High Nutrient Macro Algae/Sea Grass Reef

[vlangel]

I am so pleased with how the fuge is looking and functioning. When I set it up I only cared about function. Now I kind of wished that I had given more thought to the placement of the overflow and the drain and made them a little less prominent. Ha Ha, live and learn. I just never dreamed that it could be an attractive tank in its own right. I probably could redo both of those without too much disruption to the fuge but I do not know if I care that much.

The fuge is on a 12 hour on, 12 hour off light cycle, (all 4 bulbs) and yet nuisance algae is less than what is in my display. There is a very slight brownish tint to the sand but then some of that is garden dirt and detritus that is settled there. I never do anything to the sand, I let the conch and the nassarius snails do it all as far as stirring it up.
That got me thinking that maybe I should be running my daylight bulbs longer in the display. I have only been running them for 5 hours but today I bumped it up to 7 hours. I do get cyano or diatoms on the sand bed surface of the display. If it does not get worse however I am going to keep the longer daylight photo phase to see if that is beneficial to the macros and the coral.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/s4xdgA8MJGKL9bwP7
FTS taken at an angle to avoid glare.


https://photos.app.goo.gl/XUY6J8zCTGthmPTY6
Close up of some of the halimeda.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ifz7vu3mF83hKsnq6
Ricordia

[Michael Hoaster]

Great pics!

That's funny you should mention that, about your fuge. I'm sure you'll tinker it into shape. I predict it will evolve into a display that will rival your display.

The new plants look great. So green! Is the Dragon's Breath visible in any of the fuge shots? I didn't see it. I wanted to see if it looked like mine.

Those Ricordias are gorgeous too. Are they less invasive than regular mushrooms? I've always thought they looked great, but avoided them.

[vlangel]

It not a great view but you can see the Dragon's Breath in the 1st fuge FTS. It is on the left of the tank, under the flexible drain tube. It is a spring of about 1 and half inches in diameter so not real big. Its stuck in the stoney staghorn skeleton but it looks kind of like the red gracilaria on the far left in that shot. The tips are not orange yet.

I actually have never grown ricordia before. These are on that tabling stoney acro so are confined. I am ok if the reproduce.

Ha ha, I probably will get disgusted with the function only look and then one day I will tackle it to make the plumbing lower profile.

[Michael Hoaster]

I'm not sure if I see it or not. No worries. I'll see it next time.

Those Ricordias look great. I can see why you wouldn't mind them reproducing.

Your fuge will look better as the plants fill in too.

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

I'm not sure if I see it or not. No worries. I'll see it next time.

Those Ricordias look great. I can see why you wouldn't mind them reproducing.

Your fuge will look better as the plants fill in too.

The lights are off on the fuge now but I will take a pic of specifically the Dragon's Breath.

[vlangel]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/BXrK1o9fAewQcWAK7

Here is a more focused pic of the Dragon's Breath. So Michael, does it look like yours?

I also made a trip to my LFS. I did not exercise self control however and came home with 2 new fish! A yellow watchman goby and a green canary blenny. They were in a bio cube together so are already acclimated tank mates. I have been wanting a yellow watchman for a while and I have always loved canary blennies. This green canary blenny is a step up in beauty and its stunning. It is a carnivore so should not be a problem with Tommy who is the only fish that I am worried about. I am acclimating them in my sump since neither shows any signs of disease and they were in a stand alone tank. They can settle and get used to my water conditions without the stress of tank mates and I can monitor their eating. I have no self control, ha ha! I only went to the LFS to get reef roids. What can I say.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/pXqWEXxr31w2fyix9

https://photos.app.goo.gl/56EqEYErusBJg2ydA

[Michael Hoaster]

Yes, that looks like what I got. Yours looks redder. Mine has lightened up in the brightish light it's in.

Nice looking new fish! They'll add a nice touch of yellow.

Speaking of Reef Roids, what are they made out of, gold?

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Yes, that looks like what I got. Yours looks redder. Mine has lightened up in the brightish light it's in.

Nice looking new fish! They'll add a nice touch of yellow.

Speaking of Reef Roids, what are they made out of, gold?

I guess I should expect mine to lighten also since my lighting is pretty intense.

The new fish look great this morning swimming around exploring. I have not seen them eat any frozen or flake food yet but the sump has lots of amphipods and copepods so they may be eating live food.

Yes, I think reef roids must be made of gold considering how much they cost! I paid $18 for a small package of them.

[Michael Hoaster]

My Dragon's Breath has so far shown no significant growth. I think it takes them longer than most to settle in. It's not dying off, so I'll take that as a good sign. One of my little frags of it has come loose yet again. I may try planting it in less light to see whether it likes it.

I'm going to wait on reef roids for now. I have frozen rotifers. I've had them for awhile and need to use them. I think I bought them by accident, thinking they were cyclops.

[vlangel]

I put my Dragon's Breath half way up in the fuge so it is probably 15" down from the light fixture. When I had it years ago in my 90 gallon tank it was very high and probably only 6-8" from the light, (which was VHOs so that really dates me, Ha Ha!). It grew great that high and the orange tips were spectacular. That is my only experience but from that I concluded that at least some species can tolerate a fair amount of light.

I do not blame you for holding off on the reef roids. The frozen roti should feed small mouths too so it makes sense to use it up.

I checked on the watchman and the canary blenny. They look really good, and are not hiding but still have not eaten anything I have fed them yet. That would include flakes, frozen brine shrimp and prime reef. I wished I had accesss to some live food to try. I believe that they may be hunting pods but I would really like to see them eat something that I provide for them. Considering that they were in a stand alone bio cube they were surely eating prepared food at the LFS. I just need to be patient.

[vlangel]

The watchman and the blenny still did not eat this morning. I sure hope that they are feeding on pods. Usually by now I have gotten fish to eat for me and I do not like that these guys aren't. They look so relaxed and comfortable so I am leaning toward the idea that they are eating live food in the sump. Still I will feel nervous until I see them take food.

[Michael Hoaster]

I hate that feeling.

It must be a big adjustment for them, coming from their natural homes in the sea. Then they have to learn to eat food they may never have seen. It's kind of surprising we don't see more hunger strikes.

Hang in there. They'll come around.

[ThePurple12]

Notice any goby/pistol shrimp cooperation?

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

I hate that feeling.

It must be a big adjustment for them, coming from their natural homes in the sea. Then they have to learn to eat food they may never have seen. It's kind of surprising we don't see more hunger strikes.

Hang in there. They'll come around.

I know, I hate it too. Adjusting and acclimating new fish is always stressful.

You are right, it has to be very traumatic for them being caught and sent to a facility where then a lfs buys them and then we customers buy them. That is a lot of transition! It is amazing that we do not see more hunger strikes.

Hopefully today they will eat prepared food.

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by ThePurple12

Notice any goby/pistol shrimp cooperation?

I don't think so. The pistol shrimp has undermined all through the underneath of my rock work. I am so glad that my rock is sitting on the glass so it has remained stable, ha ha! I only ever see one masked goby and it hangs out in the barnacle. I do not know what happened to the others. I wonder if the pistol shrimped preyed upon them because they were so tiny???? The firefish goby does go into a hole where the pistol shrimp is sometimes but it does not seem like a symbiotic relationship, just more of they tolerate each other in the same space.

[vlangel]

Hooray, I just saw the watchman goby eat some flake!!!! The blenny still hasn't eaten any prepared food but it appears to be hunting all the time. There are still lots of copepods on the glass and no doubt larvae shrimp from the fuge find their way into the sump tank. Maybe the blenny is still preferring hunting live food over eating frozen or freeze dried?

[Michael Hoaster]

That's great. I have had one or two fish that never ate fish food, but got along just fine with what was available in the tank.

[vlangel]

This morning I moved the yellow watchman goby and green canary blenny into the display. I fed the display prior to their move to hopefully diminish any 'hangry' attitudes.

The watchman is out in the open on the sandbed and nobody is bothering him. I do not see the canary blenny but the lights are off so I can't see a lot of places in the tank anyway. It does not appear to be any disruptions or skirmishes going on so I am just assuming that the blenny is laying low. I never did see the blenny eat prepared food which is a bit unsettling. Although the display is larger with a lot more rock, I do not know how much the pod population is flourishing. The tank has a lot of hungry mouths. Hopefully the blenny will take his cue from all the other fish and eat what is offered!

[Michael Hoaster]

I bet it will start eating once it sees other fish eating. I think it's a competitive instinct.

[vlangel]

That is what I am hoping Michael. The lights are on and both blenny and watchman are out in the open, more or less. They are hanging somewhat in the same corner, ( the blenny up in the water column swimming around and the watchman on the sandbed below him). Both fish look relaxed and definitely do not look afraid. None of the other fish are paying any attention to them either so they should be ok.

[vlangel]

Yesterday I did not see the YWG all day. I kept checking around the tank even though it is covered, worrying that perhaps it jumped through the netting. Dave kept telling me that perhaps the pistol shrimp dined on it, which was an awful thought, (although I did not think likely). I also checked in the overflow box as once I did see a damsel chase the goby up in that area. This morning I finally decided to look in the fuge and sure enough there it was looking just fine. I think I will just leave it there for now to get a bit bigger. Hopefully it and the blenny will not miss each other's company too much.

[Michael Hoaster]

A marine Habitrail! Glad to hear he's alright.

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

A marine Habitrail! Glad to hear he's alright.

Except when an inhabitant goes to the lower level there is no going back up without intervention!

[vlangel]

I am really concerned about the canary blenny. I have never seen it eat and he appears to be getting thinner. I almost always ask to see if a fish is eating at my LFS but I did not do that this time. Now I wished I had because I fear that it is going to just waste away. The watchman in the fuge looks fatter and I feel more optimistic about it. I am going to leave it in the fuge until it grows to a bigger size.

[vlangel]

Well nothing has changed with the canary blenny. This is very hard to watch. It looks like a perfectly well adjusted fish that is beautiful but absolutely nothing I have offered it has tempted it into eating. It is just painfully wasting away and it makes me so sad.

The watchman goby on the other hand is doing great in the fuge. It eats anything, has a very nice bright yellow color and is not shy even when I am thinning caulerpa or cleaning glass. I still plan to leave it in the fuge until it gets bigger. Oh yeah, I have dubbed him Guardian!

In other fish news, everyone else is doing wonderfully. They are fat, active and have good color. The damsels get a little feisty with one another in the evening but do not seem to bother with anyone else. Tommy is king but he does not bother with anyone either. The tiny masked goby hangs out near its barnacle and looks good.

I see Rice Krispie's claws often in the openings of the tunnel systems under the rock. I caught a glimpse of his whole body once and he has definitely grown. My cleaner shrimp and Coral Banded shrimp are also huge, as is the peppermint shrimp in the fuge. It seems that I have hit on the right formula for shrimp!

I have done a bigger than usual WC on the system to hopefully encourage more growth in some of the macros and coral. I probably did 15 or more gallons. I also dosed Flourish, Coral Vite and 2 part. Its not that the tank looks bad but there are a few things that just seem to be stalled or even receding slowly. The Xenia and GSP are in that catagory as is the Shoal grass and maybe the Sargassum. The gracilaria is growing great and probably needs pruned back. The DT needs to have the detritus blown off the rocks and macro algae and then I should test NO3 and PO4 to see where the parameters are. I will be watching to see if these actions have any affects on the system and am hoping for the best!