Rebuilding my 29 gallon tank

[ejaustin]

Hello, all,

So I'm in the process of rebuilding my 29 gallon tank. I picked it up a few years ago along with a pretty little fish I later found would not work and play well with others (a damselfish). I like Joey anyway and kept him as an only fish. Joey liked to arrange the sand in to tank to suit himself. Under the rocks, he got down to the bare glass, so in some other places the sand got a bit deep (like 1.5 - 2 inches). Well, recently I had to replace the light fixture. When I did, it really showed how much I needed to clean the powerheads and other equipment in the tank. So I cleaned one. After I put it back in the tank, it fell overnight and created a sandstorm that hit a fairly deep pocket in the corner. I don't know if it was just the sand or if there was something toxic in that pocket of sand, but Joey did not survive. Now I need to rebuild the tank.

After I gave Joey a watery burial, I pulled out all the live rock and used a powerhead and my hands to stir up all the sand on the bottom in case there were toxic pockets. I did a complete water change. (Four nassarius snails somehow made it through all the upheaval. I plucked them out and plunged them into the salt water I had waiting to put into the tank because that seemed to be a better option than keeping them in water they were doing their best to get out of.) I put the live rock back in the clean water and let it sit for a day. Then I placed the first couple pieces of live rock back in the tank, moving the sand out of the way so they would rest on the glass. I have a powerhead running in the tank and a heater.

I'm a quirky person and my vision for this tank is not a typical reef tank. I really like macroalgae and I'd like to have some in this tank. From what I've read, many of the macroalgae's I'm considering do better with a deeper sand bed (like 3" or so). So my current puzzle is how to have a sand bed that's deep enough for the algae and at the same time, mitigate the development of pockets of Bad Stuff. I'm looking at the stuff on Indo-Pacific Sea Farms, both for macroalgae and for sand bed maintenance critters.

It sounds to me like the sandbed clams may do a good job of keeping the substrate moving around enough to discourage the formation of pockets of bad stuff. Does anyone have any experience with these guys?

Also, I notice they offer bristle worms. It seems to me like in the distant past, I remember some people viewing bristle worms as a nuisance. Anyone have thoughts on welcoming those guys to a sand bed?

I'm also thinking of the ministars and asterinas. (I've had some asterinas in my tank already. I know some people don't like them, but I find them fascinating.) And spaghetti worms. They rock, IMO.

A typical clean-up crew of snails and crabs is assumed. I'm mostly comtemplating sand bed maintenance at this point.

Down the road, for livestock other than macroalgae and sandbed critters, I'm thinking I'd like some xenia and some GSP near the top of the tank (T5 65 watts with actinic bulb and moonlight LED). I'd like to have 3 or so scarlet cleaner shrimp. I'm thinking it would be cool to have a Hi Fin Red Banded Goby with a pistol shrimp (I know there's no guarantee the two would bound, but they might). (Another reason for a deeper sandbed, but it also means I don't want to get a sand stirring seastar for fears it would eat the shrimp and goby.) Oh, just occurred to me... do pistol shrimp get along with the cleaners? If the macroalgae are doing well, I wonder if I might be able to get away with something like a couple PJ cardinals as well.

What do y'all think?

ej

[subsea]

EJ,

I can help you with some red decorative macro-algae. I also will have some Gracilaria parvispora (Tang Heaven Red from IPSF). Last year I have purchased the $99 special from IPSF and was satisfied. For less money, you might consider Reef Cleaners. I especially like their Drawf Ceriths which reproduce in captivity.

In Coral magazine, Daniel Knopp made a comment that coral reefs should more accurately be called algae reefs. His point was that if it wasn't for the hervivores, algae would dominate coral reefs if given the chance.

I have a 75 gallon set-up in which the theme is more of a lagoon then a reef. Good luck with your endeavor.

Pat

[ejaustin]

Hi, Pat,

Thanks for the encouragement. I'll let you know when the tank has cycled enough to add the algae.

May I ask how deep your sandbed is? Also, did you get the sandbed clams from IPSF? If so, what do you think of them?

ej

EJ,

I can help you with some red decorative macro-algae. I also will have some Gracilaria parvispora (Tang Heaven Red from IPSF). Last year I have purchased the $99 special from IPSF and was satisfied. For less money, you might consider Reef Cleaners. I especially like their Drawf Ceriths which reproduce in captivity.

In Coral magazine, Daniel Knopp made a comment that coral reefs should more accurately be called algae reefs. His point was that if it wasn't for the hervivores, algae would dominate coral reefs if given the chance.

I have a 75 gallon set-up in which the theme is more of a lagoon then a reef. Good luck with your endeavor.

Pat

[subsea]

EJ,

My sandbed was 6". With respect to the clams from IPSF, I must admit that I could not see them even with a magnifying glass. With respect to sandbed critters I purchased Nassarius and Cerith Snails. Get some good live rock or find someone who runs a natural system without a protein skimmer and use some of their sand. If my systems had not just been moved, I would offer some of mine.

Pat