Tri-Zonal method

[Zarathustra2]

For those that may have not read I wanted to go over the Steve Tyree ™ method i have been using with my 90 and hope to give people some ideas and hopefully get some for my setup. I will go over what it is I'm doing, the success and pitfalls I've ran into so far and what I hope to see in the near future.

This entire project started out in a quest to create a decently stocked skimmer-less aquarium with as low maintenance as possible. The primary goal is to be able to support mandarin dragonettes, sponges and tunicates. In my research for this I was ran into the Steve Tyree ™ trizonal method and it made sense so I decided to try it out, with some modifications. (if you notice the TMs it is because I think anyone who names a "system" after themselves is a bit of a ******. See also "Tyree limited Edition Corals.") Hard information on this method has been hard to come by as Tyree's original book is out of print, however, i was able to piece enough together from various internet threads and ******** own website that i felt confident going for it.

You see, the basic idea appeals to me. The idea is that the coral tank that grows acros and other SPS is only one "zone" of the entire reef community. Steve called this zone the "Exposed" zone. This is due to the high levels of sunlight and water movement in the tippy-top of the reef community. He then added the Semi cryptic and Cryptic zones. (Later on after the books were written there is also a semi-exposed zone added. But that makes it quad-zonal...) The Cryptic and Semi-cryptic zones have less light and for the cryptic less turbulent flow. The Semi-Cryptic zone is characterized by 75% -99% less light, generally lateral flow (deeper water currents rather than waves) and creatures that are generally passive filter feeders. In the cryptic zone there is no turbulent flow with only 1% of the light in the Exposed zone. Critters in this zone must actively filter feed. Tunicates, sponges, non-photosynthetic bivalves and (more importantly for us) detrivores dominate this region. This cryptic zone has the largest amount of biological mass of any part of the reef. Additionally, these passive filter feeders can process as much water as the currents of the ocean bring in and out. Millions upon millions of gallons a day in a full reef.

I had always been a fan of the refugium so this idea hit me... why not add as many regions of the reef eco-system as possible. After all, what is a chaeto refugium besides a zone replicating the open sea area that Chaetomorphia grows in huge clumps in. So i decided to set up a system with as many different zones as possible that made sense within the reef aquarium.

Posting here. Will follow up in the reply.

[chrisfowler99]

Sounds interesting. Will follow.

[troypt]

I am interested in hearing about your set up and experience.

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I have been running a skimmerless tank for the past 3 years with some similar ideas. I read a lot of Eric Borneman's stuff. I have a fuge under my tank that has four different chambers that prof (Dave) custom made for me, that is made up of different zones in an attempt to have as much diversity as possible. I don't do water changes and my maintainance consists of adding kalkwasser to top off every day and feeding (I feed pretty heavily too)

Troy

[afgun]

I'm planning on doing a multi-zone system too, and I might jump on the ATS bandwagon too (yeah, I know that ship sailed awhile ago, but the idea of a skimmerless system intrigues me too, and I want to explore the effectiveness of various things myself).

--andrew

[Zarathustra2]

So what zones become the Zarathustra 3, no 4, no 5, no 6, no 7 zone system.

1. Exposed Zone - Top of the rocks in the main aquarium. Space for acros ect.
2. Semi-Exposed zone - Under the rocks there is shade. Also lower in the aquarium. Space for my favorite LPS/Clams. Also, in the heavy shade i can put some types of tunicates and decorative gorgonians.
3. Mangrove Lagoon - In the overflow, a space about 3"x6" and all the way up the back of the main tank I put a durso overflow and piled small rock rubble and shells about 3/4 of the way up the overflow. Then i put a piece of sponge filter in the back and put mangrove pods in this area. The stack of rocks directly in the overflow acts as a fantastic copepod pile. Providing a great space for mysis. There is also a good population of passive filter feeders, most notably fan worms.
4. Semi-Cryptic - My overflow goes directly into a semi cryptic environment. I have a 6" sandbed with a layer of live rock about a foot deep. There is a (relatively) dim light (a 24" t5) above that. On the top rocks I found a use for an invasive caleurpa species i picked up in my bio-diversity project. It grows well in the low light. In this area I see a lot more of the copepods and mysis but also start to see a significant population of Asterina stars, bristle worms and mini brittle stars. Near the sand bed there is a large population of zooplankton.
5. Cryptic - In the box that contains the semi-cryptic zone there is a dark acryllic divider and cover. The divider has holes drilled in it at 1" intervals or so. This allows a non-turbulent exchange of water and almost no light transfers into this zone. There is a 6" sandbed here as well with a ultrafine mud layer, crushed coral, shells, then live rock. This is the area that I have been the most surprised and happy over. There are clouds of copepods growing. Tunicates are starting to sprout. Finger sponges are everywhere, in just a month of having this setup.
6. (Note that I am still setting up these last two zones.) Macro-algae refugium - I have a 6" DSB with a 1/2-1" mud layer on top in this area here (I like DSBs .) There is a spillway from the Semi-cryptic zone into this one which falls into a ball of Chaeto and some live rock so the sand isn't disturbed. I have a small PC fuge light to provide extra light to the macro algae which will be planted in the sand area.
7. Algae Scrubber - (turf zone.) The last zone is the algae scrubber. My thought is that this would replicate a turf algae rock that waves crash over. It also acts as one of the main ways to export nutrients directly. I have all the parts but have not been able to set this up for technical reasons.

More to come after children are put to bed.

[reefman]

If I had known you were looking for more info I could have lent you the Tyree CD I have around here somewhere where he spends most of the CD explaining it.

Stephen

[Robb in Austin]

Sounds very interesting but....

This Thread Is Worthless Without Pics!

(don't know where the smily faces doing this is. )

[Zarathustra2]

Last Planned post: Findings, Lessons learned and next steps:

So first off, I have considered this overall build a success. Without what I consider the main filtration (the algae scrubber) I have the population of my old 24Gallon plus some living happily and well fed without a skimmer and running at zero point nitrates. Note that I said zero point and not 0. The DSBs (probably 300#), live rock (about 200# total I would guess) and vegetative filters use up the nitrates as they are created. This is different from a skimmer or chemical type methodology that short circuits the nitrogen cycle to achieve a reduction in nitrates.

The bigger benefit has been the amazing biodiversity I have seen in this tank. This is the continuation of the biodiversity project that I ran some time back. In this tank I had donations from nearly a dozen tanks. From scraping at the bottom of RCA's live rock tank to generous individual donations of live rock and sand from ARC members tanks. The trick that I found was giving the critters places to live. If you provide a different space you get a different set of animals there. From the swarms of copepods swimming like gnats in the cryptic zone to the mini-brittle stars in the semi-cryptic to hordes of fan worms on the rocks. It just all takes over. I've also noticed it comes in phases. At one point i had a horde of Aceol (SP?) flatworms covering the glass. I still have some of them but not the hordes. Over time it has gotten so there is more variation rather than single hordes of a type of critter.

A few individual items. I noticed a sharp difference in each of the stages. For instance, I put the mangroves in right at the end of the cycle. They loved it 100%. They sprouted right away and started putting out leaves very quickly. Also the tank just started losing the nuisance algae at that point. After installing the secondary DSB's the Bryopsis issue I had up to that point just went away. At this point my only problem is a excess of coraline algae getting on the glass and the aforementioned invasive caleurpa. What I really noticed is that as the pieces came together they really reinforced each other. The Mangroves feed mysis into the cyryptic zones. There are hydroids that throw feelers across the holes between the cryptic and semi-cryptic. And it really seems to be coming together as a full ecosystem.

Which brings me to the first downside of this. Time and patience. I initially set up this tank in September. I am just getting able to add additional stock at this point. I had the tank laying fallow (no fish) until the last month or so. It just takes time to really develop this. I am also anticipating a month to establish my algae scrubber (putting it in this weekend.) I feel like I am just starting to see the cryptic zone develop, I don't think it will be really steady state for another 5 months. So, expect a 6-9 month minimum time if you plan on building out this style of tank.

As I have mentioned a few times there has been a decent amount of battles with nuisance critters and algae. Each time it required more patience and doing research. I have found that the answer every time is more bio-diversity. If you have a issue with film algae you need snails that will eat it. I have re fallen in love with emerald crabs. Just keep them smallish.

The other thing that I do see as a downside is the need for everything to fit into place. I recently had a discussion with a fellow reefer who just got rid of his DSB because it was causing Nitrate issues. When i asked there was nothing done to increase the biodiversity of the sand, to get the little worms and copepods that are needed for a true DSB. Yes, this is a downside. The research required is something that I find fun but is really not everybody's cup of tea. On top of that there has been more than one restless night when I was hoping that some thing that I tried wouldn't kill everything or that some flat worm I saw isn't going to eat all my LPS. Yes, this is a worry in every tank but it happens much more often with this sort of project.

Coming up I have a large macro order coming to plant the DSB in the macro section. A lot of this is just because i think mermaid fans and bottle brushes look fantastic. I am also interested in adding this other type of environment. This weekend I will also be getting the algae scrubber going. I see the algae scrubber as the method that will allow me to have a much heavier stocking load. I also see it as the way to allow me to get a second mandarin to have a mated pair, maybe a scooter blenny as or a anthias. I also have plans for a plankton reaktor that I want to have online by june or july giving my tank a constant feed of rotifers and phytoplankton.

As far as some other things i would really like to try given unlimited time and money. Use a chiller and a separate box to create a cool water area of the tank. Maybe some deep sea grass bed along with some really rare fish or maybe a sea dragon. Set up a true tide pool with tides that go in and out but leave constant pools. Set up a Fresh -> Brackish -> Salt water ecosystem as a way to add top off water.

So, in conclusion, this is an extreme form of natural reef-keeping that I have been experimenting with. I very much like the results but there are a few downsides. I really do recommend putting in a non-turbulent dark space in your refugium at this point. I do have some worries of how this work in the long run. Especially as everything in reefing says that a dark space without a lot of flow is supposed to be bad, let alone something that you are supposed to encourage. I would also encourage people to start thinking of the different spaces that they create in their tanks. The main variables are around substrate, environment, light, flow type and flow strength allow a wide variety of overall environments within the reef aquarium. I think that most people would be surprised at the benefits they can achieve by emulating different environments.

[Zarathustra2]

Sounds very interesting but....

This Thread Is Worthless Without Pics!

(don't know where the smily faces doing this is. )

I will get pics as soon as my camera is up. I might try to borrow one from a buddy.

I also want to thank Dave from Epic Reef for putting my sump together. Without him my tank dream could not have been made real.

[Zarathustra2]

If I had known you were looking for more info I could have lent you the Tyree CD I have around here somewhere where he spends most of the CD explaining it.

Stephen

Please bring a copy to the meeting. I would love to give it a listen. I found a copy of his book in PDF form once but his writing is almost impenetrable. I think his ego gets in the way and clouds the words.

[mooric]

How big is this sump you used to create these different zones? It sounds like it must be HUGE.

[Zarathustra2]

It is pretty large. Dave (Prof) from Epic Reef put it together. I'll get pictures up as soon as I find my battery charger. The whole space is about 36-40" wide 2.5' tall and 18" deep. So around a 40 gallon sump space. Dave did some great stuff with the bubble trap and worked with the design for me all the way. If you plan on a custom sump I really reccomend going through him. The only downside is that he is only one person and is in high demand.

[prof]

Thanks for the kudos.

The tank is a neat setup and I know lots of work and thought has gone into this setup. I can't wait to see pics and see how it progresses over the next couple of years.