Pearls of the Antilles

[lljdma06]

Hi, it's been about 100 years or so since I've posted here... I thought I'd share with you what I've been up to. I still sing and I still do planted tanks, though I've ventured into SW now as well. Way too many pictures, sorry. 🙂

Well, this old tank...



Has now become this tank... Well, at least since August of last year.



Tank: 36g corner bow
Substrate: 60lbs Caribbean oolite
LR: 40lbs of Cured Haitian rock
Lighting: 150w Sunpod Metal Halide, 14K
Circulation: 3 Koralia 425s
pH: 8.3
sg: 1.025
Ca: 455

Livestock
- 4 Serranus tortugarum
- 1 Opistognathus aurifrons
- Mated pair of Elacatinus oceanops (in quarantine)
- Blue legged hermits
- 2 green porcelain crabs
- 1 Caribbean porcelain crab
- 1 Emerald crab
- Caribbean brittle star
- Nassarius snails
- Babylon snails,
- Dwarf ceriths
- Florida ceriths
- 4 Epicystis crucifer (Rock flower anemones)
- Ricordea florida
- Discosoma carlgreni
- Discosoma sanctithomae
- palythoa
- zoanthids

Macro algae and grasses
Halimeda opuntia
Dictoya
Chondria
Caulerpa prolifera
Shoal grass

This tank is a biotope, or at least I've made a go at a biotope. All the animals are either Caribbean or FL Keys and most tend to be from close to the shore. Tank is in it's 7th month.

Pictures...

Carlgrenian mushroom


Palythoa


Ricordea florida




Macro algae and ricordea


Caulerpa


Rock anemones




Jawfish


Chalk bass




Very bad iphone picture that shows growth since adding the MH. I started with Compact florescents.



I don't dose anything. Minerals addition is taken care of with larger water changes, about 10g every week to two weeks. Probably nitrates are taken care of with lots of feedings!

Thanks for looking. I'll keep all of you posted as major things happen. Not much is going on other than the neon gobies being in quarantine and that the grass is growing. A chalk bass had popeye, but that's on the mend.

Lissette

PS: Zoanthids for Themuleus

Wobblegong Wows!


Red Hornets


God of War

 

[Orlando]

Both look great!

 

[creg]

awesome sw tank. so natural its like looking into a mini ocean.

 

[Ian Holdich]

good to see you llj, and it's good to see a planted reef tank!

 

[lljdma06]

good to see you llj, and it's good to see a planted reef tank!

Thanks everybody. It's fun to do something off the beaten path.

🙂

EDIT: Will somebody tell Themuleous that I got pictures of zoas for him! Lololol He fancies me zoas. 😛

 

[Iain Sutherland]

Nice looking set up mate, great to see macro algaes, i got a few that came on live rock and some are really pretty.

Any chance your fragging the ricordea anytime soon, cash or frags in return...
Who wouldnt fancy those zoas??!! Got green dragon eyes coming out my... outlet, but need to find some more interesting ones that wont require a mortgage!!

 

[Steveyg81]

I just posted the other day asking about planted marine tanks, and if mine can look half as natural as yours I will be over the moon!

Great tank.

 

[lljdma06]

Nice looking set up mate, great to see macro algaes, i got a few that came on live rock and some are really pretty.

Any chance your fragging the ricordea anytime soon, cash or frags in return...
Who wouldnt fancy those zoas??!! Got green dragon eyes coming out my... outlet, but need to find some more interesting ones that wont require a mortgage!!

Haha, that is the project for the Easter Weekend. They are desperate to be fragged. I've gotten money and frags for my macro algae. I pull some very good chaetomorpha. Grows like a weed in my refugiums. I've got 3 other SW display tanks and one quarantine.

All three of the zoas you see above were frags from other hobbyists. Two were trades for macro algae, and I paid for the red hornets, but if you google the price of red hornets, I didn't pay nearly that much for them, I paid like $10 a polyp, he was giving them away. Happens when you have a lot of them. And I already have more polyps. Green dragon eyes are nice, though. Good color pop under LEDs.

@Stevey - I just posted in that thread of yours. Thanks for the compliment. It's a nice tank to have. Very fun. There is soooooo much going on at any given time.

L

 

[Ady34]

Hi,
as much as i love looking at marine tanks, and drooling over the intensity of the colours of fish and corals alike, for me the first picture of the tank when it was freshwater planted looks absolutely outstanding . Is there a journal for that set up on ukaps anywhere?
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[lljdma06]

Hi,
as much as i love looking at marine tanks, and drooling over the intensity of the colours of fish and corals alike, for me the first picture of the tank when it was freshwater planted looks absolutely outstanding . Is there a journal for that set up on ukaps anywhere?
Cheerio,
Ady.

Unfortunately, it's not a complete journal, I stopped updating it here as I was very busy at the time.

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=6837

I can dig up some fts later that'll do it more justice. EDIT: found pictures. These are from March 2010. The planted scape at its height, IMO.







L

 

[Ady34]

Looks superb... i love that look, im a fan of crypts, ferns and mosses.

 

[lljdma06]

Looks superb... i love that look, im a fan of crypts, ferns and mosses.

Oh, thank you. I enjoy the look as well. It's not everybody's cup of tea though, which is part of the reason why I decided to go Marine with this tank. Corner tanks aren't very popular as planted tanks.

L

 

[George Farmer]

Welcome back. 🙂

 

[lljdma06]

Welcome back. 🙂

Hello George. 😀

So when is this seahorse tank of yours going up?

We must chat.

L

 

[George Farmer]

Not until next year. Plenty of time to research how to grow seagrasses etc...

 

[Themuleous]

Lovely photos, dam you! 😉

Sam

 

[lljdma06]

@George Farmer - let me know if you have any questions. Mine is taking longer to establish, but I don't need the breakneck pace. Barr used CO2 injection in his rimless grass tank, if you ever followed it. I, on the other hand, chose to make it more of a reef & went in a different direction. My shoal grass is growing, just slowly.

Lovely photos, dam you! 😉

Sam

Awwww, why you say "dam you?!" See, I'm finally lucky, I used to have a terrible time in Miami with planted tanks. Not the actual plants & growing, but finding the supplies. SW in Miami is a whole other game.

The three of us should meet?? What do you think? Or just have a UKAPS party for wittle me. 😀

Lissette

 

[Mark Evans]

I love the marine layout. Almost nature aquarium in design...but 'salty'

 

[lljdma06]

I love the marine layout. Almost nature aquarium in design...but 'salty'

Thanks, Mark. Coming from you,that means a lot.

Well, I think a SW tank can also look nice. That being said, my other SW tanks are "OMG, there are corals everywhere" tanks, so I did the hardscape for coral placement rather than for looks, but for this tank, I considered the hardscape carefully.

I can never get a good picture, however. When you have a marine system, there's just more factors that are beyond my control. Haha, snails leaving tracks on the glass, anemones closed when you want them open, things like that. On the other hand, there is a great spontaneity to this system. Everyday there is something different to look at and I love how the animals and plants each have a role to fill. I didn't just want this to be a macro tank, so I think making it a biotope really brought it up a notch.

Thanks again. 🙂

Lissette