Percolating A GSP reefscape

[TheCoffeeReef]

Hello all! 

 

I'm going to start a fresh journal thread here for tracking my tanks progress and hopeful long term success, but equally any issues and failure along the way. 

 

I started posting in the cycle thread, and will continue to update there, but expect this will offer different insights. 

 

Goal is to create a GSP dominant tank....hold your laughter and comments of "....this guy" 😁, I've only ever kept FOWLR before, and that was about 15 years ago- much has changed and I want to go hardy. Plus, I'm mesmerized by the sway of a large clump of GSP. The side goal is to keep it as low tech as I can- only a heater, light and wave maker power this tank tech wise. This may change if I see degraded quality of water or life. 

 

I'll add more images of the setup and where I'm at now in a follow up post.

 

This is at day 11, and my newly added snail crew has gone to town on the diatoms at the back already. 

 

 

[seabass]

I like GSP as well.  I just wish it wouldn't take over the tank.  But if you'd like it to dominate your tank, this should work out perfect for you.

 

11 hours ago, TheCoffeeReef said:

This may change if I see degraded quality of water or life. 

Actually GSP prefers the water to have slightly elevated levels of inorganic nutrients.  It's probably a good setup for your goals.  That said, you don't want to ignore regular maintenance (like keeping the sand bed clean).

[TheCoffeeReef]

Thanks Seabass, I'm hoping to judge the effects of the current bio load over the next month and see how the tank reacts, the nassarius has been a good addition and the peppermint shrimp is happy sifting the upper layers.

 

I'm curious to see if I can locate some variety of GSP, found an article discussing the different potential species out there and the reclassified genera.

[Tired]

It might be fun to collect a variety of GSP types and watch them all duke it out. I've seen a metallic striped one at my LFS a couple of times. Eager to see how this goes- sounds like it has potential to be really nice. Is your wavemaker one that will fluctuate and send it in different directions sometimes? 

 

All you need for a soft coral reef is flow, light, and reasonable temps, so this seems like an ideal setup. Make sure to keep your nutrients up- at least 0.03ppm phosphate and 5ppm nitrate is a good minimum. GSP might appreciate higher levels than that, and higher levels may also give you more buffer room to stop it from slurking up all the nutrients. 

 

Oh, and GSP evidently does something where it'll close up briefly for a growth cycle, seeming irritated, and then grow a decent chunk and open right back up. I've seen it mentioned a few places. Never seen it myself, just heard about it. 

[spectra]

I am one who likes GSP also....... look for some branching GSP if you can....... good luck in the adventure. 

[banasophia]

I absolutely love GSP tanks!!! Can’t wait to see how it turns out!!

[TheCoffeeReef]

Thanks all, I'm really looking forward to seeing how it progresses. I'm going to try and wait another few weeks before looking for a second frag to add, get my feeding for the inverts down to a good schedule, as well as observe the current frag. 

 

I'm fortunate there is a few LFS around who have a varied selection of frags and now I'm a little familiar with the differences to check, reckon I may be able to identify different strains.

 

Will add a new pic post clean up crew going to town on the diatoms as pretty impressive speed.

[TheCoffeeReef]

I wish I could add videos I shot of the CUC today, but a couple of images is all the forum accepts.

 

Day 13 since set up, life is progressing, there is a change from the diatoms to a light green algae forming on the dead rock, and today the tank had a light feed of a mix of thawed rotifers and mysis shrimp blend. 

 

 

[Tired]

Nice photos! Very dramatic lighting. Makes the GSP look all fancy. 

 

What a cute lil Halloween hermit. Make sure to have some empty shells for it, of the right shape. They favor cone snail shells due to their flattened bodies, which are made for those shells. 

[TheCoffeeReef]

23 minutes ago, Tired said:

Nice photos! Very dramatic lighting. Makes the GSP look all fancy. 

 

What a cute lil Halloween hermit. Make sure to have some empty shells for it, of the right shape. They favor cone snail shells due to their flattened bodies, which are made for those shells. 

Done that just the other day, finally got some shell selection packs back in at the local shop, a good range of what I hope are the right sizes, any tips on judging the increments 🤔.

[Tired]

Different individual hermits seem to prefer different increments. I usually just pop in half a dozen or so shells that are slightly bigger than whatever's being worn, and add more shells when they upsize. If you need specifically some cone snail shells, ReefCleaners carries them. 

[TheCoffeeReef]

8 hours ago, Tired said:

Different individual hermits seem to prefer different increments. I usually just pop in half a dozen or so shells that are slightly bigger than whatever's being worn, and add more shells when they upsize. If you need specifically some cone snail shells, ReefCleaners carries them. 

Thanks for the suggestion Tired, I'm UK based so try to avoid long distance shipping of any type of livestock where possible, and at the moment even dry goods. 

 

Strange how the Halloween crabs are actually cheap in UK (equivalent of about $7-8 individual) but sourcing the shells isn't as easy. That site is a good site, enjoyed their pest macro algae guide.

[Tired]

Ah, I don't know any UK-based hermit shell sources. And that's about the state of things for the Halloween hermits in the US- they're more expensive than other hermits, but the real kicker is getting the appropriate shells at a reasonable price. Particularly if you want to make an effort at purchasing shells that weren't collected by killing the animals living inside, like most seashells for decorative use are. 

[Ratvan]

Try jbs marines

[TheCoffeeReef]

Little update: Day 17 of the tank.

 

Added a couple more frags of GSP, both different to the current frag, and I may have a yellow variety to add soon. The peppermint shrimp has been....shall we say.... inquisitive of the new frags in a way not of the frag plug, pestered the lower positioned one throughout the day. 

 

And a close up shot or two of one of the Astraea snails to add a little appreciation for my CUC.

[Tamberav]

I have come across some GSP tanks... it will look awesome 🙂 Your scape will be like a green mountain.

 

[seabass]

The other thing that many people don't' really consider, is that you wouldn't normally see all of the diversity of corals that are typically found in our tanks, within the same relative space on a wild reef.  A single species is actually a more realistic slice of the ocean given the limited space of our tanks.  That said, reef aesthetics are totally up to each reef keeper.  But I'm looking forward too seeing it all filled in.

[TheCoffeeReef]

Another water change and happy to report all is well in the pico.

 

The peppermint shrimp has molted successfully, and I've repositioned the lower GSP frag to the upper regions, this one seems to appreciate the flow and light greatly.

 

The smallest polyp specimen is slowly coming round to the tank, pushing more of the polyps out, and my metallic green plug frag is now glued to the rock work where the plug was placed after observing it's fondness for the location. 

 

A few more close up shots of CUC members and a shot of the pale coloured GSP, which I aim to study a macro shot of the polyps for identifying it, not totally convinced it's the same genera as the others.

 

[TheCoffeeReef]

Update and a lesson learned. 

 

I'm usually good at researching before adding tank mates, I've taken time and done this with my recent new coral additions; a candy cane, zoas (3 x polyps) and favia (specific genera uncertain for now). 

 

But....I wanted a feather duster worm as not only feel they look beautiful, but figured may help filter particulates. Well, went to get salt supply from LFS, and remember they had some nice specimens. Also, still had a pom pom crab in stock. I couldn't resist.

 

So, first mistake was actually getting a coco worm, I forgot there is a difference. 

 

Second mistake, not thinking the peppermint shrimp was going to be a problem. Oh Pedro (his name), it seems I bought you a very pricey meal😵. 

 

No sooner was I satisfied with placement than he came to aggressively investigate. I gave him benefit of doubt, and in a matter of moments had dug the casing from the sand, cracked it open and proceeded to eviscerate the poor worm. I went to get my forceps to extract, and came back to him parading the remains of the crown around the tank.

 

I've included a couple of images for future reference in case anyone fails to check this compatibility before: extreme caution with peppermint shrimp and worms/anemones. They may just thank you for the snack. 

 

I checked the casing to see if any of the worm survived, but nothing except the crown remained.

 

The images also show the state of damage the shrimp managed to do go the parts of the worm. 

 

 

Lesson learned.

 

Some nicer images of the GSP and favia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[seabass]

Those worms can be difficult to care for.  Live Aquaria lists them as "expert only" care due to the need for target feeding.

 

Yeah, some people love their peppermint shrimp, but I don't share this opinion.  Even when they were well fed, they would pick at my fan worms, anemones, and coral.  And while more expensive, I found that blood red fire shrimp were more attractive and less destructive.  However, I feel that all of these cleaner shrimp like to steal a free meal when they can (which can be irritating to reef keepers as well as coral).

[TheCoffeeReef]

It's an opinion I'm coming to at present with the shrimp, but it's not his fault, entirely mine for not being thorough enough researching.

 

He did exactly the job I got him for, aiptasia gone and not come back, but should add was very early growth, and now I've got him to enjoy and keep well as he continues to grow. Totally though, caution needed with them and a reef set-up.

 

I think the tanks at the stage of all it needs added for now, time to just do water changes and monitor it's hopeful growth.

[TheCoffeeReef]

Some pic updates- added a pom-pom crab and a little more GSP.

 

I've also added a second wave maker to test how increased counter flow helps turned on for several additional hours in the afternoon. Early days still but all is holding well. 

 

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has experienced views on if a fish addition is worth considering to benefit corals (natural source of nutrients I have heard) or if it's plenty possible to keep inverts only happy and healthy.

 

[Tired]

You might wind up dosing nutrients either way. A fish appropriate for that tank won't produce much in the way of nutrients, and GSP is hungry stuff. 

 

My main motivation for adding a fish, aside from "fish cute", would be to control amphipods. They can multiply pretty wildly in a tank without any predators, and may eventually irritate and outright chew on corals. 

[seabass]

Plus, it's often stony corals which benefit from the fish poo, and even the fish food.  But your right, that nutrients are added when keeping fish, but so is a lot of organic wastes.  As Tired stated, your coral will be fine with just dosed nutrients.

 

That said, your tank would make a nice home for a small goby.

[kimdawg]

I wish you lived closer.  I could give you enough gsp to fill your tank up.  I have 3 different types(check out the wild child in large tanks) I did a tank redo in Feb. and got rid of most of it, but sometimes I miss that free flowing look.  I think I like the branching kind the best.  Keep putting small frags in a lot of places and it will spread quickly.