Best way to increase Biodiversity in reef?

[nightmarepl]

started off my tank about 8 months ago trying to increase the biodiversity and the whole biological system i added my old rock from my previous tank about 30 lbs current tank is 100G
with that i added 70lb of dryrock 40lb of live sand used a jump starter chemical and still havent reached proper levels noted i dont do many water changes to not interrupt the water column yet roughly do 10-20 gallon monthy or bi monthly everyone has a different option on water changes...

i was battling major dino / red algae issues which i used chemiclean against and finally got rid of it ...
now im trying to raise the levels of life forms in the tank
was thinking on adding chaeto to my sump currently the fuge area is kinda empty only have 2 smallish bags of matrix bio rocks and a small bag of chempure with a wave maker inside the fuge area

my general idea was getting maybe a 5lb bag of live sand adding it into the sump, the a cage of chaeto in there
then maybe red Gracilaria aswell yall think that would work?

 

[GARRIGA]

My approach is to add bacterial products from different sources based on the assumption they might all have different strains or at a minimum have some different strains. I’ve added BioSpira, Stability and MB7. Going to add nitrifiers and heterotrophic options from Dr Tim’s and Fritz as well as others. No evidence to support this is needed or logical yet to me it makes sense. Don’t see how I can prove it worked, either but I want to believe.

 

[muzikalmatt]

Pure live rock is probably the best way, but if you're trying to avoid potential pests/hitchhikers and just want some additional bacterial diversity you can go the route @GARRIGA mentions and also try PNS Probio, PNS Substrate Sauce, and AF Life Source (if you can find it).

 

[ReefGeezer]

Live rock rubble from more than one source and maybe a little Garf Grunge & Grunge Plus placed in a sump can provide a lot of new life from bacteria to sponges and even more types of coralline. Hitchhikers are an issue though. Adding Cheato and seeding it with pods is a good choice. Finally, feeding the tank with phyto closes the loop. I'm of the opinion that adding bottled bacteria doesn't provide any lasting effect.

 

[Timfish]

WIld or maricultured live rock. See Aquabiomics article on live rock. Keep in mind only a tiny fraction of teh microbial stuff on reefs can be cultured (See below videos). Also keep in mind the organisms in your system are manipulating the microbial stuff. Water changes reduces bothe the hydrophillic stuff and hydrophobic stuff and then hopefully the beneficial stuff is replenished over the detrimental stuff.

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" This video compliments Rohwer's book of the same title (Paper back is ~$20, Kindle is ~$10), both deal with the conflicting roles of the different types of DOC in reef ecosystems. While there is overlap bewteen his book and the video both have information not covered by the other and together give a broader view of the complex relationships found in reef ecosystems


Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes


Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont


BActeria and Sponges


Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)


Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching


Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"

 

[nightmarepl]

WIld or maricultured live rock. See Aquabiomics article on live rock. Keep in mind only a tiny fraction of teh microbial stuff on reefs can be cultured (See below videos). Also keep in mind the organisms in your system are manipulating the microbial stuff. Water changes reduces bothe the hydrophillic stuff and hydrophobic stuff and then hopefully the beneficial stuff is replenished over the detrimental stuff.

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" This video compliments Rohwer's book of the same title (Paper back is ~$20, Kindle is ~$10), both deal with the conflicting roles of the different types of DOC in reef ecosystems. While there is overlap bewteen his book and the video both have information not covered by the other and together give a broader view of the complex relationships found in reef ecosystems


Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes


Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont


BActeria and Sponges


Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)


Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching


Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"

wow thanks bud

 

[dmsc2fs]

Live rock rubble from more than one source and maybe a little Garf Grunge & Grunge Plus placed in a sump can provide a lot of new life from bacteria to sponges and even more types of coralline. Hitchhikers are an issue though. Adding Cheato and seeding it with pods is a good choice. Finally, feeding the tank with phyto closes the loop. I'm of the opinion that adding bottled bacteria doesn't provide any lasting effect.

I just sent $150 of Garf Grunge and Grunge+ into my back yard. It was shipped wrapped in newspaper and I received 3 bags of cold dead dirt and shells. After I filled a 20G and waited days for to clear I started vacuuming the gravel trying to pull some of the mud out, it smelled more toxic every day. I basically paid $150 for 1 turbo snail, 2 clumps of Cheato and 15lbs of rocks and snail shells at least 5 dead bristle worms. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.


Just before that order and just after that order I placed an order to IPSF and both orders came full of happy healthy creatures. I just placed the 2 free coral's from them in my DT this week and the are opening up well.

I ordered from IPSF 12 years ago and twice this last few months. They continue to be my preferred stop for bio-diversiy. I have placed IPSF wonder mud in two tanks now and the live sand activator in one. If you have patients you can skip the macro algaes. If you order any of the worms, snails, plankton, snails, crabs, etc. each bag comes with a few small pieces of Ulva and Gracilaria parvispora. I did have to pull out two small pieces of Caulerpa so I guess that would also be an option for you.

I need to have a conversation with my Labout's Wrasse. He decided to transport some bristle worms and amphipods from the last order from one side of the tank in his mouth. I assume they didn't make it to the other side!! Not to mention my Watchman goby picked up a blue leg hermit in it's mouth and carried it into his cave for the pistol shrimp.

 

[Arego]

I trade rubble with anyone who has a tank I admire. Been doing it for years and won't ever stop. Anyone want to swap a few half dollar size rubble?

 

[Midrats]

I just sent $150 of Garf Grunge and Grunge+ into my back yard. It was shipped wrapped in newspaper and I received 3 bags of cold dead dirt and shells. After I filled a 20G and waited days for to clear I started vacuuming the gravel trying to pull some of the mud out, it smelled more toxic every day. I basically paid $150 for 1 turbo snail, 2 clumps of Cheato and 15lbs of rocks and snail shells at least 5 dead bristle worms. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.


Just before that order and just after that order I placed an order to IPSF and both orders came full of happy healthy creatures. I just placed the 2 free coral's from them in my DT this week and the are opening up well.

I ordered from IPSF 12 years ago and twice this last few months. They continue to be my preferred stop for bio-diversiy. I have placed IPSF wonder mud in two tanks now and the live sand activator in one. If you have patients you can skip the macro algaes. If you order any of the worms, snails, plankton, snails, crabs, etc. each bag comes with a few small pieces of Ulva and Gracilaria parvispora. I did have to pull out two small pieces of Caulerpa so I guess that would also be an option for you.

I need to have a conversation with my Labout's Wrasse. He decided to transport some bristle worms and amphipods from the last order from one side of the tank in his mouth. I assume they didn't make it to the other side!! Not to mention my Watchman goby picked up a blue leg hermit in it's mouth and carried it into his cave for the pistol shrimp.

Sounds like a shipping problem. What did GARF say?

 

[Andresnyc93]

You can always add reef enhance, made my pod population blow up over a couple of weeks. Also have noticed a lot of less algae on my display and more sponges on my overflow and sump so it helps with keeping filter feeders on check as well

 

[ReefGeezer]

I just sent $150 of Garf Grunge and Grunge+ into my back yard. It was shipped wrapped in newspaper and I received 3 bags of cold dead dirt and shells. After I filled a 20G and waited days for to clear I started vacuuming the gravel trying to pull some of the mud out, it smelled more toxic every day. I basically paid $150 for 1 turbo snail, 2 clumps of Cheato and 15lbs of rocks and snail shells at least 5 dead bristle worms. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Man, I hope your experience isn't the norm. I have 10 lbs of Grunge and Grunge Plus sitting on my kitchen counter waiting for me to get home. I've used this before and had pretty good luck. Shipping was definitely an issue though. Shipped on Monday and arrived Thursday by USPS express mail. I was late getting home and working this morning, so it's just sitting there & probably getting even more stinky.

 

[Lavey29]

I've been using PNS probio over a month which is all natural bacteria. I dose half twice a week. Completely cleaned my sand and my filter sock stays clean for a week now or more. Helps reduce nitrates and phosphate also. Not sure what's in it but man it works.

 

[dmsc2fs]

Sounds like a shipping problem. What did GARF say?

I spent 4-5 days trying to get the water clear without pulling all the sediment out. I wanted the sediment to have all the creatures I was hoping it had. After that it was another 4-5 days of vacuum, water changes trying to clear the water. After that I didn't expect anything from GARF other than "sorry it's been to long" so I didn't try to contact them I just logged it under a lesson learned. I had read a number of posts on hear that said basically "dump it in and let it settle and you are good. I assume (my mistake) that the order I received was normal and what I was shipped was what I expected to receive. it wasn't until days later that I started to feel that the entire thing was going wrong.

You are correct it was a shipping problem, but the GARF was shipped no time, no delay. It was 3 bags of gravel wrapped in newspaper in a one price USPS box.

IPSF ships in a cooler with a heat pack and delivered to a near by FedEx store for pickup.

This is GARF after 2 days without any pumps/flow. I added a HOB with flow shortly after this.

 

[dmsc2fs]

Man, I hope your experience isn't the norm. I have 10 lbs of Grunge and Grunge Plus sitting on my kitchen counter waiting for me to get home. I've used this before and had pretty good luck. Shipping was definitely an issue though. Shipped on Monday and arrived Thursday by USPS express mail. I was late getting home and working this morning, so it's just sitting there & probably getting even more stinky.

I hope so also. I hope your order works out to be exactly what you hope for. Good luck!