Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[saltwater sam]

I just want to jump in there and swim with your grammas!

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks Sam! They are fun to watch. Sounds like you need a snorkeling trip! Me too!

The two males continue to coexist in an uneasy truce. One has built a nest, but I see no signs of imminent spawning. I'm not sure, but it almost looks like the other male is ****-blocking him. Not cool. But of course I can't see everything that happens. I'll give it more time. I'll get the trap again, if I have to.

[Michael Hoaster]

I'm sorry. I should have said: ovipositor-blocking.

[Michael Hoaster]

It feels like the thread needs a pic right here:


The anemone, earlier in its journey to the summit of the fake wall.

[sam.basye]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

I'm sorry. I should have said: ovipositor-blocking.

Lol


I bet your condy will start to color back up now that its moved up the wall. It's been looking more brownish lately.

[Michael Hoaster]

I've been censured! I'm such a potty-mouth…

I'm not sure if the nem is browner or you're just seeing the whims of my photo editing. In the above shot, I chose to darken it a fair amount to feature the shrimp. Also, the previous version of iPhoto easily allowed me to punch up the magenta, which I took advantage of on all nem pics. This new version doesn't.

I hope it does color up some too. Since yesterday it's been contracted and hiding up in the darkest shadows of the caulerpa ledge. It's getting so thick up there, it's starting to shade my sand bed-not good! So I may have to do a little pruning, as Zippy is kinda shy about going up close to the surface.

[Michael Hoaster]

My view from the couch. Kickn' back for the nature show. Making sure that the most important species (me), is comfy.




FTS. 7 grammas visible.




End view high up. Note the ridiculous, overhanging caulerpa.




End view down low. Mr Zippy, zipping.

[Michael Hoaster]

[jraker]

Nice pictures. It looks like Zippy is starting to get more blue on him, which is cool. When I was diving in the Keys, I saw huge schools of blue tangs 12"+ in size. It was really a cool sight to see.

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks, jraker! He does let a hint of blue show every now and then. I do love the yellow phase, and I try weekly to get that "money shot" of him, with only a little success.

They do get huge! I realize that Zippy may outgrow my tank at some point. Time will tell.

[Michael Hoaster]

Anemone Update

My anemone climbed up the fake wall and hung out just under the caulerpa overhang for a few days, then vanished. It's been four days now, with no sign of it, until tonight. Quite by chance I found it in the overflow partition. Thant means it slipped through one of the slots, that's maybe an eighth of an inch wide? Hard to believe.

So, I got it back into the display. I put it against the wall, and it attached. A good sign. We'll see how it looks tomorrow.

I wonder why it went in there. Did it like the current? Or was it just a primitive animal stumbling into an artificial hazard.

I just hope it's OK!

[sam.basye]

I bet it got tired of looking at you through the glass

I think you need some dendros and sun coral on the root!

[jraker]

I agree that something on the roots would be cool. When I was kayaking in the keys, I saw a TON of sponges of pretty much every color on literally every mangrove root. It was really cool, but sponges are probably not going to be doable.

[Michael Hoaster]

I guess I didn't communicate the seriousness of the situation. I don't know if it will survive.

[sam.basye]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

I guess I didn't communicate the seriousness of the situation. I don't know if it will survive.

That blows..
Did it get sucked into anything in the overflow? Not surprised it fit through the overflow teeth though. Is that what messed it up, getting sucked through the teeth?

I know how you feel. I'm being reminded that coral is sensitive, even Xenia...
I took out my 10+ stalks on my conch shell to rinse off some detritus and dinos Saturday evening in the sink with tap water and I guess I wasn't fast enough and the next morning I woke up to melting Xenia I grew from two tiny stalks. Gone overnight..

Hope the Condy pulls through! It attaching to the wall after you saved it is a good sign!

[Michael Hoaster]

The anemone lives. It looks a bit worse for wear, but I think it will make it. Who knows, with anemones! Not sure why it took its journey, but I did a water change, for a little reset.

I decided to do a little caulerpa pruning, up top, where it's really starting to shade too much of the tank for my liking. I grabbed just a handful, and pulled just about ALL of it out! A bucket-load in one fell swoop. There's enough left to reestablish.

I added a peppermint shrimp today. Hope he likes aiptasias! I also acquired some fragments of the macro algae codium. I have no idea how it will fare in my tank. It's a cool looking plant-like a cross between a coral, a sponge and a plant. I was thinking of attaching some to the fake root. Since I have several bits of it, I'll let some of it land in different locations, and see if it grows.

I am definitely looking at different stuff to encrust the root. I'm still hoping to get some sponges going, but I will wait until there is a decent selection to pick from. I'm also keeping an eye on the sponges I have on the live rock. If I can provide conditions that enable them to thrive and grow, I'll feel confident enough to invest in some more decorative ones.

One of my rules is no organisms that require target feeding. I know from experience I'm too lazy to keep up with that. So whatever I get, it will have to feed on the general tank food brew.

[sam.basye]

Glad the Condy is doing okay!

Guess that means the sun coral is out.. Nuts.
Kudos for realizing the magnitude of your laziness though. Lol
Better to know this prior to adding things that require more attention than you are willing to give.

Still gonna thin the herd of grasses?

[ichthyogeek]

Question on why the sun coral would be out: why not? If Michael's planning on a bottom-up ecotank (what I'm calling his method of dosing nutrients into the tank to feed organisms higher up into the food chain), then what's preventing him from sun corals? From his current stock list: atlantic blue tang, barnacle blennies(?), and royal grammas, which of those is going to be so strictly pelagic that they'll outstrip the zooplankton possible? None of his fish are able/willing to go after amphipods in the sand, nor mysis in the caulerpa overhang-both of which I think would be appropriate food items for suns. Or is it that the zooplankton produced will be too small to feed the suns? Adding some amphipod species and mysis shrimp should be able to keep up with a colony, that will grow/shrink depending on nutrient levels which will also fluctuate. Additionally, doesn't the Condy need target feeding?

Michael, how's that gorgonian doing by the way? I haven't heard about it for forever, and last I heard it seemed to be doing kind of well?

[Michael Hoaster]

I kept sun coral years ago. It needs tiny zooplankton. I do not have a lot of pelagic zooplankton, and I have eleven plankton pickers (7 grammas and 4 barnacle bennies), so there wouldn't be enough to keep sun corals well-fed. Benthic plankton are little to no help.

I do believe it's possible to maintain high levels of pelagic plankton, so target feeding wouldn't be necessary, but I'm not there, and I'm unlikely to get there with so many plankton pickers and more on the way. A tank dedicated to non-photosynthetic corals is cool, but not what I'm going for.

The gorgonian frag is doing OK. It's not dieing, but it it's not growing. I'm playing around with different phytoplankton and zooplankton additions to the tank food. If I hit on a combination that triggers growth, I'll feel comfortable getting a few more of them. It's a photosynthetic gorgonian so I don't know if it is surviving because of what I'm doing, or in spite of it. I spoke with a guy who maintained a gorgonian tank. He said it was a huge pain, target feeding them everyday. Not my style.

I do target feed the anemone weekly, but it is not required. So, if I miss a feeding, it's no big deal. I feed it to encourage growth. It does capture tank food as well.

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks, Sam! I am pretty lazy! I think it's important to realize, when considering new tank residents.

Yes, I do still plan to remove the turtle grass and replace it with manatee grass. It could be pretty soon! Yikes, it's going to be a mess! You should have seen the $h1tstorm yesterday, when I pulled out the caulerpa. It was about four feet long and a foot thick - a ton!

[Chibils]

I would be very cautious adding Chromis viridis to your tank. There have been lots of problems with Uronema marinum lately, and they seem to be dropping like flies.

That aside, your tank is absolutely, positively stunning! I can't stop reading this thread! I think you've inspired me to add a 200+ gallon seagrass/mangrove forest shoal tank to my bucket list! Royal grammas are one of the fish that really sucked me into this hobby, and seeing the way you've pulled it all together with your unique style of design/upkeep is really incredible.

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[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks for the tip, Chibils! And welcome!

I'm glad you're enjoying the thread! Thank you for your compliments on my tank! I love your seagrass/mangrove tank idea. I looked past grammas for years. Now I'm loving them!

[Chibils]

I've never seen a harem of grammas, it's wonderful! I didn't even know you could do that!

I'm addicted to the idea. And I don't have any experience with the chromis personally, but I've seen it on many many threads recently. Uronema is nasty stuff.

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[Michael Hoaster]

I took a look at the articles and posts regarding Uronema-I had never heard of it! I noticed that none of the posts were made in the last few years. I wonder if the predilection for having it applies to the Blue Chromis, Chromis cyanea. This is the species I'm considering-it's caribbean.

One of the theories posited that since green chromises are small and cheap, they are often badly handled, in their journey from reef to tank, and this may be the cause of their affliction. Whatever the cause, if I decide to get some, they will be quarantined.

Another concern is their tendency to gradually kill each other off. I wonder if there is any way to avoid this. Having lots of caves in the fake wall should help. If you could sex them, maybe a small harem could work. I will not add fish that stress each other, and the other fish in the tank. Besides it being unhealthy for them, it becomes unpleasant to view the tank for me! I want my stress to go DOWN when I watch my aquarium.

Chibils, I have found several species that use the harem social structure. I hope to add a few more.

[nawilson89]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

I took a look at the articles and posts regarding Uronema-I had never heard of it! I noticed that none of the posts were made in the last few years. I wonder if the predilection for having it applies to the Blue Chromis, Chromis cyanea. This is the species I'm considering-it's caribbean.

One of the theories posited that since green chromises are small and cheap, they are often badly handled, in their journey from reef to tank, and this may be the cause of their affliction. Whatever the cause, if I decide to get some, they will be quarantined.

Another concern is their tendency to gradually kill each other off. I wonder if there is any way to avoid this. Having lots of caves in the fake wall should help. If you could sex them, maybe a small harem could work. I will not add fish that stress each other, and the other fish in the tank. Besides it being unhealthy for them, it becomes unpleasant to view the tank for me! I want my stress to go DOWN when I watch my aquarium.

Chibils, I have found several species that use the harem social structure. I hope to add a few more.

From it sounds like it, its possibly like Neon Tetra Disease. Both fish are readily available for collection, kept en masse and because they are so easily get, they are cheaper than others and because of poor handling like you said, are stressed and and more prone to diease.