Weeds

[Michael Hoaster]

Not a lot to report today but I did a little…

First, let me give credit to the peppermint shrimp, who finally ate an aiptasia anemone that was hanging around. Yay! I added them for that reason, plus food for the tank when they make babies.

I pulled the barnacle shells out to scrub them off. They were covered in hypnea and I didn't like it. The cluster broke into two pieces. I put them back in the tank and they look different, the way I stacked them, so the fish are checking it out, trying out new shells.

I took two small clumps of turtle weed and affixed them to the back wall with push pins. So far I've not had success getting this plant to grow on the wall, so I'm trying this. At least now I feel confident keeping the 'mother' plant alive, so I can risk small plugs of it. I'm crossing my fingers.

The rescued string of pearls plant is showing signs of new life. I need to find it a new, more permanent place. It's getting bulldozed back and forth by the conch and cucumber. There's another very small frag of it attached to a rock, so I may end up with two.

No work on the QTs.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I really did cut back the red macros. They were overtaking everything on the rocks. I like the rocks to show. The red grapes especially have grown a lot. So I removed some. I think it looks much better.

I'm not so sure about the fern caulerpa. I'm not crazy about it with the grasses, but I like it on the back walls. So I may be ripping a bunch of that out next. That's how I let the C. racemosa peltata grow in v1 - on the wall only. I'd still like to get some kind of ground cover plant growing, if I can find one I like. The blue hypnea is spreading and auditioning for the role.

I love the codium growing with the grasses, along with some ulva too. I'd like to get one more green on the sand bed - tufted joint algae. It's a freaky one. It looks like it belongs on the Flintstones.

Gradually the back wall is getting covered in green. Besides the fern caulerpa, I was able to get the petticoat algae growing on the back wall, so I'm just waiting for it to grow in. With luck, maybe I'll get the turtle weed to take off up there too.

I've noted several sponges growing from the live rocks, in several colors! The large, unidentified bivalves in the rocks are still alive too. I've noticed tiny fan worms popping up here and there. The tank is maturing as it approaches a year old in five weeks.

 

[Chasmodes]

I've had a lot to catch up on since last week! Wow! Your tank must be fun to watch for sure. I was off work on Friday, busy all weekend (fishing, working on my tank), and busy at work the past two days. I finally have time to breath, read and catch up!

Adding the damsels and a Herald's angel will be so exciting!!! More splashes of the brillian color that you have, plus the beautiful yellow angelfish. I remember that you considered dottybacks. Are you still considering those?

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks Kevin!

It is fun to watch. They are really cool damsels! The neons school more than I expected. Adding a few more is the plan. Then maybe a Herald's Angel, then maybe a harem of Fridmani Basslets. I'm not sure about the timing yet. Gotta see how the cash flow goes.

In the meantime, I plan to focus on getting more greens growing on the back wall. Hopefully my push pin trick will work with the turtle weed, and I can get more started up there. I'll wait to fully commit to this method, until after I know it works. That way I don't risk the whole plant.

It's funny, my tank started with more green than red. Now, with fewer grasses, and the reds' growth, I think the reds have just about caught up. I look forward to getting the grasses to come back. I'm just trying to give them everything they need, so when they're ready to take off, they'll have nothing holding them back.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

"I look forward to getting the grasses to come back. I'm just trying to give them everything they need, so when they're ready to take off, they'll have nothing holding them back." -me

I wanted to clarify. From my research, I've learned that seagrasses have a growing season in spring. So I'm not expecting much growth for the next several months. Come springtime, I want them to have comfy conditions and all the nutrients they want for that burst of new growth.

The codium may be on the uptick. I'm tempted to break apart the largest one, to start new plants. I'll wait a bit longer and make sure it's ready to come back.

 

[Chasmodes]

Very interesting stuff. Fridmani dottybacks are so beautiful too. I certainly understand the limitations of income, or lack thereof.

Is your tank near a window? The reason that I ask is that I wonder how the plants know what season it is. And that leads to my next question, if we control daily the amount of light that we give our plants, will they think it's a particular season? This extends to fish too, assuming temperatures match, that is.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks Kevin. Beautiful fish! I have tried two before and I found the male too aggressive, so that's my biggest concern with a harem of them. If they're too aggressive, it could upset the peace. I'd hope having more of them spreads out the aggression. That's how it worked with seven Royal Grammas in v1.

I have large windows opposite the tank, so they probably do have some influence. Day length and water temperature are the key factors, I think. I would imagine near shore plants like seagrass might get reduced salinity and increased nutrients from spring runoff too.

I would think we could trick plants into 'thinking' it was a particular season, by manipulating day length and temp. Don't they already do this with fish, to encourage them to spawn?

Just back from camping over the weekend, in the Valley of the Gods, Utah. One of the tuxedo damsels was missing, for most of today, then he suddenly appeared this afternoon. He looked a bit beat up. I thought maybe he'd gotten stuck somewhere and then got free. Then I witnessed aggression from the largest one. It was persistent and went on too long, definitely stressing the fish. Not sure what I'm going to do about this. I'll observe for a while and decide. It may be that the largest one has reached maturity, and along with it, grumpiness. Or it could be male to male aggression. This could throw a wrench into my plans. Adjustments may be needed.

 

[vlangel]

Thanks Kevin. Beautiful fish! I have tried two before and I found the male too aggressive, so that's my biggest concern with a harem of them. If they're too aggressive, it could upset the peace. I'd hope having more of them spreads out the aggression. That's how it worked with seven Royal Grammas in v1.

I have large windows opposite the tank, so they probably do have some influence. Day length and water temperature are the key factors, I think. I would imagine near shore plants like seagrass might get reduced salinity and increased nutrients from spring runoff too.

I would think we could trick plants into 'thinking' it was a particular season, by manipulating day length and temp. Don't they already do this with fish, to encourage them to spawn?

Just back from camping over the weekend, in the Valley of the Gods, Utah. One of the tuxedo damsels was missing, for most of today, then he suddenly appeared this afternoon. He looked a bit beat up. I thought maybe he'd gotten stuck somewhere and then got free. Then I witnessed aggression from the largest one. It was persistent and went on too long, definitely stressing the fish. Not sure what I'm going to do about this. I'll observe for a while and decide. It may be that the largest one has reached maturity, and along with it, grumpiness. Or it could be male to male aggression. This could throw a wrench into my plans. Adjustments may be needed.

That stinks about the aggression, especially when things were going so well. It figures, there has always got to be one in the bunch! I hope you can come up with a solution. If you can catch the aggressor, could you put it in a breeder net/box kind of like a timeout? That might give the victim a chance to reassert itself and at the same time heal and de-stress.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks Dawn. So true, there's always one!

Still not sure what I'm going to do. I doubt I can catch the perpetrator. But you never know until you try. Catching the victim and allowing it to chill in QT is another option. The remaining two seem to be getting along fine. They may even be starting to spawn, and if the victim is male, that might explain the change of behavior. If so, just keeping the pair might work. Before this, I was planning to add two more. I just double-checked and these fish pair up, rather than harem.

How does this affect my plans? I think a pair may be the upper limit I can keep in this size tank. I doubt there's enough room for another pair or two. So, I may just hold at two, to be safe. If these fish were available as juveniles, you could do a big group until they matured a few years down the road. Every time I ordered them from live aquaria I asked for small ones, but they always send rather big ones.

This should not change my plans to add more neon damsels though.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

More fish watching today. The beat up tuxedo damsel has been hiding out the last few days. Today he emerged to feed with the rest, and that went pretty well, so I know he's getting food. He's hanging low, around the patch reef, going into a hole at the first sign of trouble.

Here's what I think is happening: The large male, lets call him Brutus and Pappillon, a female, are pairing up, and the smaller male, Francois, is not welcome anymore. But he is hanging around still, by laying low. I think you remove either male and peace is restored. I wonder what would happen if I added a female. Would two pairs coexist? That would be nice! But I don't have a quarantined female handy, so…

I'll keep watching, but I think it's time to bring out the DIY fish trap. See if I can catch one of the males.

How does this affect my fish stocking plans? Well I guess it's two, rather than five tuxedo damsels. I still plan to add about five more neon damsels. Ten or so will be sweet! Having fewer tuxedos opens up the possibility of something else. I'm still considering a Herald's Angelfish, but there are risks to my plants and sponges. Orchid Dottybacks will be added last, so I need to figure out what else goes in before them. We'll see.

 

[vlangel]

I am glad that Francois at least can go somewhere to get some respite from bullying from Brutus. I will be interested to watch how further fish stocking goes.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks Dawn! They seem to be settling into a truce. I've yet to bring out the trap. This new peace gives me hope, but I'll keep watching.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Today I did a decent sized export of ulva. I left some small fragments about, to restart them. I just have to knock it back so it doesn't shade the grasses.

I found some chaeto growing unchecked in the grasses. Hopefully I got all of it. I'm not crazy about it in the display. It's like kudzu!

Hypnea is gradually replacing the brown grasilaria as ground cover between the grass. I think I like it better. The color is more green-to-blue, rather than gold-to-brown.

The two small plugs of turtle weed I planted high on the back wall don't seem to be making it. Maybe it can bounce back. This is turning out to be a challenging plant. The mother plant is doing very well at least. I've just had no luck getting it to spread. I've still got it against the back wall. I may try the push pin trick again, with bigger weed plugs, and maybe lower on the wall. I may have placed the other two too high up, and they were shocked with too much light.

I'm really liking the petticoat algae on the back wall. The more it grows the better it looks. One of these days I'll have good plant coverage on the back wall.

The remaining codium seems to be dying back, while at the same time showing new growth. It looks like the old plant material will die, and the new growth will start a new plant.

Everything seems to be humming along. My mini ecosystem is maturing. My sea cucumber is growing. My fighting conch is happy too. Having the two biggest bottom feeders in great shape are good indicators!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Francois seems like he may be gradually reintegrating, or reaching some kind of truce. For now it doesn't appear to be necessary to remove one of them. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Chasmodes]

I had plenty to catch up on. I'm glad that your tuxedo damsels are behaving again, and hope it stays that way. The same thing happened with my blennies. But, as long as there are plenty of hiding spots and escape routes, they find a way to coexist. The blennies were less social than your fish though, for sure. Even as juvies, they didn't really like each other. During spawning time, all of the males became aggressive and could hold their own against each other. After the female died, one of the males was the target of bullying, and eventually hid most of the time. I think that maybe having females in the tank, ready to spawn, will get all of the males spunky enough that they can deal with each other. Your original 5 number might still be a good mix.

Sounds like everything else is working out great!

 

[lapin]

Been a while
The tank looks amazing

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks Kevin. Your comparison of my situation to your blennies is very interesting, and helpful. I seem to be having the same experience! Getting to my original number of five would be great. I think in order for that to work I'd need to add two females and no more males.

I'll keep fish watching and figure something out…

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks lapin!

And thanks to all of you who have posted here. I try to post on everyone else's threads as well, but I've stopped getting email notifications, so I don't know when anyone I'm following posts anything. I do look around on RC to keep up with everyone, but I'm sure I've missed some. Feel free to post here if you'd like to hear from me.

 

[Chasmodes]

I appreciate you following my thread as well. I follow your's because it's very useful and interesting for me. We have a lot in common, from the DIY projects to the overall philosophy (some that I still wish to implement).

Plus, if you didn't follow my thread, who would? :lmao::hmm4:

 

[vlangel]

Thanks for following my thread Michael. I love following yours because I like the way you approach learning about what might work and how you implement it. And like Kevin, in general I share a similar philosophy about reefing. I don't want it to be so labor intensive that I can't keep up the maintenance so that all the animals can stay healthy. I like nature to do the heavy lifting for me and I try to work with that to get the results I want, and I try never to work against nature.