Oyster Reef Ecosystem Tank

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks for sharing your collection experience! The new fish are cool. Nice vid! It's great to see your tank come to life. What's next?

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Michael!

Next? Well, over the next few weeks, I want to get out and try and collect more fish. My target species include more of the same species of darters, with at least one female of each species. As far as dither fish, there are three or four species of minnows that I'm interested in. Either satinfin (Cyprinella analostana) or spotfin (Cyprinella spiloptera) shiners (they are very similar), Rosyside dace (Clinostomus funduloides), and silverjaw minnows (Notropis buccatus). There many other species, and I may keep some of the nicer looking ones. One of those are rosyface shiners (Notropis rubellus). There is another species of darter that I'm interested in too, the greenside darter (Etheostoma blennioides) which are quite beautiful as well.

Also, I am going to check out the river to see if there are any plants still alive. It's been cold, and typically they die off about now. But, there could be still some rooted and hanging on. If I can't get out and do that, then I may wait until next summer for the plants. I also need to figure out a QT process for my FW fish, or maybe just treat them directly in the DT since I probably won't have inverts other than snails. The darters eat snails big time, so I won't have to worry about an established population of them. So, algae control will have to be via growing plants.

Refine my QT process, including purchasing a better copper testing device (Hanna instruments). I will treat the fish with copper and Prazipro in QT before adding them to the DT. As far as macros and inverts go, all will be QT'd in the holding tank, observed and kept fallow for 9 weeks so I don't introduce parasite hitchhikers.

As far as the oyster reef goes, I was way too content with my 20g set up. It's time to get the 100g stand finished, install the lighting, and get the 100g tank set up. After that, I'll work on the plumbing through the wall, the sump in the basement, and set up the RO/DI filter and a water changing station. I want the big tank up and running, cycled, before spring collecting time.

In the past, I hadn't done a lot of water changes. I may do them more periodically. Once macros become established in my tank, I'll need to figure out their specific needs and address them. This is my plan for oyster reef V2.

[Michael Hoaster]

Dang! That's pretty impressive. You sound like a man with plan.

I look forward to following your progress!

[Chasmodes]

Thanks Michael. Me too! I will be testing my carpentry skills soon with the stand.

[Chasmodes]

I wound up collecting more fish from a local stream about 40 minutes from my house for my FW stream tank this past weekend. This small stream has been one of my favorite smallmouth bass fishing spots over the years. It has a wide diversity of fish species, as much as any stream in the Western part of Maryland.


There are a couple species that I still want, but, for the most part, it's fully stocked now. I also found a beautiful red rock that I just had to put into the tank. I'm trying to find at least one rock to add to the tank from each fish collecting site. This tank is a Potomac River biotope tank, minus major predators.

The species below are currently in this tank:

Darters:
Rainbow Darter (Etheostoma caeruleum)
Fantail Darter (Etheostoma flabellare)
Greenside Darter (Etheostoma blennioides)

Minnows, Shiners and Dace:
Eastern Blacknosed Dace (Rhinichthys atratulus)
Spottail Shiner (Notropis hudsonius))
Silverjaw Minnow (Notropis buccatus)
Longnose Dace (Rhinichthys cataractae)
River Chub (Nocomis micropogon)

Here's a short video of the tank and the new critters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3WnmcDz4jk&t=1s

I probably won't post more about this tank unless I have a major update or something really exciting happens. If you're interested in this tank, you can see regular updates on the NANFA forum.

It's getting colder outside, so my fishing trips shouldn't be as regular, which will free up time for me to rebuild my oyster reef in the 100g tank. I have a lot of work to do, but I'm determined to have it up, running, and cycled by the spring fish collecting season.

[Michael Hoaster]

Cool pic of the stream you collected from. It's nice to see the context of your native fish. I enjoyed the video too! The tank looks great! I also found your NANFA thread. I look forward to following along.

Most of all, I look forward to following your oyster reef tank's progress. Keep us apprised!

[Chasmodes]

Thanks Michael! I definitely will. Even though it seems like a long time until spring, I've learned that my procrastination has no bounds, so it's really not that long of a time. I need to get busy on the build soon.

[Michael Hoaster]

I know what you mean. I want to be ready for spring and my seagrasses' growth spurt, so I've been thinking about what needs to be done beforehand.

I imagine it's pretty hard to jump right in to another tank build! My favorite procrastination activity is to make a list of what to do, once I've worked up the energy. Then I just do one thing, then another one thing, so it's never overwhelming.

Take your time and enjoy the journey!

[Chasmodes]

Thank you for the great advice Michael. I will take heed. First step, finish the stand.

[Chasmodes]

Time for an update. As you might suspect with a new tank, I had an algae invasion, or outbreak, or whatever it's called. It wasn't unexpected, especially given the high bioload. About two weeks ago, I also cleaned the algae off of the wall, roots and rocks, in addition to a large water change that I'll mention again below. I also cleaned the canister filter, being careful as to not hurt the biological filtering ability of the system. As you can see, it's back.

To combat the algae, I'll be performing another large water change this weekend, complete with more physical removal of the algae. I also planted Vallisneria americana to try and out compete the algae for nutrients. I think that will help, assuming the plants take to the tank. The lighting is adequate (Fluval planted light), along with plenty of nutrients with the heavy bioload, which should help the plants grow and thrive.

I lost a few fish since I stocked the tank, mostly some of the smaller blunt nosed minnows, although one hung in there and is growing. All of the adult fish, except for one black nosed dace, are doing fine. I had to battle ich, and that was the main reason for the fish deaths (4 total fish died). I treated them for three weeks with aquarium salt by raising the SG to 1.003. The ich seems gone and hasn't returned since I stopped treatment by making a 90% water change. The fish still scratch occasionally. I may try a treatment of Prazipro, thinking that they might have flukes that survived the salt treatment, or some sort of other unseen parasite. This leads me to a question...do fish still scratch at times when they are parasite free? Are they really ever parasite free?

Now for some pics followed by another video...

Full tank shot:


Left side, showing the faux roots and current sources (spray bar top left, and circulation pump located behind the roots):


Right side, showing the newly planted Vallisneria americana:


And, finally, a video showing everything and showcasing the fish:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Cp7BVXBBk&t=3s

[Michael Hoaster]

Wow, it looks great! The algae really gives it a natural patina. Super fun with all those fish too! Do any of them eat algae? Maybe consider some reproducing snails to help out. I love valisneria. I had some in my freshwater planted tank. It can get invasive, but right now, you can use a greedy plant like that to compete with algae. Well done!

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Michael! All of the minnow species nibble on the algae, but not enough to make a difference. Snails would work, but the darters eat them, so they wouldn't last long. I'd have to collect and restock them often to make a difference, and right now, they're all hibernating. The positive side to darters eating them is that it's a healthy food for the fish. The downside of that is that snails carry parasites that infect darters.

However, a friend on the NANFA forum recommended that I try and catch a species of fish that would eat the algae and make a difference, called a central stoneroller. I tried to get one on my last collecting trip, but no luck. It's been too nasty of weather to go collecting lately, between freezing temps or rain on the days that I happen to be off work. Isn't that always the case though? Why are all the nice weather days on work days?

[Chasmodes]

Well, it's almost a month since my last update. I've spent a lot of time out fishing, and not doing much with my tanks. My oyster reef tank project hasn't changed much lately. I want to get that going, so will begin work on it.

Mostly, I've been focused on my FW stream tank, doing some maintenance, mostly. Even with it, I have a lot of work to do still. I purchased a few more Vallisneria plants and, for now, have them in the foreground. I will probably move them as they grow. I have a few pics and a video to share. I really love watching this tank, the movement, the fish...I go down to feed them and intend to watch for 15 minutes, and wind up staying an hour or more.

Full Tank Shot:


Left Side:


Right Side:


My latest video. I hope y'all like it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3I7_B3-Oro

[Michael Hoaster]

Man, that looks good! So real and natural. Awesome patina of life on the rocks and roots.

[Chasmodes]

Thanks Michael. Sorry I haven't been around much. I have a lot of catching up to do on your thread too. Work has been crazy busy, and when I get home, the last thing that I want to do is get on a PC LOL.

[Michael Hoaster]

No worries. You have a life. There has been some interesting discussion on my thread. Check it out when you can.

[Chasmodes]

I stepped up my activities on the 100g oyster reef tank build. I ordered all of the equipment, supplies, plumbing parts, overflow, etc. for almost everything that I need to complete the build. I have a few things to pick up at Home Depot to finish my stand and to buy plumbing supplies and lumber once all this virus stuff winds down. My state is one of the most strict as far as the stay at home orders go, and my wife is immune compromised. So I pretty much have to stay home. It's not worth the risk.

I made some major changes in my design that really have had my head spinning and caused much delay. The principle issue is lack of space in my basement to keep the sump and a water changing station there. So, I decided to modify my stand to accommodate my sump underneath, and then plumb through the wall to the basement to my water changing station.

I really want the tank set up, even if it's sumpless at first, before I go out collecting again once the water temps warm up.

I had several fish die off in my stream tank. I talk about it in my latest video. I just watched the video for the first time all the way through on my TV the other day, and man, what a downer of a video. The subject, my tone, and the music make it the most depressing fish video that I've seen on YT, LOL. Still, it does give a good update. And, I like the way the tank looks right now. I took a bunch of river rock out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wVxDokqSU&t=308s

[Michael Hoaster]

Nice! Progress is challenging these days. Glad to hear things are coming along. It sounds like you're chomping at the bit to get it going. Good luck with it!

The stream tank is looking good - including the root! Your fish really are enjoying it. It looks very natural! I get epiphytic algae on my seagrasses occasionally. For stuff that's well-attached, I just cut the whole blade off to be sure I'm permanently removing it. I think that would work for your vallisneria.

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Michael. I started doing that the other day, but I didn't get enough of it. I tried pulling a bunch off and that worked for a while, but now it's back.

I forgot to mention one cool thing that I found during the first water change when my fish starting having trouble. I found baby fish! I have no idea what fish spawned. They were free swimming in the water column, so, I suspect it might have been the blacknose dace. They were the only fish that seemed to do behavior that was even remotely like spawning. The babies were pretty big too, about 3/8" long or so. I haven't seen them since. I might have siphoned them away.

Also, I found out that the blackworms live for quite a while in my tank. Every time I turn over a rock in the tank, there are blackworms. I don't know how long they live, but I've kept them alive in my refrigerator for over a month. I won't know until I run out of them how long they live in the tank. I'm down to my last two feedings now unless I go to the store soon. Anyway, I thought that was cool, to have life living in my gravel that the fish can forage on, if they are lucky enough to find them.

[Michael Hoaster]

Babies! That is a cool thing. They don't do that if they're not happy. Congrats! Pretty neat that those worms live in there too.

[Chasmodes]

I received almost everything that I ordered for my oyster reef tank except for an Iwaki pump for my water changing station. I also ordered all of the plumbing parts that I need.

I still need to purchase two tanks, one to store RO/DI and the other to mix salt water. I think that I'm going to go with the Brute trash cans. I guess the only thing left to buy is to make a trip to get some 2x4's and plywood to build the stand for the changing station. I also need wood to modify my tank stand so I can house the sump underneath.

Once this virus crap ends, I'm going to have an electrician install a new dedicated electrical line for this tank with outlets on either side of the wall.

As far as the stream tank goes, here's a video update of that tank. My fight against the algae may be taking a turn in my favor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dhi2juZRKw

[Michael Hoaster]

That's exciting news! It's such a unique tank idea. Looking forward to seeing your vision come to life.

The stream tank looks good. The fake wall and root are second to none! The fish love that root! Any algae eaters in there? Several reproducing snails are available. For fish, I love the Farlowella.

[Chasmodes]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

That's exciting news! It's such a unique tank idea. Looking forward to seeing your vision come to life.

The stream tank looks good. The fake wall and root are second to none! The fish love that root! Any algae eaters in there? Several reproducing snails are available. For fish, I love the Farlowella.

Thank you Michael. It's going to be a lot of work getting the oyster reef tank up and running, but I'm going to do it in phases.

As far as the stream tank goes, I thought about adding snails, and that might work some, but the darters love to eat snails. I don't know if I can keep a population of them in there. There is one species of fish that I can catch locally, a Central Stoneroller, that loves to eat algae and should do a good job in my tank keeping algae at bay. All that I need to do is go out and collect one. Thank you for the wonderful compliments too!

[Chasmodes]

I have two options of moving forward with this build. I've purchased just about everything to finish the job, except I need to get a couple 44g Brute trash cans, some 2x4s, and plywood.

Option one: Plumb through the wall to my sump in the basement and pump it back to the tank.

This involves building a water changing station and it will ultimately be the most efficient way for me to manage the tank. Here is my plumbing plan along with my plan for a water change station so I don't have to transfer buckets back and forth.

For this to happen, I need to modify the sump stand to make it low enough to accommodate my overflow. This option will be a lot of work.




Option 2: Sump under the tank, no plumbing through the wall.

I would plumb the sump to the tank in the rec room. My water changing station would be on the other side of the wall from the tank in the basement. I would use a Python water changing system to siphon old water to the sink. Then, hook that hose to my Iwaki pump that mixes my saltwater to pump either RO/DI water or saltwater to my tank.

I'm undecided at this point what direction I will take. Option 2 could be a good start to ultimately get Option one done though. That way, I could set up the tank and enjoy it earlier, and worry about the plumbing through the wall another day, and give me time to modify the sump stand.

Thoughts?

[Michael Hoaster]

Great illustration. Option 1 seems to be optimal. Is drilling through the basement wall your only reason not to do it? Why wouldn't you?