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60G Galveston Biotope


Johnny Max

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I had an old 50g corner tank and stand that was given to me a few years ago.
I decided to make a saltwater tank like I did when I was a kid in the 70's.
Put in sand, rocks and anything I can find or catch on or near the beach.
I am going to break every rule, see what happens and learn from the experience.

First thing was to clean the tank and paint the two back sides with black Plasti-Dip.

 

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I went to the beach east of Galveston and collected a bunch of rock that turned out to be fossilized coral.

There is plenty of surfase area for bacteria growth.

 

Rocks1.thumb.jpg.86836d40090e4a2390483453c9d8e0bb.jpgRocks2.thumb.jpg.18d3c3193ca6add6f4950ce8461c2358.jpgRocks3.thumb.jpg.d693fcc51fed5fda1de46b074c695834.jpgRocks4.thumb.jpg.3837a06e3109fba104ae73021e43e906.jpg

 

 

 

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I set up the aquarium by putting a layer of live sand I collected by digging down into the sand on a beach inside the Galveston Jetty.

I put a layer of white river sand over that.

 

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I piled up the rocks and made a nice cave.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Johnny Max

Catching up:

I added small fish I caught and some Hermit Crabs.

I also found two nice pieces of Ulva Macroalgae.

That was when CHAOS ensued!

 

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The Hermit Crabs destroyed the tank. They ate all the Macroalgae and collapsed my rock pile.

Some of the rocks were large and heavy and they rolled them anyway!

I had put some sargassum in the tank I found at the beach.

I figured it was safe because the tank is 24" deep and it floats. Right?

NOT! I come home and they have it on the bottom, holding it down and they were munching away!

Only thing I can figure, is that one of the crabs climbed up the air hose, grabbed the floating sargassum and rode it to the bottom where the rest of the gang took hold of the treasure.

 

Algae-Bloom1.thumb.jpg.c07acea923510bfe75c8782ec703f168.jpg

 

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Needless to say, the demolition crew of Hermit Crabs did not even last two weeks.

I took them out and redid the tank... :sad:

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Johnny Max

I increased the light because the sorgassum macroalgae required so much light. Well, the algae loved it, because I had a magnificent algae bloom!

You could not see much because the water had so much algae in the water.

I shut off the light for a few days and then did a MAJOR water change.

I needed to redo the rocks after the Hermit crabs destroyed everything.

I went back to the beach and collected more fossilized coral.

This time I just stacked the rocks up along the two back glasses.

I left an opening in the back corner for a DIY Bio Filter.

I got some macro algae from a local reefer and planted in in the sand.

Here are the Pics.

 

image.thumb.jpeg.0dc99cda1e34f4d94460ade8fb3f3f50.jpeg

 

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mitten_reef
4 minutes ago, Johnny Max said:

I increased the light because the sorgassum macroalgae required so much light. Well, the algae loved it, because I had a magnificent algae bloom!

You could not see much because the water had so much algae in the water.

I shut off the light for a few days and then did a MAJOR water change.

I needed to redo the rocks after the Hermit crabs destroyed everything.

I went back to the beach and collected more fossilized coral.

This time I just stacked the rocks up along the two back glasses.

I left an opening in the back corner for a DIY Bio Filter.

I got some macro algae from a local reefer and planted in in the sand.

Here are the Pics.

 

image.thumb.jpeg.0dc99cda1e34f4d94460ade8fb3f3f50.jpeg

 

20230414_054821.thumb.jpg.a6929d4d9e06bb20078f368179e81aee.jpg

 

20230414_212050.thumb.jpg.587789831a88b9df1b3c468850d30ae6.jpg

the rock wall may sound like a good idea at first, but looking at it, you'll eventually collect so much gunk behind and under them that *could* become very problematic later on.  

 

I was really excited about the biotope theme, because many "biotope" doesn't get to start with actual rock and sand from the source.  But looks like this is moving away from that with the sourced algae and mollies.  and what kind of shrimp are those? 

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Johnny Max
18 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

the rock wall may sound like a good idea at first, but looking at it, you'll eventually collect so much gunk behind and under them that *could* become very problematic later on.  

 

I was really excited about the biotope theme, because many "biotope" doesn't get to start with actual rock and sand from the source.  But looks like this is moving away from that with the sourced algae and mollies.  and what kind of shrimp are those? 

Those are not mollies. They are Diamond Killifish I caught inside the jetties. All fish I caught by the Jetty.

I have Diamond Killifish, Naked Gobys, a Skillet Fish and a bunch I shrimp I caught. Not sure what type fish, but some have eggs, so they do not get much bigger

I added the macroalgae, because until Summer I can't find much. But I will probabily have some non-local macroalgae for some time.

I was going to just have sargassum I got on the beach, but the light requirements cause such an algae problems.

Trying to get and keep the tank balanced.

The Ultimate goal is to catch and add:

Peppermint Shrimp

Anemones

& Sargent Generals (Not sure if I want the Generals)

 

I am waiting for Summer before I take another Field Trip.

I could not find any Anemones and I searched hard!

 

I will be throwing things in and taking them out.

This tank is a fluid tank. Just having fun.

 

I agree about the rocks, but after the hermit crabs, I went with this setup.

I want the rocks to be taller and I could not find large rocks.

 

20230422_155909.thumb.jpg.38b67ca4b9110d0ec0f1c9aeb0e23f7d.jpg

 

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mitten_reef
7 minutes ago, Johnny Max said:

Those are not mollies. They are Diamond Killifish I caught inside the jetties. All fish I caught by the Jetty.

I have Diamond Killifish, Naked Gobys, a Skillet Fish and a bunch I shrimp I caught. Not sure what type fish, but some have eggs, so they do not get much bigger

I added the macroalgae, because until Summer I can't find much. But I will probabily have some non-local macroalgae for some time.

I was going to just have sargassum I got on the beach, but the light requirements cause such an algae problems.

Trying to get and keep the tank balanced.

The Ultimate goal is to catch and add:

Peppermint Shrimp

Anemones

& Sargent Generals (Not sure if I want the Generals)

 

I am waiting for Summer before I take another Field Trip.

I could not find any Anemones and I searched hard!

 

I will be throwing things in and taking them out.

This tank is a fluid tank. Just having fun.

 

I agree about the rocks, but after the hermit crabs, I went with this setup.

I want the rocks to be taller and I could not find large rocks.

That's super cool!  I just had to ask.

 

as for the rocks, you can use any cyanoacrylate type superglue to glue them together to build a structure.  alternatively, there are a few "reef mortar" product, as well as Tunze Coral Gum that are more useful for "blending" the shapes in addition to attaching them.    

 

For the hermit, it may just be quantity-size issue, you had many huge ones in there.  they are useful grazer of all rock surface, also don't forget snails next time you go "shopping". 

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Johnny Max
1 hour ago, mitten_reef said:

That's super cool!  I just had to ask.

 

as for the rocks, you can use any cyanoacrylate type superglue to glue them together to build a structure.  alternatively, there are a few "reef mortar" product, as well as Tunze Coral Gum that are more useful for "blending" the shapes in addition to attaching them.    

 

For the hermit, it may just be quantity-size issue, you had many huge ones in there.  they are useful grazer of all rock surface, also don't forget snails next time you go "shopping". 

I did try connecting the rocks with epoxy putty, but it would not hold. I probabily could have tried harder I guess.

Oh, I forgot. I did add a bunch of snails I found on the rocks, but they like to stay above the waterline... a lot.

I hope I can eventually find catch some brittle stars.

 

I have come up with an idea for a trap to use between the jetty rocks.

I will take a 36" long piece of 3" or 4" PVC pipe. I will put a screen over one end and put bait in it.

I will lay it on the bottom between the rocks, with a line ties to the open end to retrieve it.

I figure with the smell of the bait and the perceived protection of the dark inside of the pipe, little fish, shrimp, etc. may venture in.

It is a thought in the works. I could deploy 4 or 5 and check them every now and then.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Johnny Max

MAJOR TANK UPDATE:

 

I built a fishing dock structure and put it in the tank yesterday.

Now it looks like Galveston Bay! :happydance:

I still have macroalgae in the tank for now to help it balance.

I believe I know where to get some turtle grass (sea grass) to add to the tank.

From what I understand it is hard to keep! A challenge I want to undertake.

Building the structure was a major detailed undertaking.

I found the barnacles and oyster shell and attached them. I printed the bolts on my 3D printer.

I am installing a LARGE canister filter on the tank today.

It will clear it up, but it looks cool at its current state of cloudiness.

More natural.

 

20230603_072618.thumb.jpg.3cf1088b4aa9551e189249b41fa86e86.jpg

 

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  • Johnny Max changed the title to 60G Galveston Biotope
16 hours ago, Johnny Max said:

MAJOR TANK UPDATE:

 

I built a fishing dock structure and put it in the tank yesterday.

Now it looks like Galveston Bay! :happydance:

I still have macroalgae in the tank for now to help it balance.

I believe I know where to get some turtle grass (sea grass) to add to the tank.

From what I understand it is hard to keep! A challenge I want to undertake.

Building the structure was a major detailed undertaking.

I found the barnacles and oyster shell and attached them. I printed the bolts on my 3D printer.

I am installing a LARGE canister filter on the tank today.

It will clear it up, but it looks cool at its current state of cloudiness.

More natural.

 

20230603_072618.thumb.jpg.3cf1088b4aa9551e189249b41fa86e86.jpg

 

20230603_072529.thumb.jpg.43074d67d841b1059367b66cbac56bca.jpg

 

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The beer can makes it AUTHENTIC!!!! 😆 

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5 hours ago, Woodini said:

What the fvck is going on here?

 

While this setup being quite unorthodox in comparison to the reef tanks seen here on Nano Reef. I find it quite interesting and very creative. Galveston, TX has several piers that make up the strip. Some for fishing, one is a carnival and one is a shopping pier. If I had to imagine what it looks like at the bottom of the ocean at the legs of these piers. This is probably very accurate. Color and all. It's pretty distasteful for you to come onto someone's tank journal and disparage their creativity. 

 

But I would expect no less from a hippy like yourself. Why don't you leave this man alone and get out of his journal. 

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Snow_Phoenix
23 hours ago, Johnny Max said:

MAJOR TANK UPDATE:

 

I built a fishing dock structure and put it in the tank yesterday.

Now it looks like Galveston Bay! :happydance:

I still have macroalgae in the tank for now to help it balance.

I believe I know where to get some turtle grass (sea grass) to add to the tank.

From what I understand it is hard to keep! A challenge I want to undertake.

Building the structure was a major detailed undertaking.

I found the barnacles and oyster shell and attached them. I printed the bolts on my 3D printer.

I am installing a LARGE canister filter on the tank today.

It will clear it up, but it looks cool at its current state of cloudiness.

More natural.

 

20230603_072618.thumb.jpg.3cf1088b4aa9551e189249b41fa86e86.jpg

 

20230603_072529.thumb.jpg.43074d67d841b1059367b66cbac56bca.jpg

 

20230603_072549.thumb.jpg.cf17c1cfdbc2be17b5ace25928ee7e99.jpg

 

20230603_072635.thumb.jpg.5b90686c893645d6724e13eb7ec137bd.jpg

Looks very interesting! I really like the beer bottle at the bottom. Nice touch! 

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1 hour ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Looks very interesting! I really like the beer bottle at the bottom. Nice touch! 

Honestly the attention to detail here is fantastic. Right down to the fishing lure. 

 

He could probably take some of the tannins and tinge out of the water by using some calcium carbonate as a flocculant (DIY Coral Snow) along with some 10micron filter pad once a week during regular maintenance. I don't know how long it would take as that wood is probably what's leeching the tannins into the water and it may always do that. Just a thought. 

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Snow_Phoenix
21 minutes ago, ReefGoat said:

Honestly the attention to detail here is fantastic. Right down to the fishing lure. 

 

He could probably take some of the tannins and tinge out of the water by using some calcium carbonate as a flocculant (DIY Coral Snow) along with some 10micron filter pad once a week during regular maintenance. I don't know how long it would take as that wood is probably what's leeching the tannins into the water and it may always do that. Just a thought. 

I agree - I liked the bolts and barnacles on the wood. That was quite cool. The overall concept is unique. :happy:

 

I often wonder how a reeftank would look like with a shipwreck-theme to it - granted, this is a pier-theme, but it's close enough for me. Great work/creativity on the OP's part though! 

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Johnny Max

I do not believe there are any tannins left in the wood. I think it was floating offshore for a very, very long time. It had dried out when I found it and its weight was much lighter than it should be. I think micro organisms had eaten away a lot of the soft grain. I decided not to wash it off at all and I put it in the tank as I found it on the beach. Other than the cutting and gluing together with silicon.

When I put it in the tank, it was attacked by all the shrimp. They were eating up the layer of dried algae on the surface.

It did cause one problem. I am monitoring the ammonia.

I am dosing daily with nitrifying bacteria. The cracks in the wood where the soft grain was eaten away will give a lot of surface area for bacteria to grow. That is a bonus.

I actually have a pretty heavy fish load in the tank. Fish I caught in Galveston.

 

Fish in tank:

80 shrimp

3 sheapshead minnows

about seven diamond killifish

a couple of very small mullet who are always eating algae

two naked gobies

and a bunch if piggy perch (Pinfish).

 

The prize to me is the pinfish. When I found out I had pinfish, that is when I decided to build the pier structure around them.

I grew up on Corpus Christi bay and fished on the docks by our house catching piggy perch all day long. Our house was on the bay.

This tank brings back my childhood memories.

I have always wanted to catch pinfish (piggy Perch) since I moved to east Texas and put them in a tank but have not been able to.

The way I caught these were with a plankton net I made.

I bought a 75 micron mech filter bag and made a ring for it and made it into a plankton dip net. 

I was scooping up plankton inside the Galveston jetty and in it were a bunch of tiny, tiny fish. Too tiny to tell what they were.

They clumped together and looked like a small blob of clear jelly, they were so small. It was almost 6 weeks before I was able to identify them as pinfish.

I can't believe I was able to keep them alive. I just fed them crushed marine flake food. They are real survivors!

The biggest one is almost an inch long and he rules that tank already!

Eventually I will be collecting anemones in Galveston and adding them.

Here is what they look like as adults.

 

PiggyPerch.thumb.jpg.e4879dd597b35721feed88eba453393e.jpg

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Johnny Max
21 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

I agree - I liked the bolts and barnacles on the wood. That was quite cool. The overall concept is unique. :happy:

 

I often wonder how a reeftank would look like with a shipwreck-theme to it - granted, this is a pier-theme, but it's close enough for me. Great work/creativity on the OP's part though! 

 

You did make me think? If I wanted to transition it into a reef tank also, I could put ship parts in it and build a ships rib and put the corals on it. Even attach them to the dock structure.

I am planning on collecting some anemones from the Galveston jetty. I have tried to find some before, but both times the tide was up and the water cloudy. When the water gets much warmer I hope to find some.

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Johnny Max

I am posting one more picture since it cleared up over the weekend. Won't post again unless I add Sea Grass or some anemones. I need to find and collect some first.

 

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Johnny Max
On 6/4/2023 at 9:40 AM, Snow_Phoenix said:

I agree - I liked the bolts and barnacles on the wood. That was quite cool. The overall concept is unique. :happy:

I often wonder how a reeftank would look like with a   shipwreck-theme   to it - granted, this is a pier-theme, but it's close enough for me. Great work/creativity on the OP's part though! 

Warning! Off Topic:

I am going to have to make a "Caribbean Shipwreck Reef Tank" for my ultimate tank now.

The wife and I are building a house and I thickened the slab in the living room where I will put my ultimate tank and I it will support as big of a tank as I want!

I have a good amount of time to design it. At least a couple of years, because we are paying for everything as we go and building the house ourselves.

Thanks for the shipwreck idea! :happydance:

 

I know this is going to be off topic, but I can build a shipwreck themed tank.

Here are some pictures of the Tuna/Sword Boat I built back in '85

The Sea ebbs a flows through me veins.

 

lmt03.jpg.83d7a5daaaf9c6db69dd295c263fa880.jpg lmt05.jpg.d1a0974fec147ab0058ebe5ac4bb664c.jpg lmt09.jpg.e1cccf71524bea7e48376cd47a466320.jpg lmt12.jpg.bb1b8032406cb4308265e4620d657f38.jpg lmt21.jpg.4844c3febfc3dc29decc86a83f7a667e.jpg lmt39.jpg.f593ad2770a2c5908631ded607e78de1.jpg lmt40.jpg.fe3b46f6bde0b41ed563f96a63640461.jpg lmt41.jpg.8b35d48911d39fabcce0e97ad957d2b4.jpg lmt46.jpg.284d35a94c1bb9bd71e66910448dc09f.jpg lmt47.jpg.86b260fa513b59df978c5abd45cb52a3.jpg

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Snow_Phoenix
3 hours ago, Johnny Max said:

I am going to have to make a "Caribbean Shipwreck Reef Tank" for my ultimate tank now.

The wife and I are building a house and I thickened the slab in the living room where I will put my ultimate tank and I it will support as big of a tank as I want!

I have a good amount of time to design it. At least a couple of years, because we are paying for everything as we go and building the house ourselves.

Thanks for the shipwreck idea! :happydance:

 

I know this is going to be off topic, but I can build a shipwreck themed tank.

Here are some pictures of the Tuna/Sword Boat I built back in '85

The Sea ebbs a flows through me veins.

 

lmt03.jpg.83d7a5daaaf9c6db69dd295c263fa880.jpg lmt05.jpg.d1a0974fec147ab0058ebe5ac4bb664c.jpg lmt09.jpg.e1cccf71524bea7e48376cd47a466320.jpg lmt12.jpg.bb1b8032406cb4308265e4620d657f38.jpg lmt21.jpg.4844c3febfc3dc29decc86a83f7a667e.jpg lmt39.jpg.f593ad2770a2c5908631ded607e78de1.jpg lmt40.jpg.fe3b46f6bde0b41ed563f96a63640461.jpg lmt41.jpg.8b35d48911d39fabcce0e97ad957d2b4.jpg lmt46.jpg.284d35a94c1bb9bd71e66910448dc09f.jpg lmt47.jpg.86b260fa513b59df978c5abd45cb52a3.jpg

Nice! You have very good woodworking skills. 👍

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Oo, very nice! Can't wait to see how it changes over time. I love all the little details.

 

Have you done anything in particular to keep the various metals from rusting, or are you planning to go with the rust?

 

I see you've learned why thinstripe hermit crabs aren't very common in reef tanks. Big, destructive suckers. Fun to watch, at least.

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Johnny Max
5 hours ago, Tired said:

Oo, very nice! Can't wait to see how it changes over time. I love all the little details.

 

Have you done anything in particular to keep the various metals from rusting, or are you planning to go with the rust?

 

I see you've learned why thinstripe hermit crabs aren't very common in reef tanks. Big, destructive suckers. Fun to watch, at least.

I do not think there is any metal in the tank that can rust. The bolts I printed on my 3D printer. The only thing that will corrode is the aluminum can and that is just the bottom and the top rim. The inside is coated and the outside is painted.

Once it starts to show a good amount of corrosion (if it does) I will take it out and spray it with clear acrylic. That way it will look corroded, but not corrode any more.

And yes, the hermits were a wrecking crew! LOL

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Johnny Max

It just took 4 days and the beer can is corroding. Like I said, it is just the top ring and the bottom. I will let it corrode a lot more, then I will take it out and clean it. Then spray it with clear acrylic. It is too new looking. It needed to be pitted a little.

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