Zarathustra2 Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 So, After this weekend I will be starting my fallow period for my new tank. I will only have snails and macro in the tank during this time to grow the micro fauna out and help increase biodiversity. To help with this I would like to ask for donations of live sand from various members sand beds. I would also be interested in small chunks of live rock that have any sort of interesting organizims on them. I can trade dry sand/rock or trade live sand or rock out of the aquarium after everything has seeded properly depending on how you would like to do it. My goal is to be able to make this a resource for seed sand for the club overall after I have gotten the entire bed to be stable and as diverse as possible. As a base I am using sand of 3 different grades from 4 different tanks for a 4" DSB in the main tank and a 6-8"DSB in the refugium. I am supplementing this with live mud from reefcleaners that is going into the fuge. I am also using the tri-zonal method of filtration and will have a semi-cryptic and cryptic zones in the sump/fuge. I will also have multiple types of macro growing out to provide different environments for whatever types of critters you may have. So if anyone would be interested in trading or donating some sand or rock for this effort please drop me a PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzobob Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Let me know when you're ready. I have some nice sponge bearing LR pieces and some sand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonSequitur Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 I'd be happy to share some sand from my established 12g (probably a cup or two, since it's a pretty puny tank), and would love to get a bit from the finished product when you get the tank up and running. I also have a few bits of LR rubble with some unidentified green and red macro growing on them that grow pretty well in my sump, but I wouldn't recommend in the display since it tries to take over. If you're ready for it, I can bring it when I pick up my reefcleaners stuff tomorow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted September 17, 2009 Author Share Posted September 17, 2009 Yes please. bring it on by. And if you want the sand i have now or some dry sand to replace what you have now that is just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cool Breeze Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 I did this when I set my tank up and it worked out great. I'll pay it forward. I have well established sand and sponge encrusted small rocks that you are more then welcome to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Zara, I like where you are going with this. As with anything introduce into a closed system, you may get undesirable hitchhikers. D:\Anemone Hitch Hikers.htm The couple that wrote this article have their own web site that focus on sustainable and enviromental stewardship. You are heading in that direction. Pat C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 Yes, I am fully ready for undesirables. This is why I will be running the tank fallow for a few months. That will give me enough time for any coral/fish parasites to die off for lack of a host and for me to be able to remove the undesireable hitchhickers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 Thanks for those that have helped out so far. Between the extra life from the mineral mud and the donations so far I am already seeing lots of great diversity. Please, keep it coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzobob Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Want to TTT for a great idea. I still owe Andy LR from 3 of my tanks. Andy I'll get them to you when I start shifting to the 120. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Pm'd a few of you, the 90g has a lot of dry rock. I'm adding more LR, but any donations or trades would be appreciated. I'll be happy to pay it forward or give you an IOU on frag trades later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 VM. Can you make your visit to my haus today after 5? I'll be happy to get you some seed sand for a sand bed. The rock I have is still developing though so it's not quite ready yet. I added this to my blog but thanks to the help of everyone here so far the diversity I am seeing in this tank is absolutely insane. Multiple species of brittle stars, worms, beneficial asterina, stomatapods. I have now found a 6th type of coraline in my tank that is (seriously) bright blue. Several types of feather duster worms. Lots of sponges. Alas, there is also lots of nuisance algae that I am fighting now. I think it will go away very quickly once i get my new sumpfugium and algae scrubber on-line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 I can't make it today, I'm stuck at work until 6 and then have to attend my son's football game in Kyle. Mark is coming to my place in the morning, though, so I'll see if he can swing by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzobob Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Hey Andy, Can we get an update on your project? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted January 26, 2010 Author Share Posted January 26, 2010 Why yes, I would be happy too. The project has been both successful and had a few drawbacks at the same time. For my current setup: I have been running fallow (no predators) in the tank with a medium sized clean up crew, a huge algae blenny (Ernie). I have a 90 G tank with a small fuge/sump waiting to get my full sized tri-zoned system in place. I change out around 20% water monthly due to the very low bio-load. I throw some nori at the fish every now and then. I put the lights on (2x400W) for about 6 hours a day. I have my rock setup into multiple zones as much as possible. Notably I have a pretty exposed zone with lots of light. A fairly heavy flow zone with low light and a copepod stack in my overflow with no flow and little light. I have a 6" DSB in the main tank and a 2" mud flat in the fuge (mud from reefcleaners.) I have 5 or 6 species of macro growing including mangroves, Gracilera, Cheato and a few ornamental species like mermaids fans. For the Good: I have a really rich and healthy biodiversity. I really do almost no maintenance to this tank at all and it just keeps on humming (after I dealt with the initial problems that is...) I have a healthy amount of coraline growning in multiple colors. I have several different types of pods and mysis shrimp that flood the main tank from the big copepod pile in the back when the lights go out. I have an overabundance of worm life. Lots of little feather dusters have colonized most of the rocks. Spinoid worms are still everywhere. Peanut and medusoid worms are very common. The latest developments, I have seen some very nice larger critters. I have been blessed with 3-5 different types of polyps. I seeded some GSP to grow over the overflow on purpose and it is taking off very nicely. I have also seen a wide variety of sponge life. The most productive area for this is the copepod pile though i can find a lot of sponges by just flipping over just about any rock that I have. The other good thing (and bad) is my water params. I do almost no maintenance to this tank, I have no skimmer, no mechanical filtration. I throw a block of cyclops and some nori in every week. Just loads of rock (probably 200#) and a huge DSB. My nitrates are at 0 point. Kit can't detect them. No phosphates. On the down side I cannot put in enough calc. It just gets sucked up by the coraline. I need to set up a constant calc drip. This is due to the diversity of critters (and the DSB) consuming nitrates/ect as fast as they come in. Which is exactly the effect I was going for. For the Bad: OMG, the horrors of nuisance algae I have seen. I knew I would. i planned for it. But OMG there was so much of it. You just gotta keep up the manual removal and swap water out and it goes away. That being said, this is the main reason I have not been freely offering frags with worms and such on it is due to the bryopsis and a couple of algae's I just have not seen and can't ID. At this time the bryopsis is limited to a couple of rocks and those are fading fast. I'm having to feed the algae blenny once a week to keep him happy. Next steps: My final sump setup was greatly delayed due to the holidays. however, that will be in soon. At that time I will be establishing a true tri-zonal setup with an algae scrubber. If I was to do this again I would have set the algae scrubber up with the tank. That would have greatly reduced the pain of the plague of bryopsis. Then again, bryopsis does make a very effective vegetative filter and once the nitrates got to a 0 point it just melts away. The full tri-zonal setup will include an area of only passive flow and no light to fully encourage deep reef cryptic sponges and critters. So the full setup will have 6 different habitats. Full Exposure zone (Top of rocks in Display), Partial Exposure Zone (Under Arches/Tunnels in Display), Semi-Cryptic (Copepod Pile), Full Cryptic, Mangrove Lagoon, DSB with Macro. Also there will be the Algae scrubber and the rock pile into the chaeto side of the fuge, so really 8. Once the algae issue is finally under control donations will be able to start to go out for sand/rock and I will be happy to provide for whatever type of environment you are looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Zara, You and I have very similar approaches to reefkeeping. It is still my passion but I have pulled back from ornamental aquaculture. I will be focused on ediable macro production in outside tanks. Good luck on your venture. By the way, I would enjoy meeting you at the poker table this Friday night. Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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