40g macroalgae & soft coral lagoon

[laguna-madre]

introduction (10/28/23):

hey everyone  I wanted to share my progress on transferring my current 29g macroalgae tank to a newly empty 40 gallon breeder. I'm excited to do this because I feel like I will be able to keep so many more macros in the 40 than in the 29. The 29g is challenging to aquascape because of its odd vertical and skinny dimensions.

 

I've been in the hobby for years and used to work as an aquarium maintenance tech in Dallas. I'd be happy to trade/purchase any rare macroalgae from anyone in the area. I've personally kept and set up freshwater planted tanks, nano reefs, and a few macroalgae tanks (I like to call them lagoons). I was a bit torn between setting this new 40g as a legit coral-dominant reef tank, but I think I will stick to my lagoon and keep macros and a few soft corals. I really like that these kinds of tanks are low maintenance but still look great and colorful. Plus the macros help keep the water clean.

 

substrate choice: adding crushed coral with sand?

I wanted to do a small layer of some sort of miracle mud at the bottom before adding the aragonite sand, but that stuff is so expensive I decided to just stick with sand. I did want to experiment with mixing substrates though. I bought some Caribsea crushed coral aragonite. It looks like this:

 

I've read some forums posts just now encouraging people NOT to mix sand and crushed coral... They say it the sand will eventually settle below the CC... I have an active pistol shrimp, so I'm wondering if that won't be an issue due to the constant mixing of the substrate. I'm still contemplating mixing them just to have some more variety to the sandbed. I wish the CC had those little red Tubipora (red pipe organ coral) pieces in it!

 

 

Here are some photos of my current 29g lagoon from various stages in time!

 

Right after set-up in Spring 2021:

 

 

After some growth! I was lucky that some hobbyists in the DFW area offered me some various macros to get the tank started right 👍

 

 

After moving it downstairs:

 

 

After moving to a new city.

 

I got a rose bubble tip anemone from Aquashella, which ended up eating my cleaner shrimp.. I also let the Caulerpa grow so much it shaded out the dragon's breath, which has completely vanished. I regret giving so dragons breath away when it grew prolifically! Additionally, during the move of the tank, I lost my Firefish and Bangai Cardinalfish that I've had since I set the tank up originally over 2 years ago... My buddy that helped me move the tank was a little too quick in transferring the fish into the tank after setting it up. The temp of the water was too cold and they instantly got shocked and died pretty much instantly. It was pretty tough to see that when they were still perfectly fine in the containers before that.. Anyways...

 

Oh and I got a rose bubble tip anemone from Aquashella, which ended up eating my cleaner shrimp. I also let the Caulerpa grow so much it shaded out the dragon's breath, which has completely vanished. I regret giving so dragons breath away when it grew prolifically!

 

Since then, one of my two LED bars went out, and instead of replacing it I figured I'd wait to transfer to the 40g. The 29 has gone a little downhill and started growing some cyanobacteria for the first time...

 

I'll post more pics of it soon.

[rimga123]

Definitely a journal to follow!

Love the tank! Do you dose nutrients?

[laguna-madre]

On 10/28/2023 at 5:45 PM, rimga123 said:

Definitely a journal to follow!

Love the tank! Do you dose nutrients?

Thank you! For the 29 gallon, the only dosing I did was adding Seachem's Marine Buffer powder to my top-off water. (Seachem - Marine Buffer). I imagined that the macroalgae growth could be having some effect on pH. The buffer also seemed to help spur the coralline algae growth. 

 

I was a pretty lazy hobbyist in the sense that I didn't check my parameters very often after the beginning... except salinity of course! That parameter should never be ignored. By the way, has anyone used those suction cup hydrometers that you keep inside your tank? By Fluval? Are they semi-accurate? I would be okay with not having to get the refractometer out as much 🙂 

 

Also, I flipped some of my rocks when setting up the 40g aquascape. Some of the sides of the rock without coralline are showing and look so sterile. I'm considering using a product that could increase coralline faster... Although I know I should just be patient. Has anyone used Caribsea's Purple Up with good results? (Amazon.com : CaribSea Purple Up Algae Accelerator, 16-Ounce : Aquarium Treatments : Pet Supplies)

[laguna-madre]

Hey everyone! long time no update! I set the 40g up, and have started visiting fish stores and collecting macro to add to the tank. I've been very tempted to order some specific pieces from live-plants. com (Gulf Coast Ecosystems) like Botryocladia, Sargassum, and some others.

 

 

Here's a recent tank shot. I have cleaned it up a little since then, and purchased Halimeda and Red Ogo. I am also planning to remove the large orange sponge. It was an impulse purchase and I don't think it fits the aquascape very well. 

 

 

[rimga123]

Looks good!

 

I wouldn't worry about carolline, it will eventually cover the rocks as is. I also do not think that there's any benefit from it.

in a month or so rocks will darken from other algaes and will look right at home.

I'm no sure what are the care requirements for that sponge, but maybe it would look good on a left side of the tank standing up? unless it does not enjoy too much light or flow.

I'm surprised that you were able to keep such a big mass of macro algae without any dosing with such a small bio load, impressive!

if you keep your water level stable, you shouldn't need to monitor your salinity constantly. Plastic hydrometer would be an eye sore in the tank and it would get overgrown with algae eventually, I would imagine that it would be a pain where sun don't shine to clean it every week or so.

 

[debbeach13]

I like the added color and texture of that sponge. As long as it is doing well, I would keep it.

[laguna-madre]

4 hours ago, rimga123 said:

I'm no sure what are the care requirements for that sponge, but maybe it would look good on a left side of the tank standing up? unless it does not enjoy too much light or flow.

 

 

2 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

I like the added color and texture of that sponge. As long as it is doing well, I would keep it.

One of the problems is the sponge is too tall to stand directly up, it would either hit the surface or I'd have to move it during water changes. Otherwise I do think it could look nice standing up. I've considered actually cutting it into two or more nice branching pieces. Then I could stand it directly up. 

[laguna-madre]

[Justind823]

Always love a 40 Breeder! Very nice setup, love all your macro tanks of yesteryear. Gulf Coast Ecosystems is easily the best place to buy macro. 

 

Is your pistol shrimp paired up with your watchmen goby?