Zoological Aquascaping

[greech]

I recommended the aquaclear because they work well for refugiums and there will not be a pump in the display. Up to you. I would use the 70 at a minimum. The 110s have a good amount of room which sounds what you want o keep equipment out of the display. I have owned a couple in the past. One was excellent, the other had a loud motor. Both worked very good though.

Completely get the cost issue so if you can live with the pump in the tank, go with the cheaper HOB.

 

[MudskipperFan]

They sell aquaclears at my LFS and they also told me that it's already essentially a sump and it wouldn't need any modding, but I'm not sure if that parts true. I'm still gaining interest in it though, and looking for low costing skimmers.

As for stocking, some time before it gets too cold, I've been planning on collecting a few inverts from local beaches. Still planning on using the "Paleozoic" theme and doing research for it so if any paleontology fans could give me a boost of info on this one that'd be perfect lol. For the most part I'll add various anemones to the tank, maybe attempt to arrange them in an interesting pattern if possible. Limpets, sea squirts, tube worms, and other really primitive inverts are also part of the stocking plan, but I'm still open to suggestions.

 

[authmal]

Just so you know, anemones can relocate if they're not happy.

 

[MudskipperFan]

Yup, I've seen it firsthand lol. The ones I had in my 10g would multiply and some would detach and float around to a diff spot or slide somewhere else.

 

[authmal]

That can be bad if they can get to the skimmer intake, just so you know. Read a horror story about it when I started researching how a skimmer works.

 

[MudskipperFan]

I'll def look into it. At this point all I'm wondering is if the aquaclear is fine as it is or if it requires any extra modding to be made into a sump/refugium? I'm also curious about include if it'd ever be possible to put clear sheets on the sides of the aquarium, like cellulose acetate or something, so if the anemones attach to the sides I can move them up to examine them. One last thing I wanna know is if it'd be possible to carry the anemones on a plane if I were to move a far distance, or how else I could carry them. Being tidepool organisms I'd suspect that they'd be able to tolerate some hours without water as long as they're provided with moisture but I'm not going to test this out until you guys can verify it.

 

[authmal]

There are tons of videos on making an AC refugium, but yeah, it does require a bit of modding.

As far as transporting them goes, if it's sold via mail order, it should be able to handle the stress of being transported. However, you'll need to check with the airline for their rules, and I'm not sure if TSA allows more than 4 ounces of fluid these days.

 

[ManEatingShrimp]

I know you cannot carry on more than a few ounces of liquid, but if you check a bag I believe it can have more water in it. That being said, I read an article about a guy who was able to bring a bottle of liquid on a plane because he had a goldfish in it. Apparently you can bring water on the plane if it has a living fish in it. In the article he said he had called the airline ahead of time to make sure it was ok and also brought a small bottle of prime to change the water between his 2 flights.

 

[MudskipperFan]

Interesting. Another concern for transportation I have is if the low pressure diff could harm any animals. I've heard of a story that someone brought a hamster on plane and it died from exactly that.


Aside from that, I started the tank yesterday, but in a simpler manner. I did a lot of research, especially on nano-reef.com, and from what I've learned there, it's apparently possible to run an unmodded aquaclear for a marine tank. Yesterday I mixed saltwater into a ten gallon, started the filter, and have it running. In addition, I have an assortment of macroalgae from the beach that I have in a little Tupperware, with holes in the side to allow water to flow through to the algae. When I get limpets etc for the tank I'll probably let them eat off the algae though. Would it be possible that the algae can harbor beneficial bacteria to hasten or boost the cycle?

 

[authmal]

Pressurization issues *only* occur when the animals (or items) are placed into an unpressurized cargo hold. Some carriers (such as United and American, at least, they did when I worked in the airline industry) pressurize their cargo holds.

Yes, it's possible, just do your tests.