Hi all,
First I'd like to say I usually keep freshwater tanks so I'm new to this side of the hobby.
I'm very interested in microorganisms, including all the inverts and stuff that are traditionally considered pests. Flatworms, polychaetes, apistas, planaria, copepods, snails, ostrocods, even hair algae and cyanobacteria are all interesting to me.
I want to set up a nano tank with the aim of maximizing biodiversity and creating an interesting ecosystem, but I don't want to bother with expensive fish and corals. I was thinking of putting some live rock, sand, and macro algae in a low tech 20 gal set up, and just sorta see what happens.
Basically, if I end up with a variety of algae, small invertebrates, maybe some hardy soft corals and apista-like anemones that all coexist in a semi stable equilibrium I'll be more than happy.
Do you guys think this approach would work, or would I get an algae bloom that just kills everything?
Any ideas for organisms I could introduce easily and cheaply, even if they're small/ugly/weird looking? Bonus points if they can form reproductive populations.
Thanks all
First I'd like to say I usually keep freshwater tanks so I'm new to this side of the hobby.
I'm very interested in microorganisms, including all the inverts and stuff that are traditionally considered pests. Flatworms, polychaetes, apistas, planaria, copepods, snails, ostrocods, even hair algae and cyanobacteria are all interesting to me.
I want to set up a nano tank with the aim of maximizing biodiversity and creating an interesting ecosystem, but I don't want to bother with expensive fish and corals. I was thinking of putting some live rock, sand, and macro algae in a low tech 20 gal set up, and just sorta see what happens.
Basically, if I end up with a variety of algae, small invertebrates, maybe some hardy soft corals and apista-like anemones that all coexist in a semi stable equilibrium I'll be more than happy.
Do you guys think this approach would work, or would I get an algae bloom that just kills everything?
Any ideas for organisms I could introduce easily and cheaply, even if they're small/ugly/weird looking? Bonus points if they can form reproductive populations.
Thanks all