The MacGyver Slinky Dream Tank- Basic New Pics

[Weetabix7]

Microfauna Update!!!

Anyone who's followed my posts over the last few months likely knows that one of my "things" is that I like to have really healthy populations of Microfauna in my tanks. 

I'm talking about stuff like copepods, amphipods, bristleworms, all kinds of sandbed worms, brittlestars and micro-stars and all of the little teeny beneficial critters that live in our Reefy Worlds. 

Having a diverse Microfauna population is a sign of a healthy system and is also a great supplemental food source for many of the larger critters we like to add. 

They also do a really great job of keeping things clean. 

They are really good at getting into all of the little cracks and crevices of our rocks and sandbeds and eating food that settles there and microalgae that grows there. 

A healthy Microfauna population leads to a cleaner and healthier tank for you, and less work for you keeping it clean. They are basically tiny little Reef Janitors. 

 

In the past couple of weeks, I have been seeing a lot of these cool little Micro-stars all of a sudden. I suspect some hitchhiked in on the Cladophora I recently got, and back in May I also deliberately added some to the tank, so they have hopefully been reproducing as well. I just know that I've been seeing a bunch of them show up anytime I move Macro around. 

I think this one may have been dining on a patch of algae I deliberately left on the front glass for the critters:

 

 

Back in May when I added the Micro-stars I also added 5 Stomatella Snails in hopes that they would reproduce in my system. 

Not only have they done this, they've even given me babies with designer shells!!

The Stomatellas in my tank are amazing at getting into really small crevices and eating any micro algae or film algae that grows there. They are specifically really good at keeping my beautiful Macroalgaes free of any pest algae growth on the leaves. I can always find several of them scattered around in the leaves of my plants. 

Because of their small size, they are a great CUC choice for Pico tanks. 

I personally also think they are interesting and fun to watch. 

I have been lucky to have several different colorations of them in here. 

 

Black Stomatella says "Hi!"

 

 

I've never seen this before, but the other day I caught sight of this black Stomatella with an almost pearly grey shell:

 

 

 

And here's one of my designer shell babies, I have never seen this color pattern anywhere but on the babies in this tank:

 

 

 

That last picture leads me to address another form of Microfauna that most people don't like to see-- flatworms!!

There are a gazillion different types of flatworms and they generally are all predators of something very specific. 

Acro Eating Flatorms, or AEFW, are predators of Acropora, for example. 

For those interested in ID'ing flatworms, here's a great database to check out: http://www.nudipixel.net/pictures/flatworms/

One of the more common types of flatworms that people don't like to see come in as hitchhikers look alot like what you see around the Stomatella in my pic above, but with the addition of a red dot or a darker coloration that often has some red in it. 

They are shaped the same as what you see in my pic above, with slightly different coloration. 

They reason Reefers don't like to see them is because they can reproduce to plague proportions and begin to cover and smother corals. 

What I have is not that type of flatworm. 

I never see them on the corals that I have, which are healthy and happy. 

I'm pretty sure what I have tends to come in as hitchhikers on Macroalgae and I've had them before in other tanks with absolutely no negative issues. 

They are extremely small with a kind of translucent tan color and they seem to dine exclusively on film or micro algae. 

I can find them if I really look for them, but they don't reproduce like crazy. 

It honestly doesn't concern me at all that I have them cause I know from experience that they are benign. 

 

Here's a couple of other pics of the flatworms that are in this system:

 

 

 

 

59 minutes ago, Dos Ocho said:

Awesome looking macros and a very interesting tank concept. Very interested to see how this goes for you! 

 

Thank you!!!

I've really been enjoying watching this come together, it's been a loooooong time in the making. 

3 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

Update time!!

Over the last week I've been distracted by preparing for school, made more interesting by the fact that I have one child starting Middle School & one starting High School. 

Time to make up for my silence and bring you up to speed on the newest developments in here!!!

This will probably take a couple of posts throughout the day to accomplish, but I've been taking pics all week to prepare. 

 

First a follow up on the installation of the Fiji Mud bed in the smaller section on the right, which measures 12 x 18. 

I know most people haven't used Mud as a substrate or have much familiarity with it, so I wanted to kind of give you a picture of how it is progressing for me, and how I have approached it. 

It turned the tank into a complete murky mess for a day or so, but having done this before I was prepared for that and knew it would pass and be worth it in the long run. 

Here's how the mud bed looked once it had (mostly) settled:

 

 

 

It pretty much looks like the silty, muddy bottom you'd expect to see in a freshwater creek or pond, and just like those muddy bottoms it clouds the water anytime something disturbs it. 

For that reason, I put a thin layer of a finer grained sand on top of it. 

This is how it looked with the newly added sand:

 

 

 

As you can see in those pics, it takes a couple of days for the water to clear completely, but it does and it doesn't cause a problem for corals or anything else that I can see, other than being visually annoying in the beginning. 

The little "ditch" or hole you can see in the substrate on the right is caused by flow coming through 2 small holes at the bottom of the acrylic wall that look like this: 

 

 

This will allow Pods and other Microafauna to travel back and forth between both sides, which I like, tho I'm not so sure about the presence of the "hole" in the bed. Ah well, we'll see how it works out. 

 

Over the space of a few days, the mud and sand on the surface blended a bit and today the top of the bed looks like this: 

 

 

Here's a side shot showing the different layering:

 

 

 

I am still in the process of moving the appropriate Macros back over to this side, but here's a shot showing what is currently in there. There are 2 new ones in there that I got in a trade with @calvin this week. The green one in front is Codium, a Macro that I've enjoyed having in previous tanks, and the spiky looking maroon one is a type of Red Graciliara. 

 

 

 

 

 

More updates to come today, stay tuned!!! 

 

Bringing this morning's Muddy Macro update over to the new page. 

[calvin]

I have the same flatworms. They came in on our macros, no doubt. 

[Lisa166]

It is all so pretty Weetie! 

 

[TinyOcean]

That Stomatella is soooo cute! I love your microfauna pictures.

[teenyreef]

Great pictures! I had the same kind of flatworms once, but I panicked and got rid of them. This was a really helpful post! 

[Thunder Goose]

Love the diversity. I'm a big fan of microfauna, too. I had a lot of brittle stars in Hitchhiker's Cover but I'm not seeing as many. I wonder if Lolly (the mantis shrimp) ate them. 

[gena]

If you want cool brittle stars...get some of Lawnman's chaeto that he is selling right now in the classifieds.  I got a ton from him.  And I still have them a few years later .  Good stuff!  I love this concept tank, Weetie!!!!! 

[seabass]

On 8/19/2017 at 11:32 AM, Weetabix7 said:

Here's a couple of other pics of the flatworms that are in this system:

Hey, looks like I may have them too.  Probably came in on the macros, just like yours.  However, knowing that yours aren't pests, I'm feeling alright about them now.  Thanks!

[Weetabix7]

Hey guys, sorry I dropped outta sight for a few days!!

 

Much of my time and energy over the last few days has gone into getting my boys ready for school. It's a big transitional school year for our family cause I have one starting Middle School and one starting High School. 

 

I'm back now!!

Thanks very much to everyone for the compliments, glad I still have people who are enjoying this Tank Journal. 

I'm glad also that the post about flatworms was helpful for some. 

I feel like there is a tendency by many Reefers to panic at the sight of what they see as potential pests and kinda eliminate stuff they're unsure about, across the board. 

I've dealt with my share of pests and I understand, believe me, I really do...... but not all of the little critters that hitchhike in are bad.

On 8/19/2017 at 7:40 PM, Thunder Goose said:

Love the diversity. I'm a big fan of microfauna, too. I had a lot of brittle stars in Hitchhiker's Cover but I'm not seeing as many. I wonder if Lolly (the mantis shrimp) ate them. 

 

Thanks!!

It's a possibility that Lolly got them. 

I wonder if it would possible for you to set aside a semi-protected area in your tank for stuff like that to proliferate. 

I have considered setting up a corner with Ulva Macro in some bird netting as a pod breeding corner in the tank. 

Maybe something along those line, but prettier, would work for you. 

[Weetabix7]

Here's a pic of a Breeder Box that I keep on the left side of the tank for little Macro scraps to grow out, maybe something like this could work for you @Thunder Goose. It moves around some, but I try to keep it just under the overflow so that it gets regular water flow into it. 

My Stomatellas love to get in there, probably cause I need to clean the algae off the walls of it. 

 

 

 

 

[Thunder Goose]

13 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

Here's a pic of a Breeder Box that I keep on the left side of the tank for little Macro scraps to grow out, maybe something like this could work for you @Thunder Goose. It moves around some, but I try to keep it just under the overflow so that it gets regular water flow into it. 

My Stomatellas love to get in there, probably cause I need to clean the algae off the walls of it. 

 

 

 

 

Oh, what a great idea. I have a few things I need to order, I guess I'll add one of these boxes.

[SquishyFishy]

I'm looking!  I need some macros in my display....I thought I wanted some of the grapey stuff.  And that Clado looks neato! LOL  If you include some brittles with it! 

 

I lost all my brittles in the transfer.  I had tons in my rock, but now all gone.  I still have a few astros.  My tank is doing much better BTW.

[Weetabix7]

36 minutes ago, SquishyFishy said:

I'm looking!  I need some macros in my display....I thought I wanted some of the grapey stuff.  And that Clado looks neato! LOL  If you include some brittles with it! 

 

I lost all my brittles in the transfer.  I had tons in my rock, but now all gone.  I still have a few astros.  My tank is doing much better BTW.

 

Oh, I'm thrilled that your tank is doing better!!!

It's funny you would say this cause I am right in the midst of working on a "Mud 'n Bugs 'n Macro" listing that I hope to have up this evening or later tonight. 

I just finished making some golf ball sized Cladophora cuttings. 

I won't have any way of guaranteeing micro brittles in it, but I can tell you that they like to stay in that Cladophora. 

Will offer baby Stomatellas and other stuff too. 

Were you talking about the green grapey stuff? Cause that's also doable.

So happy things are better with you!!!

[cfaye@Delaware]

Wow, lots going on with marine plants, I am really beginning to like them and using the breeder box to hold them great idea, I like that box. The colors of the plants, like them. This thread has lots of info. Yes, back to school, very, very, busy time. Most important thing is try to get some rest & relax time ( down time ). Where I am it is crazy busy, trying to adjust to it. In about a month it will slow down a bit, hanging in there until then. Keep it up, you are doing an outstanding job and thanks !!!

[vlangel]

I just finished reading this thread Weetie and its so cool.  I had not read any of the 100 days of reefing threads but now I see how much I was missing.  Your creativity and thinking out of the box always amazes me.  Anyway, I am following now.

[Weetabix7]

6 hours ago, cfaye@Delaware said:

Wow, lots going on with marine plants, I am really beginning to like them and using the breeder box to hold them great idea, I like that box. The colors of the plants, like them. This thread has lots of info. Yes, back to school, very, very, busy time. Most important thing is try to get some rest & relax time ( down time ). Where I am it is crazy busy, trying to adjust to it. In about a month it will slow down a bit, hanging in there until then. Keep it up, you are doing an outstanding job and thanks !!!

 

Thanks Faye, I appreciate that!!

I suspect that utilizing some Macros in your setup would be helpful to you in the sense that you wouldn't need to spend quite so much time cleaning, since the Macroalgaes do an amazing job of absorbing nutrients out of the water. 

It would basically give you a little bit of a buffer while also looking nice. 

Why is it so crazy busy where you are, specifically? Are you employed within the school system?

Yeah, I definitely plan to get some down-time today, heading straight for Coffee, a book and my comfy chair right now!!!

1 hour ago, vlangel said:

I just finished reading this thread Weetie and its so cool.  I had not read any of the 100 days of reefing threads but now I see how much I was missing.  Your creativity and thinking out of the box always amazes me.  Anyway, I am following now.

 

That's high praise from you Dawn, thanks so much!!

My brain works in quirky ways, lol. 

However, I like that it allows me to come up with ideas that are useful for other Reefers. 

I'm glad I have you along for the ride.

[Weetabix7]

6 hours ago, cfaye@Delaware said:

Wow, lots going on with marine plants, I am really beginning to like them and using the breeder box to hold them great idea, I like that box. The colors of the plants, like them. This thread has lots of info. Yes, back to school, very, very, busy time. Most important thing is try to get some rest & relax time ( down time ). Where I am it is crazy busy, trying to adjust to it. In about a month it will slow down a bit, hanging in there until then. Keep it up, you are doing an outstanding job and thanks !!!

 

Oh, almost forgot, I meant to comment that my Breeder Box has come in handy in SO many practical ways!!

It's become my "multi-purpose box". 

Also, they sell these small plastic open weave baskets at the dollar store that could probably be repurposed in some way as a Microfauna refuge as well, was just thinking that last night. 

Ok, Coffee NOW!! 

[SquishyFishy]

I would definitely be interested in getting some from you.  Let me know how.....becci650@gmail.com

[Weetabix7]

19 minutes ago, SquishyFishy said:

I would definitely be interested in getting some from you.  Let me know how.....becci650@gmail.com

 

Ummmm..... don't kill me but I think I might be sold out already. 

Clearly I need to get more in. 

[Thunder Goose]

2 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Oh, almost forgot, I meant to comment that my Breeder Box has come in handy in SO many practical ways!!

It's become my "multi-purpose box". 

Also, they sell these small plastic open weave baskets at the dollar store that could probably be repurposed in some way as a Microfauna refuge as well, was just thinking that last night. 

Ok, Coffee NOW!! 

Oh, berry baskets! I could go buy some berries and re-use the plastic basket for macroalgae!

[Weetabix7]

5 minutes ago, Thunder Goose said:

Oh, berry baskets! I could go buy some berries and re-use the plastic basket for macroalgae!

 

That's perfect, I love it!!

[Weetabix7]

My Clownfish is silly, she's decided to sleep in/host the Cympolia Barbata in my tank. 

It's this macro, for those who aren't sure:

 

 

She's just inserted herself into a clump of it and is sleeping there, with minimal movement. 

Goofy fish. 

Not sure if I can get a pic of it cause lights are off there right now and she'll move out of it as soon as the lights turn on. 

[Lisa166]

Haha, weird clown. 

At least it loves macros as much as you do! Hope the whole getting the boys back to school thing is going well

[Weetabix7]

On 8/25/2017 at 2:28 PM, Lisa166 said:

Haha, weird clown. 

At least it loves macros as much as you do! Hope the whole getting the boys back to school thing is going well

 

I got a pic of the Silly Fishy in her Macro Bed. 

It's not a great pic cause the lights were off in her side of the tank and I couldn't get too close cause she'd see me, wake up and back out. 

(I know cause I tried.)

It was a lot more humorous to see in real life than what you can tell from the picture. 

She'd wriggle her little body in til she was pretty firmly supported on all side, then stop moving completely and sleep. 

She looked "trapped" if you didn't know what was going on. 

She had her body farther in, but she saw me & had barely started to back out when I got the pic.

Here she is:

 

 

 

Here's a pic of how my Cladophora looks when I first turn on the tank lights on the left side in the morning. 

I'm telling you, the Microafauna Critters loooove this stuff and are all over it when lights come on, then they scurry away to darker corners when they get exposed.

A bunch of Baby Stomatellas are what you can see in the pic.

 

 

On 8/25/2017 at 2:28 PM, Lisa166 said:

Haha, weird clown. 

At least it loves macros as much as you do! Hope the whole getting the boys back to school thing is going well

 

First week of school went pretty well, tho it left all of us pretty tired. 

Having a day to rest & catch up today feels amazing!!! 

I really need to catch up on your tank thread, hopefully I'll make it by there today. 

[teenyreef]

Your macros are looking amazing! And I love silly fishy, clowns crack me up how they will sleep in almost anything. Mine used to hang out in the gsp.