The macro garden; my macroalgae/gorgonian tank (formerly the NPS garden)

[LordJoshaeus]

Hi everyone! The tank is taking a change of plans...I have decided that I am going to REALLY struggle to keep this tank clean as a NPS tank, so I am turning it into a macroalgae and gorgonian tank (naturally I am renaming this to 'The macro garden'). Two bad things have happened since I tried to add the refugium; 1, I found Little Dude wedged into a crevasse, and very very dead 2, the sun coral is refusing to come out. Not sure why...

On the plus side, ordered macroalgae and a gorgonian today and got a very healthy gorgonian at the pet store (pictures incoming tomorrow and when the macros and other gorgonians arrive). Also (admittedly this is not a saltwater topic, but oh well) going to be setting up a blackwater tank for a trio of these;

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Hi everyone! Sadly the feather duster perished and the sun coral is still not coming out, but tank parameters are ok and the fish and gorgonian are doing well. Here's some pictures;

 

[erk]

That is not a Talbot's damsel. Appears to be an Ambon damsel. From what I've read, Ambons are far more aggressive than Talbot's.

https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/6569/ambon-damselfish-captive-bred?pcatid=6569&c=15+28+6569

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Uh oh :O He was sold as an aquacultured Talbot's damsel. I thought he didn't quite look like a normal Talbot's...

I almost forgot! Got a springeri dottyback today. Did I just open the way to outright tank war? They are ignoring each other for now, but it's only the first day...

 

[LordJoshaeus]

The ambon doesn't look like an exact match either...might it be a hybrid? Specifically...

- My fish has blue eyes while ambon damsels have yellow eyes
- My fish's eyespot is much larger than an ambon's
- My fish has less yellow coloring than an ambon

 

[count krunk]

dottyback vs aggro damsel! Who wins? Whose next? You decide!

Is that large pump mass just a pump? or does it also have some UV action going on? I ask because it is MASSIVE haha. There are lots of options that take up less room.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

The fish are ignoring each other for the time being...if that changes I will need to rehome one of them. It is indeed just a pump...it is true there are options that take up less room, but it's doing its job rather well and I don't see reason to remove it yet.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Just an update on my fishes...they have not interacted once. They are both captive bred and thus are supposed to be less aggressive than their wild counterparts, so I have decent hopes that in spite of my perhaps unwise choice of fish that they will get along.

 

[Subsea]

What lighting do you have over the gorgonions?

As I followed your journey with NPS, I understand the desire to set up a system of such unique specimens.
I have not found long term success with target feeding. I try to produce, as much as possible, live food in the tank, starting with bioplankton.

I truly believe that a cryptic refugium is a desirable component of biofiltration as noted by increase in diversity of filter feeders in my systems. However, I feel that primary nutrient management is best done with an algae filter. Considering the small size of your system, I suggest you use a Chaeto reactor wrapped with led light string. Compact size is offset with intense lights to increase productivity. Compact ATS would also do this.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Fantastic news everyone! The sun coral opened today and I was able to feed it Still open now even after I fed it. Very happy that my sun coral is going to pull through after all.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Big update today everyone (finally!). I got an order from gulf coast ecosystems today, so I got LOTS of Caulerpa and Botryocladia macroalgae, a purple plume gorgonian, and a lot of assorted red macroalgae (some of which I gave to my sister for her tank). Here's a picture of the front and a picture of the side;

In other news, the springeri dottyback and my unidentified damsel are getting along great! When they aren't swimming together they are completely ignoring each other with no signs of aggression

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Looks gewwwwd..

Happy to hear the sun coral decided to say hello!

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Big update today everyone (finally!). I got an order from gulf coast ecosystems today, so I got LOTS of Caulerpa and Botryocladia macroalgae, a purple plume gorgonian, and a lot of assorted red macroalgae (some of which I gave to my sister for her tank). Here's a picture of the front and a picture of the side;

In other news, the springeri dottyback and my unidentified damsel are getting along great! When they aren't swimming together they are completely ignoring each other with no signs of aggression

WOW, love it

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Hi everyone! Sadly the feather duster perished and the sun coral is still not coming out, but tank parameters are ok and the fish and gorgonian are doing well. Here's some pictures;

That's really healthy

 

[Subsea]

Hi everyone! Sadly the feather duster perished and the sun coral is still not coming out, but tank parameters are ok and the fish and gorgonian are doing well. Here's some pictures;

Gorgonions looks great, congratulations. They don’t do well for me. What light intensity do you have over them. The color spectrum of your lighting highlights the reds in Red Grape very nicely.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

One light is 120 PAR at 14 inches deep and is half 20000k, half 10000k. The other is a 6500k LED that emits 120 PAR at 19 inches down. Also, I have a 650 GPH powerhead and a 100 GPH aquaclear...flow is vital for gorgonians.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Hello all! The new purple plume gorgonian is doing well, but I am having trouble placing it...virtually everywhere I put it is unsatisfactory for one reason or another (touching the other gorgonian, in too high of current, touching a rock, etc). Here's a picture of the gorg in its current spot...note that polyps are extended densely everywhere EXCEPT the top (where it is getting blasted with current);

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Hi everyone! Just an update on the tank...nitrates have fallen to 5 ppm before the water change. Also, the red macros have been overgrown by pest algae...any way to stop this? Here's some pics;

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Here's another update! Removed the Caulerpa because it made the tank look murky. I thoroughly cleaned the rocks and managed to remove most of the algae; did the same with the red macros. Nitrates at 0 ppm at this time, oddly. Here's the tank;