Weeds

Well said Michael, we are both artists and scientists and those disciplines melded together make us aquarists!

I went to the art institute of Pgh and have a degree in commercial art. I definitely tap into that part of my being when I work in my tank. It is what drove me to want colorful fish. It also played into why I chose a tiered aquascape that had focal points at the third points of the tank. (If you took a FTS and then drew lines so the tank was divided into thirds both horizontally and vertically...where those lines intersected is where I strive to make focal points). Its a composition principal in art.

Then there is the science and biological aspect that we discuss regularly. So I guess you could say that keeping a reef exercises both sides of our brain! LOL

O yeah, almost forgot but your pics are beautiful. I love how the seagrass is maturing and becoming more dominant in the 'living' art you call an aquarium.
 
Thanks Dawn. I thought you might get a kick out of this! You and I have art backgrounds, so we need for things to 'look right'. I was just thinking how all of us in this hobby play within a framework of scientific and artistic rules, while also expressing ourselves both artistically and scientifically. It makes for a rather addictive cocktail!
 
Thank you Vinny. After slacking my way through the summer, it feels good to assert some control on this big box of unruly plants.
 
Yeah, I pruned back the Botriocladia, and Grasilaria big time. I know it's kinda harsh right now, but I'm trying to encourage a couple of other plants on the rocks to grow. Hopefully this will lead to a more balanced group of red macros.

Another thing different about the patch reef is that it is gradually sinking into the sand, thanks to the Allen's Damselfishs' digging. It's kind of a bummer because there's a lot of life on the rocks, and much of it is getting buried. I could get it all back above the sand, but they'll just do it again. So what I might do is add another 10lb layer of new live rocks on top of the old.

Seymour is a great detrivore, and my tank has loads of detritus to process. So, he's fat, happy and growing.
 
Snapped some pics today.

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Greenliness.


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A different angle.


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The mangroves live on.


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Patch reef action.


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A pretty good look at the reds. Note the golden Sargaussum weed at left. It's growing!


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Some of the scalped Botriocladia is coming back.


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You can see the unknown flat red here. A freaky beauty!
 
I had an idea of what to do about my sinking live rock. I still have some old, dead coral skeletons I could put on the bottom, with the live rock on top of it. That would prevent it from settling, and the dead rock would allow for tunnels for the fish too. Everybody's happy!

So a partial re-scape then. I've got a bag of unused sand to add to the project. It would be good to regain the height I had when I first scaped it. It'll be tricky doing it in a full tank, but doable I think. I'll just have to work around the cloudiness, taking breaks to let it settle, so I can see what I'm doing.

I just thought of a complicating factor: the Mangroves. Their roots are likely to give me trouble. And my efforts could very well jeopardize their health. Worth the risk? I think so.
 
It sounds like a delicate procedure but having the patch reef elevated to stay sure would be nice. Entropy does seem to have a way of leveling everything.
 
Agreed, it would be nice for the live rock to not get swallowed by the sand. Stacking it on top of rocks will really expose much more surface area for colonization by sponges and such. I need to go look in my box of rocks, and see if I have enough to do it.

I have to admit, 'entropy' went right over my head. Thanks for the word Dawn! Randomness and disorder. Yep, that applies! I love adding new words to my lexicon.

So, would you say entropy is another factor in our quest to harness art and nature? Are our constant adjustments the yin to entropy's yan?

Yesterday I pulled up and replanted nine manatee grass plants. There are spots with too many plants and spots with too few. They transplant well. So I move some around. Anti-entropian?

Research indicates Rabbitfish is the winner of the 'I love Caulerpa' search. Downside is they get pretty big and they have venomous fins. They're supposed to be pretty mellow community citizens, though. Foxfaces don't get that big. My wife will like a bigger fish. The small ones are hard to see.

But I also need to think of the plan for the overall fish community. Since it will be one of the biggest fish I get, it will likely go in pretty late in the order of introduction. So, lots more to think about.
 
Agreed, it would be nice for the live rock to not get swallowed by the sand. Stacking it on top of rocks will really expose much more surface area for colonization by sponges and such. I need to go look in my box of rocks, and see if I have enough to do it.

I have to admit, 'entropy' went right over my head. Thanks for the word Dawn! Randomness and disorder. Yep, that applies! I love adding new words to my lexicon.

So, would you say entropy is another factor in our quest to harness art and nature? Are our constant adjustments the yin to entropy's yan?

Yesterday I pulled up and replanted nine manatee grass plants. There are spots with too many plants and spots with too few. They transplant well. So I move some around. Anti-entropian?

Research indicates Rabbitfish is the winner of the 'I love Caulerpa' search. Downside is they get pretty big and they have venomous fins. They're supposed to be pretty mellow community citizens, though. Foxfaces don't get that big. My wife will like a bigger fish. The small ones are hard to see.

But I also need to think of the plan for the overall fish community. Since it will be one of the biggest fish I get, it will likely go in pretty late in the order of introduction. So, lots more to think about.

Ha ha, 'entropy' came to my mind when I was sprucing my tank up for my son's visit. He also has a marine tank and we both work feverishly on our aquariums to whip them into shape for a good showing when we visit each other. It's kind of cute actually. Anyway, I had noticed that my tiered sandbed was also sinking. Sand had been slowly and nearly imperceptibly seeping out to the lower levels, thus leveling my tiers. I got a small cup and proceeded to replace sand at the higher levels.

I definitely agree that entropy is constantly at work against our endeavor to create art in our natural water boxes. And why not, doesn't nature also go from order to chaos, from a higher state to a lower state. It's one of the laws of physics.

Good for you moving and transplanting the manatee grass and being anti-entropian! Ha ha, now that is a new word for my vocabulary!

A squirrel fish or foxface may be a good fit for your tank. I personally have experience with foxface fish and although they are venomous, I have never been stung. One of the big tank accounts that I maintained at an oral surgeon's office had one for years. It was a FOWLR and had a lot of rock and plastic coral that regularly needed bleached and cleaned. Even with all the constant re-scaping of that tank, I never felt nervous about the fox face stinging me. It just did not seem in the least way aggressive. It was the female clown that I kept my eye on as she would bite me every chance she got!
A wide open tank like yours would be no problem with a foxface in my opinion. They are beautiful too and would be a great center piece fish along with being a good grazer of Caulerpa.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention in my earlier post how much I like the latest pics. As your tank matures it just keeps getting better and better. I hope adding the new rock under the live rock in the tank does not set things back too much.
 
It's funny, I'd heard the word used before, and always figured I knew the gist of it. But when you used it referencing our tanks, I had to look it up. It really does apply to our aquariums, for sure.

In some ways though it seems like Nature makes our crude work look more idealistic. Like my heavy-handed pruning of my red macros. I know that they will look much better once Nature has had it's chance to 're-idealize'. But then, over time, they get shaggy and entropy is back.

We walk a tightrope of making adjustments, relaxing and enjoying, and then more adjustments, since entropy never ends! So we struggle using art and science to achieve our aquarium goals, and all the while entropy lurks.

That's good to hear about foxfaces. I've never kept one.

Thanks, I've been pretty happy with the tank overall, especially the Manatee grass. It's been a roller coaster ride. Remember it wasn't that long ago that I almost killed it all off. I went from more than sixty plants down to thirteen.

I think the rock work project shouldn't be too disruptive. At least I'll try to minimize it. Hopefully, I have enough old rocks to do it.
 
Nothing I've read mentions seagrass in their diets. But most macros are, barring the heavily calcified ones, like halimeda. My biggest worry is that it will eat my prized red macros, few that I have. If I do get a rabbitfish, I'll have to deal with that. It's possible that it might go after my grasses, once the macros are gone. So I'll need to get it eating veggie fish food or remove it.

Who knows! Maybe I won't get one. Now that the tank has the lush growth that I wanted, I'm talking about mowing it all down. Once I get it mowed down, I'll think it's too bare. It's a sickness!

Given the economic uncertainty, I'm inclined to spend less these days, so I doubt it'll happen anytime soon. And, as I mentioned, I still need to consider what other fish I'll be adding, and the order of introduction.
 
It's funny, I'd heard the word used before, and always figured I knew the gist of it. But when you used it referencing our tanks, I had to look it up. It really does apply to our aquariums, for sure.

In some ways though it seems like Nature makes our crude work look more idealistic. Like my heavy-handed pruning of my red macros. I know that they will look much better once Nature has had it's chance to 're-idealize'. But then, over time, they get shaggy and entropy is back.

We walk a tightrope of making adjustments, relaxing and enjoying, and then more adjustments, since entropy never ends! So we struggle using art and science to achieve our aquarium goals, and all the while entropy lurks.

That's good to hear about foxfaces. I've never kept one.

Thanks, I've been pretty happy with the tank overall, especially the Manatee grass. It's been a roller coaster ride. Remember it wasn't that long ago that I almost killed it all off. I went from more than sixty plants down to thirteen.

I think the rock work project shouldn't be too disruptive. At least I'll try to minimize it. Hopefully, I have enough old rocks to do it.

This post hits the nail on the head. There is a hidden tension between letting nature do what it does best, and yet without us there to tend and garden our tanks they would grow wild and out of control. You articulated that so well.

I think we who keep more natural tanks see the balance and tension at play more readily. We know and understand what a powerful perfect force nature is and have less illusions about our own ability to totally control it, and ultimately understand that our own efforts are far less perfect. If we can merely reroute the laws of entropy at work in our tanks, then we have probably done the best we can do.

Good luck Michael in adding rock to the sandbed. Also I am looking forward to seeing what fish you ultimately choose to go with. I actually have no experience whatsoever to draw on whether a foxface would eat seagrass. You are the first person that I have come across that has grown seagrass. And actually I do not know many marine aquarists who even keep macro algae and none with a foxface. In many ways you are breaking new ground with adding fish to your system. It should be interesting.
 
Keep in mind that rabbitfish eat a lot and grow fast. They will almost certainly eat whatever macros you have whether you want them to or not. I'd recommend avoiding rabbits altogether. Foxface are closely related but not as piggy. They are pretty shy though especially if they don't have a lot of places to hide. Being venomous really shouldn't be a concern unless you plan to try and pet the fish. :0) I've had mine about 7 years and they can be quirky for quite a long time. It wasn't until it was in the 300 for a year or so that it started to calm down and not get scared whenever someone looked at him. A good option for you might be a bristletooth tang as they stay smaller, won't eat as much as the aforementioned fish, and will also help to keep the nuisance algae at bay.
 
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