Amano Styled Coldwater Tank

[AquaticEngineer]

^{This tank is getting a big overhaul I decided to re do the entire landscape based on the design elements of Amano Takashi.}

 

^{Took out all the rock and sand and replaced it all with large basalt boulders and new brighter colored dune sand from the Oregon coast.}

 

^{Heading out tomorrow, rain or shine, to collect a bunch of green surf anemones to cover the rocks and some Shiner Perch to add to my school of fish}

 

 

^{Stay tuned.}

[CD_Scapes]

Subscribed, can't wait to see what you get today

[AquaticEngineer]

Lots of green anemones and some fluorescent green aggregating anemones with pink tipped tentacles They are in my holding tanks in the garage so they can have a couple days to recoup. Once I see that they can easily attach themselves to the sides of the tank I'll start migrating them into my display.

[CD_Scapes]

Nice! How are my little ones?

[AquaticEngineer]

Nice! How are my little ones?

Doing well

 

I saved you a few small green anemones, and just wait until you see the aggregatings!

[CD_Scapes]

Okay

Also heard you go shrimp, what species

I can't wait to see them!

[Elizabeth94]

Never saw this thread before! This has got to be the largest cold water system I have seen kept by a hobbyist in their home. Very neat. I will be awaiting pictures!

[arwndsh]

Its large but not quite the largest http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_coldwater.htm

[AquaticEngineer]

Its large but not quite the largest http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_coldwater.htm

 

Funny story, Steve Weast lives about 20 minutes from me and was one of the first people to help me get coldwater livestock for my tanks

 

I actually inherited almost all of his coldwater animals when he broke down his larger system (not pictured on his site).

 

He's actually looking at selling the hardware now for his bigger 400 gallon coldwater tank, if only I had the room

 

Here's an article and video of his bigger tank when it was in action.

https://reefbuilders.com/2011/02/06/cold-water-reef-tank/

[AquaticEngineer]

Okay

Also heard you go shrimp, what species

I can't wait to see them!

 

I got a bunch of Sitka Shrimp, no pics though Most looked just like this one from Mikes tank at Micro Reefs.

Found this awesome research study about the colorations and ability to change color in Sitka Shrimp

Research study 2

The marvelous colour polymorphisms exhibited by some species of shrimps, such as Heptacarpus (pictis) sitchensis and H. paludicola, suggest a defensive function, perhaps crypsis camouflaging or disruptive camouflaging. Both species have 5 basic colour morphs: 1 transparent and 4 coloured (see drawings and photographs below depicting several of these morphs in H. sitchensis. Some colour patterns in Heptacarpus are composed of bands, stripes, and spots that appear to disrupt the body outline. Development of the patterns is related to size (age) and sex. For example, in populations of H. sitchensis from Cayucos, California and H. paludicola from San Juan Island, Washington, prominent coloration is a characteristic of maturing and breeding females, and of larger males. The colours are caused by movement of pigments within chromatophores located in the hypodermis beneath the cuticle, which is itself transparent.

Both species have 4 basic chromatophore types: red-white, red, yellow, and red-yellow but other colours are generated depending on the relative amounts of paired pigments (see diagram on Left). For example, note in the diagram that in the basic red-yellow type, which is aquamarine, a more dense packing of red pigment gives a red-brown colour, while a more dense packing of yellow pigment gives a brown colour. Combined with pigments in some cells are crystals that reflect white, and variable extents of these and the red pigment create colours of white to shades of pink. At night H. pictus is transparent blue or aquamarine, and normal daytime coloration is restored within 15min of exposure to constant light. The author remarks that each colour morph has a common environmental colour in its pattern. For example, there is the green of green algae, white and pink of dead and living coralline algae, and various shades reflecting tidepool litter. The author suggests that because the shrimps appear to be under heavy predation pressure by fishes, the daytime colour patterns may act as disruptive camouflage to hide the shrimps from these visually-hunting predators. At night, especially if the shrimps were to swim up off the bottom, the transparency may be an adaptation for silhouette concealment. Bauer 1981 Mar Biol 64: 141. Photographs courtesy Raymond Bauer, U Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana.

NOTE the term chromatosome is used by the author to denote general colour units in shrimps and perhaps other organisms. A chromatosome may comprise one or more chromatophores, or pigment-bearing cells, sometimes bearing reflective white crystals. Thus, a red-white chromatosome in Heptacarpus is made up of a red pigment-bearing chromatophore with white crystals. The colour produced will vary from red through mauve to white depending upon the extent of dispersion of the red pigment

Bands and stripes in this morph of Heptcarpus sitchensis possibly function in disruptive camouflage

Colour units in this morph are red & white chromatophores, camouflaging the shrimp on a coralline algae background

The purple shade are produced from combinations of red astaxanthine pigment & white crystals

This morph is a variant of a speckled version. The green colour is produced from yellow chromatophores beneath the blueish-coloured exoskeleton

This morph is primarily shades of green produced by yellow chromatophores, with bands of red produced by red chromatophores as shown in the next figure on the Right

Red coloration comes from red or red/yellow chromatosomes. The actual colour, reddish-brown to black, depends upon degree of pigment dispersion

[CD_Scapes]

Cool! Love tank, you started my cold toes to this hobby can't wait only two more months

[CD_Scapes]

When you heading out next?

[AquaticEngineer]

I was just planning trips yesterday with Josh

 

There's a -1.1 tide coming up on April 9th and 10th that we'll be heading to Seal Rock for I think.

 

May 7th and 8th has a -1.7 and -1.8

 

Then there is a large minus tide in June on the 4th and 5th

 

July 2nd and 3rd also.

 

Haven't planned much past that.

[CD_Scapes]

Okay, I'm getting to great state Oregon July 15th, we can plan for stuff soon? Any chance of getting rad colored fluffy or tidepool sculpins. Maybe a gunnel or two?

[AquaticEngineer]

Oh yeah, that time of year the algae will be in full bloom so the sculpins will be hiding in it and matching colors to camouflage. I'll be looking for about a dozen or so brightly colored ones for my own tank.

[CD_Scapes]

Nice, what gunnels will be found, I want it to be as biotope as possible, so like the same algeas the gunnel or sculpin blends into

[AquaticEngineer]

Likely Penpoint gunnels on the open coast where the algae would be. We find some nice greens and reds there.

[CD_Scapes]

So, what would a biotope of the algea "fields" loom like? A penpoint, some sitkas, ulva and sand? No rocks or maybe a small rock. I want to is accurate as possible for my 2.5 gallon

[dpoltsdsu]

Do you have an updated picture? I want to see the new scape!

[AquaticEngineer]

Do you have an updated picture? I want to see the new scape!

Just got one uploaded

 

[AquaticEngineer]

[dpoltsdsu]

That looks absolutely fantastic. When you add some coldwater inverts, that will be one of the better aquascapes on the site in my opinion.

[AquaticEngineer]

That looks absolutely fantastic. When you add some coldwater inverts, that will be one of the better aquascapes on the site in my opinion.

 

Thanks

 

I'll see if I can snap a more current pic tonight, this was from a couple weeks ago before I had a chance to go collecting.

 

I have about 20 Green anemones in there right now, but it needs like 40-50 more to be complete IMO. Still gotta change the lights out to ceiling mounted spot lights, but the aquascape turned out just how I wanted

[CD_Scapes]

Stu I didn't want to tell you this... But you have chronic green surf flu

[AquaticEngineer]

Stu I didn't want to tell you this... But you have chronic green surf flu

 

I have been known to keep a few Green anemones from time to time Here's a couple pics of the tank from about 2 years ago when I was holding onto a bunch of green anemones before shipping them to the Dubai Aquarium.