Zosterae/ Shoal Grass Pico Build

[eddiesylas]

This aquarium has been on a few different threads. I am going to highlight some of those posts as part of a build thread here.

I would like to house Dwarf Seahorses. As with many other aspects of this hobby the correct start will prevent loss. Without prior experience with horses I am (per usual) turning to this site for advise an guidence.

I completed [original] construction in December [2011]. I had trouble with the sand bed being anoxic. After replacing the HOB filter with a 425 Hydor Nano and installing an Mame Skimmer, O2 levels in the water column increased and the problem quickly resolved itself. After moving and starting over with this set up in October [2013] I am ready to go in a new direction. The tank has been fairly stable lots of pods and good chemistry for three or four months now.

Technical Details:

Pico Tank:
10 gallon 16x8x18 (~7.5 Gallons of water)

15 total pounds rock and sand (@ 1.5 lbs/gal)
Rock: (8)lbs. Cultured rock
Sand: (7)lbs. sand (½ tank @ 4" deep)

Flow: 420 GPH Hydor Koralia Nano

Lighting: DIY LED w/ Arduino Controller

Filtration: Purgeon and filter floss in a (Coke bottle) air bubble filter

Skimmer: DIY "œMame-style" skimmer from cut glass with Rena 300 air pump

Heater: 75 Watts (@ 2.5 - 5watts/gallon)

Original Post [2011]- "The concept of this Pico is to be a sea grass and coral aquarium. The goal is to balance chemistry (nitrate and phosphate) for good grass growth without creating an environment unsuited to Coral health. The more dynamic interests in the tank are planned sexy shrimp and their hosts."

For the most part I have achieved this but never did get those sexy shrimp (Thor amboinensis).

Current inhabitants:
Stylophorea (Birdsnest coral) sp.
Montipora capricornis sp.
Zoanthids

Gracilaria Hayi
Botryocladia sp.
Halodule Beaudettei (Seagrass!)
Cladophora
And a few other macros...

Clean up crew (detailed here only because many threads stress the importantance of knowing what does well with Zosterea):

Micro Brittle Stars/ Mini Stars/ Ciriths large and small/ Stometella/ nassarius snails/ bristle worms/ various other sand bed worms/ cryptic sponges/ Dusters etc.

 

[eddiesylas]

 

[eddiesylas]

Technical questions:

1) Will I be OK with the Hydor 420? From what I have read, In-takes cause problems. Is there an issue with the power head? With the geometry of the tank this power head is really ideal for good flow through the entire tank. Note: In the grass the overall flow is significantly lower.

2) I have had swimming hydroids (sp.?) that I have syphoned out. After three weeks I haven't seen any more.

3) Aptasia... I have a few. Treatment or peppermint shrimp (on loan from friend, not a perminant addition)?

4) Best source for Mysids, I hear they do not ship well?

5) Favorite Artemia grow/ enrichment setups? Do's and Dont's?

 

[DanU]

1) Will mostly likely be an issue. Zosterae are very tiny and will especially be problematic for any fry. Usually when feeding artemia, you want flow to a minimum anyway.

2) Hydroids will likely reappear when you start adding lots of artemia. They can go dormant and reappear. Possible this won't happen but IME, you can pretty much count on it happening. Without tearing down the tank and starting over, Panacur would likely be the only other option but not with the corals.

3) Must be completely eliminated or you will lose the zosterae every time they come in contact with it.

4) Live Mysids ship fine provided they are package properly.

5) Address 1 - 4 if a go, then talk about the Artemia setups. I could write a book just on this.

Dan

 

[eddiesylas]

First of all those pics didn't post. A good thread needs pics...

 

[eddiesylas]

So, on to problem #1. Any recommendations for flow would be appreciated. I am going to try a few things over the next few days and see what I can come up with.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/eb/index.php
This first part of a three part article gives some good insight to O2 levels in the aquarium.
Not a new article but new to me. Surface flow may be less critical than I had previously thought and maybe there is some fudge room.

 

[eddiesylas]

1) Will mostly likely be an issue. Zosterae are very tiny and will especially be problematic for any fry. Usually when feeding artemia, you want flow to a minimum anyway.

My biggest concern here is sand bed health. I will have to reduce flow slowly and just watch and see what happens. Right now I have a good balance and the sand bed has been a great indicator so far. When the tank conditions get low in O2 the bed tends toward anoxic... but we will see.

2) Hydroids will likely reappear when you start adding lots of artemia. They can go dormant and reappear. Possible this won't happen but IME, you can pretty much count on it happening. Without tearing down the tank and starting over, Panacur would likely be the only other option but not with the corals.

Cross this bridge if we come to it...

3) Must be completely eliminated or you will lose the zosterae every time they come in contact with it.

On it!

4) Live Mysids ship fine provided they are package properly.

I trust you would like to help with this... How are your cultures?
Should I plan on introducing new mysids every six months for healthier populations?

Thank you for your input Dan. I don't really want to be one of your 75%ers...