Planning my macro algae/ seagrass tank

Now that I have a light fixture for my tank I can get the 29g going. Super excited. For I need to paint the fixture so my girlfriend can be happy with it and then start setting it up.

I plan on ordering some refugium mud and a cup of florida pets mud and mix them together.

This is going to be another macro algae build, but for a bit larger more aggressive fish than my tiny gobies.

This is where I probably will do saltwater mollies for a food source for basslets and clowns.
 
Came home today to all of my fish. Everything's looking good, and even better, everyone's putting on some weight! The blenny for one looks like it's too fat to swim!

Checked on goby behaviour. Even when they see each other, there hasn't been any aggression, each just swims past each other.

The blenny did seem to chase at times yesterday, but it's more relaxed today (or maybe it's too full).

Mystery fish (hopeful saddled blenny) was out a bit, but ran away when I pulled out the phone for a picture. Other than the blenny it seems to be the most shy of all the fish. Goby are out everywhere and don't seem to be afraid of anything.
 
You've got a great community going! I love fish-watching. Sounds like you're getting into it. I'm sure they'll be less shy once they figure out you're they're food-source!
 
Update:

The diatoms are in bloom! Here's my guess on what happened.
When adding the fish to the tank and a few snails, I added two Chestnut Astrea (Turbo). As soon as they hit the sand two hermits came upon them and took them down under the rocks. Unfortunately I couldn't get to them and all I could do is see crabs coming from across the way to scavenge. The next day, the water was a bit cloudy and the top of the tank was a big gross (snail nutrients all over the place). Day 3, browning on everything and so far the right glass and a big portion of macro now has diatoms.
Other than losing two poor snails, I'm a bit excited. Pods will love the diatoms and hopefully more reproduction is in order.

Fish:

All four goby are confirmed, but I only see three at a time. One of the small ones seems to be hiding out. Which makes me happy. One reason it could be hiding is to find a place to call home. My past greenbanded had a goby that placed itself in a very nice rock. After weeks it could be seen coming in and out of that very rock. Months later, when taking down the tank and selling the fish, i pulled the rock and dozens of fry came swimming out. I hope to recreate this! That behavior seems to be a pattern.

Mystery fish is... now a missing fish. It seems to hide more than the 4th goby.
 
So I've been trying to draw comparisons between these goby and my old greenbanded goby whom are close cousins.

and I just saw it.

I saw what I've been waiting for. The dance. I wish I had my phone on me when i was visiting the tank.

The largest goby whom i dub the alpha male approached a smaller goby. He then wiggled his body back and forth for a bit and dashed back to this cave. He turned around and went back to the smaller goby and continued doing it 3 - 4 times. That is the exact same behavior as my greenbanded goby in the weeks before they laid and hatched eggs.

This is what I've been waiting for! Going to grab my phone and try to capture it.
 
Fish are looking good. From above and below two of the fish are rounded. It I see dots in the belly of one. The alpha is now trying really hard to get some attention from a rounded goby.

This is looking really good.
 
Tank number 2 is up. All the rocks and sand I had in the tub with a circ pump is now being used in my 29g (well i have a bit left over, but it probably be trashed) my 3 salty mollies are in the tank with some prolifera, grape and codium. Pictures soon when it's done clearing up.
 
Tank 1:

Pistol Shrimp has dug through into the mud.... When I saw the tank last night, everything seemed to be covered in a thin layer of sediment. Tank may have too much nutrients so I'm a bit concerned. I'm going to give the tank a few hours, but if it looks bad when i get home this afternoon I'll have to do a water change.

After a water change Saturday I did get a glimpse at mystery fish. I also haven't seen all 4 goby in a while. I catch one or two, but that's about it, because this tank has had a mysterious way of killing off fish last year, I grow a bit weary and concerned, but I remind myself this is the same behavior as my greenbanded goby.

Tank 2:

Diatoms bloomed yesterday morning. The mollies have been doing an amazing job cleaning it up. One of the mollies females seems to be a male. My darn fault for not checking thoroughly when I picked them up. So the ratio is current 2m 1f. The female however seems to have chosen her male and chases the other male away. Beta male (best choice of name right now) cowers a bit before getting the courage to move again, just to be harassed by the larger alpha. So with a quick netting I grabbed him up and dropped him in my 20g tank. Hopefully he'll be a bit happier there and coerce my fish to come out.

 
A local ebay seller was taking down his system and i purchased ALL of his macros! So! Presenting my 29g in all its glory. Hopefully everything I've learned will help me keep it this way and keep my fish alive.

This isn't the final look. I'm allowing everything to get settled before I start gluing down to rocks.

 
None of the reds I had liked being in the brightest light. Their colors faded. In dimmer lighting their color was much richer. However, I'm no expert-that was just my experience. Very generally speaking, reds tend to be deeper water species, hence the dimmer lighting. There are exceptions, and I don't know what species you have, which is why I said "depending on the species".

Looking at your latest photo, I thought it might be helpful, but only a suggestion. Best of luck with your new macros!
 
Michael Hoaster said:
None of the reds I had liked being in the brightest light. Their colors faded. In dimmer lighting their color was much richer. However, I'm no expert-that was just my experience. Very generally speaking, reds tend to be deeper water species, hence the dimmer lighting. There are exceptions, and I don't know what species you have, which is why I said "depending on the species".

Looking at your latest photo, I thought it might be helpful, but only a suggestion. Best of luck with your new macros!
Click to expand...

Thanks Michael for the suggestion. Once I get some smaller rocks I'll cut them and move them towards the sides and bring some c. mexicana to the middle.

20g

I've seen one or two goby. It looks like the big ones, with the small ones still missing. So it makes me nervous, but excited. Missing fish could mean dead fish, but it can also mean the goby are too preoccupied to come out. Either way, something is happening in my tank. Caulerpa growth is pretty steady. The prolifera I lost before seems to be coming back in force now and the new batch of caulerpa I picked up is coming in also. I dropped some Ulva in there also to grow. The bush gracilaria may be removed and transferred to the 29g and traded with some C. mexicana. Grape can be cut back too, it's taken over again even with me cutting a large amount last week.

The pistol shrimp has been going into over time and has recreated the landscape of the tank. Once I clean the glass of algae I'll take a new picture.

My female Peppermint has berried once again. Hoping I can get a batch to grow this time.

29g
Since I updated on that tank yesterday there really isnt much to talk about. The mollies are fat with the female squaring out a bit. It seems she's getting ready to drop a batch of fry.


I'm also in the midst of acclimating two more female mollies to saltwater. They should be ready by the time I get home from work.
 
Mollies are a hard fish to acclimate. Both new Females acclimated fine. I fed them when i got home from work, let out some water and added more. After a few hours I added them to their respective tanks. They swam around. At a bit at night and I turned off the lights. The next morning both were dead.

My current female however gave birth! So my saturday had its ups and downs.

Today I was able to get my Belted Sandfish. Three beautiful fish. I added them one a time. Fed some frozen mysid (they are great eaters), one has even begun hunting the babies. Exactly what I was hoping for.





 
Thanks! They're native to the gulf. Western Atlantic and probably the Caribbean. The more I look at them, the more I think they are a fish i tried to catch when i was collecting a few years ago.

The body shape and colors look almost the same and they're a shallow water species.
 
Belted Sandfish

Belted Sandfish

Was at my desk yesterday and happened to look back at the 29g to see something really peculiar.

The largest of my sandfish has a habit of chasing around the third one. It's rarely seen and isn't as fat as the other two. Which has been pretty normal for the few days I've had them. What wasn't normal of how the big one looked. It's entire body was covered in vertical stripes! I only had a quick few second glimpse at it, but I could make out the stripes clearly.

So I'm wondering. Could this have been a territorial look? Breeding colors? If it were the docile one then i would have assumed stress from being chased, but it was big mama, or papa.

This is what I enjoy about keeping less popular fish. With next to nothing to read about them I can see their behavior for myself.
 
Currently the 29 is incredibly cloudy. I've been running Carbon since Friday to clear it up but nothing has gotten better... so i'm kind of at a loss. If my daughter gives me a change today and doesnt decide to stay up until 10pm tonight i'll do a water change. I'm hoping I can keep the macro alive in the cloudiness. I've moved some to the 20g already just in case.

So no new pics yet.
 
So other than a few ghost shrimp, I didn't get much. Bummer.

29g has been clearing up. Looks like green hair algae and others are trying to move in and take over. I need to get a hold of some hermits!

20g has been looking really good. Here's a few pics.

Here's the FTS. Grape Caulerpa is dominant. There's actually four main macro in there each has its own spot. 3 were cut from a really large head of grape and has been growing quickly on their own. There are a few smaller heads cut from the 4 also!



Here's a shaving brush pulled from the 29. You can see the algae all over it. Next to it is some C. Mexicana it's slowly growing. I dose this tank once a week, but I think I need to dose more to keep everyone well fed. Also I really need to get some CO2 running. Behind the shaving brush is some gracilaria and a brownish algae I found in the bay. Not really sure what it is, but I would like to see what becomes of it.


Red Grape. Hoping it takes off also.



Can you see my blenny? I need to move it over to the 29 really bad. It's chasing the gobies. I think thats the reason I see them rarely now.

 
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