Chris's Pico Pest Reef!

[Chris]

Alrighty, prepare your browsers for a mountain of pics!

The box arrived looking like it had gone three rounds with an MMA fighter. As usual, thank you to USPS for their incredible service 🙄

Inside was a cooling pack and an insulated bag:

Cactus Caulerpa:

Caulerpa Mexicana:

Pencil Cap:

Brown Button Polyps:

Hermit Crabs:

Dwarf Ceriths (I ordered 10 and got 30):

Nerites:

Zig-Zag Periwinkles:

No DOA's, as far as I can tell. Time will tell - all the snails and crabs made it, but the macros can melt away in the days after being shipped. That said, everything was still solid and had minimal melt, so I'm hopeful!

Brown Button Polyps are coming around:

Here's the Pencil Cap, which propagates a lot like Vallisneria, interestingly enough:

Here's the Caulerpa Mexicana, which will probably take over the tank (note the melt on some of the fronds):

And, finally, the Cactus Caulerpa. This is just the nicest looking fragment. Most of it looked kinda spindly, so I put it behind the rockwork to grow out for now:

Expect a video on the tank tonight or tomorrow!

[Streetwise]

Cool! I enjoy seeing some marine stuff for variety. Someday, I will run a marine tank again.

[eatyourpeas]

What a fun box!!! Those Caulerpa look beautiful! 😍

[Chris]

On 10/15/2021 at 5:43 PM, Streetwise said:

Cool! I enjoy seeing some marine stuff for variety. Someday, I will run a marine tank again.

There certainly is more variety available for marine tanks than there is freshwater. Freshwater variety is out there, you just don't see it commonly, unfortunately. I'd love to keep some of the freshwater macros, freshwater gobies, freshwater blennies (!), stuff like that.

On 10/15/2021 at 6:40 PM, eatyourpeas said:

What a fun box!!! Those Caulerpa look beautiful! 😍

Thank you! I love macros, so, so much. They really are gorgeous. Don't tell anybody, but I've been researching for a seagrass tank for years, if I only had the insane funds to do it properly!

[Chris]

Here's a video on the tank, detailing from Day 4 up until today 🙂

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by Chris

[eatyourpeas]

On 10/15/2021 at 6:18 PM, Chris said:

Thank you! I love macros, so, so much. They really are gorgeous. Don't tell anybody, but I've been researching for a seagrass tank for years, if I only had the insane funds to do it properly!

Macros are amazing! I was shocked when I learned most marine aquarists avoid them because of the possibility of micro algae. My critters would not be happy without either. We have some amazing eelgrass around here, but it is protected so I can't bring any into the tank. When diving, I could just watch its swaying for hours! I have been known to be the one just "floating" for a while instead of coming to the boat. 🤪

[Chris]

On 10/16/2021 at 11:11 AM, eatyourpeas said:

Macros are amazing! I was shocked when I learned most marine aquarists avoid them because of the possibility of micro algae. My critters would not be happy without either. We have some amazing eelgrass around here, but it is protected so I can't bring any into the tank. When diving, I could just watch its swaying for hours! I have been known to be the one just "floating" for a while instead of coming to the boat. 🤪

I've always heard that a lot of aquarists avoid them because they're not always conductive to the "normal" reef tank set up - not all of them like that nasty Tuna Blue lighting, and some of them can smother corals if left unchecked, or go sexual. Meh.

From what I've read, most species of true seagrasses would require a very specific setup, anyway. I've looked into Stargrass and Oargrass (both of which can be had cheap, when it's in season), but collection laws are iffy at best and you tend to need an insanely deep, nutrient-rich substrate (I.E. Miracle Mud) with small sand-stirrers (to keep things oxygenated, but nothing big enough to uproot the grass), and some high-powered lighting. I've seen people do everything "right" and have their tanks still fail. I'm a little afraid, lol!

I'd love to go diving! We have a couple river beaches around here, and I always like going and watching the darters in the shallows. I've considered looking into Kentucky collection laws (I know they're strict-ish on fish, but I'm not sure on plants), and doing a KY Biotope. I'm pretty sure we have some pretty "classic" species here - Rainbow Darters, Tennessee Darters, Creek Chubs, Paddlefins, stuff like that. One day!

[Chris]

So uh... I just got home, and was looking in the tank. Noticed some diatoms growing, which makes sense because I dosed the tank. Then, I look down and see THIS:

It's got feet tubes like starfish and sea urchins do - is it a cucumber, perhaps? I guess it had to hitchhike in on that rock!

 

 

Edited October 17, 2021 by Chris

[eatyourpeas]

It does look like a sea cucumber, but the little antennae makes me think it may be a sea slug.

Edited October 17, 2021 by eatyourpeas

[Chris]

On 10/17/2021 at 12:36 AM, eatyourpeas said:

It does look like a sea cucumber, but the little antennae makes me think it may be a sea slug.

I think I've got it ID'd as a Florida Sea Cucumber.

[eatyourpeas]

Lucky!!! 😍

 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

This is a very enjoyable journal @Chris! Thanks for sharing your journal. I’ve been inspired by you and @eatyourpeasto think outside my freshwater box. 

[Chris]

On 10/17/2021 at 1:25 AM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

This is a very enjoyable journal @Chris! Thanks for sharing your journal. I’ve been inspired by you and @eatyourpeasto think outside my freshwater box. 

I'm glad you're enjoying it! I love my freshwater tanks, but I have lots of fun with my salty tanks too. They're just different :)

[Hobbit]

How in the world did something that big hitchhike on a rock?? 😮 It’s an amazing little creature! Looks like something out of a Miyazaki film. 😄 

[Chris]

On 10/18/2021 at 10:51 AM, Hobbit said:

How in the world did something that big hitchhike on a rock?? 😮 It’s an amazing little creature! Looks like something out of a Miyazaki film. 😄 

You'd be surprised what manages to hitchhike and survive! Mantis shrimp, pistol shrimp, large serpent stars, eunice worms, bobbit worms, all kinds of things.

I think I actually did see this guy at one point, whenever the aiptasia who was in the front moved the first time. I looked in, and saw something brownish-yellow. I thought it was just the Aiptasia's foot, but it totally could have been him wrapped up in there!

I topped this tank off for the first time today - just 1 liter, which really isn't so bad for a pico. The tank had evaporated up to 1.027-1.028, which is a bit higher than what I like to run - I mixed the tank at 1.026. I was aiming for 1.025. Whenever I decide to do a water change, I'll be correcting that to 1.025. For now, I'll maintain the 1.026.

Everything is doing well, I think. We've definitely hit diatom-time, but I knew that was going to happen when I dosed that Iron. Oh well! The Cactus Caulerpa I put into the back of the tank has some hair algae on it, but only part of it - makes me think that bit may be dead. Otherwise, while I've not seen any obvious growth on any macro, I've not seen rapid deterioration, which is relatively common after shipping. It's been successful, I think!

Oh, and the Button Polyps seem to be loving life, too.

If you look closely, the polyp on the bottom left actually has more speckling around the mouth than the others do. Looks like a slightly different morph! Cool. Definitely worth like $6.

Cell phone pics, but you get the idea.

[eatyourpeas]

Did one of you Aiptasia move out of sight?

[Chris]

On 10/18/2021 at 6:52 PM, eatyourpeas said:

Did one of you Aiptasia move out of sight?

Two did!

[Chris]

All is well in the tank!

One cool thing I've noticed about this tank is how quickly it's digesting nutrients. Algae is obviously growing, and so is the red slime, but compare today's FTS to the one I took on Monday:

Obviously the CUC will help a ton with the diatoms I'm seeing, but I'm not sure they're helping quite that much. I haven't done much testing on the tank, but most everything looks very happy. The polyps are big and open, and all the feather dusters are breeding and building bigger tubes. The macros have yet to really catch onto growth, but I'm betting they're just establishing and recovering from shipping stress.

The cucumber is still okay, too - hiding away underneath the rock in the middle.

[Hobbit]

What does the cucumber eat? (Not… cucumber surely?)

[Chris]

On 10/21/2021 at 7:10 AM, Hobbit said:

What does the cucumber eat? (Not… cucumber surely?)

Well, this particular species is supposed to eat micro organisms from the substrate, but I've read they'll eat Nori and such too. I haven't seen this guy take anything I've offered, though!

Here's the cucumber and one of the hermits, just chilling on a rock.

Here's some new growth on the Caulerpa Mexicana:

A baby Aiptasia on the glass:

Cactus Caulerpa:

And the Button Polyps:

I feel I should add that I've not scrubbed algae on this tank in like two weeks - the CUC is doing all of the work.

Edited October 24, 2021 by Chris

[eatyourpeas]

On 10/24/2021 at 10:13 AM, Chris said:

Well, this particular species is supposed to eat micro organisms from the substrate, but I've read they'll eat Nori and such too. I haven't seen this guy take anything I've offered, though!

He probably won't. If you think he is not getting enough food you can add a little phytoplankton. I also use Reef Snow every now and then for my barnacles.

Tank is looking happy!

[Chris]

On 10/24/2021 at 1:17 PM, eatyourpeas said:

He probably won't. If you think he is not getting enough food you can add a little phytoplankton. I also use Reef Snow every now and then for my barnacles.

Tank is looking happy!

I'd have to order phyto online - I could likely keep it in the fridge, I think, but I'm not sure it's needed right now. Overall most things seem pretty happy. I have done one tiny feeding of reef-roids, and I might do another one soon, just to make sure I don't run too low on nutrients.

I admit that I haven't tested this tank much... I may pay for that later, but we'll see.

The long-term goal with the cucumber is to move him to a proper tank. This little tank won't provide enough food for him for long, so he'll likely move into a larger FOWLR system whenever I move, I've decided.

[eatyourpeas]

On 10/24/2021 at 10:21 AM, Chris said:

The long-term goal with the cucumber is to move him to a proper tank.

Can't wait to follow his growth! 😍

[Chris]

Nothing too awful exciting to report.

New Aiptasia babies are popping up, and I spotted a tiny bristleworm in the pest rock:

Most of the hair algae has begun to die off of the cactus caulerpa:

And some new growth Mexicana:

[Chris]

Long time no see!

This tank has been kinda hanging out on autopilot while I house-hunt, so not much has really changed. I definitely have more cyano and hair algae than I did a month ago, and way more aiptasia, but that's to be expected. I really just need to scrape the glass and do a water change, and I think the tank will be in tip-top shape.

The macros mostly died - the Cactus Caulerpa made it, but that's it. I'm not sure what happened with the others - they all melted away over time. The palys have done fine, though.

I've re-thought my decision to stock the tank with a mantis shrimp, but want to stick with a pest theme. A Gaudy Clown Crab is currently top of the list for ideas!