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Cultivated Reef

Dawn's natural nutrient tank system!


vlangel

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I have been contemplating this tank system for quite some time.  With the passing of Eve, my matriarch Seahorse and the end of an era; I am now free to begin to implement the ideas I have been pondering.

 

The display tank is my 56 gallon in the living room.  It overflows into the 30 gallon former Seahorse tank (which will now be a macro algae/seagrass tank, a safe haven for pods) that now sits in the basement next to the 20 gallon sump.  Water changes will be easy since I set up a water change station for the seahorses but now I will use it for this tank system. 

 

I hope to keep lots of fish in the display to provide nutrients to fertilize the coral, macro algae and seagrasses.  I will choose docile fish so as to minimize aggression, blennies and gobies mostly.  I will add a small clownfish last to tend to my nems.  If I get a renegade bully I can move it into the 30 gallon tank.  Of course I love my inverts and will keep a diverse variety of crabs, snails and other fascinating creatures.  I already have a forest of feather dusters and 4 shrimp along with a few nassarius snails and crabs.

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Following!  I'm very sad for the loss of your ponies, but looking forward to see what beautiful things you can do without the restrictions they required.

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https://www.instagram.com/create/style/

 

The display tank is slowly clearing up.  There is still fine particulate in the water column but the filter floss should capture it eventually.

 

I am pretty happy with the scape.  All 10 fish, 4 shrimp survived the transition so that is good.  For the most part the coral look ok too.

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On 3/3/2020 at 3:58 PM, Pjanssen said:

Time for some visuals!

Your wish is my command!

The display currently has 10 fish in it although you would never guess that.  2 pajama cardinals, 2 green gobies, 2 barnacle blennies, 2 combtooth blennies, a fang blenny and a blue dartfish.  I would like to add 6 more fish: a McCosker's wrasse, 2 firefish, a royal gramma, a yellow watchman goby and a small ocellaris clownfish.  That should add both color and activity to the display tank.

 

The 30g fuge and 20g sump are in my basement in what was formerly a well room.  They are very utilitarian looking but they are working very well plus my water volume is almost doubled.  The water change station is conveniently right there next the basement tanks.  The 56g display is in our livingroom.

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1 hour ago, Pjanssen said:

Awesome. But I swear I saw a Seahorse in there.

Thanks Penny!  Yes, you did see a seahorse in there.  I had someone from my local club lined up to take Samson in a day or so.  I moved him into a QT and I tore down the seahorse tank.  Then I never heard from the person again which was really frustrating.  He said he wanted Samson last summer (this was all done via the club forum so I never met him) and so when Eve passed I messaged him to see if he was still interested.  We even talked by phone and he was all set and then he just dropped off the face of the earth.  By now I had the system set up and I was not comfortable keeping Samson in such a small tank for much longer.  Keeping him in the fuge is definitely not optimal either for a seahorse but it's my best option under the circumstance.

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Big news everyone...9 new fish coming from LiveAquaria!  3 yellow tail damsels, 2 firefish, a flasher wrasse, a royal gramma, a yellow watchman goby and an ocellaris clown.  QTs are all set up and ready.

 

This will add a lot more color and activity to the display tank so I am very excited.

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11 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

Six turned into nine. This tank is going to be so busy. That is too bad about Samson.  Glad I just found this thread and I will be following.

LA did not have yellow tail damsels available when I posted my wish list but then they got them when I ordered!  I just could not help myself.  Thanks for following Deb!

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All the fish arrived alive.  1 or 2 of the damsels is not swimming right but everyone else look real good.  I will know better after I offer them some frozen food tonight.

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Bummer, none of the damsels made it.  They were all together in the same QT and now I am wondering if something was off in that tank?   The other QT had the Carpenter flasher wrasse plus the firefish, the tag and the Royal gramma and they seem fine.  Today some of them are eating well too including the wrasse.

 

I hate this initial time of acquiring new fish because that is when I experience losses.  If I can get them through the 1st 2 weeks then I usually have them for years.

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15 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

That really blows.

 

14 hours ago, Pjanssen said:

I would contact live aquaria. Yellow tails are generally pretty hardy fish

Yes, it's sad Deb.   I know Penny, I like yellow tail damsel for their sturdiness and more docile disposition as compared to other damsels.  I have contacted LiveAquaria.

 

This morning one of the firefish is probably not going to make it.  I only ever saw 1 at a time in QT so not sure if it was puny the whole time or not.  I may have made a poor decision but this morning I moved all the healthy looking fish into the display which is the carpenter flasher wrasse, the royal gramma, the ywg, the ocellaris clown and the 1 firefish.  Hopefully being in a stable environment with lots of hiding places and no bullying will help the fish adjust.  I hope I do not regret this,

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Good news...4 of the new fish that were moved to the display tank have eatten and are swimming out in open water.  They look good and comfortable.  They are the wrasse, the royal gramma, the clown, and the 1 firefish.  The YWG is residing in a cave but does not look like it's cowering.  It's a robust fish so I am still optimistic.

 

The other firefish as predicted did not make it which is very disheartening.

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The 5 new fish in the display tank all look good today.  They make a very nice assortment of marine fish.  Hopefully I will not experience any more losses.  I plan to feed even heavier than usual but with the 30g fuge and 20g sump that should be fine.  I will keep an eye on nitrate too.  I do not want to kill off my inverts.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zZYWumowUvYjarDc8

 

I had credit from Live Aquaria for the fish losses so I purchased an ORA Hippopus clam from FL.  The clam arrived well packed and in excellant shape.  I picked this clam because they sounded pretty sturdy and maybe like they did not get as big as some of the others.  It was a good price too, but now that it's arrived its not as showy as the other greater clams.  Still it's adjusted well and appears to be in excellant health so I am happy and hope to enjoy it a lot of years.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Not much new to report on my tank except that all is well.  The four new fish are fattening up and seem well adjusted so I am pleased about that.  The new clam opens up and appears very healthy and happy as a clam.  Finally Samson is doing much better in the 30 gallon fuge attached to the system than I expected.  I feed him a lot of live ghost shrimp to reduce the chances of him getting a gut infection.  Here is the last pic I took of the tank and all 4 new fish are in view.

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zeG1fFPeJAKvSYgh8

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