Amphiprion1's 40g Seagrass Patch Reef (Updated pics!)

[Amphiprion1]

Well, I'm happy to report that the tank has taken an upswing ever since doing what I described in my previous post. There is substantially more algal growth in the tank, though--enough to send some people into a panic. I've since introduced a decent crew of snails to the system, consisting of about 20 Astrea, 8 Trochus, 2 Turbo (mexican), 2 scarlet hermits (I don't like hermits much at all, but I'm trying to cover a few extra bases), 1 Echinometra viridis, and 1 Mithraculus forceps. The three crabs have behaved thus far, but I can quickly and easily evict if necessary. The urchin is currently about 1/2 the size of a ping pong ball.

 

Now, as far as dinoflagellates go, there are no macroscopically visible signs of them. In fact, the films and strands that did exist turned white and eventually crumbled away. Despite this, I am frankly terrified of doing so much as a simple water change.

 

I introduced a couple of new corals as a sort of litmus test, which would be promptly removed in the event of duress. One is a "purple haze" Montipora and the other is a Favites brain coral, both of which are doing nicely and have not only gained color, but the former has grown somewhat. The resident fish are fine and seem to be enjoying life so far.

 

What is, at this point, even more amazing is the amount of life in this tank. It is astounding! I wish I could photograph even a fraction of it and it is all 100% thanks to the amazing rock and sand I received from GLR. It's been so long since I've used truly good rock that I had forgotten what it provides. There have been an extreme paucity of pests so far, too. Tunicates have exploded--I have colonies of black colonial tunicates popping up everywhere, even on the sand. They've done nothing but increase since the skimmer was pulled offline. Heck, I looked in my sump tonight and I've got all of these 5-6 mm critters actively swimming all around my sump. They were attracted to the light, so I was able to get a good look. They are either some crustacean larvae or very large copepods. They also had a very distinct reddish tint to them. When I shone the light in another spot, they would dive into the very thin layer of detritus down there. I also saw some dorvilleid worms crawling all over the place in the sump. Another worm was bulding a tusk-shaped tube in the display. Just all sorts of things going on .

 

I need to get pictures at some point, but I honestly don't even know where to start. Most would see the pics and dismiss because of the green masses of Derbesia on the glass. I really need to see if I can snap a few this weekend, because it's pretty cool.

[William]

I found that a carbon (Red Sea nopox) induced bacterial bloom in complete darkness (1 week) killed off all of my Dino's when I had them

[Amphiprion1]

Aha! Apparently the mystery worm is a pectinariid. The pictures fit everything perfectly, including the head of the worm.

[TheElysia]

Hello! Sorry to hear your troubles with the algae....it's nuts sometime. But I hope you keep the tank. I absolutely love it, it's so much more interesting than the normal old reef tank. Maybe sort of "bunch up" all the corals on the little island, like a bommie, and get a carpet anemone for the clowns to host?

 

Really no advice needed, it's fantastic.

[Amphiprion1]

Hello! Sorry to hear your troubles with the algae....it's nuts sometime. But I hope you keep the tank. I absolutely love it, it's so much more interesting than the normal old reef tank. Maybe sort of "bunch up" all the corals on the little island, like a bommie, and get a carpet anemone for the clowns to host?

Really no advice needed, it's fantastic.

Thanks for the encouragement; it means a lot. I've actually already sort of started doing what you've suggested, just with a different anemone .

[TheElysia]

Thanks for the encouragement; it means a lot. I've actually already sort of started doing what you've suggested, just with a different anemone .

What anemone? Very interested to see how the tank's coming along now!

[Amphiprion1]

What anemone? Very interested to see how the tank's coming along now!

It's a little purple Heteractis crispa. I have a soft spot for this species, since I had a large female for so long. See the preview pic below

 

[TheElysia]

It's a little purple Heteractis crispa. I have a soft spot for this species, since I had a large female for so long. See the preview pic below

 

 

Woooo, very cool. Hope the clowns host it! (P.S. I want an FTS tooooo )

[Amphiprion1]

I'll see if I can get a decent one through the Derbesia forest on the glass .

[Amphiprion1]

Okay, here's a few pics I took this afternoon. Keep in mind, this is actually post partial cleanup, too. There was much more algal growth than what you'll see. I know some aren't going to like it, but the glass is not scraped. I'm trying to leave as much algal diversity as I can without letting it completely take over.

 

FTS:

 

 

Flower anemone now:

 

Purple haze monitpora:

 

Red macro:

 

One rose coral:

 

More rose corals with feeder tentacles:

 

Green Favites:

 

Clowns hamming it up with anemone in background:

 

Close up of some of the fantastic rock from Gulf Live Rock:

[Amphiprion1]

Well, the newest dino bloom subsided on its own after halting homemade 2 part and using only kalkwasser. Things have done considerably better since, despite some cyano showing up. It's much more manageable than dinoflagellates, though. I've since restarted my skimmer part-time at 3 days per week. I am also resuming 2 part today to rule out possible contaminants fueling dino, though I doubt that is an issue. Will have pics after I get over the flu and clean the glass.

[Amphiprion1]

I'm happy to report that ever since this previous post, I have been completely dino-free. I suspect whatever species I ended up with this second time around managed to kill itself off. I've even done a couple of larger water changes with no ill effects. I have also been running without a skimmer ever since, though I'll occasionally run it for a couple of days every week or two. I tried with a skimmer and, while no dino, I do see a decline in tunicates, etc.

 

One thing to note with the homemade 2 part, oddly enough, is that everything seems to go into a general decline when I use it--even with stable parameters using a LiterMeter. Not sure why, but I may try a concentrated commercial version and see what that does instead so that I can rule out contamination or impurities from the ingredients I have. Or I may just stick with kalkwasser for the foreseeable future until it can't handle the demand. Either way, I'm hoping everything continues doing well. A small red Goniopora I bought has been growing and encrusting nicely, so it can't be completely hostile to life. The only other issue now is Dictyota, which exploded once the dino finally disappeared. It is even choking out the Caulerpa. I may buy a tiny naso tang that I can trade after a couple of months either toward coral or another tiny naso... Don't want to keep them long for obvious reasons.