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Sessile invert/macroalgae tank?


AlmightyJoshaeus

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AlmightyJoshaeus

Hi everyone! I am thinking of maybe turning my 10 gallon saltwater tank into a macroalgae/coral/tube anemone tank. How would that work out? Would it be an interesting tank? Thanks 🙂

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AbnormalReefer

It would be very interesting. A nonphotosynthetic tank looks even more alien than a typical reef tank. 

 

A good idea to me if you want something atypical to a normal reef tank would be a tank with NPS corals such as gorgonians. There would also be macroalgae of all colors and tube anemones. All you need to do now is think of a fish that could fit in there. I’d think that a scape like that would be more suited for pipefish or seahorses, but, I cannot give expertise on these as I have never owned them.

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AlmightyJoshaeus

Tube anemones would make short work of either seahorses or pipefish. My mother is creeped out by pipefishes and I can't keep up with feeding dwarf seahorses either.

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AbnormalReefer

My apologies. Again... I am unfamiliar with those types of creatures and cannot give info on seahorses and pipefish. Or you could do invert only. But if you want to do shrimp I’d go with a different anemone.

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AlmightyJoshaeus

I was thinking of having no mobile life in there and just having the tube anemone on one side, corals and live rock on the other, and macroalgae in between.

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Tube anemones are neat but they can get pretty large. I don't know much about their care. I wouldn't recommend NPS gorgs unless you're experienced with photosynthetic ones. Definite no on seahorses, most need a lot more space than 10 gallons. I would recommend considering a large feather duster or two. I've had one over 18 months and love it! Maybe consider a small crab like a porcelain. It sounds like it could be neat!

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AlmightyJoshaeus
5 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

Tube anemones are neat but they can get pretty large. I don't know much about their care. I wouldn't recommend NPS gorgs unless you're experienced with photosynthetic ones. Definite no on seahorses, most need a lot more space than 10 gallons. I would recommend considering a large feather duster or two. I've had one over 18 months and love it! Maybe consider a small crab like a porcelain. It sounds like it could be neat!

Exactly how big do tube anemones get? Also, any other relatively straightforward NPS critters other than sun corals, tube anemones, and feather duster worms?

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I always wanted tube nem's but seems they can grow very large, maybe a foot across I think? They also like deep sand beds. I just never felt I had the proper tank for them. I don't think a 10g would be appropriate long term.

 

The red and yellow NPS gorgs are fairly easy to care for as is chili coral (needs to be hung upside down). Some sponges are NPS too. There are also Dendro's, walking dendro's and Balanophyllia available in the hobby as well.

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Walking dendro is really cool, I love mine. I don't know much about care of NPS gorgs and coral as it's too high maintenance for my life right now lol. 

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I think it sounds interesting, but if you get into nps in a small tank you will really have to work to keep your nutrients in control... believe me, I have a mandarin, sun corals, and a nonphotosynthetic gorgonian in my Biocube 16. I have a frag of the nonphotosynthetic gorge in my Nuvo 10 with three types of red macro algae and the macro algae does seem to help keep the nutrients under better control in that tank, but I also feed much less. 

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9 hours ago, AlmightyJoshaeus said:

How do you care for the red and yellow gorgs? Would two feedings daily of 5-100 micron foods suffice?

They took cyclops.. Reef roids... Reef frenzy.... Nutramar ova for me.. I think they even ate some tiny chunks of mysis the fish didn't get. I would assume the more feedings the better growth you will get. 

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AlmightyJoshaeus
3 hours ago, Tamberav said:

They took cyclops.. Reef roids... Reef frenzy.... Nutramar ova for me.. I think they even ate some tiny chunks of mysis the fish didn't get. I would assume the more feedings the better growth you will get. 

OK! Thanks 🙂 It's probably not going to be a 'no fish' tank anymore, but this is still very helpful info.

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