Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[rucnnefish]

I don't know about "fancy mullet", more like carp in a duck pond.

And by the way, how can a guy from Colorado, with all that fantastic fishing, not know how to tie a knot to secure that macro, blind folded and with one hand tied behind his back?? Just curious!!

[Michael Hoaster]

Ha! I actually did a lot of fishing when I lived in Florida. When we moved here, I gave fly fishing a try. Not my thing. I came here for the mountain biking, snowboarding and cross country skiing. I'm in heaven!

Now imagine, standing on a step ladder, reaching under the hood and down into a 30 inch deep tank. You need two hands just to tie the knot, which is already very awkward. Now how do you hold the plant in place?

Almost everything I do in the tank, I do one-handed. The cut and tied broccoli rubber bands allow one-handed placement of plants on the roots. First, tying the rubber bands to roots is a two-handed operation. Then, with practice, I've learned to hold the plant in place with my middle finger, while using my thumb and forefinger to gasp the end of the band and pull it away enough to push the plant under it. It's tricky…

[sam.basye]

What about something like this?



My wife occasionally uses these clear rubber band pony tail things. It's about the size of the home button on the iPad. They start out clear and turn yellowish over time so it will blend in well.
They're flat, elastic, and bigger than the dental rubber bands for braces so it won't crush the plants.

[McPuff]

Michael, you could try those little plastic hose clamps... the kind with teeth that sort of ratchet. You can get white or black. Both would be super easy to use and would not come off. They wouldn't be any more obtrusive than the big rubber bands you were using already.

[Chasmodes]

I bet these would work too, and probably easy to find. Staples sells them, clear luggage tag holders, plus, you'd have an extra luggage tag for you outdoors trips You could trim them to size. I'm not sure how easy they'd be to tie, but maybe worth taking a look.

http://www.staples.com/Universal-Cle...akamai-feo=off

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks, sam.basye, McPuff and Chasmodes. All good ideas I will look into. I appreciate all the suggestions.

[Chasmodes]

And of course, this plant attachment isn't a big deal, just a minute detail in the grand scheme of things. Your grand scheme is spectacular as is. In time, nature blends everything together eventually.

Glad the sand bed is so alive. I can't wait to do the same thing!

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks Chasmodes. I am very excited with the sand bed fauna! I've never had so much diversity. I'm trying to give it time to develop and reproduce, while I'm waiting for the fish I want to add next. It shouldn't be too long before I have wall-to-wall 'mouths'.

The condylactis anemone didn't make it. For a while it seemed to be improving, but it never attached and gradually went downhill. I tried to feed it several times and I kept it in good light, but I think it was just too far gone to recover. It is another casualty of the ICH/hypo salinity treatment. I'm not happy about it, but I did what I thought was best in a situation that had no perfect solutions.

I'm also not thrilled with the rate of seagrass recovery. It's so slow! I'm not sure if I did anything to impede progress or not. I think the latest plant tab I used may not have been helpful. I'll look into others. It is possible there is too much competition for nutrients, with the fast-growing ulva. I'm afraid to remove it all right now, but maybe I should crop it back a bit to see if that helps.

Overall, I'm quite happy with the tank's progress. But of course, I'd like to see improvements here and there…

[Chasmodes]

Sorry about the anemone. Timmah might feel a little safer though, LOL. Sounds like the tank is doing very well!

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks Chasmodes.

Everyday, I see more worms. The bottom community grows more dense.

I was about to post, then I decided to make some quick rounds of my regular fish web sites, to see if anything I'm looking for was available. Bingo, Live Aquaria had barnacle blennnies! On sale! I grabbed three. They're mediums so they're likely bigger than Tim. I'm psyched to get them!

[sam.basye]

Any plans to replace the condy? Sucks losing anything.. but it has opened the door for a potential anemone eating fish, like a copperband or filefish.
Something to think about!...

[Michael Hoaster]

I think I will wait on any new anemones for a while. I may try a caribbean butterfly or two.

[JZinCO]

Originally Posted by sam.basye

Any plans to replace the condy? Sucks losing anything.. but it has opened the door for a potential anemone eating fish, like a copperband or filefish.
Something to think about!...

Never had my filefish touch my condy or bta. I know they're aiptasia getters (figured that's why I only see any in the sump). Just curious if they go after other Caribbean nems like rock flowers or curlique.

On that note, Hoaster, what are your thoughts on rock flowers for your tank? I know you're not huge on coral in that tank, but I'd be tempted to throw those in as well as some curiosities like st thomas shrooms.

[Michael Hoaster]

I had an aiptasia-eating filefish. When she ran out of aiptasias, she went after spaghetti worms, gorgonians and the condylactis. I'd love to keep one again, if I can find one that 'gets along' in my setup.

I have looked at rock flowers. I like them, but it seems like they got rather expensive, for what you get. I haven't ruled them out, I just haven't seen any I could justify the price for.

I have looked at shrooms as well. I have avoided them because of their predilection for spreading and taking over tanks. I've seen too many tanks overrun by them, and it's not pretty! Keeping them under control is not a task for the lazy-which I am.

[JZinCO]

Yeah good points.
As for rock flowers, even having more plain jane looking ones sounds good to me at <$20.

http://www.saltcritters.com/1601-rock-flower-anemones
http://saltybottomreefcompany.com/Anemones-_c_29.html

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks for the links, JZinCO. I'm not familiar with those sites. Have you bought from them before? Can you recommend them?

I like the prices. It seems like the flowers were all cheap for a while, then the prices went way up for the pretty ones. With my interest in trying a caribbean butterfly fish in the future, I'll probably wait on the these. If the butterflies prove too disruptive to my ecosystem, I'll get rid of them, freeing up the possibility of anemones again.

[JZinCO]

I can't vouch for them.

If you do a search within this subforum I know there is a member (he has a tank build thread) who is friends with the owner of SBR.

[BonesCJ]

When you ordered your refugium pack from GCE they customized it a bit for you, did you have to call them or was there a comments section in the online order?

[Michael Hoaster]

I emailed them when I was ready to order. I told them I didn't want chaeto or caulerpa, but they could substitute anything they wanted.

[Michael Hoaster]

So I got three new barnacle blennies today! I got them acclimated and into QT, which is running hypo salinity. They're just a little bigger than Tim, which should work out well, assuming I don't kill them…

[Michael Hoaster]

Chillaxin' on the couch, getting the full tank view, I realized something. Macro algae bio mass now exceeds the seagrasses'. Hmm. Would it help to reduce said bio mass? I think so. The beauty of ulva is it's very easy to remove. Not like caulerpa!

So I removed about half the ulva, leaving most at the top. I've got to keep these greedy weeds in check, so there are nutrients left for the grasses. I'm trying to avoid having too big a fast grower, like before, with the caulerpa.

Ulva is now my go-to nutrient export medium. It's also crack to all herbivores. Great utility. Super handy. Beats caulerpa and chaeto for my setup.

[McPuff]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Ulva is now my go-to nutrient export medium. It's also crack to all herbivores. Great utility. Super handy. Beats caulerpa and chaeto for my setup.

Hmm, I may have to consider adding this to my refugium. Does it have any special requirements? And does it reproduce by spores? I just don't want to find it growing all over my display... but I guess if the fish love eating it, that wouldn't be a worry.

What herbivores have you found love to eat it? The usual tangs, rabbits, etc.?

[JZinCO]

Originally Posted by McPuff

What herbivores have you found love to eat it? The usual tangs, rabbits, etc.?

My guess would be anything, with any propensity to eat algae, will enjoy ulva.

And that includes h. Sapiens.

I hope hoaster finds luck with it. I'm currently on trial #2 with ulva..I can't say anything about it except it seems manageable however hard to deter excessive herbivory.

[Chasmodes]

I'm encouraged by what I'm hearing about Ulva in the tank, that it prospers and herbivores will dine on it, because in my case, I can go collect it all summer long and fits the theme of my biotope perfectly . And, it seems great for nutrient export that I can use in my sump.

[Michael Hoaster]

It has the same requirements of any fast-growing macro- good light and plenty of nutrients. I don't know about the spore thing, but I doubt it. I think it just reproduces by fragmentation. It has no holdfasts, so it's very easy to move/remove, which is a key characteristic for me. Even little bits are easy to grab, unlike chaeto, which I have been trying to completely remove from my tank for at least a year now. Its handiness is what sets it apart for me. This gives me so much CONTROL. Pods, shrimp, snails and fish all love it. Very unlikely to overtake a tank. The challenge is to keep enough growing to outpace predation.