adding diversity to a tank

[One fish]

I had a fifteen gallon that I started with live sand and life rock that I got from about three different people a few years ago. I had pineapple sponges, little feather dusters, tons of pods, and other cool little animal life. I would just sit in front of my tank and use a magnifying glass to look at the diversity for hours. This time I started with dry sand and dry rock and after a year the tank is not as fun for me. I already have enough rock in my display, should I buy some live rock and place it in my sump?

 

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Rob A]

I basically did the same thing. I moved from one house to another and set up a brand new 150 gal tank with all new dry rock and put all my heavily encrusted live rock from my old 220 gal in the sump, in the dark, because it was covered with what I think is called micro anthelia ( tiny blue polyps). This was back in October and the only thing that seems to have transitioned up into the display has been pods. So if you want other little critters in your display you may have to stick a nice little piece of live rock in there.

 

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[mari.harutunian]

Get little pieces of rock from different people who have different creatures. Doesn't have to be a lot. Like I have tons of orange and clear tunicates, some kind of oysters, cleaner clams, pods, and the occasional red brittle(got them from pacific east as a hitchhiker). Recently I just saw a huge stomatella too.

 

 

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[zygote2k]

diversity from other people's tanks isn't very diverse in my opinion. when you put fresh live rock from the ocean into your tank, there's thousands of life forms that come out of it and over time, those life forms compete and kill each other off to the point where there's only a fraction of what was originally on that rock. 

If you want true diversity, buy fresh liverock that has been shipped in water and you'll be amazed as to what comes out of it.

I've gotten live fish, jellies, octopus, shrimps, crabs, tons of macroalgae, and encrusting corals.

[paul b]

I go to a tide pool at low tide, pick up a handful of mud, amphipods etc, and throw it in my tank.  I do that a few times a year in the summer.  All the diversity you want.

 

 

[MisterTang]

I struggle with this too, and am not sure where the balance is.

 

On the one hand, the more I keep my tank "controlled", the less risk I have of bringing in unwanted algae or pests. On the other hand, on its face, a certain amount of biodiversity seems good, and I really like those little saltwater tube worms that pop up. 

 

The more I think about aquarium bio-diversity though, the more I suspect Rob is right - if you bring something in from the ocean, it's going to have a lot of diversity, but a lot of that will probably die off (read: spike my nitrates) in a closed system that doesn't have the food chains and environment of the ocean.

 

As for paul b's aquarium, if he keeps it going a couple more decades, his fish will evolve legs and he'll have to turn it into a terrarium.

[Origami]

Biodiversity starts at the bottom and builds upwards. It includes bacteria, too.

 

Paul's method of introducing and maintaining biodiversity does have some risk of introducing pathogens and parasites (as would introducing anything from the wild, including wild- or open water-cultured live-rock), but it also brings along diversity from the bottom up in the form of bacteria packed on the surface of and inside a myriad of planktonic forms of life. As Rob mentioned, competition and time narrow the diversity inside our tanks. Who knows? Maybe even the bacteria on our hands (that we introduce to our tanks) add to or change the balance in our tanks. Gut bacteria play an important role in human-health. I suspect that, similarly, it probably plays an important part in our fish health as well.

 

How to achieve and maintain it is food for thought.

[paul b]

Paul's method of introducing and maintaining biodiversity does have some risk of introducing pathogens and parasites

Don't be a Sissy. 

[Origami]

Don't be a Sissy.

Ha! I like your approach. Wish we were closer to a natural seawater source.

 

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[zygote2k]

Fwiw, my friend Alfonso Vayra used to collect mud and invertebrates from that big pond just on the other side of the Bay Bridge.

This was the basis for his natural system that eventually produced a polyp bailout in an Elegance coral 25 years ago.

[mari.harutunian]

Is it illegal to collect invertebrates and put them in your tank??

 

 

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[paul b]

No, unless you are taking food creatures. The EPA won't even know what you are talking about. I used to have an urchin collection business here in NY where I would dive for urchins. I tried to get a permit but they told me they didn't know what an urchin was so go ahead and knock yourself out.

 

Unless of course you are trying to collect in a protected wildlife sanctuary or bank vault.

Edited May 18, 2017 by paul b