Slope?

[Adequate]

Posted a similar thread over on NR, but I’m curious to read replies over here

For a while, I’ve tinkered with the idea of doing a marine paludarium, with a deep area of sand on one side (essentially a DSB) and a shallow bed on the other side, creating a slope. The problem is that’s I’ve never seen this done on a marine tank, only brackish tanks, most commonly in fiddler crab tanks, like the one below.

The problem with doing this in a marine tank would be having the deep side, the DSB, exposed to air, potentially compromising the bacteria and creating water problems. Even worse would be if I decided to implement a tidal system to periodically submerge and expose the DSB.

So I’m curious as to what you think might happen if I tried this.

 

[ScottR]

Posted a similar thread over on NR, but I’m curious to read replies over here

For a while, I’ve tinkered with the idea of doing a marine paludarium, with a deep area of sand on one side (essentially a DSB) and a shallow bed on the other side, creating a slope. The problem is that’s I’ve never seen this done on a marine tank, only brackish tanks, most commonly in fiddler crab tanks, like the one below.

The problem with doing this in a marine tank would be having the deep side, the DSB, exposed to air, potentially compromising the bacteria and creating water problems. Even worse would be if I decided to implement a tidal system to periodically submerge and expose the DSB.

So I’m curious as to what you think might happen if I tried this.

Getting the proper flow in the water may be a problem. Flow helps gas exchange.

What kind of filtration, if any, do you plan to use?

How big will the tank be and what do you plan on keeping in it?

 

[Adequate]

I was thinking about having a bit of macroalgae, probably chaeto, plenty of live rock, maybe a small air driven protein skimmer, and weekly 5 gallon water changes.

The tank is 75cm x 36cm x 75cm (around 60 gallons in total), strange dimensions, I know.

Livestock-wise, I currently have a cardinalfish, spotted mandarin, and scorpionfish, plus crabs and snails. I have a buddy going up north later this week and hopefully get me some mudskippers, some Mugilogobius gobies and a 'rockskipper' blenny or two. Might move the scorpionfish if i do end up getting the Mugilogobius gobies, to prevent predation.

 

[fish farmer]

Posted a similar thread over on NR, but I’m curious to read replies over here

For a while, I’ve tinkered with the idea of doing a marine paludarium, with a deep area of sand on one side (essentially a DSB) and a shallow bed on the other side, creating a slope. The problem is that’s I’ve never seen this done on a marine tank, only brackish tanks, most commonly in fiddler crab tanks, like the one below.

The problem with doing this in a marine tank would be having the deep side, the DSB, exposed to air, potentially compromising the bacteria and creating water problems. Even worse would be if I decided to implement a tidal system to periodically submerge and expose the DSB.

So I’m curious as to what you think might happen if I tried this.

Are you planning any land plants that would inhabit the "dry" zones. Perhaps a sea grass in the dry section?

I've done similar to what you are pondering....but I focused on a few mangroves and salt tolerant plants above water. Salt creep crawls up into my dry areas effectively killing less hardy plants unless you are watering/misting a lot. Having strong lighting above water tends to dry things out quick as well.

Right now my island tank is running separate from my reef, I felt that high phosphates were coming from my island tank. I actually want to shift it to a brackish system, high enough for live rock to still function and some crabs/snails could live and hopefully flush my dry rocks of salt and work with some different plants. I may try some mollies/killifish or hawaiian red shrimp.

 

[Adequate]

The only land plants would be Avicennia marina (if I can get any), the other plants I already have are a few Rhizophora stylosa propagules, and they're doing fine, partially submerged. Avicennia marina seems to grow both on wet sand and partially submerged, though in the wild, I have only seen the trees grow in water, never propagules.

I'd love to see pictures of your setup

 

[fish farmer]

Here's a link to a pic of it in 2013, prior to mangrove growth. It is a 65 gallon RR tank with the overflow cut down to about 10". The picture is on page two with some info on my successes and failures.

I have an idea.....

Here's the finalized rock scape... easy to change back to a "regular reef tank". Just have to add water and cut one of the zip ties lol. What's everyone's thoughts... Let me know if you like it or not!! I think I'm going to live with it for a day or two until I decided 100%

www.reef2reef.com

The thing about mangroves in aquariums....they want to grow up and out. Trying to contain them means aggressive trimming. My light wasn't super strong so my mangroves stretched toward the light and they eventually will shade what is below them. They also grow very slowly in saltwater.

I'm considering a sandy land portion in my setup and growing saltwort or some type of aster. Things that I can trim back and remove if they get out of control.

 

[Adequate]

Very nice! My mangroves are still pretty short, and don’t reach all the way to the top yet, the tank is quite high too (75cm) so I could easily place a lid on the tank to increase humidity.

I’ve found that they grow faster in freshwater and in fact, all my mangroves, prior to being moved to their current tanks, were placed in a freshwater tank for a couple months. Didn’t have to worry about misting the leaves or keeping the magnesium levels up to scratch.

Once they grow out of the tank, they should hopefully be fine. The tank is outside and gets a reasonable amount of indirect sunlight. Growth might be a little slower in winter when it gets to around 10 degrees in the morning, but in summer, they should appreciate the heat, especially if misted frequently.

The purpose for my proposed sandy portion is for the mudskippers. Rock islands will be included for them but I’m assuming that they’d much prefer a sandy area, not as tough as rock on their bellies, and if I use the right substrate alongside a tidal system, they might even burrow.

 

[ZoWhat]

I say build yourself an underwater house on a sandbar....

Problem solved