RuralReef 2.1

[BlueAbyss]

Originally Posted by bignose

I was just kidding around with the ghetto green comment. looks like most of it is macro. I found I didn't mind it as long as it wasen't GHA. I liked Halimeda in my tank because looked like a tree or bush.

Hmm, now you've got me thinking about this... maybe this long algae isn't GHA. I'll have to do some more research on the subject... I have at least 7 different kinds of growth on this rock, including coralline and some green discs that come and go pretty quickly. It does grow quickly and gets quite long... single, unbranched strands... *EDIT: as it turns out, most of it was Bryopsis which branches like a foxtail. The really long strands were actually GHA...*

When I post some new pics, you may be able to tell me if it's GHA... if so, no big deal, I've been physically removing it (but something will need to be done). I'll have something in there competing for nutrients soon enough anyhow.

Originally Posted by sphelps

I've never heard of those fish as being algae eaters, a couple snails or crabs would be better.

Aww... well, thanks for your input. Back to the drawing board on that one. I'll admit that I've read conflicting information... one website characterized these guys as sand sifters, another had them feeding on pods and filamentous algae. Still, they are nice little fish, and either way they will serve a purpose.

Anyhow, now I have a tentative stocking plan! Rather, a finalized tentative stocking plan...

2 x Pom Pom Crabs
1 x Rainford Goby
1 x Royal Gramma
A shrimp or 3 (single if Bumblebee Shrimp don't hang out together, a pair if they do... or 3 Sexy Shrimp). I may skip these.
A few Snails, haven't decided what kind yet... something that stays small, and will clean the glass (or turn the sand if the Goby isn't a sifter). I'll likely choose 2 kinds and get a pair or so of each.

Green Hair Algae (or whatever the green stuff is
Mermaid's Fan
Mermaid's Wine Glass (if I can find it)
Halimeda
Other macros that I can hopefully get from Canreef members...

Various Zoanthids, Palythoas
Micromussa
Acanthastrea
Echinophyllia
A photosynthetic gorgonian (leaning towards Pseudoterogorgia, but not sure if I have enough light)
A small derasa clam (though this tank will probably get upgraded before it's ready for a clam)

So that's where I'm at right now. I'll not be adding any more rock to this tank, unless I find the perfect piece (or some falls in my lap).

[BlueAbyss]

Acclimated and got some livestock in the tank. Hopefully not going too fast with a fish, a crab, and a Paly frag... Hopefully the poor little fish makes it... he wasn't too happy in the bag (water had cooled significantly... was sitting around 70 degrees). Paly's opened under the lights once they were in the tank (lights off wasn't for another half hour), came with a hitchhiker fanworm wrapped around one of the stalks. Emerald Crab was acclimated slower than the rest (though I did baby the fish a little more than I would normally with a 'hardy' species), and immediately started attacking algae once in the tank. So far so good... we'll see by morning what has happened.

Pics tommorrow.

[BlueAbyss]

Alright, my tank sucks even with livestock ...


View from the computer...


And when you enter my apartment...


Green Paly...


I should thank Bayside Corals in Saskatoon for some really awesome livestock. Even if you don't see most of it

[karazy]

love the scape, but get an urchin for god sakes!

[BlueAbyss]

I knew someone would say something about the GHA. I don't mind it but I would normally have done a 'harvest' when I cleaned the glass (which I did today) before taking pics.

When I was on the phone with whoever it was that sold my mom this livestock, I originally wanted a couple different kinds of snails... something that would take care of filamentous algae on the rocks, diatoms and film algae on the glass. They didn't have any snails, but did have emerald crabs... good choice, really, he's interesting and he eats the GHA (which is really only a minor problem), but his carapace is only the size of a nickel. A tiny crab like that can only eat so much algae, though I did watch him clear around 1/3 of the smaller rock island yesterday. I also fed mysis in an attempt to get the Royal Gramma interested in checking out his surroundings, instead of hiding in the back of the larger island (he ate a few pieces very encouraging)... I noted the emerald chowing on some leftovers, then he crawled into the island and I haven't seen him since. Hope he's okay...

And they had urchins at Bayside, but I decided I didn't want one and chose the crab instead. He'll get to it soon enough, I'm sure... I don't want the GHA gone, just controlled. It's a natural part of my system and I do like it, there's just too much of it.

[BlueAbyss]

Alright, so I moved stuff around in my Photobucket and now all my images are broken. Hrm... I'll get to that. Anyhow, FTS after the algae harvest...


A shot of the blue legged hermit... he's changed shells again.


And a shot of the emerald. I probably took 50 pics of him while I could see him, and a few of them turned out really nice...


And a shot of the setup as a whole, before the algae harvest yesterday...


Thanks for looking

[Snaz]

Crabs are so cool, I will watch them for hours given the chance. Harry the emerald crab went MIA a couple of months back and I suspect a Xanthid crab I see occasionally that I am too lazy to evict.

[lastlight]

love how you have the rock balanced. amano reef style!

[BlueAbyss]

Yeah I really like the crab. He's super cool and fun to watch. Nameless as yet, but I'm sure someone will name him eventually. Mr. Crabs is already taken up by the hermit

That rock is truly balanced... it has a pivot point. It is also the home of all my livestock, so I have to be very careful when I have my hands in the tank since I don't want it to pivot and crush someone. But it does look very good, IMO... that's good, since there was a time when I was going to smash that rock into smaller pieces. The urge has subsided, I'm happy with the rockwork (however little of it there is). Glad others like it too

[BlueAbyss]

So looking very closely, I notice that what I thought were single strands of algae are actually branched like a foxtail... in other words, I have Bryopsis (and have had since the beginning). I started dosing calcium and magnesium this week (not the Kent brand though), I will also continue with physical removal. Hopefully I notice some improvement in the next couple weeks... the tank is no where near mature yet, and the infestation is localized to my rockwork. Time will tell.

I also have discovered a (1) flatworm hitchhiker on my Paly frag. I'm not worried about him yet, but if it turns out he has a bunch of friends... well, I guess I'll have to get some Flatworm Exit. I was unable to siphon the one I saw.

Hmm, so the first bad news in my tank. Not really such bad news (since neither pests are really making nuisances of themselves), but I'm hoping things don't get out of hand.