Wow, a lot has happened the past 4 days. Since I work on a PC all day, when I have a break from work, it's the last thing that I want to be on when I want to unwind. It seems that things are progressing, slowly but surely. Light speed on some things, but the clearing of the tank isn't going that fast. You have been patient though, and that is key. Nature isn't always fast either.

Thanks Kevin! Despite the phyto bloom, I've tried to keep things moving along. It's much clearer this morning, so I'm relieved. There's still lots to do, but not a big rush. Up next: worms.

Just about cleared up. Here's a couple pics:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/pictur...ictureid=80180
Full tank width. The two hoses at top left are temporary. There will be no visible plumbing. Most of the manatee grass is coated in algae. I'm tempted to prune it to get rid of the thickest stuff towards the top, but I noticed the snails were working on them. For the last three days or so, I've seen they've progressively gotten cleaner. So I will try to hold off on the pruning for now. Is there anything more satisfying than having a good crew to clean up for you? Yay!


http://reefcentral.com/forums/pictur...ictureid=80181
From the right end. Still some cloudiness, so you can barely make out the far end. This end will change radically, once the main pump is turned on.

I hope everyone is having a great holiday!

Looking really good Michael!!!! Are you seeing any new growth with the grasses yet, or too soon to tell?

Thanks Kevin!

Hard to tell if there's any new growth. Maybe a little. I'm hoping that the algae coating will stimulate them to put up new leaves, as it does in nature. I'm already finding discarded leaves around the tank. When leaves become too coated to photosynthesize, they drop them and grow new ones. The complicating factor is their being uprooted, shipped and replanted, so I expect some recovery time. I'm hoping my dirty substrate will speed up the process.

I am thrilled to get so many manatee grass plants to start with. When I started v1, there weren't very many available, so I started with much less. Thanks to SaltySully, I got a perfect amount for the space I wanted to plant.

So for now, my aquarium's not much to look at. But I think it's doing well otherwise. The foundation of the ecosystem is still forming.

I agree with Kevin, its looking great. It will be so much fun watching it fill in and mature.

Thanks Dawn!

It's not so pretty now, but I'm hopeful. I'm adding a third round of snails, to help with clean up. It's cool to see the grasses getting greener everyday.

In QT, one of the grammas was getting very beat up, so I'm moving her to her own QT. I think the problem is the springer's damsel. He's gotten more and more aggressive lately, nipping fins right and left. I moved him out of QT and into the holding tank, which will be converted into a QT shortly.

Both the big QT and the one set up today are getting another round of erythromycin.

This has been an unusual startup. To finally get the plants I wanted in my tank, then have them disappear into a green cloud for days. Now I'm getting this slow-motion 'reveal', which is really making me appreciate everything anew. It's kind of magical!

Another thing different about this startup is the low number of different plants. I really want to give full focus to the manatee grass. So I'm not in my usual hurry to get more. I've got just a few, small red macro frags and some ulva sprouting from the new fake wall. I of course am keeping an eye open for plants I like.

The grass has a pretty heavy coating of dark brown algae. My army of tiny snails is making progress, revealing the green blades. The diatoms on the sand are getting cleaned up too, with the help of a fighting conch, and a beautiful, beige sea cucumber. And also the mollies get credit for their services as well. I'm amazed at how effective this crew has been already, in a very young aquarium!

ONE MONTH.

I went back in the thread to figure out how far along I am with this tank. I was surprised to learn it's been a month! In past experiences, hitting one month has felt like two. This time, it feels like three weeks. I think this points to a lack of intrusions on my part. This has been the laziest first month I can recall! In previous aquariums, I've tended to make constant adjustments in the first month. This time, with more experience and a better idea what I want, I'm mostly letting Nature take it's course.

The first couple months of a tank's life are a mystery, full of chemical reactions and new life forming. It now makes sense to me to just let it happen. Rather than trying to dictate what happens in my little world, I'm enjoying letting natural processes do their thing.

I've never been so patient! Maybe the biggest difference is that I have a pretty complete vision for this tank. In the previous version, I had no experience with any of the plants or fish I was keeping. I had no idea what to expect, so I tried a lot of different things, to see what would work. Now I have a much better idea what's going on, and what to expect.

Looks nice. High five to the clean up crew.
I noticed your..... As many naturalists and.......
So you are taking Walters advice.

Thanks lapin!

I do have a great crew - with more on the way! It makes life so much easier.

Yep, I like a lot of Walter Adey's ideas, and his influence on my aquarium keeping is pretty big. I'm lazy and I want my aquarium to be easy. Using plants and other ecologically important players as both filtration and display is my adaptation of some of his ideas.

The water's really clearing up now. The lighting is bright! It looks so much better. My 400 watt, 6500K metal halide light delivers a very natural looking sunlight simulation. The glitter lines on the sand are lovely too!

I'm getting impatient with the algae on the grasses. I've been waiting for the snails to clean them up, and they are, but I'm very tempted to trim and export. Ideally though, I'd like to let nature take its course. I go back and forth. It's hard to know what would be the most beneficial. Maybe I'll prune one and see what happens.

As I mentioned, I got a few hitchhiker snails with the manatee grass. I thought they were cerith snails but now I'm not sure. They may be conch-related. I noticed one this morning that moved a little too quickly across the sand. It was a tiny hermit crab! It's funny because I've been such a staunch anti-hermit crab-guy. But it's so tiny and cute! And it kills snails. Next time I spot it I'll demote it to QT.

Another thing I found in the grasses were some dead mysis shrimp. I wonder if any of their babies could have survived the trip. When I look at the tiny pods on the front glass through a magnifier, I see some shrimp-shaped critters, that I don't recall ever seeing before. That would be so cool if they were to grow and prosper!

Thanks to all that read this stuff!

Take a picture of the HH snails, There is a good chance I can Id them.

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Great looking tank Michael! Sorry I haven't checked in for a while, we have had our hands full lol. I love the back wall and sand scape you have going on. It's stunning.

I am still inspired by your natural approach and am slowly learning the art of long term patience. The stark difference between our first tank and then the nano that had the infusion of micro critters really hammered it home: variety works, and nature finds a way.

Post is some new pics once that tank clears up! Can't wait to see it.

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Thanks SaltySully!

I'll try and get a pic of one the snails for you to ID. It would be good to know.

Thanks SereneAquatic! The tank is looking better everyday. I would have posted pics to show off, but I've been sick the last couple days. I think I'm on the mend, so pics should be forthcoming.

I'm glad to hear the natural approach is inspiring you. I know it is difficult to 'pick a winner', with all the choices in this hobby. I'm very impressed with all that you have learned in such a short timeframe. Keep it up!

Simulated Manatee Grazing Event

I finally gave in to my urge to do something about the algae-covered-seagrass. I've read that manatee grass responds well to pruning, as it is grazed upon often in nature. I pruned the top parts that were most heavily coated. I was also able to knock some off without pruning. It's nice to see green again! I pulled a few plants up in the process, by accident, but it gave me the chance to see how the roots were doing. They look good! It's definitely encouraging.

Another thing I did was start up CO2 injection. Hopefully it's not too early in the tank's life. If it is, it may start another algae bloom. My justification for doing it was to raise the nutrient supply to the grasses, just as they are now getting much more light, after the cleaning and pruning. I'll keep an eye out for new algae, and shut down the CO2 if needed.

The water's not completely cleared, but here's a couple of pics:


http://reefcentral.com/forums/pictur...ictureid=80192


http://reefcentral.com/forums/pictur...ictureid=80193

The water column is noticeably more clear. I like seeing the ulva growing on the new fake wall on the left side of the tank. Its looking so cool.

That's great to hear, Dawn thanks!

I like the ulva too. I can't believe it survived and magically popped up! You should see it moving in the current. There's some rolling around in the grasses too. It competes with less desirable algae. I think it's pretty. And pretty useful, in a closed system.

I'm enjoying the sand bar. It's different, especially in a marine tank. Besides looking cool, sloping the substrate addresses a very practical matter. I can almost see the whole substrate surface, from my spot on the couch, favoring the most important species - me!

I look forward to adding new live rock to the dead rock on the right end. It will add a little more structure and a lot more diversity. I look forward to seeing growth in the manatee grass, and the maturation of a small ecosystem. The fun part!

I said it before, and I'll say it again, the work you've done on the wall(s) looks fantastic. I'm glad that the tank is clearing up some, the grasses are doing well, and things are falling in place.

Having a gramma being picked on is a bummer, but, there is a bright side to that, that it wasn't being picked on by other grammas (or so it seems). Are you going to keep the damsel in sort of a species tank anyway?

Thank you Kevin, for the compliments on my fake wall! Having it work out is a huge relief.

It's a bummer the springer's damsel got all nippy. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. Keeping it as a permanent QT resident is not a good option. Maybe my LFS.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/pi...ictureid=80194
Here you go, SaltSully. I took this with my phone, shooting through a magnifying glass. Lots of tiny pods too. Cerith snail right?

I found a second hermit crab. It was wearing a mini strombus shell. I moved both into QT.

I got an early look at the tank this morning. It seams the barnacle blennies enjoy morning sex! It also appears that I have four females and one male. The male's head turns dark and he does his dance, in and out of his barnacle. Only one does this. The rest, one by one, pay him a little visit, have a quick 'session', then head back to their own holes in the rocks. He periodically ducks into his lair, apparently to tend to eggs. I would think he's getting quite the collection in there, as I witnesses three sessions in under a half hour. These fish are so entertaining!

I still haven't found the perfect setup for the wave box. I've decided not to do any of the mods I'm considering until after I get the main circulation pump going. I need to know what effect it has, before I make permanent changes. I'm wondering now if the shape of the new fake wall is interfering with getting better wave height. Its uneven shape sort of splits the left end wall in two, providing an uneven surface for waves to bounce off of. How's that for irony! The fake wall built to hide the wave box mitigates the waves!

Even with the small wave I'm getting now, it's still worth it. The back and forth water movement is so natural!

I am sorry Michael but the fake wall's effect of reducing the waves made me laugh. Its just like us humans to have things turn out that way, LOL.

Still it has to be soothing and peaceful.

It just figures doesn't it? Hopefully I'm wrong! It doesn't really matter. I'm most interested in how it moves the plants. The back and forth motion is soothing and realistic. I'm diggin' it!