20g long urchin pad/murder mangrove/home for displaced corals; and 50g macro/gorg scape

cosmicbread

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This tank emerged as a place to relocate Ivan the Terrible, my hitchhiking rock boring urchin, from a macro-dominated 50g. It will also house some LPS corals that the Valentini puff in the same tank has decided are rather tasty.

Figured I could have some fun with it, so it will be a bit of an experiment. For the moment, it is by a window that only gets morning sun. I have three mangrove seedlings that I've moved over, and have since ordered ten more for this tank. I may play around with potting a few in mud in-tank...

I will periodically add macro cuttings, with the expectation that Ivan may eat any macros I place in here.

I'm thinking to keep it for cool inverts, and maybe a small goby or two (mantis ended up moving in, but I might consider a small angler fish down the line). The intention is to create something low tech, low cost, low effort, and nice to look at since it is in our living room.

Equipment
Aqueon 20 gallon long glass tank.
Spare Finnex freshwater LED, to be used only in the later half of the day. I'll need to play around with the lighting schedule on this one.
Aquatop heater with guard, I think 100W.
Hydor Koralia powerhead.
Need to add HOB of some sort, thinking AC 70.

Hardscape
??? lb live rock that was sitting in someone's fallow tank for a year before given to me for free.
Aragonite sand.

Critters
Ivan the rock boring urchin.
Glockenspiel the mantis (Geonodactylaceus sp).
1-3 LPS from my DT (one turquoise Caribbean rose coral, two hitchhiking cup and tube corals).
Assorted snails.

Here it is, set up to make sure the rock is cycled (hence the lower water volume, I'll be fixing that soon). Basically tossed the seedlings in for the moment.
IMG_9461.jpeg


Scape is incomplete, since it will need to make room for two additional rocks. Some nice hair algae on these rocks...Ivan will appreciate it.
IMG_9460.jpeg


Ivan (deleted the vid since I dunno if it was working).
IMG_9463.jpeg
 
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cosmicbread

cosmicbread

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Today I moved Urchin Ivan, the at-risk coral, and
Glockenspiel the mantis (his main cave is in the rose coral rock). The rose coral is already looking tons better.
Expecting a shipment of "live sand activator plus" (sans hermits) from IPSF today, so I will split that between the two tanks. Plopped in a tad o' chaeto and c. taxifolia. Needs more sand...and a better positioning of the mangroves.

IMG_9476.jpeg


Tube coral.

IMG_9475.jpeg


Cup coral.

IMG_9474.jpeg


Recovering rose coral.

IMG_9472.jpeg


Ivan making a break for it from the breeder box he's been cooped up in for a few days.

IMG_9465.jpeg

IMG_9467.jpeg
 
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cosmicbread

cosmicbread

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Haha. I love True Facts.
If I can get my video uploads to work, I'll have to upload a few clips of me hand-feeding the little murder muppet.

I've had him for a few months now in my DT. He is pretty chill, for a mantis. I stuff him with food to lessen the murderousness.
 

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HAHA I like it!
 

samnaz

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Today I moved Urchin Ivan, the at-risk coral, and
Glockenspiel the mantis (his main cave is in the rose coral rock). The rose coral is already looking tons better.
Expecting a shipment of "live sand activator plus" (sans hermits) from IPSF today, so I will split that between the two tanks. Plopped in a tad o' chaeto and c. taxifolia. Needs more sand...and a better positioning of the mangroves.

IMG_9476.jpeg


Tube coral.

IMG_9475.jpeg


Cup coral.

IMG_9474.jpeg


Recovering rose coral.

IMG_9472.jpeg


Ivan making a break for it from the breeder box he's been cooped up in for a few days.

IMG_9465.jpeg

IMG_9467.jpeg
Really nice live rock and hitchhikers, looks nearly identical to my Gulf Live Rock... same red pointy sponge, yellow tunicate, tiny white tunicates, Halimeda algae, hidden cup coral (Phyllangia americana) and Rose coral, although mine unfortunately came bleached and mostly dead. Your Rose has some very nice color. Where’s the rock from?
 
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cosmicbread

cosmicbread

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Really nice live rock and hitchhikers, looks nearly identical to my Gulf Live Rock... same red pointy sponge, yellow tunicate, tiny white tunicates, Halimeda algae, hidden cup coral (Phyllangia americana) and Rose coral, although mine unfortunately came bleached and mostly dead. Your Rose has some very nice color. Where’s the rock from?

The rock with the rose coral did indeed come from Gulf Live Rock. :) It's endlessly lovely as I'm constantly seeing new lifeforms springing up. Those yellow tunicates, for instance, are new to me and I've had this for nearly a year now. The attached Rose is probably one of my favorites...its survival likely hinged on me spending a little extra to get it shipped in water. I run 6500k spectrum on both marine tanks cuz I'm a weirdo and that's really brought out that fabulous rich turquoise coloration.

The rock with the other wild corals was from Tampa Live Rock. Those colonies are doing well and slowly growing with regular feeding.
 
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cosmicbread

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More mangroves!
I put a few in a jar.
IMG_9557.jpeg

IMG_9559.jpeg


There's kinda some room in the back for my jar. The others will be affixed to the rock differently, probably via some rigid tubing. Sorry for the bubbles, I am temporarily raising the oxygen.
IMG_9562.jpeg


Madame Rose, and Glock lurking in the background.
IMG_9555.jpeg
 
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cosmicbread

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Nice man looking good! Plan on adding any fish?
Thanks!
Maybe. I'm still fiddling around with stocking ideas. 1-2 small, unique fish? I really like the tiny gobies, like the green banded.
Or one warty skin angler? (I have an AC70 on the back but am wondering if that would be enough for that bioload).
Or, cool inverts that I can't keep in my other tank because of the puffer.

My mantis has been a model citizen in a reef tank before, but there is always a small risk with keeping tinier fish. However, he never bothered my prawn goby/pistol pair...heck at one point he had temporarily evicted them from their burrow but they eventually moved back in (I added them before I was aware he was even in there).

Dunno. Am open to suggestions.

So far, Ivan is leaving the macro in the 20 alone and focusing on the hair algae, so I will keep adding trimmings. Maybe add some small gorgs.
 
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