Adding biodiversity to a “sterile” tank

[154162]

I was wondering how to add some biodiversity to my tank, right now it’s just Fiji pink “live” sand and some CaribSea liferock and a clownfish... I will be adding CUC when I get some algae going (lights have only been on for 2 weeks when clown was added after the cycle)
I realise there’s not much going on in the tank, I could obviously add liverock, but risk adding things I don’t want, so I guess is there a safer option to live rock? I hear cheato and other macro algae come packed with critters or should I add copepods, phytoplankton? Any pointers would be appreciated

 

[Saltyreef]

You could quarantine and observe some heavily seeded liverock in a 10 gallon tank for a few months.
3 months for parasites and observe for pests you dont want and remove easily during that time.

Or liverock from a trusted source. Most hitch hikers are beneficial anyways.

 

[cmoore806]

When I added my CUC there were copepods added too (hitchhikers) noticed them a couple weeks after the CUC was added. All my rock was dry and I used live sand. You could add pods from a reputable source and feed the tank every few days or so to keep the CUC eating. Then just wait.

 

[Saltyreef]

Biodiversity is much more than pods

 

[GlassMunky]

I recently ordered some GARF Grunge and some wonder mud from INDO PACIFIC SEA FARMS for the same reason of adding biodiversity to my tank. I Put both in a 28g tank with no fish and it’s being QT in there so I don’t add anything bad to the main tank.

 

[GlassMunky]

You could quarantine and observe some heavily seeded liverock in a 10 gallon tank for a few months.
3 months for parasites and observe for pests you dont want and remove easily during that time.

Or liverock from a trusted source. Most hitch hikers are beneficial anyways.

+1 to this. Basically what I’m doing

 

[sp1187]

go to the LFS and ask for a bag of bristle worms and spaghetti worms.

 

[154162]

You could quarantine and observe some heavily seeded liverock in a 10 gallon tank for a few months.
3 months for parasites and observe for pests you dont want and remove easily during that time.
Or liverock from a trusted source. Most hitch hikers are beneficial anyways.

yeah i think Nothing is going to beat live rock at this point and that is a very good idea to quarantine it, I’m gonna have to read up on my critters

When I added my CUC there were copepods added too (hitchhikers) noticed them a couple weeks after the CUC was added. All my rock was dry and I used live sand. You could add pods from a reputable source and feed the tank every few days or so to keep the CUC eating. Then just wait.

actually added some nassirius today, as the eat detritus, maybe fingers crossed they came with extra hitchhikers!

INDO PACIFIC SEA FARMS

I had been hearing about these kinda packages on reef news network podcast, I’m in Canada so will see what’s available to me,
But I do have access to loads of diverse Macroalgae could go down that route, doesn’t seem as expansive though...

thanks for all the response so far, was talking to a reefer today, and said that he thinks with live rock, most of the time the bad is outweighed by the positive, kinda liked that
live rock might be the cheapest option, but will look Into the “sludge”

 

[Jacked Reefer]

I got a marine pure block from a friends tank for Bacterial diversity, and am soaking some of my rock scape in the sump of one of the tanks at my lfs for critters.

 

[ZipAdeeZoa]

I started with caribsea liferock and bare bottom. I got piece of rubble from friends system that I was confident was clean of pest but all I got from that was some munnid isopods, most of my biodiversity has come in on frags. I qt my corals so I get to pick and choose what gets into my tank (more than less) and have aquired a small clam, a few variants of feather dusters and pods and coraline algae. The plugs are easier to inspect than live rock Plus I get the corals I want, win win! ;Hilarious

 

[154162]

I started with caribsea liferock and bare bottom. I got piece of rubble from friends system that I was confident was clean of pest but all I got from that was some munnid isopods, most of my biodiversity has come in on frags. I qt my corals so I get to pick and choose what gets into my tank (more than less) and have aquired a small clam, a few variants of feather dusters and pods and coraline algae. The plugs are easier to inspect than live rock Plus I get the corals I want, win win! ;Hilarious

Would coral dip kill of the good stuff too?
Actually just got my first coral yesterday, did a 5 min dip in coral rx

 

[154162]

I’m going to be getting most of my livestock and coral mostly from my local marine LFS Anyway so I think I’ll bite the bullet and get some piece of their live rock.
probably should have down this from the start before putting any fish in though...
As a saltwater beginner I was easily convinced to avoid live rock because of unwanted critters

 

[fish farmer]

Would coral dip kill of the good stuff too?
Actually just got my first coral yesterday, did a 5 min dip in coral rx

Yes dipping would kill good things. I never really dipped or QT things in most of my reef career. Yes I have a lot of the bad things, as well as the good.

I started dipping some of my recent coral purchases with Coral RX, killed off about 5 mini brittle stars and a few worms. Made me really question how you can really get biodiversity without some form of risk. Sure you can toss your little bit of mud/grunge/LR in QT, but how do you see/remove the "good" critters without possibly sucking up "bad" critters?

 

[HB AL]

Can’t beat some good real live rock.

 

[154162]

Yes dipping would kill good things. I never really dipped or QT things in most of my reef career. Yes I have a lot of the bad things, as well as the good.

I started dipping some of my recent coral purchases with Coral RX, killed off about 5 mini brittle stars and a few worms. Made me really question how you can really get biodiversity without some form of risk. Sure you can toss your little bit of mud/grunge/LR in QT, but how do you see/remove the "good" critters without possibly sucking up "bad" critters?

figure it would kill the good stuff too

Got to bite the bullet I guess, and hope the good outweighs the bad, I’ll pick one up from my LFS

 

[154162]

Is lack of biodiversity a problem?

I setup my first true reef tank sometime in the 1980s, and used all live rock to do it. (We didn't even realize back then that "dry rock" was an option.) Anyway, I put the LR in my tank, and of course there was die-off, but I think it cured in a few weeks. I knew it was safe to add fish/corals once the water completely cleared, and I could see all the little critters emerging from the rocks: Tiny starfish, amphipods, chitons, isopods, nudibranchs, spaghetti worms, bristle worms, stomatella snails, etc. etc. I also knew the rock contained tons of microfauna that I couldn't see, but I did notice tiny bivalves, bryozoan, sponges, cucumbers, feather dusters, hydroids, barnacles, tunicates, etc. growing all over the rocks.

I'm sure I also got some bad hitchhikers in the live rock, but I don't seem to remember those. (I would have definitely remembered a mantis shrimp. ) But guess what else I don't remember? HAVING TO GO THROUGH THE UGLIES!!! In fact, the first time I ever saw diatoms & dinos was after setting up a tank using all dry rock. I also never quarantined back in the day, and other than Ich coming & going I never really had any fish disease problems. Hmmmm. Could some of these little critters actually be predators of tomonts and microscopic parasites in general?

I once attended a presentation by Tony Vargas (author of "The Coral Reef Aquarium") where he discussed the "European way" of setting up a tank. He uses all live rock, but sets it out of water (on cardboard) for a few hours so all of the "bad hitchhikers" crawl out. The rock is then placed in the aquarium, but is just left to sit & circulate for 3-4 months before adding any fish or corals. (No lights.) You still have to ghost feed, but the reasoning is that this time allows all the little critters/microfauna living in the rocks to propagate without being eaten by the fish. So when you finally do flip on the lights and start adding livestock, this mass biodiversity takes care of many of the problems (like nuisance algae) we commonly encounter in the first year a tank is setup. The tank is already stable, and you don't get "the uglies" because the tiny animals prevent nutrients from ever building up in the first place. And we all know getting a tank off to a good start is one way to ensure it's long term success. I've never tried this approach myself, but it makes all the sense in the world to me.

So how does a sterile tank with dry rock ever achieve biodiversity? I suppose some gets added every time we add chaeto or a coral frag (but only whatever the coral dip doesn't kill). But it takes YEARS to build up to a meaningful level doing it this way. Using all live rock isn't considered practical/environmentally friendly these days (plus the added cost), so what can you do to add biodiversity to your tank? I can think of a few options:

1. Buy some live rock (or even just 1 piece) to mix in with your dry rock. (I'm not saying to buy from here, but this is what I'm talking about: https://gulfliverock.com/premium-deco-live-rock)
2. Buy some mature rock, macroalgae and/or sand from another hobbyist with a healthy, established aquarium.
3. Buy a "reef pack" to add diversity (example here) and/or macroalgae (example here) from a trusted source. Basically, look for critters labeled here as good: https://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhikers-guide/

Ideally, you would want to add any of the above while still cycling (or at least 6 weeks before adding fish due to parasite tomonts). Fortunately, most of the aforementioned critters are tolerant of ammonia. Even if all you can get is 1 or 2 small rocks, the biodiversity should quickly propagate to the rest of the tank.

great post in a good thread on the subject!

 

[cmoore806]

I drip acclimated my new corals (I just started in this hobby) and have added just two corals. During drip acclimation I also used a new toothbrush to brush the frag plugs and stony bodies of the LPS corals. In just the drip acclimating process I found a little starfish which I decided to drop in the tank. Then I just proceeded to dip the corals in CoralRx and rinsed off and added to the tank. That way I had a bit of a chance to decide which hitchhiker to add to the tank.

 

[154162]

Bonus baby starfish! That’s awesome

 

[154162]

So I guess now my new question is:
Is it too late to add live rock? I have 2 fish (clownfish, orchid dottyback), 1 cleaner shrimp and 3 nassirius snails... will these guys just eat up all the good guys before they have a chance to establish?