Big Rock Small Rock

[sixty_reefer]

Time to make another interim tank.

Glass box, skimmer, heater, light, bio balls and two rocks

Im not a fan of conventional reef tanks there fore the plan will go as I find weird stuff I like.​

Also don’t fancy fish just yet so…​

 

[Peace River]

Congratulations on the new adventure!!!

 

[sixty_reefer]

First time cleaning the protein skimmer

I forgot how bad they smell



I’m not planning on adding food to this system, the first month of it’s life has been dedicated to establishing lower tropic levels, from bacteria all the way up to copepod.
Maybe a little too much on the bacteria as the system has a constant haze.​

 

[Gumbies R Us]

What are your plans for stocking the tank?

 

[sixty_reefer]

What are your plans for stocking the tank?

Hi. Am not quite sure yet, I’d like it to be a mix of Crinoids and dendronephthya but it will be dependent on what o will find local.

 

[Subsea]

“As you find weird stuff”. That leaves the field wide open.

That is a nice looking rock. Can you detail the orgin & history of it. Curious as to your source of food for these filter feeders

I admire your tenacity. In my 55 years of Reefing I have not had the focus to do such beauties as Crinoids and dendronephthya. As a Laissez Faire reefer, I chose easy to maintain systems that allowed me to work 28/28 as a subsea engineer in deep water drilling..

 

[Subsea]

First time cleaning the protein skimmer

I forgot how bad they smell



I’m not planning on adding food to this system, the first month of it’s life has been dedicated to establishing lower tropic levels, from bacteria all the way up to copepod.
Maybe a little too much on the bacteria as the system has a constant haze.​

I couldn’t see the pods. Would you describe this zooplankton culture?

 

[sixty_reefer]

“As you find weird stuff”. That leaves the field wide open.

That is a nice looking rock. Can you detail the orgin & history of it. Curious as to your source of food for these filter feeders

I admire your tenacity. In my 55 years of Reefing I have not had the focus to do such beauties as Crinoids and dendronephthya. As a Laissez Faire reefer, I chose easy to maintain systems that allowed me to work 28/28 as a subsea engineer in deep water drilling..

Hi mate, the rock is just rock from the LFS nothing special, just dry rock tha have been put into holding tanks in the shop.

I’ve mentioned as I find them as there isn’t many of the stuff I like available in shops, I found this cool frag of dendronephthya in a LFS a few days back

For food I’m just encouraging the growth of Protozoa and bacteria in the water column this is a video I’ve made under the microscope

 

[sixty_reefer]

I couldn’t see the pods. Would you describe this zooplankton culture?

They are difficult to observe at naked eye as they are microscopic

Here is a picture I’ve took under the microscope

 

[sixty_reefer]

Some snail waste collected from the main tank in the last few days, I’m adding this to a separate vessel in order to evaluate if this alone can grow a microscopic pod population.

They are too small to see it on the camera​

 

[Subsea]

Hi mate, the rock is just rock from the LFS nothing special, just dry rock tha have been put into holding tanks in the shop.

I’ve mentioned as I find them as there isn’t many of the stuff I like available in shops, I found this cool frag of dendronephthya in a LFS a few days back

For food I’m just encouraging the growth of Protozoa and bacteria in the water column this is a video I’ve made under the microscope

Good stuff & good start. The coral looks lonesome there.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Slowly looking more like a small ecosystem

 

[Subsea]

I like the progress. Please describe the pictures with more detail, if you have time.

Do I see sprigs of macro algae?

In bottom right of this picture, what kind of shrimp?

Instead of ghost feeding, you have Ghost Shrimp.

E

 

[sixty_reefer]

I like the progress. Please describe the pictures with more detail, if you have time.

Do I see sprigs of macro algae?

In bottom right of this picture, what kind of shrimp?

Instead of ghost feeding, you have Ghost Shrimp.

E

Yes, I like macro algae, they have their own role in ecosystem.
At the moment there is only 4 snails and I bought some feeder shrimps to help the CUC, they fairly cool to watch.
I’ve recently added some expanded clay as substrate.

 

[Subsea]

What’s the clay for?

Yes to macro algae in mixed garden ecosystems. I am getting set up, again, to grow ornamental seaweeds for distribution thru a LFS in Austin. The first time was edible seaweed to select restaurants.

With respect to “feeder shrimp”. Not sure of your species. I started marine aquariums during 1971 when attending Texas Maritime Academy in Galveston, Tx. With access to jetties extending into GOM and salt grass marshes which are “nursery to the sea”. Considered a Galveston Bay theme tank, I collected Curly Que anemones from the jetties and mixed with brackish water “green mollies” & grass shrimp.

 

[sixty_reefer]

What’s the clay for?

It’s a trial, I like darker environments but not a fan of black sand or standard sand.

Yes to macro algae in mixed garden ecosystems. I am getting set up, again, to grow ornamental seaweeds for distribution thru a LFS in Austin. The first time was edible seaweed to select restaurants.

I remember talking to you in the past about this, I believe one of our discussions led you to trial liquid seaweed as a fertiliser, did you carry on using it?

With respect to “feeder shrimp”. Not sure of your species. I started marine aquariums during 1971 when attending Texas Maritime Academy in Galveston, Tx. With access to jetties extending into GOM and salt grass marshes which are “nursery to the sea”. Considered a Galveston Bay theme tank, I collected Curly Que anemones from the jetties and mixed with brackish water “green mollies” & grass shrimp.

I believe they just freshwater glass shrimps, they are easily adapted to full salinity for breeding purposes if not mistaken.
In the uk they sold cheep as feeder shrimp already adapted to saltwater conditions. I bought 20 the other day for around 5$. I’ve used them in my previous builds in the sump as I find them useful scavengers.

 

[sixty_reefer]

The research continues, I’m still from the view that dendronephthya corals rely on CNP to obtain energy. This has been 5 weeks since introduction to the aquarium.
It’s almost as big as the rock it’s in Now.

I’m also an ecosystem enthusiast and this has been one of my favourite CUC in this system, they are definitely underrated on how much they can contribute for the system.

 

[sixty_reefer]

The dendronephthya at night fall


​