sandflats dedicated biotope tank

[burnah]

i wonder if this has been done by someone on this board, couldnt find anything in the search.

im thinking about what i saw when diving, close to reefs and in lagoons or in front of the beach theres sandflats where i did my scuba skills. lots of interesting things going on there. giant hermits, gobies+pistols, schooling fish, crabs and lots of small critters.

my approach would be a cubish tank - the water column would be a cube with approx. 3 inches of sand under it. there would have to be liverock pieces and rubble and lots of shells in the sandbed. for hiding and as a retreat id plant some seagrass in one corner. a wavebox would be nice.

for livestock: shrimp+goby pairs, pair of jawfish and some sort of schooling fish for above the sand, maybe threadfin cardinals as they are opaque.

your ideas?

 

[Amphiprion]

Sounds like a great idea. One thing about seagrass, however, is that if conditions are to its liking, it won't be a sand flat forever. I actually had that in mind for my current system, but it is now 100% dominated by grasses. I'd pick a species that doesn't grow quite as fast as H. decipiens.

 

[burnah]

thinking about doing this as a nano, maybe 20GL or something. ive got success with keeping caulerpa prolifera as a substitute for seagrasses, might give it a try. but sure, keeping it in bounds will be hard..

 

[Amphiprion]

Well, compared to C. prolifera, even the fastest grasses are relatively slow, lol. Caulerpa is easier, but also much faster growing. You'd have more trouble with trying to keep C. prolifera under control.

 

[mscarpena]

Great idea. I love it.

 

[burnah]

any other ideas for livestock?

id love to put a small mantis in there too.. if only i could get one that stays small enough to not harm a shrimp/goby combo..