10G Macro Algae Tank

[WarEagleNR88]

Here it is. The development of it since October of last year. This tank came in 3rd place in the stock category on Nano-Reef.com for the past year and I figured it's time to move it over to the big forum and see if I can get some input/etc from you guys. Plus I'll just make this the thread's home for now since it's locked over there.

Basically, this tank was going to be a marine planted tank from day one. Macro algae was the focus from day one and I never really changed the focus of it. I went out a limb by sporting a few unorthodox methods and I'd like to share this little guys story with you all.



EQUIPMENT
Standard 10 Gallon Glass Aquarium
Current USA Satellite 20" 40W 50/50 Power Compact Fluorescent Fixture
Marineland Penguin 200 BIO-Wheel Power Filter
Aquarium Systems MaxiJet 600 Powerhead
WON Brothers Pro-Heat 50W Titanium Heater
Coralife Digital Thermometer
2 Standard 6 Outlet Power Strips
2 Intermatic Heavy Duty Timers
Custom Built Light Dimmer

LIVE ROCK / LIVE SAND
7 lbs mix of Marshall Island and Fiji Live Rock
15 to 20 lbs Live Sand Mix:
--- Nature's Ocean BIO-Active Live Aragonite Reef Sand
--- CaribSea Aragonite Select, fine grain
--- CaribSea Geo-Marine Aragonite Formula Florida Crushed Coral, coarse grain
--- CaribSea Eco-Complete Planted Aquarium Substrate

WATER AND REEF MAINTENANCE
Instant Ocean Salt Mix
Seachem Reef Builder
Seachem Reef Advantage Calcium
Kent Marine Super Chelated Iron and Manganese
Greg Watson's Potassium Nitrate 13.5-0-46.2
Greg Watson's Mono Potassium Phosphate
Ocean Nutrition Forumla One Small Marine Pellet
American Marine Selcon Concentrate
Reef Nutrition Phyto Feast
Sweetwater Zooplankton
Kent Marine Micro-Vert Fine Filter Food

STOCKING
Macroalgae:
--- Caulerpa spp.
--- Codium sp.
--- Valonia sp.
--- Actinotrichia sp.
--- Coralline spp.
--- Sargassum sp.
--- Other unidentified algae species

Fishes:
--- 1 Randall's Goby, Amblyeleotris randalli
--- 1 Ocellaris Clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris
--- 1 Barnacle Blenny, Acanthemblemaria sp.
--- 1 Neon Goby, Elacatinus oceanops

Invertebrates:
- Corals:
--- Acropora sp.
--- Seriatopora sp.
--- Zoanthus spp.
--- Actinodiscus spp.
- Motile:
--- 6 Blue Leg Hermit Crabs, Phimochirus operculatus
--- 4 Scarlet Reef Hermit Crabs, Paguristes cadenati
--- 1 Trochus Snail, Trochus sp.
--- 2 Astrea Snails, Astraea tecta
--- 4 Cerith Snails, Cerithium litteratum
--- 4 Tonga Nassarius Snails, Nassarius sp.
--- 1 Common Nassarius Snail, Nassarius vibex
--- 1 Randall's Pistol Shrimp a.k.a. Candy Stripe, Alpheus randalli
--- Feather Duster Worms, Bispira sp.
- Motile Hitchhikers:
--- Stomatella Snails
--- Micro Brittle Stars
--- Asterina Stars
--- Zooplanktonic Animals (Amphipods, Copepods)

And for the photos... here they are from October to April:











I'll post an update soon.

[Lpabsolute]

Very Cool......

[graveyardworm]

Nice looking tank, looks like it gone through quite a bit of changes as it has matured.

Is it a stand alone tank? Do you do any dosing?

[WarEagleNR88]

It is all by itself. The only thing attached is the Penguin Bio-Wheel filter (with Purigen, the carbon cartridge, and Bio Wheel), a 50W titanium heater (suctioned to the bottom glass pane in the substrate near the back), and a Maxijet 600 PH. Oh and the lights, Current USA 1x40W 20" combo bulb fixture.

In the beginning, I dosed a solution of KNO3 and occasionally a solution of K2PO4. I also dosed an appropriately sized solution of Reef Advantage Calcium and Reef Builder (separate of course) and temporarily dosed Kent's Chelated Iron.

Now I just watch and see how things does. I'm trying to get back on a good consistent schedule of tank maintenance so hopefully things will improve. I've removed almost all of the caulerpa from the tank except the C. scalpelliformis--the C. racemosa is too hard to keep in check and it almost choked the life out my two sps frags--and am trying my hand at Halimeda again.

I'll get a FTS together tonight.

[ChloroPhil]

That's gorgeous!

I'm getting the parts together to do a 20g version of your tank to house decorative shrimp, although it will be part of a larger system and not stand alone. I'm surprised more people don't set up small display quality macro tanks in place of the traditional algae scrubber refugium.

Would you please tell us where you got your macros? Would you be willing to share some cuttings?

I noticed you use Greg Watson's ferts, his stuff is the best, hands down. Why'd you put Eco-Complete in there?

I just started reading some of your NR post. An ADG tank would look awesome, but they're pricey! I've thought about getting one of the ADA glass overflow setups, but ouch!

Regards,
Phil

[sfilingeri]

Thats really nice, reminds me of a FW planted tank only better

[engine]

wow, that looks really good. I would love to get mine looking that way. btw, I had no idea the cleanup crew for that 10 gallon tank should be so big

[WarEagleNR88]

This is no ordinary 10G. And thanks for the nice comments, everyone.

Today I spent a few minutes feeding some flakes and watching all the animals eat. Most interesting was the little alpheid and the Randall's Goby. As the food swirled about--I leave the pumps on when I feed flake--the hermits tried to invade their territory where the newest burrow is to get to food on the other side. Every time, the goby would stand guard in close contact with the shrimp and just sit there over the burrow. The hermits would approach and the shrimp would literally bulldoze the hermits in their shells away then retreat back to the burrow under the goby. One of the tonga snails crawled over them all--the pair paid it no attention but stayed with the hermit vs pair struggle. The goby moved over and the snail moved towards the goby, the goby moved over again and the snail still moved closer. The goby had its body contorted trying to let the snail pass and had this look/body language like... "yuck get away from me" as the snail slithered past. This all happened in an area about 2"x2".

The shrimp seemed ****ed 'cause everyone was knocking stuff into his burrow and he kept having to clean it out. He looks good now, I can tell he's molted as he's a little larger since I last saw him--I've yet to actually see a molt yet though.

One thought, within the pair, how do they feed? Is there some method where the goby grabs food and brings it back to the shrimp, or is the shrimp fully capable on its own of finding food. What goes on in their burrow when they're nowhere to be seen. If only we knew.

Algae looks good, the Halimeda is turning a dark shade of green. Hopefully it will sprout some new fronds in the next couple of days. Still no picture update and I know, this thread is worthless without pics.

[WarEagleNR88]

I've been doing a little work on the tank. I've tried to pull out as much C.racemosa as possible and I think it is helping the health of the tank. The Halimeda I bought a few weeks ago is a nice healthy green color and is actually attaching itself into the crevice where I put it. It has a thick "stem" buried with lots of "roots" around its base--not really sure the parts of an algae. The animals are doing well. I've been keeping them fattened the past couple of weeks. I've fed them lots more food than they typically get. In the pictures I took tonight, a couple of them actually have little pot bellies. And without further ado...

[t0mmyb0y]

wow, those are kickarse pix! lots of macro in the display is still underrated...green, red, purple make such an awesome combo.

[Plantbrain]

Try this, adding venturi air mist to the tank via the powerhead.
Never use that weed C. racemosa.

Try the C serrluata, it's far nicer for making and a low carpet.

Now, use scissors to trim the rug to about 1" and then wait for it to grow back and take the photo(mow it to about 1" tall).

Other possible foreground weeds: seagrasses(shorter, Halophia etc) Most hard red macros under high current do well and grow slower.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[WarEagleNR88]

Originally posted by t0mmyb0y wow, those are kickarse pix! lots of macro in the display is still underrated...green, red, purple make such an awesome combo.

Thanks a lot t0mmyb0y! Stay tuned. I've got a move coming up in late September and we'll see how this little guy does. It's interesting to go back and go through all of my month-by-month pictures. It always puts a smile on my face.

Originally posted by Plantbrain
Try this, adding venturi air mist to the tank via the powerhead.
Never use that weed C. racemosa.

Try the C serrluata, it's far nicer for making and a low carpet.

Now, use scissors to trim the rug to about 1" and then wait for it to grow back and take the photo(mow it to about 1" tall).

Other possible foreground weeds: seagrasses(shorter, Halophia etc) Most hard red macros under high current do well and grow slower.

Regards,
Tom Barr

That C. racemosa was insane. Now I'm on an all out war to eradicate it. I don't know if you can tell, but I quickly got over my fear of trimming Caulerpa. Now whenever I need to, I just chop it down. I don't know if I want to try another Caulerpa in this tank. I really want the particular species of Halimeda I currently have to be the dominant alga in the tank. It is very robust with healthy fronds and a nice green color I've been looking for. With it covering that area in the middle of the tank packed full of amphipods, mysids and micro-brittlestars, I will be a happy man. To see that little neon goby poke its little head out of a nice thick bundle of Halimeda, that'll be the day.

However, in this tank alone I have allowed the algaes--twice the C. racemosa, once from the C. scalpelliformis, and once the Halimeda--to go sexual multiple times. Somehow nothing that I could tell died from those particular events. I wonder if the Bio-Wheel and carbon in the filter had something to do with it? I didn't change the water or do anything. I basically just crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. As you can see, the aquarium has never seen Cyanobacteria and any hair algae is very minimal--almost natural. It grows only on the outtake of the two pumps and appears healthy if a unwanted algae can be called that.

As for the seagrass, in the back of my cranium--or the front, wherever thought stems from--I decided one day I will attempt a seagrass. Remembering my lessons from my planted FW days, an established tank roots plants faster and more successfully than a newly setup tank. After a year has passed, I think this tank is entering into a stage of maturity as the substrate is teeming with life and plenty of nutrients. Some time in the future, my plan will be to attempt this very theory on this aquarium and attempt a creeping grass over the open areas. If only there were a SW version of Glossostigma elatinoides, Marsilea minuta, or Hemianthus callitrichoides, then I would be set! It would be the fusion of all I enjoy from FW transplanted into SW. Your eyes would pop out of your skull.

I will try removing the nozzle plug on the MJ600 and adding the venturi tube to it. I've read your thoughts on adding O2 to the aquarium; I wonder how it will do in my setup? I also need to check on the Purigen and probably clean out if not swap the carbon filter in the Penguin filter.

I enjoy the conversation, Tom. I always learn so much from your replies.

[Plantbrain]

I think the Caulpera I suggested will work very well for your goal.

Trim it.

Maybe once every 2-3 weeks is all.
You can beat it back, do not worry, it'll grow back fast.

New tank sediments are nutrient, specially organic carbon poor, so adding some mud that's been soaked well in shallow pan for 2-3 week or boiled will help.

Or some deep vacuumed mulm from an established marine tank.
Add that. then you have no start up issues.

That adds precisely what is missing from a old tank's sediment.
DBS's are particular good for this.

Regards,
Tom Barr