Sandy Bottom tank

[mogurnda]

Hey guys,

 

The dominant macroalgae have changed a little, but it looks pretty similar to the photos in the old TOTM thread. I have been letting it settle down, and waiting to get another redlip blenny after the last SNAFU. The main growth has been the sponge in the sump, and the gracilaria in the main tank.

 

Will shoot some photos when I get a chance.

 

Edit: I just realized we now have a dedicated tank forum, so I moved the thread here.

[mogurnda]

FInally scraped some coralline and shot some pix.

 

 

Only a few changes to speak of.

-The big Codium detached a few months ago.

-One jawfish went down the overflow and is happily living in the fuge.

-Treesprite now has one of the female angels.

-I took out the Korallia and Tunze and replaced them with a pair of modded MJ1200s, on the same Suregrip magnet. They alternate every 5 min (we'll see how long they last) and the gorgonians seem a lot happier with the flow.

 

[toastiireefs]

how do you keep the macro in control

[mogurnda]

how do you keep the macro in control

Every once in a while I pull a large wad of Gracilaria out, and harvest some of the red hairy stuff. The Caulerpa and Ochtodes sprout up here and there but never really get out of control. The sargassum is growing very slowly, but steadily.

[mogurnda]

Wow, I guess I haven't updated in a while. The tank is recovering from a bad bout of red hair algae, and I am in a mood to shoot a few more photos. It looks similar, but I have pulled all the Caulerpa out, and I have rearranged the rocks a bit.

 

Here's what it looks like now.

 

 

The three jawfish just hunkered down in their holes and looked annoyed.

 

Most of the gorgonians are very happy:

 

Black sea rod, Plexaura homomalla

 

Knobby candelabrum, Eunicea

 

Purple frilly, Pseudopterogorgia (I think)

 

The only macros that have done very well during the RHA plague were red grape, and Sargassum. You can still see nuisance algae on the Sargassum here.

 

Along with the angels and blenny, I now have this little guy munching hair algae. I know how big Atlantic blue tangs get, so I have a lot of motivation to get the larger version of this tank set up in the spring. The male angel was pretty brutal at first, but now they have a comfortable dominance hierarchy.

 

Found this chiton under a rock when I was re-scaping. They are great for grazing between the glass and the sandbed.

[davelin315]

Dave, looks great! Have you noticed any breeding with the jawfish? I had a pair years ago that would brood the eggs but never had any hatch. Didn't even know they were mouth brooders until I moved the tank and one of them spit out a ball of eggs.

[mogurnda]

Dave, looks great! Have you noticed any breeding with the jawfish? I had a pair years ago that would brood the eggs but never had any hatch. Didn't even know they were mouth brooders until I moved the tank and one of them spit out a ball of eggs.

Haven't seen any yet, but a couple of them shared a burrow for a while.