Yardboy's Jetties Nano

[eklikewhoa]

Really cool tank!

[yardboy]

Hey Guys.

I'm so psyched. I found a couple of books that gave the species most likely to be found in our area, so I'm not at the mercy of whatever I happen so see when I go diving. I know that it's a never-ending parade of creatures there, you never know what you'll see. So I think I can keep in the spirit of this tank by adding things I've bought that have been found here, not just seen by me.

I've ordered a collection of stuff from SeaLife that will arrive tomorrow. I've got gorgonians, sponges, crabs, and a mated pair of rusty gobies on the way. I managed to trick the Beau Gregory into a bottle trap so he now resides in my Chaeto tank. I was inspired by Diane and her gobies and hope I'll see spawning behavior too. I've trimmed lots of halimeda and am rooting it in some sand filled plastic containers for trading. Added a powerhead to help the gorgonians and add a few more pieces of rock to hide it.

By the way Diane, you asked what temperature I maintain the tank at. The jetties here have temperature fluctuations of as high as 90 degrees, and as low as 45, so I am not trying to moderate the temperature too much. No heater, but I do use a fan in the summer, as it could get over 90 with the lights on. It's running about 74 now, but I saw gorgonians and sponges last week at the jetties and the temp is 58. I've been to the Keys in January and the Bay side had gorgonians and coral surviving in water at 54 (Brrrrr, that's cold when you're diving in a wetsuit)

For an interesting website of a collector of marine organisms from this area, look here

[c est ma]

Wow, what an interesting website! Wouldn't it be great to run an operation like that? I hate it that they only sell to scientific and educational entities and then describe such fascinating things. I was especially taken with the "Fouling Assemblages."

 

As far as I'm concerned your tank just keeps getting more and more intriguing. SUCH a great idea. Imagine being able to keep a tank at essentially ambient temperatures!

 

Oooh, new additions coming--that's exciting! I, too, have been intrigued by SeaLife's offer of mated rusty gobies and wondered why no one I know is snapping them up...no one whose threads I manage to read, anyway. I sure hope you get successful breeding! For one thing, I'd like to compare notes! For instance, I'd never heard that the male would actually collect the hatching larvae in his mouth and spit them out...now that I've observed this in my tank, I'm wondering if other spp do it? (No doubt some do...) 'Course, gobies are a huge group and no doubt have tons of different reproductive patterns...

 

Gee, I'm almost as excited to see your new additions as you are!

 

--Diane

[BlackSumbel]

This is seriously one of the most lovely tanks I think I've ever seen. The variety of things which exist in a single locality is absolutely astounding to me.

 

It's making me want to take a lot more time on my setup, and let the rock and sand just do it's thing and see what comes of it.

[c est ma]

This is seriously one of the most lovely tanks I think I've ever seen. The variety of things which exist in a single locality is absolutely astounding to me.

 

It's making me want to take a lot more time on my setup, and let the rock and sand just do it's thing and see what comes of it.

 

 

That is SO intelligent. It took me quite a while before I was able to walk out of an lfs empty-handed...to learn not to "talk myself into" something when I didn't find the sort of thing I'd come in to look for...

 

And I agree, there's something very satisfying about a biotope.

 

--Diane

[yardboy]

I grew up near the sea. When my children were young, we lived near a river and had a fishing pond on our property. Summers saw us swimming and fishing often, and I instilled the same love of water into my kids that I had. I moved back to the sea when the kids were still young, on a bayou which opened out into the Gulf. We had a dock where we'd go for fishing and boating and I one day told the kids how "while a road on land would take you only so far, the sea is connected to the whole world, and you could go anywhere from right here and anything from the rest of the world could come here to this dock".

Maybe a little exaggeration for the benefit of a child, but when we'd be there and a porpoise would suddenly surface and blow at them, or they'd toss out their bait and pull in a big redfish or even a little sea robin, it was easy to understand and believe.

The jetties here are just an extension of that idea. Not only do large ships pass through the channel daily, but you just never know what you'll see when you go there. Those talks on the dock came back to me this summer when my now 18yr daughter and I went down for some snorkeling and she came face to face with a manatee and screamed "We really are connected to the rest of the world Dad!" That idea had lingered in her mind for all those years.

While not as obviously fecund as a tropical coral reef, there are many species of creatures routinely present at the jetties. Hopefully I'll be able to develop this nano into a suitable rendition of what we see there. If (well, when really) we move away from here, we'll bring away something maybe a little more attractive than the tourists with their buckets of hermit crabs and starfish

Thanks for looking and for your comments. There will be pictures as soon as I've gotten everything acclimated and positioned!

[yardboy]

So my shipment came in, very professionally packed by Ken at Sea Life, Inc. out of Tavernier, Florida Keys.

I received:

Purple (bipinnate) Sea Plume gorgonia, Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata

Red Tree Sponge, Ptilocaulis sp.

Yellow Sea Whip gorgonia, Pterogorgia citrina

Purple Sea Rod, Plexaura flexuosa

Rusty Gobies, Priolepis hipoliti, mated pair

Here are the gobies temperature acclimating

There were also a couple of frags of gorgonians added to the bags and a nice black and grey brittle star, a different color than the ones I already have. Thanks Ken!

 

Here are the gorgonians and sponge acclimating

 

 

And here is the fts, with the gorgonians and sponge in place. Of course, as soon as I released the gobies into the tank they disappeared. Hopefully they will reappear soon.

 

[dtfleming]

Cool tank, Ken's a good guy I have ordered a couple times from him.

[dshnarw]

That new FTS looks AWESOME. So glad you pushed through the alae problems!

 

Nice looking fish as well.

[c est ma]

Congrats! All the new inhabitants look wonderful. Man, I love the shapes of gorgs...

 

BTW, I greatly enjoyed post # 56. You are quite the philosopher of water, esp. oceans. Much of that is going to stay lodged in the back of my mind.

 

--Diane

[yardboy]

Would you mind telling me just what it is you are doing?

 

 

 

Oh. Nice hat.

 

[dtfleming]

Haha, thats funny, he wanted a sponge hat to cool his head.

[SPS20]

I lOVE this tank. It has its own kind of feel to it, distinct from a tropical reef tank. I think the recent new additions add some nice color to the mix. The tank really "pops" now. I like the aquascaping especially. I hope your gobies mate for you, they are a really neat species.

 

Someday, I will live by the ocean and keep a tank full of indigenous species. I imagine that it has a special meaning for you, since the critters inside aren't from some far away place, but just a few miles away. I would love to be able to hand-collect all my own specemins, but I live in eastern Pennsylvania, hours from the nearest ocean. The Jersey shore is the closest body of saltwater, but its fairly polluted and totally overrun with human development. That, and I really love corals, even more than the fish, and so, tropical reef is the way to go for me.

[yardboy]

Haha, thats funny, he wanted a sponge hat to cool his head.

 

Must....Stop....Myself..... From......Naming.....Him.....Bob......

[c est ma]

Would you mind telling me just what it is you are doing?

 

Oh. Nice hat.

 

 

Hey, cute vignette! (What a beautiful sponge!)

 

 

Must....Stop....Myself..... From......Naming.....Him.....Bob......

 

 

Too late!

 

 

--Diane

[Needreefunds]

Another fantastic and informative thread Sir.

 

Will be following along from here.

 

Best of luck for continued success with this beautiful tank Yardboy!

[yardboy]

Great news. First, the gobies eat flake, and the female is pregnant. She's swollen up like a christmas turkey. I haven't even begun to study how to go about trying to raise up the babies.

Thanks so much for the links Diane. Got to get serious now!

[travisurfer]

i just have to say that this tank is awesome yardboy. fewskillz and I may have to get together on a local biotope one day.

[c est ma]

Great news. First, the gobies eat flake, and the female is pregnant. She's swollen up like a christmas turkey. I haven't even begun to study how to go about trying to raise up the babies.

Thanks so much for the links Diane. Got to get serious now!

 

 

SWEET!!!

 

--Diane

[constantocean]

I don't even know what to say. This is simply one of the most amazing things I have ever seen/read and several times throughout your thread I found myself day dreaming of myself in those jetties. You bring so much real life marvel into a hobby that is all too often nothing more than trips to local fish stores where you are so limited. You should seriously write a book about your adventures, I would gladly buy a copy. Reading this thread could restore lost passion to anyone who has ever had an interest in reef keeping. Tagging along for sure.

[dan06277]

Great tank, great idea, great pics. I am along for the ride now. It is inspiring, keep up all the good work.

[got2envy]

I just read this whole thread and wonder how i missed it to begin with...you are giving me crazy ideas yardboy! I love this tank..that crab pic was grat!

[yardboy]

Hey Guys!

JN has been quite stable over the last month, even though I made some major stocking additions. Mostly the algae are gone. Water changes have decreased to one a week, and any cyano that appears is usually on top of spaghetti worm mounds. I'm not sure if they collect it or if the detritus they gather up causes it to grow. Could be a research paper there, as there isn't a lot on the everyday lifestyles of spaghetti worms out there that I know of.

I've spent a lot of time watching this tank, as it still holds mysteries that none of my other tanks does. I should interject here that I've gotten into several discussions lately about the relative merits of Florida aquacultured rock versus rock from the South Pacific. A surprising number think that Florida rock is harmful and dangerous to use. I earlier stated in this thread how I'd obtained my rock, which in my opinion puts it in the same category as Florida aquacultured. I find it to be rich in "biomaterial", a challenge to use, but much more diverse in the organisms that provide the interest I have in this tank. What's been most fascinating aobut this tank is the concept of "cycling". We've all heard of folks buying "cycled rock" and after a few days of measuring ammonia and not seeing any, deciding that they won't have a cycle and can begin to stock the tank. I collected this rock underwater, brought it home in buckets of water, and the only moment it was exposed was between the bucket and the tank. I still saw a very distinct cycle, with quite a bit of dieoff and classic cycling nutrient problems. Surprisingly though, after about 4 months, the things I'd thought were dead have begun to reappear. Sponges, corals, invertebrates, I haven't even begun to identify what all there is. The mystery even extends to when I'm watching the tank, sudden curious flashes across the back of the tank. Accidental bumping of the tank or stand causes sudden movement all over. Fascinating! Hopefully I'll be patient enough to digitally record what all is going on there. Funny too, because there was a time when I wasn't sure if I'd be able to maintain this tank. My opinions about no sump, skimmerless, hob filtered tanks weren't very favorable. I've since changed my mind, and am very enthusiastic about the long term prospects of this tank. I even have plans for some more organisms, as I am able to locate them. To also confess, I extended the photoperiod of the tank from 10 to 14 hours, and everything has seemed to prefer the change.

Anyway, enough jabber. Here are some things I've not shown before, first up is my little rusty goby, what I assume is the male. When I first started seeing them, it was only the male who would come dashing out to grab food. I was afraid the female had died. Then one day, they were both upside down on a rock together, with the female quite swollen in the belly. Her bellies gone now, but they don't hang out together. The female is much shyer, and hangs out in the left rock pile. the male under the overhang with the purple gorgonian on it. Maybe they'll get back together when the "mood" strikes them!

 

Next is the Pederson's anemone shrimp. Sadly, he hasn't begun to host any of the anemones, but hangs on the bottom or on the purple sea rod. The spaghetti worms hassle him a bit, wrapping tentacles around his legs and making him jump!

 

The curley-cue anemone which hung out near the bottom on the left rockpile moved up a bit into a gap between two rocks, exposing this oyster it'd been leaning against. It appears to be your basic Crassostrea virginica, the "eating type" which I've never heard of anyone growing, though I'm sure there must be some.

 

Sponges are beginning to reappear over all the rock. This one seems to be growing the fastest, but before summer comes there will be pics of purple, white and yellow. They're just real small right now!

[yardboy]

The yellow sea whip, a flat bladed species of gorgonian, is in the flow path of a small Hydor powerhead, and seems to enjoy it there, with it's polyps extended nearly all the time.

 

 

Here is a somewhat poor shot of the purple sea plume. It's polyps are extended constantly too. When I first received this specimen, it had a fire coral beginning to encrust around it's base, having extended up an inch or so on the stalks. If left in the wild, this gorgonian would have likely been overcome by the fire coral. The coral didn't like the conditions in the tank and has died, and it's skeleton disintegrated, and the gorg has begun reencrusting its old skeleton. From past experience I've found that if left alone, gorgonians will encrust their old stem much faster than they will regrow it. I found it out the hard way, after carefully trimming old stem off gorgs that had died back. Live and learn!

 

Finally, here is a FTS on 01/19/08. Doing quite well. Hope you like it!

[dshnarw]

Great update!

 

Very interesting observations about the cycle you've experienced, and one that makes quite a bit of sense (the stress from any environment change should cause die off and a cycle). Looks like your coralline algae is growing nicely as well, now that the "nuisance" algae has receded.

 

Great pics as well, your goby is quite nice, and that shrimp...WOW!

 

Looks more and more like the jetty I'm used to swimming around!