Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[Michael Hoaster]

JZ, I think the only thing that keeps the ulva from being consumed is the dosing I'm doing. When I was running hypo salinity, I stopped dosing, and the ulva gradually shrank from predation. You've got to keep it growing at top speed to outpace the crack heads!

All three new barnacle blennies accounted for this morning, in QT. I fed them and they all ate heartily.

[JZinCO]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

JZ, I think the only thing that keeps the ulva from being consumed is the dosing I'm doing. When I was running hypo salinity, I stopped dosing, and the ulva gradually shrank from predation. You've got to keep it growing at top speed to outpace the crack heads!

All three new barnacle blennies accounted for this morning, in QT. I fed them and they all ate heartily.

Yeah, I'm banking on growing it in the sump and wrapped around a powerhead, away from crabs. Every now and then, I plan on dropping extra growth in as supplemental food. It's funny, my fish and crabs are now keeping caulerpa prolifera in check! I love that keeping macros in the display keeps everyone fat and healthy.

Anyway, good to hear about the blennies. I added one three weeks ago, it was only a 1/4". I haven't seen it since day 1... I'm starting to lose hope.

[Michael Hoaster]

Isn't it great when your herbivores prune your macros for you? I loved it when I had the tang. He gave me about six months off. Which fish and crabs are doing it for you?

Your blenny was only a quarter inch? That is TINY. It could have been eaten, but in my experience they are amazingly tough. However, if you're not seeing him shoot out to get food, then it doesn't look good.

I'm finally seeing some life in all the new halimeda. Some is on the back wall and some is on the DSB. It's sprouting new leaves, but the old leaves look like they might die, so it's kind of an odd combination.

I'm getting a few little frags of blue hypnea emerging now too. I kind of miss the ulva I removed from the roots, but I want to limit competition for nutrients with the seagrasses. It moved so nicely in the current.

My little purple mystery sponges are still looking good and growing, I think. And I still have some tiny tree sponge frags that look like they may grow too. The tiny, transparent sea squirts are spreading as well. Besides being a great component of my little ecosystem, with the natural filtration they provide, I'd really love to get some grow to a nice, display size.

It's an interesting challenge, trying to favor multiple organisms, in a relatively small space.

[McPuff]

Ok, then I need to see about getting some of this stuff. Nori is nice for the fish to eat, but a fresh source is even better. And if it also works well for nutrient export then bonus! Any comparison to chaeto in terms of rate of nutrient uptake (qualitative) and therefore rate of growth? Chaeto grows very well in my refugium so I'd want to at least match what it does. I'm not sure if I would complete replace it for ulva at first. But if it works well, then I'll make the switch wholesale. Just gotta see if I can find it locally now! Thanks for bringing this up!!

And Humans also eat Ulva??? If it tastes good, my wife will be very pleased to hear this. She wishes I would go freshwater so we can grow hydro plants for our own consumption. If there is a marine option she'll be happy to hear it. :0)

[Michael Hoaster]

Ulva's comparable to chaeto for nutrient uptake. If your chaeto does well then ulva should. As said before, the challenge is to keep it growing faster than predation. I would definitely think it is better food for your fish than nori. It's a great plant, with great utility.

[JZinCO]

Originally Posted by McPuff

And Humans also eat Ulva??? If it tastes good, my wife will be very pleased to hear this. She wishes I would go freshwater so we can grow hydro plants for our own consumption. If there is a marine option she'll be happy to hear it. :0)

Yes, and it is not the only one. Definitely growable for a one-household hydroponic show. Most consumed algae are cold-water species (e.g. no saltwater stores sell bladderwrack, kelp, etc but I could get live samples for my tank from maine or english food stores)
http://www.eattheweeds.com/category/sea-weed/

Anyway yeah the guy I got was so tiny he was hiding in the smallest pores of rock. He was just the size of the caudal fins of my other fish. I debated raising him in my sump but I didn't want him to jump out.. I suppose he is a goner because he doesn't come out for food but in my new tank (which I haven't shared on here yet), I have an 18x24 area of elaborate rockwork so I wouldn't be totally surprised if he were alive, feeding on pods. I should look into how self-sufficient they are.

The fish eating my caulerpa are my starry blenny and matted filefish. they go to town eating the blades. I thought it was inadvertent feeding on pods at first, because my twinspot goby spends most of his time eating pods at the base of algae. But after watching, it seems that they like the taste of algae.

Good to see your halimeda growing too. My opuntia died out last time but it seems to be taking this time around.

[BonesCJ]

If the Ulva has no holdfast's how do you keep in any one location?

[Michael Hoaster]

Keeping ulva in one place is a challenge. I'm just using push pins on my foam, fake wall. You can also rubber band them to small rocks, or just set rocks on top of them. In tanks with good water movement, you may be required to re-place them often.

[BonesCJ]

Do you not worry about the metal of the push pins rusting? Good idea though, since my overflow is also covered in foam I can use the same technique

[Michael Hoaster]

No, I haven’t worried about rust. I don’t think it’s an issue. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong!

I was poking around my LFS today, looking for aquatic plant tabs and found some, for lilies, lotuses and marginals. They had two packs left that looked to have been around awhile. I’ve been looking for a tab that has a high amount of phosphate, for the seagrasses. They prefer root uptake of phosphate. These fit the bill, with 26% phosphate-the most I’ve ever come across. I cut off a chunk and placed it between a manatee grass and a shoal grass plant, for a test. Hopefully, I’ll get an uptick in growth. If so, I’ll add them all around the DSB. One downside is they are very crumbley. I may end up buying some gelatin capsules from the drug store and crushing the tabs up, to encapsulate them. I could barely get the first one in the sand before it started dissolving in the water.

Since I’m seeing progress in macro growth now, I’d like to get the grasses growing faster than they have thus far, since hypo treatment.

I did a little tidying up today, removing lose macro frags that have been tumbling around. I also noticed that my purple sponges were a bit covered in detritus, so I took the turkey baster to them. They are so pretty - and small, but I do believe they are growing.

[Michael Hoaster]

Ulva up top, halimeda showing signs of life and the reds are spreading.





Little, purple sponges.






The biggest mollies are now almost two inches. No sexual differences apparent yet.

[Michael Hoaster]

I just scored some new fish from KP Aquatics! Six Sailfin Blennies and two Yellow Faced Pike Blennies. I've been waiting for these guys for awhile. With the other blennies, this gives me a nice, benthic fish community. It should make for some very interesting viewing!

Once they're all in, I'll be freed up to add other fish that reside at different levels.

[Michael Hoaster]

Look at those last two pics. Notice the absence of the broad bladed turtle grass. Nothing but the skinny shoal and manatee grasses now. They're a bit sparse right now, but I think they will fill in. Also note the clean, dark fake wall behind. Without the covering of cualerpa, it provides a nice, dark contrast for the blades.

[McPuff]

It's really coming along Michael!

Thanks for the tips too! I'll just keep the ulva in the refugium and clip some when it's time to feed. I doubt the growth rate could keep up with my herbivores. Right now I've got 4 tangs and a large foxface... and the rest of the fish will eat vegetation too. This is a good thing in my opinion. The rocks stay clean for sure! :0)

My son will certainly like to eat/try the ulva. Gotta give it a shot.

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks McPuff! It is helpful to be reminded that things are progressing. I often feel like it's taking too long, until I notice something new. Then I'm like "When did this happen?"

Good luck with ulva. Even without herbivore fish, it's a challenge to keep ahead of predation. Pods and snails will appear out of nowhere to chow down, so you really need to keep it growing at maximum capacity. It sounds like you've got a good fish load, so that shouldn't be a problem.

It feels like things are picking up in my tank. Both plants and sponges seem to be accelerating growth. I found a new sponge forming on saturday. I noticed a sort of yellow, donut shape emerging from the sea squirts. When I looked at it from another angle, it appears to be forming a tubular shape. Could it be a yellow tube sponge?! Could I finally be having success with sponges? Stay tuned for this exciting development! Now, lets get back to my endless ranting about worms!

Well, the worms and pods are keeping my sand bed writhing with life. I have never seen so much movement in a sand bed before. Almost every time I get out the magnifying glass, I find something new. I'm super stoked on the diversity!

I enjoyed some good fish watching in the QT sunday. The barnacle blennies are such characters! When I feed them, it's not just a feeding frenzy, it's a game of oneupmanship. They delight in 'intercepting' food from each other, and generally just 'messing' with each other. They're very sociable, but also competitive. They're eating well and coloring up nicely.

The QT's about to get a bit more crowded tomorrow. Six sailfin blennies and two yellow face pike blennies are on the way, from KP Aquatics. Maybe I can move the barnacle blennies up to the display. I'll have to check their arrival date, but they've shown no signs of illness. I just want to avoid a high stress environment, where all these small, benthic fish are crowded too closely together. There's plenty of cover, with the pvc sections and 'leftover' macros.

[sam.basye]

Might be a good idea to transfer the barnacle blennies to the display prior to adding the new additions, just in case one of the new fish carries something. Not putting all your eggs in one basket.

Ever looked into getting glass minnows? They school, don't get too big (-3"), and look really cool. Clear and bright silver little sardines.

[Michael Hoaster]

That's kind of what I was thinking Sam. We'll see.

I haven't looked into glass minnows. I've pretty much settled on mollies. I've got around twenty fry, much of the time schooling. And their utility is unbeatable.

[Chasmodes]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

I just scored some new fish from KP Aquatics! Six Sailfin Blennies and two Yellow Faced Pike Blennies. I've been waiting for these guys for awhile. With the other blennies, this gives me a nice, benthic fish community. It should make for some very interesting viewing!

Once they're all in, I'll be freed up to add other fish that reside at different levels.

How exciting! Blenny heaven!!!!

Edit: the tank looks amazing! I can see those pike blennies occupying some of the holes in the wall. Very cool!

[Michael Hoaster]

Yep, blenny heaven is coming soon! Having two very sociable blennies together in my tank is going to be frickin' awesome. They both have unique behavior that should really entertain. It'll be interesting to see how the pike blennies interact as well. They strike me as less social, but who knows! I haven't found a lot info on them, so we'll see. Looking at the google pics, I've seen a few that were actually very colorful. But let's face it-they're weird!

It's funny how my own tastes have changed over the years. At first, bold, bright and graphic were what I looked for in potential fish. Now, I've come to realize that color isn't everything. Personality and weirdness now weigh more heavily in my decisions. And being able to get multiple specimens, so I can observe their natural interactions, has become much more important.

So yeah, bright blue fish are cool (and I plan to get some blue chromis), but how the fish fits in the ecosystem and how it behaves are even more important to me now.

I'm very excited to see what you'll come up with, Chasmodes, you being the blenny freak that you are. I expect you will surpass my little blenny community with a spectacular variety, occupying every nook available. Now I see the attraction. You blenny guys are on to something!

[Chasmodes]

Yep, I totally am with you. To me it's all about personality to entertain me, and blennies fit that persona perfectly. Now, I like colorful fish too, but they still need personality (eg. angels), but for my tank, I doubt that I'll encounter any. Spotfin butterflyfish are possible though.

As far as tropical species go, basslets, dottybacks, angels, puffers, triggers, wrasses and hawks all have tons of personality, but getting the right compatibility combination isn't always easy. Many of those fish are quite colorful. Still, after owning many of those, blennies are my favorite. They're weird and comical, and I'm weird, so there ya go!

My tank will have most likely one or perhaps two species of blennies, but there could be a third if I'm really lucky:

• Chasmodes bosquianus - the striped blenny
• Hypsoblennius hentz - the feather blenny (if I'm lucky)
• Hypleurochilus geminatus - Crested blenny (if I'm really lucky)

There are a couple species of gobies, but only one is common in shallow water, but it's possible that I could end up with more than one. And of course, another personality is the skilletfish.

That's about it with regard to variety.

On a side note, I had about an hour to collect this past weekend to check out a spot that I have access to. I was a bit disappointed because there isn't much cover there, pretty much just pilings and a muddy bottom. I caught some killifish, silversides and one tiny goby (I think it was a juvenile naked goby). But, at least I got the net wet!

[Michael Hoaster]

Glad to hear you're getting your net wet. Collecting your own is so cool!

For some reason, I thought you were going have several blenny species. But I guess multiple specimens of one or two species is more appropriate. I'm looking forward to it!

Any guess when you'll commit to this mythical tank?

[Chasmodes]

Since it's a biotope, I'm limited to what I can find in the bay. Those three are found in the bay, but only the first two are fairly common. I will, however, have a community of striped blennies for sure.

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Any guess when you'll commit to this mythical tank?

ikr (embarrassed)... Having my tank up and cycled this summer, is my goal. I'm tired of pushing it back. I'm rearranging my workspace (that is a thread for itself though) because I'm going to be involved in some fish sampling, so that will be my lab area. I am modifying an old dresser into a workbench, and that is where I'll finish my FW background and stuff, freeing me up to work on my tank stand right away.

Actually, I want both of my tanks up this summer. That would be optimal.

[Michael Hoaster]

Good luck! I really look forward to following along. Keep on truckin'!

[Michael Hoaster]

So I just checked and the new blennies checked in, only a week ago. I'm going to leave them in. My QT is a 26 tall, so there should be enough room. There's some big pieces of ulva, adding verticality to the pvc pieces on the bottom. I think they'll be okay. I'll keep an eye on them of course.

Eight new blennies due here tomorrow, before 10:30!

[Chasmodes]

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