Dawn's natural nutrient tank system!

[vlangel]

59 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

Yes very pretty. I like how natural light make a tank look. Too bad too much makes algae go crazy.

I am fortunate that the direct sunlight is so brief.  Just enough to enjoy for a short time each day but not enough to cause any negative impact with unwanted algae.

[Pjanssen]

Very pretty. My little tank gets about 20-30 minutes of late afternoon sun as well, but I am usually at work so don't get to enjoy it. Plus there is nothing in that tank right now that I really enjoy anyway 😁)

[vlangel]

So I think I mentioned that Plank, my carpenter wrasse went into hiding when the tang and damsels were added to the display.  I gave him about 4 days to stop cowering but when he didn't I looked for an opportunity to catch him.  One presented itself so I moved him to the refugium. 

 

This was not ideal because part of what I want from the fuge is pod and larvae shrimp propagation.  No doubt Plank did not share my vision but instead saw a free living lunch!  So I decided to move him to the 20 gallon long sump, but first I needed to remove the partitions I had added to it when the fuge was part of it. 

 

This morning all that was done plus the DSB was removed and Plank has a new home.  I added 2 conch shells and a few chunks of live rock for his hiding pleasure.  Although he has no one to hide from, ha ha!  He is a high strung fish however.  He can still enjoy a snack of hapless pods or larvae that do not make it to the return pump before he finds them but I think some will make it to the display, especially at night.

[debbeach13]

Look at you. A busy productive morning. It all sounds good to me. Do you find yourself tinkering with the tanks then you used to. I seem to be doing that lately.

[vlangel]

On 11/13/2020 at 10:56 AM, debbeach13 said:

Look at you. A busy productive morning. It all sounds good to me. Do you find yourself tinkering with the tanks then you used to. I seem to be doing that lately.

Thanks Deb, yes I have been tinkering more with the tank system.  I never stopped doing maintenance water changes but after my seahorses I think I went through a period of grief and did not tinker much with changing things.  Now I am past that and am able to really enjoy my new vision for my tank system.

Here is a pic of the refugium after catching Plank.  Sorry it's not better but my fish room is the old well room so it's dark and cramped plus the blue lights do not photograph well with my cell phone.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YBmQtty5p1Ase3wZ9

[vlangel]

One of the challenges of growing the shoal seagrass (in the refugium) is keeping it free of cyano.  I have read that strombus snails are about the only cuc that helps with that, but I am having trouble locating any strombus snails right now.

So imagine my pleasure when I witnessed this:

 

[East1]

That's awesome!

 

This reminds of when I had a tour of the private conservation greenhouses at Kew Gardens where they showed me something very randomly out of place - a seagrass tank near their water lillies (including nymphea thermarum, interesting read in itself)

The most interesting part of this tank was the absolutely rampant seagrass growth - Carlos Magdalena said he takes out handfuls of it weekly, and he noticed the explosion in growth when he installed a CO2 unit to the system, because unlike macroalgaes, seagrass is still a vascular plant and heavily beenfits from CO2 injection 

[vlangel]

On 11/19/2020 at 10:30 AM, East1 said:

That's awesome!

 

This reminds of when I had a tour of the private conservation greenhouses at Kew Gardens where they showed me something very randomly out of place - a seagrass tank near their water lillies (including nymphea thermarum, interesting read in itself)

The most interesting part of this tank was the absolutely rampant seagrass growth - Carlos Magdalena said he takes out handfuls of it weekly, and he noticed the explosion in growth when he installed a CO2 unit to the system, because unlike macroalgaes, seagrass is still a vascular plant and heavily beenfits from CO2 injection 

I knew that about seagrass but have not installed  a CO2 unit.  I probably should consider it.  So far the seagrass is doing ok without it, actually better than I expected.

[vlangel]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xLY1erZA19mDU3as9

 

I did some major pruning of the macro algae in the display.  I wanted some more negative space from the sandbed plus I moved some sand to redefine the tiers.

[vlangel]

So my 9 year old Coralife hot5 quad went on the blink this past weekend.  Only 2 of the 4 bulbs are turning on and one of those needs to be tinkered with regularly.  That does not work for me so I looked into a new fixture cyber Monday.

 

I would have loved to go with an hybrid t5/led fixture but they are just too costly for this thrifty reefer.  I also considered kessils and some other leds alone but I really do not think that I will be happy with the coverage or the look which will probably be too blue in the price range that I am looking at.

 

So, I ordered what I know works for me; another Coralife hot5 quad.  I also have 4 brand new 30" bulbs that I bought ahead so that also played into the decision.  They might be a bit dated but they do give me what I want for the price I want to pay and that is hard to argue with.

[Lypto]

I really like the shimmer kessils give. For lighting on a budget I'm playing with improving a 165 watt Chinese black box with a diffuser. It's nice because I can change the color output pretty well. Having never used t5's, what do you like about them?

[vlangel]

10 hours ago, Lypto said:

I really like the shimmer kessils give. For lighting on a budget I'm playing with improving a 165 watt Chinese black box with a diffuser. It's nice because I can change the color output pretty well. Having never used t5's, what do you like about them?

I am 60 years old so not very techy.  If I want to change the color with t5s, I just try different color bulbs.  I use a timer to control when the lights come on.  Both of those options are much more limited than an LED with a controller but I would struggle to get a controller to do what I want.

 

I also like the even coverage of t5s.  Coral get reflective light from the sand bed and grow more even without dying underneath or inside the branches.  My tank is 24" high and the t5 works well.

 

Finally I like the initial price.  My fixture was less expensive than any of the LEDs that I looked at.  I am aware that I continue to spend money on bulbs and that adds up.  Pay now or pay later but for me it is easier to pay later buying bulbs every year.

[Pjanssen]

I love your "tree of life" in the back right corner

[vlangel]

1 hour ago, Pjanssen said:

I love your "tree of life" in the back right corner

I do too.  It's a dead stoney tabling acro skeleton puttied to an artificial coral that the center broke out of.  Ha ha, I used to never throw anything related to my marine hobby away and in this case it actually paid off in a cool aquascape structure.  I got the inspiration from subsea's main display where he has a lush tree like structure with gsp and macro algae growing on it.  

 

I am amazed that the artificial and stoney coral blend together so well.  You cannot tell the difference anymore.

[Pjanssen]

5 minutes ago, vlangel said:

I got the inspiration from subsea's main display

Where the heck is @Subsea? Haven't seen anything from him in ages

[vlangel]

1 minute ago, Pjanssen said:

Where the heck is @Subsea? Haven't seen anything from him in ages

No, I have not seen him on N-R either but he did chime in on a thread I am in under the topic of macro algae and seagrass on RC just this week. The thread is titled Weeds and Michael's tank is predominantly a seagrass biotope with a small patch reef with some macro algae.

[Pjanssen]

25 minutes ago, vlangel said:

No, I have not seen him on N-R either but he did chime in on a thread I am in under the topic of macro algae and seagrass on RC just this week. The thread is titled Weeds and Michael's tank is predominantly a seagrass biotope with a small patch reef with some macro algae.

Thanks, I'll have to check it out

[vlangel]

15 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

Thanks, I'll have to check it out

It's under the topic marine plants and macro algae.

[Subsea]

6 hours ago, Pjanssen said:

Thanks, I'll have to check it out

it’s a great read.  Check out the section where Dawn brings up Entrophy.
 

 

I have been out of phase with my reefer roots for a year and just did start posting to r2r.  
 

Dawn, I thought of you when I read this thread on Zen Reefing, It’s a “Question of Balance” by the Moody Blues.

 

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/wip-zen-reefing-approach-finding-a-balance-storyguide.766122/

[vlangel]

20 hours ago, Subsea said:

it’s a great read.  Check out the section where Dawn brings up Entrophy.
 

 

I have been out of phase with my reefer roots for a year and just did start posting to r2r.  
 

Dawn, I thought of you when I read this thread on Zen Reefing, It’s a “Question of Balance” by the Moody Blues.

 

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/wip-zen-reefing-approach-finding-a-balance-storyguide.766122/

Patrick, I hope being out of touch merely means that you had taken a break from forums but that you still have your tanks up and running?  Are these recent pics of your tank?  I was telling Penny that your tree like structure on the left side of your tank is what inspired me to do a similar thing on the right side of my tank.  I just loved the gsp on that structure...it looked so alive and lush that I set out to simulate it.

 

I actually had taken a break from most of the forums too for about a year but I did keep up with the marine plants/macro algae topic on RC.  (I think I was going through a grief process over the loss of my seahorses, especially Eve, the machiarch.)  Anyway, I have learned a lot from the folks there.

 

Since the passing of my seahorses and the decision to move into a different sort of reef, I have had to adjust my thinking and reef practices to accommodate my new animals.  More observation and less water changes.  In a lot of ways it is a nice change but it is different.

 

I will check out the thread on zen reefing.  Thanks for the link.

[Subsea]

Dawn,

I have two marine display tanks:  120G & 75G.  Six 55G macro propagation tanks have been removed from house.  Greenhouse Big Tank at 8000G is dismantled.  The eight 150G Rubbermade tubs are being converted to water lillies & water lotus.  The hobby is very much alive in me, but I did downsize a lot of work..

 

Two huge Orange Tree Sponges received yesterday.

[vlangel]

Looks great and I love the new sponges.  I have great success with encrusting sponges that just grow by themselves on my rock, (the white, gray and pink variety).  Unfortunately I have only been able to keep tree sponges about 18 months.  I assume they are not getting the right nutrition.

[Subsea]

I can claim longevity only with Yellow Ball Sponges.   18 months is about my success average with tree sponges.  However, I continue to learn more.  They feed on bacteria and require silicates for internal  structure.

 

 

[vlangel]

14 hours ago, Subsea said:

I can claim longevity only with Yellow Ball Sponges.   18 months is about my success average with tree sponges.  However, I continue to learn more.  They feed on bacteria and require silicates for internal  structure.

 

 

Hhm, do you remember that new product that came out about 5-6 years ago to deal with nuisance algea called nualgi? It has silicates in it.  I was curious about nualgi so I bought some.  I will plan to dose my tank with it the next time I buy sponges.  I have always wanted yellow ball sponges but just never pulled the trigger on buying them.  I think I will go ahead and do that in the near future.

 

BTW Patrick, may I ask where you run your phosphates and nitrates at?  I am curious since you also keep macro algae.

[Subsea]

I don’t know what nitrates & phosphates are.   I can tell you that those readings will be high by reef aquarium standards.   Test kits from 10 years ago are still unopened.  However, because of the silicate question in my groundwater (from an ancient inland sea which deposited limestone formation here in Texas Hill zcoumtty); I will send aquifer water & display tank water to be tested by regional lab.

 

At the same time that I received sponges, I also received some green macro that look like desert plants & one like pine cones.