Oyster Reef Ecosystem Tank

[ccoons43]

here are the pics of the tank. I have a useless camera so the pics are not the best.



















I will try to get some data from the prof. as soon as possible

[ccoons43]

T

[ccoons43]

This guy was in the tank but is now gone

[AVALover5498]

That's an amazing tank. Looks like it should belong in public aquarium. Good luck.

[Hypsoblennius]

Thanks for the pics ccoons43! I wonder if they need specimens? If I have extra when I collect I'd be willing to give them to the school.

The last two pics are Chasmodes bosquianus (striped blenny), which will probably be the dominant species in my tank (that is my plan anyway). Nice pics of the blenny too, probably as good as any that are on the net. Hopefully if my system is successful I'll have a male in breeding colors to post I also expect that I can get the skilletfish and the gobies to breed as well.

I was hoping to get some Hypsoblennius hentzi blennies too, but the more I read about them the more I've determined that they are probably found a bit deeper than I'd be able to collect. Maybe this will inspire me to recertify for diving after all these years since my cert expired. If I happen on some of them then that would be a bonus, but I want a tank full of striped blennies for sure.

Looks like the other types of fish that I can make out in there are banded killifish, mummichogs, spot or croakers?, small striped bass, and a toadfish. Intesting about the oyster reef, they built it like a wall. I was thinking about aquascaping the back walls in a similar way with a fake piling and a couple oyster rock islands over a sand bed. When I'm done making my DIY rock/oyster clumps I'll post a link to the pics that I'm going to post on the DIY rock thread I'm going to start making those rocks ASAP so they will be reef ready by the time my tank comes in. I need to find a supply of old oyster shells, that's my project this weekend. If I can get them quickly then I may have some time to make my first batch of rock/reef.

[ccoons43]

The biology class collects stuff all semester, I always check the tank for new stuff. the two white tubs one with oysters and the one with crabs are in the lab and are an open system with water continuesly pumped from the river. They also use the lab to keep corals and some sw fish.

I didn't take the pics of the blenny that's why you can see him. The pics were taken by a co-worker who spends as much on his cameras that some do on their reef tanks.

[Hypsoblennius]

It's my wallpaper at work now!

[ccoons43]

here are some more pics from the tank that my co worker took

[Hypsoblennius]

Nice pics!

I found a good source of oyster shells and purchased some Portland I cement and some solar salt. I had some time to make some rock yesterday but football got in the way! I'll be out of town so it will be a couple weeks before I can start building the reef rock. When that is done, I'll have my first pics.

I currently have a 55g that I was going to use as a QT. I may set that up as a temporary system and see if I can fill it with a few fish while I'm getting everything else done... I love to hunt for sharks teeth along the bay, so I'm thinking that I'll combine one of those trips with some collecting The other good thing is that I just purchased a nice pair of waders from LLBean!!!! I'm good to go as long as fish are still in the shallows!!!!!!!!!!

[ccoons43]

If you have not been to calvert marine museum in solomons you should go check it out. They have several displays set up to show the life of the bay and the attached bodies of water. They also have an oyster reef setup. If you ask and tell them your plan you can probably go behind the scenes for a tour. I was there for the reef symposium on saturday and a few members took a tour behind the scenes, But our local club is planning a trip for a behind the scenes tour.

the best place that I am aware of to find shark teeth is Calvert Cliffs state park

Good Luck with the setup

[Hypsoblennius]

Originally posted by ccoons43
If you have not been to calvert marine museum in solomons you should go check it out. They have several displays set up to show the life of the bay and the attached bodies of water. They also have an oyster reef setup. If you ask and tell them your plan you can probably go behind the scenes for a tour. I was there for the reef symposium on saturday and a few members took a tour behind the scenes, But our local club is planning a trip for a behind the scenes tour.

Yes, their oyster reef display is the inspiration for my tank! I love that tank!!! Last time I was there with my family my wife nearly tore my arm from my shoulder socket trying to get me to leave that tank! I would love to take a behind the scenes tour.

[Hypsoblennius]

Update! I’ve ordered and paid for an aquarium for my oyster reef. Rather than a quarter cylinder, I’m having a custom cubish style tank built. It’s going to be 36”x36”x18”, 100 gallon acrylic. The sump/refugium will also be acrylic, 36”x12”x18”. I’m going to have a mud style natural filtration system, no skimmer, with live rock (DIY rock as stated earlier). I’ll have pics once the tank has been built and delivered to me. I’m estimating 4 to 6 weeks or so. That said, I’ve been lazy on the DIY rock project. I made a batch of my oyster rock but it turned out poorly. I hope to make another batch soon. When I do, I’ll post pics of those rocks if they turn out OK.

I'm stoked!

[Hypsoblennius]

Update:

I recently heard that my tank is nearly finished and he's building my sump, which will actually be a bit bigger than I first posted which is fine because it's going behind a wall and in the basement out of site. He said it should be ready soon...I'm on the edge of my seat and can't wait to get started.

I'm working on a design for my stand this weekend, if I can finish then I'll post it here. I have much to do to get this rolling. Once stand is completed, the tank and sump delivered, the equipment and plumbing are done, then I'll begin collecting some rock, sand, mud and eventually algae/plants from the Bay and get things cycled properly. If I can't find plants that are suitable then I may purchase some chaeto for the sump, which is probably what I'll wind up doing.

Once the parameters stablize then I'll be collecting the critters, with primary focus on the blennies!!!!

I am so friggin stoked!

Oh, and I'll start posting pics when the tank arrives!

[Hypsoblennius]

The fun begins!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I am very excited about this project. I just picked up my tank which is 36"X36"X18", almost 100 gallons, thanks to Jeff (NAGA) who built these for me (awesome job Jeff!!!):



Here's the sump, 36"X17"X18", fuge on the right, return on the left. Right now I'm leaning toward all natural filtration, so really the middle section will be involved in that fashion too. If I decide to employ a skimmer then I'll worry about implementation of that at that point.



Next steps will be to complete the stand, install plumbing, purchase pump and lighting, and then the fun begins, collecting! Collecting will involve first establishing the biological filter using cinder blocks that I'll find along the shore along with some bay live sand. I also think that I may bring in bay water too. When I can find time I'll be making my own LR for the display to replace the cinder blocks later down the road.

[ccoons43]

Looking good so far I can't wait to see it finished.

[Samala]

I'm so excited for you!

I'll really be following this with interest now that I will be constructing a very similar system, except reflecting Florida coastal oyster reefs.

>Sarah

[TarheelFrag]

the last bushel of oysters I bought I decided o add some of them to my tank. This was about 3 months ago or so. I acked them them by placing them in a larege bowl and adding a small amount of tank water all day until the bowl was full (thus slowly bringing them up to room temp). Then I placed a air stone in the bowl for about an hour before I went to bed. The next morning I did a app. 50% water change on the bowl from my tank. I then let them set for app. 4 hours and them added them to my tank. Of the 4 large oysters I added all of them all still alive and doing great! I also placed some little neck clams in my tank and they are also doing good. Hope the info helps....

[Hypsoblennius]

Originally posted by Wampas
the last bushel of oysters I bought I decided o add some of them to my tank. This was about 3 months ago or so. I acked them them by placing them in a larege bowl and adding a small amount of tank water all day until the bowl was full (thus slowly bringing them up to room temp). Then I placed a air stone in the bowl for about an hour before I went to bed. The next morning I did a app. 50% water change on the bowl from my tank. I then let them set for app. 4 hours and them added them to my tank. Of the 4 large oysters I added all of them all still alive and doing great! I also placed some little neck clams in my tank and they are also doing good. Hope the info helps....

Yes it does, thank you! That was my initial goal, to keep some oysters alive too, hence my goal of using a natural unskimmed filtration method with heavy use of macro algae for nutrient export. Also, I was hoping to find a bunch of tunicates to put in the fuge as well and a few other filter feeders too for more filtration. I may have to supplement feeding to keep them alive with purchased planktonic foods, but still it would be very cool to succeed at this.

I have no idea what problems I will encounter. Algae blooms are a primary concern, also perhaps parasitism... I have a QT system already in place, so maybe that will help.

[Hypsoblennius]

Latest update:

Things are much slower getting this project together than I had planned. Hopefully I'll have everthing up and running and the tank stocked by October.

Major progress made on the stand. It helps when you have friends with the right tools and knowledge. I have to give my buddy Bob credit, although I was there he did most of the handywork. I had designed a stand, roughly 3X3 and a sump stand using Google SketchUp 6, brought my plans to his place and immediately went out and purchased materials. The basic design is still there but we've modified it somewhat, so I'm posting some pics to let you know the progress.

Cutting the 4X4 legs to accept the top and bottom frames:


Attaching the top and bottom segments to the legs:






More pics to come in a minute. My plan was to use treated wood, but we had trouble finding any that weren't soaking water logged wet and/or near straight. So, we found some straight lumber and decided to waterproof the frame after assembly.

[Hypsoblennius]

Here's the frame upright after adding supports:



Another angle showing supports:


Here's after we've added the two sides and the top. It's laying on the back, front is up. We've removed the bottom front brace so that we can get this thing out of his place and into my house. Actually, later, we're going to install that front bottom brace and remove the back unfinished one so that we don't ding any of the finished areas:



The sides and front door will be finished using formica then trimmed with dark wood molding, here's what I've picked:



Here's the stand as it sits today, upright, front facing:


This weekend we'll treat the wood frame and plywood in an attempt to waterproof it (we'll have to remove the plywood and replace it, of course). Also, we need to cut the back; cut, fit and install the door; cut, trim and glue the formica; and the cut and fit the molding. More info to come in the next post.

[Hypsoblennius]

After the "cube" stand has been completed, then we'll build the sump stand. Here are some facts related to the stand:

Legs = 4X4
Top and bottom frames and the bracing = 2X4
Top = 3/4" plywood
Sides = 1/2" plywood
Finish = stone laminate and wood trim

Here's a pic of my original plan:


At first, I had a 4" lip around the front and sides, but later decided to eliminate that and keep it flush with the tank. The door will be a bit different too, but the basic idea will be the same. The top frame in the plan used 4X4, but we used 2X4 instead.

Here is the plan for the sump stand:


The sump will be supported by the 4 legs furthest apart, made of 2X4s and the top will be 3/4" plywood. The rest will support my return pumps and any other purpose that I may come up with.

Basically, the display tank will be in my recreation room downstairs and the sump will be plumbed on the other side of the wall adjoining my basement, in the basement.

[jhuggins]

Looks fun. Keep us updated

[Serioussnaps]

Truly original...I am subscribing. So cool to say hey this is what is in OUR back yard if you know what I mean. Tells a story about who you are and where you are from. I love the blue crabs by the way.