400 gallon project

untamed · #1 04-02-2007, 06:38 AM

I came to realize quite late that I feeding a tank of this size with DTs was going to get a bit expensive...so, like any good addict, I decided to brew my own.

I rigged up this little baby from an empty salt pail. (in a few years, I might be able to build a garage from empty salt pails, and I'm looking for anyone who has a design to build an automobile from empty salt pails)

The light fooled my camera. It's not really this green. This device could make 6 litres per week of phytoplankton. I'm not sure how much I'll be need.

Here's the recipe I've used so far:

1 tbsp of DTs reefblend
2 L SW mixed to about 1.020
14 drops of concentrated plant food
1 ml of Kent essential elements
Continuous gentle bubbling
16 hours of light, 8 hours dark
Brew until dark

My first ever batch achieved this in 6 days. The colour of this photo is very accurate. My first brew isn't as green as I would prefer. On the final day, it began to take on a distinct red/yellow tinge. It is still very dark. It's possible that the colour is simply due to the the specific plankton that happen to multiply best from the DTs mix.

I've started another batch, using less plant food. I'm thinking that the first batch may have run out of food, so by cutting the food in half, I should see a dramatic result that will tell me what I need to do.

michika · #2 04-02-2007, 02:00 PM

What did you use for food in your culture medium?

untamed · #3 04-02-2007, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michika

What did you use for food in your culture medium?

Schultz 8-14-9 African violet liquid plant food.

8% N
14% PO4
9% K2O (Potash)
.1% Fe
.05% Mn
.05% Zn

Hmmm, you know I just realized that I have an african violet that hasn't been looking too great lately. I think I'll give some to it!

michika · #4 04-02-2007, 10:27 PM

I'm using a different product for my culture medium so I was quite curious! Would you be so kind as to continue to update the status of your phytoplankton?

untamed · #5 04-05-2007, 01:56 AM

I was doing a bit of gardening on this unusual coral (I still have no id on this, but I suspect it is a type of gorgonian). You can see in the photo below that the coral has some sort of hairy red algae growing in/on it. I was in the process of carefully tweezing that stuff out of there with 2 foot tongs when I found...it...

First, on the extreme left side of the following picture, on the tips of the branches...you can see white blobs. Those are nudibranchs of some kind. It turns out that there are probably 10+ of them on this particular coral. (unfortunately, I suspect they are killing the coral...but we'll see)

But have a closer look at that photo. Look directly in the centre. There is a highly disguised ______? (crab?) It has 8 long legs, and no perceivable body. (sea spider would be a good description)

Here's a close up for the hard of seeing....

OK, confirmed that this is a sea spider. Here is an excellent article about them.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-01/rs/index.php

Shrimpy · #6 04-05-2007, 02:10 AM

It looks like a sea spider for sure. Check one out here... http://www.captbluefin.com/mysterious_creatures.htm Kinda looks like the one you have.

justinl · #7 04-05-2007, 02:15 AM

I woudn't describe your "crab" as a sea spider. I would just call it that. sea spiders have some cool biology about them but are generally frowned upon in home aquariums. most feed on corals and or anemones i believe so yes i do believe it is munching your coral there. I read on wiki (how much do you trust that site? lol) that although they feed on anemones in a similar fashoin to a mosquito sucking blood, the anemone will almost always survive unscathed. Don't knw bout corals.

sorry, can't say anything bout the nudis.

untamed · #8 04-05-2007, 02:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justinl

I woudn't describe your "crab" as a sea spider. I would just call it that. sea spiders have some cool biology about them but are generally frowned upon in home aquariums. most feed on corals and or anemones i believe so yes i do believe it is munching your coral there. I read on wiki (how much do you trust that site? lol) that although they feed on anemones in a similar fashoin to a mosquito sucking blood, the anemone will almost always survive unscathed. Don't knw bout corals.

sorry, can't say anything bout the nudis.

I'll get a better shot of the nudis. Depth of field wouldn't allow me get both the spider and the nudis in focus at the same time.

I hope that the coral can take his feeding as I would certainly like to keep both in the tank.

Oh...I have a third mantis now. Another large, red, Wennarae. I haven't seen the smaller one now for 3 or 4 days...But I don't consider that to be unusual.

So that's mantis, gogonian eating nudis, too many gorilla crabs to count...and now a blood sucking sea spider. The tank is living up to my reputation nicely!