Pearls Of The Antilles... Llj's Planted Marine

[lljdma06]

I bought some corals from a planted marine a year ago and was a sight to behold it was amazing

But you may have seen it but pfk had a right up on one and the planted marine I saw was better looking than this one
LINK

The link isn't working for me. What does the pic look like?

Planted Marines are cool, I've seen some before. There are some in Barr Report & other websites. I think people under utilize macros in favor of corals. I like both.

 

[bae1994]

It may be because your in the us but it's a how to set it up a planted marine tips and hints I'll paste the standard URL see if it works

http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=3725

 

[weezawoo]

Lovely, it's George Farmer, if you put his name and marine tank into google, on images its the first one for me!

Love the planted marine tanks!

 

[lljdma06]

Thanks weez, a google search yielded results. Yes planted Marines are very pretty. I tried to get access to the article, but I had to subscribe. It's pretty, Typical of George's style. My tanks are never that elegant.

I'll voice a concern, though, Marine systems are not designed to be "set them up, grow, photo-shoot, then break them down" systems. There is a tendency in the planted community to do this, though I don't, nor do I encourage this here. These organisms are not disposable if the scape no longer suits your taste. I'm just a little concerned that people will see him with the Marine tank & then turn it into just that sort of a temporary system. Hopefully that system was conceived as a long-term system & my concern is for naught. Again, wish I had access to the article.

Liz

 

[weezawoo]

Hey I copied and pasted the article to a PM hopefully you can read it ok and it didnt mess it up

 

[lljdma06]

Hey I copied and pasted the article to a PM hopefully you can read it ok and it didnt mess it up

Sent my response...

Thanks for the article.

 

[bae1994]

It's interesting but I agree with you seems very temp

 

[lljdma06]

Supposedly, it's still setup, so at least it wasn't a short term system. I still have some problems with it, though.

Tomorrow, I'm going to price a protein skimmer. Yay! I won't be skimping on this one. It's like the RO unit, should be of a certain quality.

By the way, I forgot to mention that my RO is also a DI unit.

Liz

 

[ian]

i'm sure that was set up for a Fluval exhibition, and then sold off afterwards. Don't quote me on that, but i'm sure thats what i'd read.

 

[weezawoo]

DI is always a good idea

 

[lljdma06]

DI is always a good idea

Yes, the people in the AGA convention mentioned that it was the steal of the auction. I was very lucky being from Miami. Many of the convention attendees wanted the unit but couldn't take it home with them. I just loaded it to my car, along with the ADA tank I won, and drove about 60 miles. I know I won't be so lucky if I go to the Convention next year. Here it is.

 

[lljdma06]

An excellent website that'll help me isolate Caribbean species. I find something I like, jot down the scientific name and then determine whether or not it's reef safe. I won't have to buy the field guide that I was looking at. Though I may regardless, especially to identify critters in the LR.

http/reefguide.org/carib/index.html

Some species that I'm looking at for inverts... By no means will I try to cram all of these in a tank! LOLOL, no, just want to have a closer look at some of these species.

Sessile inverts

Corallimorphs
Ricordea florida
Discosoma sanctithomae
Discosoma neglecta
Discosoma sp. (mushrooms)

Zoanthids
Palythoa caribaeorum
Palythoa grandis
Zoanthus pulchellus

Gorgonians (yes, Lord Sorgan, am considering all options)
Erythropodium spp (Caribbean encrusting gorgonian)
Leptogoria miniata (much harder to keep)

Sea anemones (Like I said, considering all options, some look great on paper, but they are difficult to keep)
Bartholomea annulata
Condylactis gigantea

As I plan to have a DSB, feather dusters worms may also be an option.

Motile inverts

Cleaner shrimp
Lysmata grabhami
Lysmata wurdemanni
Periclimenes yucatanicus (a cleaner shrimp that requires an anemone host, but is also parasitic)

Anemone shrimp
Thor amboinensis (host in the Caribbean is typically Stichodactyla helianthus)

Crabs
Mithrax sculptus
Clibanarius tricolor (potentially harmful in large numbers)
Paguristes cadenati (potentially harmful in large numbers)

Scallops
Lima lima, Lima scabra (Very difficult, require supplemental plankton feeding of the correct particle size & rotifers)

Snails
Turbo sp
Astraea spp.
Trochus sp.
Nerita spp.
Tectus spp.
Strombus alatus (no hermit crabs if I go this route; may be too large for the tank, but definitley a FL native)

Sea slugs
Elysia crispata (needs algae Bryopsis, Derbesia, and possibley Halimeda, advanced species)

Macro algae
Halimeda copiosa
Acetabularia calyculus
Udotea sp
Galaxaura sp
Dictyota sp



Of course and everybody knows the fish list. I'm pretty stubborn on chalk bass, and the royal gramma. Besides the neon goby, I may research some of the extra gobies on that website I linked too. Might be interesting to see if I can come up with something more unusual that's also available in the trade. Found another gramma species that's good too (Gramma melacara). Also, having a DSB can serve multiple organisms, fish included.

In the coming weeks I have to decide which direction I want to go with the tank. There are several directions I can go based on lighting and flow and the stock I choose. My lighting is set, though I could always reduce it if it turns out I don't have any corals other than low-moderate light species. Really depends on what my lighting is considered; low, moderate, or high. LOL, sorry for the detailed list. Welcome to my world, detailed lists and lots of pondering. All good, I just read a detailed article on Flame scallop and have read on the anemones too. LOL... It's all part of the learning process. Promise, this list will get shorter as I weed out species. Feel free to comment if you wish.

Liz

 

[sorgan]

Regarding the gorgs, steer clear of the second one for now, I know you are by no means a novice but that is a very difficult coral to keep.
Same applies to the lima scallops, they are very difficult to maintain and we are not 100% sure what they actually eat (some have their theories) so unless you can supply plankton in the sizes 1micron up to about 100 I would wait untill you have more experience with filter feeding inverts.

The Lima scallop Is my next venture by the way

 

[lljdma06]

Hence why I put comments next to their names.

Let me clarify that this list simply represents species that I'm reading more about as they are from the correct region. This is NOT a final list & I'm FULLY aware that some of the species on that list require special care, hence the notes next to their names, and are NOT suitable for a newly established system. I'm also very aware that introduction of livestock in a marine system is done in steps, with time elapse between steps. Many upon further research will be dropped from the list. Like I said, you can't keep everything.

The second gorgonian & scallops should only be going into mature systems that can handle the stress of the sort of feedings that these species require. There are several "mature system" species on my list. I'm also thinking about potential stock 1-3 years down the road. Future species effect what I would keep in the beginning. Why buy crab x now if he'll eat anemone y a year down the road? If I want anemone y a year from now, it's better to start with crab y. Does this make sense? So you have a large pool of species to choose from & you set goals as to how you see the reef progress over time.

There are two distinct directions this system could go in the longterm. Perhaps even a third direction. The longterm goal I make effects what the initial stocking would be. I have to decide where I see the system going.

Liz

 

[sorgan]

yes i know your meaning completly and it is refreshing to see somebody starting out (even an experienced mod) with this approach as usually its a bit more of a grabby attitude.

tbh i would think that in a well planted (macro or mangrove) a few of the azoox inverts would be totally feasable but whilst i try to get people to keep a few of the easier species i tend to try and steer those same people away from the more difficult ones.

your quite lucky it would seem as if those are the only to species that you want to stock that i consider a difficult one to care for you should have a roarinf success

things like dendronepthyea, electric flame scallops and - it would seem - forever ellusive Muricella plectana are what call to me.... #41#### corals wanting to be fed!