Nathans_Reef Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 25L Coldwater British Anemone Biotope - 18/02/24 25L Nano British Rockpool Biotope! So, where to start.. A while ago I made a tank journal for a 140L British Anemone tank and discussed some plans for it, but since then plans have changed and I ended up setting up a 30cm cube aquarium for the rockpool instead! I used rock and sand that I had from my previous tropical nano reef in this tank, threw in a tiny internal filter, some sea water and added the light and the project had begun! Here's some details of this tank: The Tank - 30x30x30cm 25L (6.6 US Gallon) tank from AllPondSolutions.co.uk < See Here > Lighting - Fluval C.O.B Nano < See Here > Flow & Mechanical Filtration - Cheap & Small Internal Filter (I don't even know the brand and will upgrade soon) Substrate - Hugo Kamishi Coral Sand Hardscape - Caribsea Life Rock Livestock: Common Prawns (Palaemon serratus) Hairy Crab (Pilumnus hirtellus) Broad Clawed Porcelain Crab (Porcellana platycheles) Purple Topshells (Steromphala umbilicalis) Periwinkles (Littorina littorea) & (Littorina obtusata) Common Limpets (Patella vulgata) Chiton (Lepidochitona cinerea) Beadlet Anemones (Actinia equina) Really looking forward to seeing how this tank progresses, the tank is about a month old now and everything is doing perfectly! I feed the Anemones and Inverts chunks of raw prawn that I defrost from the freezer, I'd like to add some more variation to their diet however so will pick up some frozen mussels today and anything else thats suitable. The only issue that I can see potential for is the temperature this summer.. I'll have a look online for little usb fans that I can position over the surface. Anyway, I hope you guys like the tank and find it as interesting as I do! 5 1 Quote Link to comment
colormegone Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Looks like a great start to me. Do you like that Fluval light? 1 Quote Link to comment
InAtTheDeepEnd Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 YAS FELLOW BRITON following!!! 1 Quote Link to comment
ml86743 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Beautiful tank and photos. Any plans on a nano fish of sorts? 1 Quote Link to comment
geekreef_05 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Thats super cool - ah...pun! I haven't seen anyone do a cold water reef in their home. Its a unique biotope and your aquarium looks amazing. Most reefers pile stuff into their tank from various corners of the globe but creates more distance from modelling something natural. Cant wait to see how this evolves. How do you source the cold water livestock? 1 Quote Link to comment
Nathans_Reef Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 1 hour ago, colormegone said: Looks like a great start to me. Do you like that Fluval light? Yes! I used it before on a freshwater setup and thought it wasn't very bright at all, but with the almost white sand it looks visually bright enough. At least the algae wont get out of control! I'd guess that it's only really suitable for non-photosynthetic species however. 1 Quote Link to comment
InAtTheDeepEnd Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Catch yourself a goby or blenny! 1 Quote Link to comment
Nathans_Reef Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 44 minutes ago, ml86743 said: Any plans on a nano fish of sorts? 1 minute ago, InAtTheDeepEnd said: Catch yourself a goby or blenny! Originaly I had no plans for fish in this tank due to the small size, also I was worried about it turning into a snack for one of the beadlets! Apart from that though, I was thinking maybe it would be beneficial for the setup to have a tiny goby or blenny because when the anemones are feeding, they sometimes spit out a tiny chunk of what they didnt want to finish eating, and maybe it would be best to have a small fish to vacuum up these bits of food rather than them just floating around. The prawns get the larger chunks but they seem to not care about any tiny pieces! Quote Link to comment
Nathans_Reef Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 5 hours ago, geekreef_05 said: Thats super cool - ah...pun! I haven't seen anyone do a cold water reef in their home. Its a unique biotope and your aquarium looks amazing. Most reefers pile stuff into their tank from various corners of the globe but creates more distance from modelling something natural. Cant wait to see how this evolves. How do you source the cold water livestock? Thank you! I caught the livestock from a rocky beach near me, hundreds of anemones and inverts of all kinds! That's another aspect of this tank that I really enjoy, all of these species are things that I rarely get to see apart from during the occasional visit to the beach, so its amazing to get to watch them and their behaviours every day in a naturalistic setup! Quote Link to comment
Nathans_Reef Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 A little Tank update for you all! I managed to find a couple of Common Cockles (Cerastoderma edule) that are alive (Most being just empty shells on the beach), and one had a little barnacle on it! I might have to release them as I feel they won't get enough food in this aquarium. Would dosing a bit of Phytoplankton be enough? I also had a successful collection trip this morning and it was a nice sunny day which was a bonus! I found mostly Hairy crabs and Broad Clawed Porcelain crabs, but also something I never expected, a little Pipe fish! Shame I couldn't bring anything else home with me, I did bring back two new Beadlets though! Anyway here's some shots.. 4 1 Quote Link to comment
Nathans_Reef Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 British Rockpool Biotope - 02/02/24 7 Quote Link to comment
colormegone Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 Very clean tank.. Luv it 1 Quote Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 Beautiful tank! Those anemone colors are really nice. 1 Quote Link to comment
ml86743 Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 On 2/2/2024 at 7:59 AM, Nathans_Reef said: British Rockpool Biotope - 02/02/24 Lovely photo! It looks PRISTINE!! 1 Quote Link to comment
Justind823 Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Love this biotope! Super cool. Are you using a chiller? What kind of camera are you using? 1 Quote Link to comment
Nathans_Reef Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 13 hours ago, Justind823 said: Love this biotope! Super cool. Are you using a chiller? What kind of camera are you using? Thank you! Nope, no chiller, throughout the summer I'll rely on cold water changes and a fan above the tank to keep it cool. That way it shouldn't be too different to the rockpools in the wild around the coasts here as they get very warm under the sun and then get drastically cooled down by the incoming tide. My camera is the Olympus OM-1! 1 Quote Link to comment
pblogic Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Beautiful, clean tank. Also, really great photos. Using a macro lens? 1 Quote Link to comment
Nathans_Reef Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 17 hours ago, pblogic said: Beautiful, clean tank. Also, really great photos. Using a macro lens? Thanks! Yep, I'm a macro wildlife photographer so I already have all the gear! I use the Olympus OM-1 with the M.Zuiko 60mm f2.8 👍 1 Quote Link to comment
Nathans_Reef Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 Haven't really got anything new to report with the tank, everything seems to be running smoothly thankfully! All the nems are settled in their places and feeding well, just a tiny chunk of defrosted raw prawn every couple of days. I want to try and get back out to the rockpools as soon as possible too so I might be able to bring back some more beadlets. More photos and updates to come soon! Quote Link to comment
Nathans_Reef Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 Some more pics! 4 Quote Link to comment
ryans.salty.crew Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 46 minutes ago, Nathans_Reef said: Some more pics! These are stunning pictures!!!!! What camera do you use? I'm obsessed 1 Quote Link to comment
schgr.cube Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 This is a gorgeous setup, and the pictures are incredible! Definitely following along here. 1 Quote Link to comment
Nathans_Reef Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 5 hours ago, ryans.salty.crew said: These are stunning pictures!!!!! What camera do you use? I'm obsessed Thank you! I use the Olympus OM-1 with the M.Zuiko 60mm f2.8 lens 😊 2 Quote Link to comment
pblogic Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 On 2/12/2024 at 8:06 AM, Nathans_Reef said: Thanks! Yep, I'm a macro wildlife photographer so I already have all the gear! I use the Olympus OM-1 with the M.Zuiko 60mm f2.8 👍 Very beautiful work. I'm a portrait photographer, but have very little macro experience. Do you us any particular lens filters? Do you rely on the aquarium light alone or are you using off camera flash in some capacity? 1 Quote Link to comment
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