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Cultivated Reef

The Forest Edge


RESONANCE

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Hey everyone,

 

So the adventure continues... this is a continuation of my tandem 40 gal breeder system. Since I was setting up the refugium first, I decided to document it in the Macroalgea forum since this part of my project is more relevant here.

 

My other thread, documenting the entire system build is here:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...=245818&hl=

 

Like others on this forum, I caught the marine planted tank bug and have been itchin to set up a nice Macro/ Marine flora tank for awhile now. I'm really more a visual person than anything else so I'm going to start by posting images which inspired me and gave me ideas on the kind of setup I wanted to create. After which will follow images of the actual tank in the process of creation.

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I kind of look at my creations with something of a narrative in mind so, I've named this tank/ refugium: "The Forest Edge" as I think this best describes what I intend to create.

 

Semi-legal blurb: Some of the following images were found on the internet - hopefully I'm not stepping on anyone's toes by posting these here; if I am, I apologize in advanced and will remove them upon your request (with proof of ownership).

 

The following pictures are inspiration for what I consider the 'beginning' part of the tank...or maybe 1/3 of the refugium.

 

Okay, lets see some pictures!

 

mangrove-066.jpg

 

CSM106070.jpg

 

Mangrove.jpg

 

mangroves%20under%20water.jpg

 

mangroves.jpg

 

MM7245-050520-01357.jpg

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The mangrove forest gradually gives way to the marine savannah...

 

The following pictures were screen captured from a few films I watched on the 'puter:

 

sea6.jpg

 

sea7.jpg

 

sea8.jpg

 

sea1.jpg

 

sea5.jpg

 

sea3.jpg

 

sea4.jpg

 

sea2.jpg

 

 

I also found a lot of visual inspiration on this thread here at nano-reef:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=218484

 

The following images are reposted with yardboy's permission - thanks man!

 

Queenangelinthenet.jpg

 

BlueTangSchoolstreamingby.jpg

 

Bommie.jpg

 

 

I also wanted to post some of Jamie's pictures but didn't have time to pm him about it so I figured I'd just highlight the link here:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...18484&st=60

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Hey peeps. Been meaning to update sooner but things get in the way and before you know it its next week!

 

Anyhow, what I want to accomplish with this tank is create an environment for all kinds of macro algea, marine plants and some soft corals to thrive. I do plan on having some LPS in there as well... something like blastos which prefer 'dirtier' environments (so I've heard). Keeping this in mind, I've added a deep sand bed (aiming for 5" - 6") and some dead rock.

 

In order to achieve 5" I had to use 2.5 buckets (I.O.Salt buckets) of oolitic sand and .5 bucket of coarse shell-sand mix I purchased from local reefers. Rinsed each bucket about 2 - 3 times with tap water and allowed them to dry.

 

Anyhow the pictures of the process:

 

My first rock arrangement... didn't feel quite right.

IMG_2069.JPG

 

Note the rocks are elevated to accomodate 5" - 6" of sand.

After some playing around I came up with this. Looks and feels better.

IMG_2075.JPG

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Next step: adding the sand and mangrove planting!

 

I used pens/ pencils/ anything straight to help me figure out where I'm going to plant my mangrove 'forest' edge rather than chance harming the plant roots by planting/uprooting over and over again.

 

My first configuration with 5" of dry sand already in:

View from above.

IMG_2092.JPG

 

View from front.

IMG_2089.JPG

 

I finally ended up with this configuration - its just a subtle shift but it felt right and also gave more open space in the tank for my future macro collection. Also, it looked more naturalistic and random - at least to me.

 

View from above.

IMG_2097.JPG

 

View from front.

IMG_2098.JPG

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The next thing I did was figure out how to hang my 6 bulb Tek T5HO...decided the best way was to use something rigid to hang the fixture from. It had to be flat since it's going to be right under my main 40 breeder reef (future build). Ended up going to Rona (Home Depot type store) and bought a 4' long aluminum rod about 1.5 inches in width.

 

*edit* I forgot to mention I had to saw/cut the rod to about 38.5" so it wouldn't stick out beyond the metal stand.

 

Placed some felt on the metal tank stand so the aluminum wont scratch up the black enamel.

IMG_2083.JPG

 

 

Finally placed the fixture on the rod to test. It sags abit, but it's sturdy - also the sagging will be minimized once I place the other 40b on top of the stand.

IMG_2117.JPG

 

 

View from the front: It's close to perfect minimal use of vertical space for the fixture - giving about 8" - 12" for plant growth.

IMG_2118.JPG

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Started planting the tank. As you can see mostly red mangroves in the back and 1 black mangrove transferred from my nano tank to this tank.

 

Added some cactus culpera and oar grass I got from john.

IMG_2123.JPG

 

Had to use my ceramic frag blocks to weigh down the oar grass as I didn't have enough broken rock pieces.

IMG_2125.JPG

 

 

Front tank shot day 2: Water's still milky and its hard to see the oar grass. At this point I was worried the oar grass wouldn't take hold. The cactus caulpera looks great and I was thinking it'll do fine.

IMG_2129.JPG

 

 

Day 3: Some close ups of the oargrass.

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IMG_2127.JPG

 

Day 4: Water's clearing up!

IMG_2131.JPG

 

Day5: Some good news, some bad :P. Cactus caulpera for some reason is starting to go asexual... the rhizomes are turning transparent... bad sign. Good news is the tank's got a diatom bloom! Also, the oar grass is starting to take hold!

 

New plantlets (oargrass) starting to shoot up from the sand.

IMG_2136.JPG

 

IMG_2135.JPG

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Oh btw, right now the tank has absolutely NO FLOW. I haven't added my mp40 yet as I'm concerned that any amount of flow might blow away my oargrass before it has a good chance to root itself. Don't know how long I should wait though. :unsure:

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Love it!! :D

 

 

Thanks man :). Thinking I might start to transfer some macro algea from my nano tonight. Also might hookup the mp40 tomorrow. Still worried it's gonna blow stuff all over the place.

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I can't wait to see what you do with the whole system. With the fuge looking so good, you're going to have to have one hell of a display tank.

 

I will be subscribing to this one. It looks like a TOTM in progress.

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I can't wait to see what you do with the whole system. With the fuge looking so good, you're going to have to have one hell of a display tank.

 

I will be subscribing to this one. It looks like a TOTM in progress.

 

 

Woah, thanks Miami! :D I don't know about TOTM - seems a long stretch from now lol. Not really sure when I'll start on the display; still collecting parts and info and everything else is dependent on weather or not I run out of funds for it or not lol :P. Thanks for the compliments and I hope it won't disappoint!

 

Very nice!

 

Thanks man! :)

 

 

Looking good. Very well planned and documented. Here's another article on mangroves you may not have seen. Might give you some more ideas.

 

Thanks yard! Hey that link was helpful; looks like I'm already going to have to do some minor adjustments to my mangroves. Especially that part about aerial roots... have some in my nano but been hesitant of taking them out and disturbing the system balance, but why the heck not - everything is eventually going to be transferred over anyways.

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