Hey all-
Been a lurker here for a while, but decided to create a build thread for my latest tank
When I rebooted this tank my goal was to create a beautiful macroalgae display that would require minimal maintenance. Along the way, I started to notice that most of the things I planned on stocking in the tank were native to the Caribbean and western Atlantic. I’ve decided to do my best to keep this tank running as a 10g biotope.
Livestock
Longlure Frogfish (Antennarius multiocellatus)
The species is native to the western Atlantic, from Bermuda down to Brasil. Having bought Nugg as an assorted angler, knowing what species he/she would be was a bit of a crapshoot. I used Zubi's super helpful guide and made the ID based on the unique spots on Nugg's dorsal fin. Nugg is about 2.5-3" long, so I'll need to upgrade to a larger tank in the near future. My LFS was having trouble getting anglers in, so I eventually ordered from Aquarium Fish Sale. I was really pleased with their shipping and customer service.
A note on anglers: slow acclimation is extremely important. I rushed acclimation with a previous angler only to watch it experience S.A.D. If you haven’t seen this, be glad because it’s really gut wrenching to watch a fish convulse and dart around the tank because of something you did.
Macroalgae
Halimedia sp.
Caulerpa prolifera
Dragon's Breath (Hayi Gracilaria) RIP
Since frogfish produce a lot of waste, the macroalgae is useful for additional nutrient export. To stay true to the biotope, all the macros are native to the western Atlantic. I initially had Dragon's Breath in the tank, but it melted away overnight and became expensive hermit crab food. Would love some other macroalgae recommendations!
Sponge(s)
Red Tree Sponge (Ptilocaulis sp)
I only recently added this sponge to the tank, but so far so good. I held off on adding sponges because of what I had read online regarding air exposure and transportation. The folks at KP Aquatics did a great job packaging my sponge and it arrived in great condition. In my limited experience, a tiny bit of air exposure in transferring from drip acclimation container to the tank was not an issue.
Getting the sponge in place was difficult though. It's tiny rock base is currently wedged into the rock work, but I'm planning on gluing it to a small piece of rubble that I can then place in the sand without damaging tissue. If I see continued success with the red tree, I'll be adding more sponges in the future.
CUC
I keep my clean up crew pretty minimal. I've got 5 trochus snails, 5 blue-leg hermits, and one hitchhiker astrea snail. These guys keep my sand and rock work super clean of debris and microalgae. Frogfish produce a lot of waste, but I want to be wary of adding too many CUC members. I'd rather scrape my glass than add another trochus only to have it starve.
First off, I owe a great deal of what I know about angler husbandry, especially in regards to feeding, to the passionate folks (esp. @lion king) on this site and others. So far I've opted for feeding live foods every 3-4 days, as opposed to weening my angler onto frozen foods. The best part of caring for a frogfish is watching them hunt! I started with chromis, but have switched to mollies to reduce the potential for disease since I don't have a QT set-up.
As I mentioned earlier, I dose a few drops of seachem reef phytoplankton once per day for the sponge. For my macroalgae, I dose a few drops each of iodion from brightwell aquatics, and iron & manganese from Kent marine. I also add a few drops of purple tech to help with coralline algae growth.
Water Changes
Since this tank is on the smaller side at 10g, I rely on weekly 15-20% water changes for nutrient export. My previous systems have been on the larger side, so keeping water parameters in check was much easier. I find the IM 10g AIO tank is somewhat difficult to keep clean because of the structure of the back compartments. I siphon the back to the best of my abilities during WCs, then suck up the frogfish poo from the DT.
Macroalgae Trimming
I would not take this as advice since I'm new to the macroalgae scene, but I like to trim any Caulerpa that looks really faded. Truthfully, I think I could let nature run its course here without ramifications, but I'll stick to being cautious for now.
Thanks for reading!
-Nugg's Dad
Been a lurker here for a while, but decided to create a build thread for my latest tank
When I rebooted this tank my goal was to create a beautiful macroalgae display that would require minimal maintenance. Along the way, I started to notice that most of the things I planned on stocking in the tank were native to the Caribbean and western Atlantic. I’ve decided to do my best to keep this tank running as a 10g biotope.
Livestock
Longlure Frogfish (Antennarius multiocellatus)
The species is native to the western Atlantic, from Bermuda down to Brasil. Having bought Nugg as an assorted angler, knowing what species he/she would be was a bit of a crapshoot. I used Zubi's super helpful guide and made the ID based on the unique spots on Nugg's dorsal fin. Nugg is about 2.5-3" long, so I'll need to upgrade to a larger tank in the near future. My LFS was having trouble getting anglers in, so I eventually ordered from Aquarium Fish Sale. I was really pleased with their shipping and customer service.
A note on anglers: slow acclimation is extremely important. I rushed acclimation with a previous angler only to watch it experience S.A.D. If you haven’t seen this, be glad because it’s really gut wrenching to watch a fish convulse and dart around the tank because of something you did.
Macroalgae
Halimedia sp.
Caulerpa prolifera
Since frogfish produce a lot of waste, the macroalgae is useful for additional nutrient export. To stay true to the biotope, all the macros are native to the western Atlantic. I initially had Dragon's Breath in the tank, but it melted away overnight and became expensive hermit crab food. Would love some other macroalgae recommendations!
Sponge(s)
Red Tree Sponge (Ptilocaulis sp)
I only recently added this sponge to the tank, but so far so good. I held off on adding sponges because of what I had read online regarding air exposure and transportation. The folks at KP Aquatics did a great job packaging my sponge and it arrived in great condition. In my limited experience, a tiny bit of air exposure in transferring from drip acclimation container to the tank was not an issue.
Getting the sponge in place was difficult though. It's tiny rock base is currently wedged into the rock work, but I'm planning on gluing it to a small piece of rubble that I can then place in the sand without damaging tissue. If I see continued success with the red tree, I'll be adding more sponges in the future.
CUC
I keep my clean up crew pretty minimal. I've got 5 trochus snails, 5 blue-leg hermits, and one hitchhiker astrea snail. These guys keep my sand and rock work super clean of debris and microalgae. Frogfish produce a lot of waste, but I want to be wary of adding too many CUC members. I'd rather scrape my glass than add another trochus only to have it starve.
Feeding & Dosing
First off, I owe a great deal of what I know about angler husbandry, especially in regards to feeding, to the passionate folks (esp. @lion king) on this site and others. So far I've opted for feeding live foods every 3-4 days, as opposed to weening my angler onto frozen foods. The best part of caring for a frogfish is watching them hunt! I started with chromis, but have switched to mollies to reduce the potential for disease since I don't have a QT set-up.
As I mentioned earlier, I dose a few drops of seachem reef phytoplankton once per day for the sponge. For my macroalgae, I dose a few drops each of iodion from brightwell aquatics, and iron & manganese from Kent marine. I also add a few drops of purple tech to help with coralline algae growth.
Housekeeping
Water Changes
Since this tank is on the smaller side at 10g, I rely on weekly 15-20% water changes for nutrient export. My previous systems have been on the larger side, so keeping water parameters in check was much easier. I find the IM 10g AIO tank is somewhat difficult to keep clean because of the structure of the back compartments. I siphon the back to the best of my abilities during WCs, then suck up the frogfish poo from the DT.
Macroalgae Trimming
I would not take this as advice since I'm new to the macroalgae scene, but I like to trim any Caulerpa that looks really faded. Truthfully, I think I could let nature run its course here without ramifications, but I'll stick to being cautious for now.
Thanks for reading!
-Nugg's Dad