by a green water algae bloom took place. All of the inverts and fish are all fine though, but it was ugly. I didn't even want to go down and look at it. I bought a UV sterilizer but never set it up. My first attempt to fix the problem worked. I turned off the lights for a full week, only turning them on for 20 minutes for fish feeding time, and I cut back feeding fish to every other day. About 10 days ago, I set my photoperiod to 4 hours daily, and the water is clear again. I resumed daily feedings too. I plan to increase the photoperiod to 8 hours, adding an hour per week starting next week. My fuge light, where the Ulva still resides, hanging on, goes for about 6 hours at night. During my lights out period, I cut it out the whole time too.
The good news is that there is a small spot of Ulva clinging to the rock in the display, so it might come back. If it doesn't come back into the disply, that's not a big deal, because it breaks loose and clogs the overflow, and I'm tired of cleaning and worrying about that. But, it can grow in the fuge all it wants. The Gracilaria is growing like mad and looks fantastic. It really accentuates the overhang and cavern of the tank. The fish are all doing very well too. The tank looks great. So, stay tuned for another video update soon!
SantaMonica
Well-known member
Congratulations Kevin.
Chasmodes
Well-known member
Thank you John!
Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. In addition to being swamped at work, I've been busy working on a couple projects related to our hobby.
Anyway, I have a very good update showing a much more mature tank. I've also added a fish species and filmed two critters that weren't in the recent videos of this tank. I hope you all like the video:
Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. In addition to being swamped at work, I've been busy working on a couple projects related to our hobby.
Anyway, I have a very good update showing a much more mature tank. I've also added a fish species and filmed two critters that weren't in the recent videos of this tank. I hope you all like the video:
Great vid Kevin! Your biotope is spectacular! I like the new Norfolk Spots. Did you collect them or were they leftover bait from a fishing trip? Don't be surprised if your Ulva comes back with a vengeance at some point. Mine did. I had a piece about the size of yours, and it grew into a forest. Great fish watching too, with all the very active fish. You've got some serious Grasillaria growing! Oh, and congrats on winning first place in North America! I enjoyed the tour of the system too. Cool setup!
Yes, yes it is
Chasmodes
Well-known member
Good to see you Michael! And thanks!!! Actually my buddy caught them on hook snd line while we were out collecting blennies! Theyโre too fast to net and too big to fit in the fish traps. They are great in the tank. Part of my clean up crew!
Ulva grew like crazy as did the Gracilaria, but when the Ulva died back, the Gracilaria grew like crazy! Itโs amazing how good lighting can make such a big difference.
How are you doing and what are you up to?
Ulva grew like crazy as did the Gracilaria, but when the Ulva died back, the Gracilaria grew like crazy! Itโs amazing how good lighting can make such a big difference.
How are you doing and what are you up to?
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