Lasses Dream Build

[Lowell Lemon]

Yes - the only survivor of my four clams. I killed 2 - 1 is Sällström responsible for.

Sincerely Lasse

That is great and looks like it is loving life in the big tank!

 

[Lasse]

Ir worked out very well - 2 happy Percula clowns in my aquarium



Sincerely Lasse

 

[Lasse]

Since the start of my aquarium - more than 8 years ago - the only feed I have used is frozen adult artemia and frozen freshwater cyclops. Today I feed automatically 10 times between 10:00 and 19:00 with a mix of around 4 cubes cyclops and 1 cub artemia (Ocean Nutrition) - around 21:00 in the evening I feed manually with around 3-4 cubes frozen adult Artemia.

The reef is mixed with mostly photosynthesizing corals but since around 4 years ago - I have also some yellow sun corals - Tubastrea micrantha. This is a stony coral (building limestone structure) that has no zooxanthela inside it. Its growth and calcification is solely dependent on the feed it can catch by them self. They grow and spread in my aquarium but in a slow paste. The picture below show a small colony of from the beginning 3 polyps and its grown since 1/1 2022, 8/11 2023 and 31/5 2024. The last pictures show some new polyps - today it is around 7 polyps.

In some caves it has grown from single polyps to colonies with around 15 - 20 polyps during the same time. This rate of growth has been achieved using my normal feeding - no target feeding has been done during this time.

The last couples of years the importance of feeding our corals has been put in the spotlight. Among other things, it is a common belief that we can never get the same growth rate of hard corals as you get in nature because we cannot feed them enough.

In my aquarium with stony corals both without zooxanthellae and with - it is easy to check that statement. Based on food - my hard corals with zooxanthella should have had a growth rate of its limestone structure and body biomass as my stony corals without zooxanthellae that's slightly more if the zooxanthellae only task is to contribute energy (sugar) for the calcification and not to contribute nutrition and biomass.

Let us say - this different growth rates is not even in the same universe. Let us compare - first with a LPS - euphyllia.

1/1 2022

23/12 2022

19/12 2023

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And finally after a collapse, remade and threw away about half a kilo of dead coral rock 14/3 2024

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The same with a SPS - different montipora and Seriatopora spp

1/1 2022

23/12 2022

19/12 2023

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An finally 14/3 2024

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In my aquarium you can´t compare calcification rate and body biomass growth rate between stony corals without and with zooxanthellae even in the same millenium. This example is from the same aquarium with the same amount of food - the only thing that differs is that the sun coral have no zooxanthellae but the others have. They must get both energy for calcification and nutrients for body biomass from elsewhere than external food. IMO - they get both the energy and nutrients from the zooxanthellae. They take the extra sugar for energy and eat some of the zooxanthellae´s offspring for nutrient to their own biomass build. The zooxanthella in their turn take the nutrients mainly from the water column.

Probably they also farm some bacteria - but on the other hand - the tubastrea should be able to do that too..

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Lasse]

Some pictures

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Sincerely Lasse

 

[Subsea]

@Lasse
Very nice pictures. The Blue Yellow Tail Damsel is a spectacular fish and a color blue that. Is not represented well in the hobby. Did I see a blue mushroom or sponge in the pictures?

It’s hard to over emphasize the importance of nutritional heavy feeding in our reef tanks.

What if any nutrient export are you using.

 

[MnFish1]

Very nice. would you do a full tank pic? Thanks Lasse

 

[Lasse]

Some more pictures

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Sincerely Lasse

 

[Aquariumaddictuk]

Some more pictures

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Sincerely Lasse

Beautiful!
Such a natural looking system!

 

[Lasse]

The wrasse in the pictures is my former female Macropharyngodon bipartitus that suddenly decided to be a male (after nearly 7 years) Two months ago - it looks like this

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And now

It has been discussing among biologist if fish are able to recognise themselves if it see itself in a mirror. I start to believe that they will - at least in some ways. Since my fish change to male colouration - it had start a new habit. It splash in the surface and it happens when he goes very high up along the glass and reach the part where my upper frame for the aquarium forms a mirror into the aquarium. He suddenly attack the mirrored picture of himself as a male - as a female - it never happens during 7 years. I looks like it is not recognise itself - I should not look like that - must be an intruder! During all the time before - I have notice this behaviour - now it happens many times a hour when light is on

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Sincerely Lasse

 

[Lasse]

Finally - after almost two years of searching, this - my absolute favorite - swims in the acclimation box. Will be released in 4 - 6 days. Eating frozen artemia already. It goes together with a scooter blenny male. It also eats frozen artemia

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Sincerely Lasse

 

[Lasse]

Two days in acclimation box and it seems to work out good

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Lasse]

New pictures

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Sincerely Lasse

 

[Crabs McJones]

New pictures

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Sincerely Lasse

Hi Lasse!
Long time no see!
How you been?

 

[Lasse]

Hi Lasse!
Long time no see!
How you been?

Thank you for asking

I´m well and the aquarium is doing well too

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Subsea]

New pictures

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Sincerely Lasse

My Nordic friend, you take exceptional pictures. Keep them coming.

Considering that you do minimal water change, how do you encourage nutrient recycling?

 

[chema]

It has been a while since my last visit to your thread and I'm glad to see that your tank looks splendid. Congratulations!
I did not know that you only feed frozen food. How do you manage to do it? Some kind of refrigerated container near the tank and a dosing pump?

 

[Lasse]

I´m doing it much easier than that. I have a GHL magnetic stirrer connected to my Doser 2.2 MAXI. I have one 1 liters glass bottle standing - 6 times during day I pump out 120 ml from the bottle. Direct after I pump in 20 ml in reverse in order to not have any food in the dosing tubes. During evening I fill up and empty the bottle twice. Every morning I put in 4 cubes of frozen freshwater cyclops and 1 cube frozen artemia. Around once per 14 days I change the bottle with a new cleaned one. I have don this for 3 years now - nema problema

Sincerely Lasse

 

[chema]

I´m doing it much easier than that. I have a GHL magnetic stirrer connected to my Doser 2.2 MAXI. I have one 1 liters glass bottle standing - 6 times during day I pump out 120 ml from the bottle. Direct after I pump in 20 ml in reverse in order to not have any food in the dosing tubes. During evening I fill up and empty the bottle twice. Every morning I put in 4 cubes of frozen freshwater cyclops and 1 cube frozen artemia. Around once per 14 days I change the bottle with a new cleaned one. I have don this for 3 years now - nema problema

Sincerely Lasse

Sounds like a good system. Although I do not have a Doser Maxi I’ll try something similar with a regular GHL Doser.
I guess you suspend the cyclops and artemia in freshwater to avoid increasing salinity.

 

[Lasse]

Yes I use a regular doser of 2.x serie before - they can run in reverse too. The 1.x serie can´t. Salinity is no problem its regular water from the sump I use. When I take away 600 ml - my top off will replace this with RO water. 600 ml on 300 L is nothing according salinity. During day - the original salt water will be pumped back and together with evaporation it becomes a zero sum game in the end of the day.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[chema]

Yes I use a regular doser of 2.x serie before - they can run in reverse too. The 1.x serie can´t. Salinity is no problem its regular water from the sump I use. When I take away 600 ml - my top off will replace this with RO water. 600 ml on 300 L is nothing according salinity. During day - the original salt water will be pumped back and together with evaporation it becomes a zero sum game in the end of the day.

Sincerely Lasse

Very smart! As soon as I get the GHL stirrer I'll try it