Amphiprion's 40B Seagrass Patch Reef

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Amphiprion

Contain the Excitement...
Feb 14, 2007
5,776
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Mobile, Alabama
Real Name
Andrew
Hi all, it's been a good while since I've been by AC. This thread is about a tank that I set up in early January 2013, which got off to a rocky start from the very beginning, starting with cirolanid isopods and almost ending with dinoflagellates. After almost of year of fighting animal deaths and buckets (literally) of slimy dinoflagellates, this tank has finally hit some sort of stride. It's been on a roll since about mid-April and is to a point now that I wouldn't mind sharing. The following FTS was from a bit over a month ago:



The equipment is partly from my old 25g tank and is as follows:

Equipment
40g breeder display (36 x 18 x 17 inches)
1 - Vortech MP40wES
1 - Vortech MP10wES
2 - 250w XM 10000K metal halides (single-ended)
1 - Bubble Magus Curve 7
3 - LiterMeter III dosing pumps, composed of 1 main unit and 2 remote units for calcium, alkalinity, and topoff (which contains magnesium)
Carbon is run passively in a filter bag
GFO run in a reactor occasionally and only changed every 40-60 days, so usually past exhausted.
Livestock
Fishes:
2 - Amphiprion ocellaris
1 - Pterapogon kauderni

Corals:
Acropora sp.
Porites sp.
Heliopora coerulea
Pocillopora damicornis
Plerogyra sinuosa
Nephthea sp.
Sarcophyton sp.
Montipora sp.

Invertebrates:
Holothuroidea
Trochus

Seagrass:
Thalassia testudinum
Halodule beaudettei
Pics from today:

Pink Pocillopora top-down:


Same from front:


Montipora:


Purple Acropora:


Fast growing Acropora (probably prostrata):



Thanks for looking!
 

Sploke

resident boozehound
Staff member
Oct 20, 2005
6,797
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South Windsor, CT
Real Name
Matt
Hey, good to see you around again Amph. Tank looks like it is coming along nice.

Were you the one that had that seagrass cube you were having all the issues with? Whatever happened with that one?
 

Amphiprion

Contain the Excitement...
Feb 14, 2007
5,776
0
0
Mobile, Alabama
Real Name
Andrew
Hey, good to see you around again Amph. Tank looks like it is coming along nice.

Were you the one that had that seagrass cube you were having all the issues with? Whatever happened with that one?
Thanks. It's good to be more involved again. With things doing much better, I'm starting to enjoy the hobby again.


Yes, that was my tank, as well. The seagrass grew so well in that one that it eventually started causing problems--it literally choked itself out. Plus with having to disturb the sand so much, it just wasn't working well. This go around, I opted for a slower growing species, turtle grass, since it doesn't experience the same problems--at least not on the same timescales. I've taken a much more relaxed approach to this new one and instead of trying to push growth to the limit, I'm keeping it more in check. Lighting is still intense, but nutrient levels are more tightly controlled in the manner of a typical reef system. Fortunately, Thalassia does just fine in nutrient poor water, much like some of the more sensitive corals. It's a win-win situation :D.
 
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