Tale of Two Cities or Phoenix Rises

[Subsea]

Wild phyto is not grown dense. I harvested 3G from 30G culture at 32ppt.

 

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Elephant Ear sponges grow tubes to vent waste away.

 

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These three ornamental sponges were just moved inside from 40G Rubbermaid tub set up outdoor to store invertebrates during tank move & start up cycle.

Best I can tell, the 55G is biologically functional. I think that in the morning the film on the sponges will be gone because of copepods. If not, then toothbrush be gone.

@vlangel
Note Caulerpa Paspoides. I just pruned 40% of biomass. It grows exceptionally fast. I choose to limit its growth rate by reducing light 50%. I anticipate less pruning.

 

[Subsea]

Crabs are janitors too.

 

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First light and janitors are working at it with sponges being manicured

 

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First the Dawn with Hunter

 

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Then first light in tank

 

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These tanks are amazing to me. Nothing beats letting nature do what it was designed to do!
In recent years I gave begun doing the same thing with my tanks, though I'm not able to remove everything for an UG so I had to leave that out. What started as a reef display that required weekly water changes and constant dosing has evolved into a tank that I only have to feed and occasionally replenish elements. Acros don't like my lazy approach, but I can grow everything else like lightning.
I'm about to set up some propagation tubs for macroalgae, invertebrate propagation, and coral spawning, and I plan to mimic your method.
I'm curious, what ever happened to the sea apple mentioned in the first post? I've had similar success as you gave with the flame scallops and am always looking to test my luck haha.
Have a great day and God bless.

Thank you for kind words. And God is Good, all the time!

 

[Subsea]

And the Word was made Flesh and dwelt amongst us.

@Dawn
I think one of the biggest reasons I can be passionate about reef keeping after 50 years is I see “Intelligent Design” in how everything is interconnected & interdependent. With recent research on the Coral Holibiont, it has become evident that coral & bacteria crosstalk to alter “gene expression“ to enhance their environment. As an observer of nature, I have come to embrace the concept of “less technology & more biology” and I strive to “emulate nature”. It brings me great joy to grow in tank live food as the “microbial loop” moves carbon up the food chain.

I continue Caribbean theme with addition of some deep water NPS Gorgonians.

I consider this marine system fishless, because mollies are big amphipods.