Billy's 18g Caribbean Biotope - Breakdown Complete!

[billygoat]

14 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

Although you may not be able to actually duplicate nature. Your tank has an amazing natural beauty.

Thank you. Sometimes I feel like I have gone about this hobby wrong, especially when I see some of the incredible collections of shapes and colors that other reefers have been able to assemble in their tanks. Most of the stuff in my tank is green, brown, or pink... I feel like I really can't hold a candle to the amazing kaleidoscopic colors that you see in other systems! But I always try to remind myself that what I've done is okay too. 😊 There are countless different roads that lead to success in this hobby, and I think that all of them can lead to beauty. 👍

[debbeach13]

As long as you can sit back, and enjoy looking at your tank. That's all that matters. Maybe it helps you relax and unwind after a long day or a critter in there gets you to smile with it's antics. IMO Colorful corals look wonderful but it seems rare that a reef looks like that. The lighting makes colors pop very different from the sun. Reef on my friend.

[Nano sapiens]

4 hours ago, billygoat said:

Thank you. Sometimes I feel like I have gone about this hobby wrong, especially when I see some of the incredible collections of shapes and colors that other reefers have been able to assemble in their tanks. Most of the stuff in my tank is green, brown, or pink... I feel like I really can't hold a candle to the amazing kaleidoscopic colors that you see in other systems! But I always try to remind myself that what I've done is okay too. 😊 There are countless different roads that lead to success in this hobby, and I think that all of them can lead to beauty. 👍

While it may not be considered 'super sexy colorful' by today's reefing trends, the biotope reef aquarium is about as close a representation of the natural reef environment as we can get in a glass box.  I'm always glad to see this type of system and appreciate it for what it is.

 

Reef on 

[billygoat]

Just truckin' along on the reef today. This guy is up to his usual antics. Is it weird that a hermit crab is one of my favorite animals to observe? This species seems to be much more active than the blue-leg and red-leg hermits I've had in the past. It seems like Lurch is always up to something.

 

[DNR88]

12 minutes ago, billygoat said:

Just truckin' along on the reef today. This guy is up to his usual antics. Is it weird that a hermit crab is one of my favorite animals to observe? This species seems to be much more active than the blue-leg and red-leg hermits I've had in the past. It seems like Lurch is always up to something.

 

I would always keep a hermit now. They are cute with their eyes on stems and their small claws, fascinating because they live in a shell and a bit creepy too.. 

 

It's just something in their appearance and behavior that makes them so attractive.

[billygoat]

8 minutes ago, DNR88 said:

I would always keep a hermit now. They are cute with their eyes on stems and their small claws, fascinating because they live in a shell and a bit creepy too.. 

 

It's just something in their appearance and behavior that makes them so attractive.

As far as cleaning goes, I haven't found hermits to be particularly effective; they mostly just wander around and knock things over, and when they do eat algae they don't seem to be very thorough. But I absolutely agree with you - I think I will always have at least one in any tank that I start from here on out, just because I enjoy watching them live their hermit lives. I try to imagine what is going through their tiny little heads when they are picking at the rocks, walking on my corals, trying out new shells, etc. 😅

[Gravity]

15 minutes ago, billygoat said:

Just truckin' along on the reef today. This guy is up to his usual antics. Is it weird that a hermit crab is one of my favorite animals to observe? This species seems to be much more active than the blue-leg and red-leg hermits I've had in the past. It seems like Lurch is always up to something.

 

It’s not weird, I used to enjoy watching my scarlet hermit until one of the blue-legged hermits decided it  needed a new shell.... 😔 My interest in the blue-legged hermits now decreases with each new critter it kills. 

[Nano sapiens]

23 minutes ago, Gravity said:

It’s not weird, I used to enjoy watching my scarlet hermit until one of the blue-legged hermits decided it  needed a new shell.... 😔 My interest in the blue-legged hermits now decreases with each new critter it kills. 

Which is why I have the Red Legged, now.  I used to have a few Blue Legged, but as you found out they are typically the most aggressive.

[debbeach13]

I have never actually seen it but I think the blue legs might even kill each other. Right now that is the only type of crab I have. They are extremely entertaining.

[Lypto]

I love my little blue legs, they each had their little spot and it was super entertaining to watch them. 

[billygoat]

Glad to see we have some hermit lovers in the community here. 😉 I know people tend to have pretty strongly polarized opinions about them! Funny thing is, in the early days of this tank I could never keep hermits (or any other crustacean) alive for more than a couple of weeks. I think there was something leeching a toxic compound - probably some kind of heavy metal - that has since been dealt with. Lurch and his blue-leg buddy have shown no signs of distress (nor did my porcelain crab, before the Maw ate it), so I assume that the waters are now safe for shrimp and other things as well. Maybe I'll get one at some point down the road.

 

Here are some pictures for you kind folks. I decided to focus on Ricordea today.

 

 

 

I especially like the really big turquoise Ric at the top of the 2nd picture there. Not the most impressive color of course, but it has these weird bulbous vesicles that make it look like a wannabe bounce mushroom.

 

Here's an overhead shot of the whole tank as well. As you can see, the Maw reigns supreme, king of all invertebrates. All glory to the Maw.

 

It's mostly good news on the reef today, but I do have one troubling thing to report: the jawfish did not come out of his burrow today. I didn't seem him at all, not even at feeding time in the morning. This has never happened before, so I am a bit worried. I'm concerned that he may have come down with whatever killed my chalk bass, and that he's hiding down in his hidey-hole because he is feeling sick. I don't want to go disturbing him more than is necessary, so I won't go moving rocks in search of him just yet... but I do hope he's just having an off day, and that he'll be back to normal tomorrow. 🤔

 

[Gravity]

18 minutes ago, billygoat said:

It's mostly good news on the reef today, but I do have one troubling thing to report: the jawfish did not come out of his burrow today. I didn't seem him at all, not even at feeding time in the morning. This has never happened before, so I am a bit worried. I'm concerned that he may have come down with whatever killed my chalk bass, and that he's hiding down in his hidey-hole because he is feeling sick. I don't want to go disturbing him more than is necessary, so I won't go moving rocks in search of him just yet... but I do hope he's just having an off day, and that he'll be back to normal tomorrow. 

 

 

Hope everything is good and he turns up soon. 🤞

[debbeach13]

Quick question. Will a rock flower anemone harm ricordea? 

[mitten_reef]

How did I missed two pages?  Better start officially following. 
You can’t seem to go wrong no matter how you arrange this tank, they all look great. 

[A.m.P]

Hermits seem to be really, really good at keeping "fuzzy" algaes at bay and they do a great job of cleaning up the scraps from inept eaters like my two clownfish lol...
Thankfully haven't had any aggression issues with them yet, fingers crossed it stays that way. Love your white leg, it's gorgeous and it even uses astrea shells - I keep accosting mine for being too picky but it hasn't sunk in yet.

[mitten_reef]

On 3/26/2020 at 2:38 PM, DNR88 said:

I agree with the one who said (who was it??) that most tanks looks just like a collection of corals and not like a natural habitat. I think it's really hard to (re)create something that looks so untouched and natural, especially in a nano tank. Anyway, something like this should be possible to make, right? I think less is really more in this case.

 

Where did you read that?  Do you recall?  I posted a comment VERY similar to that on one of the diving/snorkeling photos by someone.   I'm trying to search for that thread again, and can't come up with the right keyword for it.  And it felt long ago, that it's not worth combing  my own comment history for it. 

[billygoat]

15 hours ago, mitten_reef said:

How did I missed two pages?  Better start officially following. 
You can’t seem to go wrong no matter how you arrange this tank, they all look great.

I tend to post quite a bit, so sorry in advance for the spam! Glad to have you on board though. 🙏 I'm always happy to hear that other reefers are enjoying my tank.

 

17 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

Quick question. Will a rock flower anemone harm ricordea? 

RFAs and Rics will tangle with each other, yes, but I'm not actually sure that the anemones win. Ricordea are surprisingly strong stingers, and tend to win most coral battles that I've seen them engage in. Either way though, it's probably not a good idea to put those two in touching distance of each other.

 

18 hours ago, Gravity said:

Hope everything is good and he turns up soon. 🤞

I'm pleased to report that everything seems to be okay with the jawfish. This morning when he didn't show up at feeding time for a second day, I picked up his rock and he swam right out like nothing was wrong. 🙄 I think he may have accidentally buried himself down in his burrow or something. And of course, after picking up that rock I couldn't get it back into the same position I had it in before, so I embarked on yet another minor rescape to get everything to fit... 😅 I'll get some pictures of everything once the tank calms down a bit later today.

[Nano sapiens]

At one point I was considering a RFA, but due to the many Rics in my tank I decided against it.  I tried searching for info specific to how these two might get along, but didn't find much.

[debbeach13]

That's for the reply's. I moved the ricordia for now to a different tank.

[A.m.P]

I saw a timelapse the other day of a yuma reaching up a few inches to eat multiple heads off a duncan coral, I really should have saved that come to think of it...

[Tired]

RFAs don't tend to wander, and like to be on the sandbed anyway, so they should be fine with rics as long as you don't put them next to each other. So far, the only time mine have moved more than a couple inches is when I change something abruptly, and even then it's only been one of them. 

[billygoat]

I have to say, my tank is in almost the worst possible position for FTS photography. There is awful glare at almost every hour of the day. Here's my latest attempt:

 

 

Glare or no, I think I've finally solved my aquascape. The key was cutting that big Briareum in half - probably something I should have done a long time ago. I really like the layout right now, as it feels balanced but still seems natural.

 

My only concern at the moment is my jawfish. He's basically barricaded himself in his burrow, and is no longer coming out for any reason, not even to eat. I am almost certain he's come down with the same internal parasite that likely killed my chalk bass. I'll continue to monitor him over the next few days, but I have a bad feeling.

 

As you can see though, the rest of the tank is flourishing. All things considered, I can't complain about this situation too much.

[debbeach13]

The tank does look very nice. As you said balanced. I hope the jawfish adjust soon and is Ok.

[StinkyBunny]

On 4/10/2020 at 7:44 PM, billygoat said:

 

My only concern at the moment is my jawfish. He's basically barricaded himself in his burrow, and is no longer coming out for any reason, not even to eat. I am almost certain he's come down with the same internal parasite that likely killed my chalk bass. I'll continue to monitor him over the next few days, but I have a bad feeling.

 

I usually QT Caribbean fish for a 2 weeks and use Praziquantel on them. Jaws are notorious for having internal parasites. Where did you get it from?

[billygoat]

4 hours ago, StinkyBunny said:

I usually QT Caribbean fish for a 2 weeks and use Praziquantel on them. Jaws are notorious for having internal parasites. Where did you get it from?

I got the jawfish from KP Aquatics. It's been in my tank for something like 8 months, but only started behaving strangely about a week ago. It's always been a skittish fish, but when I turned the pumps off to feed it would always come right out of its hole and chow down. For the past week it's been hunkering down though, maybe sticking its head out at best, still digging but showing no interest in food. Super weird behavior. Not a lot I can do really, since I don't want to tear my rockscape apart to try and get it out of there... 🤷‍♂️ Hopefully it comes around soon.

 

Anyway, everything other than the jawfish is doing well. My corals are all looking great. Here's an overhead shot from this morning.