WheatToast's Anti-Reef (Aqueon 40-gallon Breeder)

[WheatToast]

Bladed sand moss (Caulerpa prolifera) blade growth progression:

10/31/2021 1:25 PM

11/1/2021 2:56 PM

11/2/2021 7:42 PM

Well, that really puts the prolifera in C. prolifera!

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Bladed sand moss (Caulerpa prolifera) blade growth progression:

10/31/2021 1:25 PM

11/1/2021 2:56 PM

11/2/2021 7:42 PM

Well, that really puts the prolifera in C. prolifera!

Yup. That is why I love it for tang food. Grows super fast and allows me to always have a supply.

 

[Soren]

Yup. That is why I love it for tang food. Grows super fast and allows me to always have a supply.

I'll be keeping this in mind... Thanks for the information!

 

[WheatToast]

How long has it been since I posted he- 37 DAYS?!

ʘ_ʘ

Time to end this hiatus!

11/3: Ordered from Reef Cleaners
- Assorted smaller conch “Gary” (Strombus sp.)
- x2 Trochus snail (Trochus sp.) (did not make it)
- x10 Bruised nassa (Phrontis vibex) (did not make it)
- Prickly pear (Halimeda opuntia)
- Money plant (Halimeda sp.)
- x30 Micro to medium empty hermit shells (Calcium carbonate )

Packaging

Gary, immediately after introduction

Halimeda opuntia, upon arrival…

… and after having a day to color back up

Halimeda sp., upon arrival…

… and after having a day to color back up

Both species of Halimeda appear to revert back to their faded shades during the night.

The shells

Overall, much of the livestock from this order has settled in well (though I am saddened by the losses). However, I believe the macroalgae brought in several hitchhikers, some unwanted:

Isopod with long tendrils (perhaps Sphaeromatid), does not appear to be one of the harmful isopods

Medusa worm floating in the current? I have read that these release toxins when distributed so fortunately, I have not seen any after I took this image a month ago… or maybe I am not looking closely enough...

Clam worms, I found two and immediately removed them. They have not reappeared…

11/17: Ordered from Gulf Coast Ecosystems again
- Red razor (Bryothamnion triquetrum)
- Calcareous algae sampler (Penicillus capitatus, Penicillus dumetosus, Rhipocephalus phoenix, and Udotea flabellum)

Packaging

Pile of calcareous, green macroalgae (was planted soon afterward)

Clump of Bryothamnion triquetrum

As with last time, all of the GCE macroalgae looked very healthy and has settled in well.

11/30: Ordered from Salty Bottom Reef Company
- x4 Quahog “Cleaner clam” (Mercenaria mercenaria) (I am dosing phytoplankton four times a week)
- Skunk cleaner shrimp “Joey Logano” (Lysmata amboinensis)
- Blood red fire shrimp “Little Timmy” (Lysmata debelius)
- x3 Ninja star snail (Lithopoma phoebium) (only one is still alive, I righted them immediately when I found them overturned, but they soon perished)
- x15 Large green nassarius snail (Nassarius sp.) (5 in the refugium, 9 in the DT, 1 in holding)
- Brittle starfish “Patrick” (Ophiocoma sp.)
- Palm tree algae (Caulerpa paspaloides)
- Green fleece algae (Codium decorticatum)

Packaging

Many Nassarius snails (note the big, black one on the bottom right, I actually think it is Ilyanassa obsoleta, so it is currently on time out in the holding tank; the others appear to be true Nassarius snails with either smooth, ivory shells or darker, wrinkled shells)

Patrick never seems to come out of the rockwork, it currently resides within the leftmost and largest rock in the build

After being introduced, Joey Logano immediately headed for and began scavenging on the Hikari Algae Wafer I had previously dropped in for the hermit crabs

All of the Quahogs dug into the substrate within a day of being introduced and I occasionally see their siphons poking out from the sand

This has probably been one of the most entertaining orders yet! It is incredibly fun to watch the Nassarius emerge for food and whenever I try, the shrimp are eager to clean my hands!

12/10 Items from @reddevilant and Jay's Reef Bugs (@Jay'sReefBugs)

From @reddevilant
- Iridescent algae (Dictyota sp.)
- String of earls (Botryocladia sp.)
- “Smooth-edged” Cryptonemia
- Red ribbon (probably Cryptonemia crenulata)

Packaging

From left to right: Smooth-edged Cryptonemia, Dictyota, String of pearls Botryocladia, Cryptonemia crenulata

Three of @reddevilant ‘s rarer macroalgae species, the Smooth-edged Cryptonemia looks a bit pale so hopefully it recovers

Cryptonemia crenulata

From @Jay’sReefBugs
- x1 7 Species Copepod Blend (Tisbe, Tigriopus, Arcatia, Cyclops, Pseudodiamptomus, Euterpina, and Parvocalanus)

Packaging

Hundreds of actively swimming Copepods, now in the refugium

Thank you both for the amazing livestock! I hope they will settle in well!

The Anti-Reef today:

Show offs…

Dove snail (Columbellidae sp.) egg cases

Dove snail Columbellidae sp.) baby!

Caulerpa sertularioides hitchhiker on Udotea flabellum… but I live in California…

New Caulerpa paspaloides growth

Gary on vacuum duty

Cycles of Udotea flabellum growth; a mature individual dies (white), only to send up new shoots (bright green) at its base

Ilyanassa obsoleta on time-out

And finally, a current FTS

Wow! That was a lot of writing!

 

[WheatToast]

11/17: Collected native macroalgae at White Point Beach, California (outside my state’s MPAs)
Species included, but were not limited to:

Brown
- Sargassum muticum
- Stephanocystis osmundacea

Green
- Codium fragile

Red
- Bossiella
- Calliarthron
- Corallina
- Gelidium
- Microcladia coulteri
- Rhodymenia pacifica

FTS on December 26

Codium fragile (I later split the individual in two, sending one piece to the refugium)

Ultimately, since these are predominantly coldwater macroalgae, several might perish, though I am curious to see what will survive (P.S. some coldwater Gelidium from the previous temperate build has hitchhiked and was already growing in the Anti-Reef prior to 12/26)

1/3
I decided to change the aquascape to incorporate more variation; now there is a large cave on the left side of the build and a sandy expanse in the center:

FTS on January 1

The cave

I still do not know where this flat piece should go, though. What do you guys think?

 

[NoahLikesFish]

your tank looks so good

 

[WheatToast]

Friday FTS:

 

[WheatToast]

1/12: Ordered from Tropical Fish Plus (@TFP2021)
- Tufted joint algae (Cymopolia barbata)
- Watercress algae (Halimeda discoidea)
- Pink segmented algae or Thin branching coralline (Jania sp.)

... and finally... seagrass!
- Manatee grass (Syringodium filiforme)

It’s looking beautiful! Halophila is a great choice. I’ll be following to see how those fertilizer tabs work for you, I have seen the Seachem Flourish ones before used with good success, but it’s always good to have alternatives.

Hmmm... looks like I did not stick to my promise, however, before planting, I did stick a few of the root tabs I mentioned...

... in the substrate near the seagrasses. Additionally, I planted the seagrass both in the refugium as well as the DT; its more of an experiment for the latter since, while I built the refugium with high-light seagrass in mind, I purchased the somewhat low intensity DT lights long before doing so. Perhaps I will need to grab some supplemental light for the DT seagrass in the future.

Anyways, on with the order pictures. Note that the packaging water was heavily yellowed in all of the bags .

Packaging

Halimeda discoidea with Syringodium filiforme

The back side of the previous bag

Cymopolia barbata

Jania sp.

Acclimation and... do I spot a Chondria hitchhiker?

Cymopolia barbata regrowing its "tufts"

Jania sp. around the corner

Halimeda discoidea is one of my favorite macros... and this specimen is nearly the size of my hand!

Syringodium filiforme in the refugium, down below

Yesterday's FTS; it's all coming together!

Unfortunately, the order was not quite as amazing as it seemed. Before introducing the Jania, I found the clusters to be inundated with unwanted hitchhikers, a dead crab and countless sea cucumbers (probably Medusa worms). These were all removed before introduction of the algae.

Sea cucumber (left) and dead Crab (right)

And here is an artist's rendition of how "sea-cucumbery" the situation was:

It was madness !

All jokes aside, though, the quality of the macroalgae was amazing from Tropical Fish Plus, though because of the hitchhikers, I would personally be more cautious about purchasing from there again.

 

[BaghdadBean]

Looks like a fun order! I’ll be interested to see how the manatee grass grows, I had less luck with that than thalassia. If I recall correct, the manatee grass likes to get really tall.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Very unique tank!

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Loving the grass @WheatToast

 

[WheatToast]

Considering how difficult many brown macroalgae species are to maintain in our marine systems, it has surprised me to find that my Japanese wireweed (Sargassum muticum) grows incredibly well in my tropical display tank (a coldwater Sargassum species of all macroalgae!). Well… maybe I shouldn’t be surprised since it is an invasive species that has managed to spread and proliferate across the world…

Here is the new, golden growth it developed over a period of 33 days:

Here it is at the beginning of this month (January 3rd):

For anyone who wants to attempt this algae, Matsu Collections stocks 6-12 inch pieces for 15 dollars (I might eventually frag mine, but not for a long time).

It appears to require bright lighting, strong-moderate flow, and plenty of love . Also, because of its pneumatocysts, it will float without being attached or wedged into rockwork.

 

[WheatToast]

1/17: Purchased in person from one of my LFS’s, Cali Kid Corals
- Pacific fighting conch “The Magic Conch Shell” (Strombus sp.)

The Magic Conch Shell, immediately after introduction

The Magic Conch Shell, right of Gary

Last weekend: moved the remaining live rock from the 10-gallon Standard holding tank to the main system

This piece does not seem as “naturally” shaped as my other rock… maybe it is artificial, like Real Reef Rock

And here is an old barnacle cluster from Amazon. Amazingly, a few sprigs of Chaetomorpha attached themselves to it (maybe through spores) in addition to other macroalgae.

You can find it here:

Other systems:

This is my neglected 10-gallon Standard holding tank. Currently, it is holding:
- AquaClear 50 (off)
- Macro Aqua M-50 (off)
- Jebao RW-4 (on)
- AquaClear 50 BioMax
- MarinePure 1.5-Inch Spheres (4 spheres)
- An old piece of AquaticExperts Aquarium Filter Pad
- Old live rock
- Nautical Crush Trading Real Purple Barnacle Cluster
- Marineland Temperature Strip (probably stopped working half a decade ago)

The other Barnacle cluster was moved as well, with large attached tube worm shells

1/29: Opened up S P A C E

Project SPACE (Suddenly Pushing All Caulerpa Elsewhere): now there is a large sandy expanse on the right side of the Anti-Reef and a massive Caulerpa forest at the back

 

[madlos123]

On Tuesday evening, I picked up the Mix ‘n Match Special and three SUPER Mix ‘n Match Special items from Indo-Pacific Sea Farms, a day earlier than expected. Every bag I received was teeming with life of amazing quality! Thanks Gerald Heslinga!

Items purchased:

Mix ‘n Match Special:
- 6 Baby BristleWorms
- Tang Heaven Red (Gracilaria parvispora)
- Tang Heaven Yellow (Gracilaria sp.)
- Tang Heaven Gold (Sargassum sp.)
- Tang Heaven Green (Ulva fasciata)
- WonderMud
- Reef Amphipods
- Sea grapes (Caulerpa lentillifera)
- Live Sand Activator

SUPER Mix ‘n Match Special:
- Live Reef Plankton
- 6 MiniStars
- 6 Mama Mia Worms

The WonderMud and Live Sand Activator also collectively contained roughly…
- 6 MicroHermits (Calcinus sp.) (limited to the Live Sand Activator)
- 12 Hawaiian Littorinid Grazers (Littoraria sp.) (6 in the WonderMud, 6 in the Live Sand Activator)

Styrofoam packaging

All 12 items

Acclimation

Super-packed refugium

Why, hello!

Most items were placed in the refugium, though the Live Reef Plankton/Hawaiian Littorinid Grazers were placed into the main display as well and the MicroHermits/Tang Heaven Gold were solely introduced to the main display.

do you have a closer picture of the Sea grapes (Caulerpa lentillifera)? Thanks

 

[WheatToast]

do you have a closer picture of the Sea grapes (Caulerpa lentillifera)? Thanks

No problem! Here is a photo I took on 12/30/2021:

 

[rhizotron]

Amazing stuff in there! Wow!

 

[BaghdadBean]

How’s the seagrass report? Is it rooting for you?

 

[WheatToast]

How’s the seagrass report? Is it rooting for you?

It could be better .

Refugium:
I accidentally left the refugium light's timer off for a few weeks, so the macroalgae and Manatee grass (Syringodium filiforme) in the refugium withered, though none completely died off. After catching my error, both the macroalgae and grasses are now recovering with the seagrasses sending up new shoots.

DT:
Because the grass had the tendency to float and the sand in the DT was much less dense than the refugium mud, many of the plants in the DT uprooted themselves and died after being replanted over and over again. However, when they were still healthy, I spotted new roots (with root hairs) extending from their rhizomes. These new roots were about half a centimeter long on average. Finally, this individual, which managed to anchor itself in the sand, probably doubled its height since I received it :

 

[rhizotron]

Really cool setup! I have an empty 65-gallon tank I'm going to fill with something marine and I'm pondering seagrasses versus a couple other concepts.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Someone really likes their macroalgae !!