The M9 Project

[el fabuloso]

So nice to get all those pics--they really tell the story! I like the way you show it like it is, pest algae & all--actually, it's pretty interesting to see the tank all overgrown like that. There are certainly plenty of cool things going on amidst the algae. What an incredible variety of macros. Glad the CUC is doing so well for you.

Thanks Diane! It's hard to downplay the pest algae when every inch of the tank is covered with it! A tank with Florida live rock is a completely different experience with a slew of interesting organisms great and small. Each time I look at this tank I keep finding more interesting stuff to look at.

 

Those are some nice macro aglaes, especially the red one. Great pics, Aaron, that feather caulpera really stands out.

The diversity of macroalgae in this tank is insane. I just hope it doesn't overrun the tank too much. The feather caulerpa took off like crazy the first couple of weeks and I was convinced that it was going to start growing out of the tank by a month! But after pruning it a couple of times it seems to have slowed down.

 

I cannot believe that yo have got a brain as a hitchhiker! That has got to be the best freebie ever!!

Definitely a neat little hitchhiker. I was worried that the little guy might not survive the cycle but he pulled through and made it.

[opaquelace]

Black sound would totally look amazing in this tank! I kinda wish I had put black sand in this tank especially now that I'm thinking about keeping a black occelaris.

 

I like the look of it with the white sand. I generally prefer the white sand, but I saw a tank of harlequins with black sand and it was awesome. Not only that I think having a bunch of colorful rics against black would look awesome. Great tank! What's your algae secret?

[el fabuloso]

My algae secret? No secret at all just Florida live rock! So far I've counted up to 12 different types of macroalgae in the tank not including the chaeto in the fuge. Scary!

[opaquelace]

My algae secret? No secret at all just Florida live rock! So far I've counted up to 12 different types of macroalgae in the tank not including the chaeto in the fuge. Scary!

 

Awesome. Did you get your live rock from sealifeinc.net?

[usssturgeon187]

Fab keep it up . It looks like your getting a handle on the algae . I wish I had a friend like you to help ( start & Keep up )with a tank .

[el fabuloso]

Awesome. Did you get your live rock from sealifeinc.net?

No. One of my LFS keeps a tank full of Florida live rock.

 

Fab keep it up . It looks like your getting a handle on the algae . I wish I had a friend like you to help ( start & Keep up )with a tank .

Thanks! I don't mind helping out a friend. Besides, I like having another tank even though it's at a friend's house. At the end of the day it still feels like it's mine.

[opaquelace]

No. One of my LFS keeps a tank full of Florida live rock.

 

Well I'm jealous. My liverock was good, but didn't have any macro algae. Of course I didn't exactly know what I was getting myself into, and had I known, I would have gone with sealifeinc.net. I get all my rics from there now.

[gurnie]

get a mithrax crab and kiss hair algae goodbye.

 

i had a tank FILLED with hair algae and they are doing an AWESOME job at getting rid of it.

[el fabuloso]

Update

 

 

I'm really amaze at how well the clean up crew cleaned up all the hair algae! The tank is absolutely spotless right down to every strand of macroalgae in the tank. The emerald crab has been reclusive and I was beginning to think he was dead but he's alive and well, just hiding out a lot.

 

 

 

 

I had to let go of one rock to make room for more corals. The Fiji rock was overgrown with Caulerpa that I had to fight with the tank just to uproot it. Who knew caulerpa was so strong?

 

Added a nice colony of palys which looks nice amidst all the green macro.

 

Found this nice little Ricordea along with a baby next to it.

 

Stick polyps (Acrozoanthus) to add vertical interest in an otherwise tall and narrow tank. They're apparently very aggressive and can sting other corals so I placed them towards the back.

 

The mushrooms, happy as can be. Not to mention clean.

 

The different types of macro totally adds color to this tank.

[fiction101]

I would strip that caulerpa off all the rocks, unless you plan on just having mostly macro algae in the tank. It will take over everything if you let it go.

[el fabuloso]

I like the touch of greenery that the caulerpa adds. It doesn't seem to be growing as much as it was during the first couple of weeks. In any case I plan on pruning it regularly which I know will probably get old fast.

[Asydabass]

Hello. I have a 20L filled with Florida rock. I have all the same life on mine as your friend does. A couple of thoughts:

 

The hitchhiking coral that is not a brain is a cup coral. Someone had suggested to me that it is a dendro of some sort; I have also been told it is an Oculina.

 

The reddish-pink macro inthe last picture, in post 59, is very pretty; but it is a fast grower. Keep an eye on it, it can quickly shade out coral in such a small tank.

 

As fast as the red-pink macro is, that dictyota is much more "dangerous". I can not describe how fast that stuff can grow if conditions are right. Given your friend is new at this, and when she gets a fish and starts to feed it, nutrient levels will rise greatly. IMO- get that stuff out of there immediately. It will and can spread everywhere. Not only clinging to sufaces (glass, rock, coral) by it "roots", but the "leaves" will grow flat against the surface and be almost impossible to simply pull off. As far as I know, nothing eats it. When it's ripped out, if any pieces tears off and float away, they will settle and start to grow a new plant. It smothers everything once established. It even grows in a clean tank, it just grows "skinnier".

 

It seems like you keep upping the CUC. I would suggest a large manuel removal session of the unwanted algaes. The CUC (hermits and mithrax) are better at keeping algae at bay once it's been pruned down.

 

I like the aquascape.

 

Donald

[el fabuloso]

Donald, thanks for the ID and for the valuable tip! I'm definitely keeping an eye on all the macro and pruning them regularly during water changes. As far as the Dictyota, that is good to know so thanks for the heads up. A large portion of the hair algae was removed by hand, particularly the ones that were on the sand. I added a hermit and an emerald crab to help with some of the algae on the rock and in some of the hard to reach places and the crew I have now are really good at it so I won't be adding any more.

[Asydabass]

Awsome dude. I understand those hard to reach places. They are a PITA!

Just to be clear about that red/pink macro: I was by no means saying to take it out. I love that stuff. I was just letting you know that grows in kind of "growth spurts". It's actually one of my favorite things in my tank lol! You can see it right in the middle of the tank here, on the right, of the left island:

 

[Bigben7]

Cool tank! Do you have any updates? Is it still alive? How about algae progress, or hopefully, lack thereof?

[el fabuloso]

Yes! The tank is still alive and well and doing great. No problems with algae as most of them have actually been weeded out. I'll have to take some new pics and post some updates here. Thanks for reminding me!

[AdriftQuasar]

I'm always amazed at how much can be done in a small tank. It looks, well, fabulous!

[13angels]

ohh nooo poor algae... If i could find florida live rock here in SF id keep a macros only tank sort of like FW planted, For some reason I love Macros, sponges turnicates and the likes. Sucks that all the live rock here is encrusted with White dead coraline.

[el fabuloso]

Six Long Awaited Months Later

 

It seems that I've completely neglected this thread so to those who are wondering, yes the tank is still up and running. It's running very stable at six months without any mishaps or disasters to date except for the experimental Goniopora which didn't last too long and ended very badly. Lesson learned.

 

The goni before its untimely yet expected demise.

 

Aside from that, the tank is doing well. The various entanglement of macralgae were pruned regularly to the point where some never grew back at all. It took alot of the color away from the tank but at the same opened up a lot of spaces for more corals.

 

Some new corals have been updated:

 

This Rhodactis mushroom was added a few months back and has grown a lot since.

 

More mushrooms.

 

This Turbinaria had a rocky start but opened up a lot after it fully acclimated.

 

Finally found a perfect centerpiece for the tank:

 

 

 

There are six heads on the torch coral with some hitchhiker feather dusters on a couple of the heads. The rest of the corals have grown some:

 

The open brain hitchhiker showing tremendous growth with regular feeding.

 

These blue zoas from my pico made a miraculous recovery in this tank. Aiptasia and all.

 

Stick polyps.

 

What's left of the macroalgae.

 

In keeping with my plans, the recent addition to the tank is a black Occelaris. He's full spunk and suffers from ADHD so I haven't had a chance to get a good photo of him:

 

 

And finally, the FTS:

 

Side A

 

Side B

 

Side C

 

So far I've accomplished everything I had planned for this tank. The next step is to find more zoas and possibly a few more LPS corals after getting rid of one of the rocks. All in all the tank has been amazingly stable.

[hxcaquaman]

where did you get the LR from? can you order it online? if so pm me please

[nanoreefnate]

Six Long Awaited Months Later

 

It seems that I've completely neglected this thread so to those who are wondering, yes the tank is still up and running. It's running very stable at six months without any mishaps or disasters to date except for the experimental Goniopora which didn't last too long and ended very badly. Lesson learned.

 

The goni before its untimely yet expected demise.

 

Aside from that, the tank is doing well. The various entanglement of macralgae were pruned regularly to the point where some never grew back at all. It took alot of the color away from the tank but at the same opened up a lot of spaces for more corals.

 

Some new corals have been updated:

 

This Rhodactis mushroom was added a few months back and has grown a lot since.

 

More mushrooms.

 

This Turbinaria had a rocky start but opened up a lot after it fully acclimated.

 

Finally found a perfect centerpiece for the tank:

 

 

 

There are six heads on the torch coral with some hitchhiker feather dusters on a couple of the heads. The rest of the corals have grown some:

 

The open brain hitchhiker showing tremendous growth with regular feeding.

 

These blue zoas from my pico made a miraculous recovery in this tank. Aiptasia and all.

 

Stick polyps.

 

What's left of the macroalgae.

 

In keeping with my plans, the recent addition to the tank is a black Occelaris. He's full spunk and suffers from ADHD so I haven't had a chance to get a good photo of him:

 

 

And finally, the FTS:

 

Side A

 

Side B

 

Side C

 

So far I've accomplished everything I had planned for this tank. The next step is to find more zoas and possibly a few more LPS corals after getting rid of one of the rocks. All in all the tank has been amazingly stable.

WOW i cant believe how beautiful u got this tank to be!!! its amazing...i just have on question... what ever happened to that clam/oyster that was on one of your rock? im asking this because i recently purchased a mushroom rock that apparently had a clam type organism living in it and i would like to know wether or not yours survived or not so that i can do something about it if it does die....thanks!!

[Fattikins]

Side B

 

I'm sorry, but you and Lalani have like identical rockscapes, lol

[Aqua newbie]

this is so cool. The algae is to die for. I wish they made these tanks in larger sizes. it so modern.

[el fabuloso]

where did you get the LR from? can you order it online? if so pm me please

My live rock is half Fiji and half Florida rock. I got them both locally. If you're looking for live rock with lots of hitchhikers and a good diversity of macroalgae, then Florida rock is for you. There are several places online (can't think of it off the top of my head, maybe others can chime in) that sell Florida rock and they're sure to come with lots of surprises.

 

WOW i cant believe how beautiful u got this tank to be!!! its amazing...i just have on question... what ever happened to that clam/oyster that was on one of your rock? im asking this because i recently purchased a mushroom rock that apparently had a clam type organism living in it and i would like to know wether or not yours survived or not so that i can do something about it if it does die....thanks!!

Thanks! The mystery bivalve is alive and kicking. You can actually see it in two of the FTS shots above:

 

 

 

Whatever it is, it loves to eat brine shrimp and cyclop-eeze. It also goes crazy every time the tank gets topped off.

 

I'm sorry, but you and Lalani have like identical rockscapes, lol

Hey I set this tank up first!

 

this is so cool. The algae is to die for. I wish they made these tanks in larger sizes. it so modern.

I wish I hadn't pruned the algae too much, it has definitely lost some of its color. I have no complaints about the tank whatsoever, it's very sleek and sexy. My only regret is not going with black sand in the first place. But the sand was free, and I couldn't refuse.

[Lalani]

Hey I set this tank up first!

Ja, if anyone is a copycat, that would be me.

 

Looks great, Aaron! Sorry to see most of the macros have gone away, but the caulerpa still adds some color and character to the mix. Seems like it's going strong!