laguna-madre
New Member
introduction (10/28/23):
hey everyone
I wanted to share my progress on transferring my current 29g macroalgae tank to a newly empty 40 gallon breeder. I'm excited to do this because I feel like I will be able to keep so many more macros in the 40 than in the 29. The 29g is challenging to aquascape because of its odd vertical and skinny dimensions.
I've been in the hobby for years and used to work as an aquarium maintenance tech in Dallas. I'd be happy to trade/purchase any rare macroalgae from anyone in the area. I've personally kept and set up freshwater planted tanks, nano reefs, and a few macroalgae tanks (I like to call them lagoons). I was a bit torn between setting this new 40g as a legit coral-dominant reef tank, but I think I will stick to my lagoon and keep macros and a few soft corals. I really like that these kinds of tanks are low maintenance but still look great and colorful. Plus the macros help keep the water clean.
substrate choice: adding crushed coral with sand?
I wanted to do a small layer of some sort of miracle mud at the bottom before adding the aragonite sand, but that stuff is so expensive I decided to just stick with sand. I did want to experiment with mixing substrates though. I bought some Caribsea crushed coral aragonite. It looks like this:
I've read some forums posts just now encouraging people NOT to mix sand and crushed coral... They say it the sand will eventually settle below the CC... I have an active pistol shrimp, so I'm wondering if that won't be an issue due to the constant mixing of the substrate. I'm still contemplating mixing them just to have some more variety to the sandbed. I wish the CC had those little red Tubipora (red pipe organ coral) pieces in it!
Here's a few photos of the 29g from various stages:
Right after set-up in Spring 2021:
After some growth! I was lucky that some hobbyists in the DFW area offered me some various macros to get the tank started right
After moving it downstairs:
After moving to a new city.
Unfortunately I lost my firefish and bangai cardinalfish that I've had since I set the tank up originally over 2 years ago... My buddy that helped me move the tank was too zealous and transferred the fish into the tank after setting it up. The temp of the water was too cold and they instantly got shocked and died pretty much instantly. It was pretty tough to see that when they were still perfectly fine in the containers before that.. Anyways... Oh and I got a rose bubble tip anemone from Aquashella, which ended up eating my cleaner shrimp. I also let the Caulerpa grow so much it shaded out the dragon's breath, which has completely vanished. I regret giving so dragons breath away when it grew prolifically!
Since then, one of my two LED bars went out, and instead of replacing it I figured I'd wait to transfer to the 40g. The 29 has gone a little downhill and started growing some cyanobacteria for the first time...
I'll post more pics of it soon.
hey everyone
I wanted to share my progress on transferring my current 29g macroalgae tank to a newly empty 40 gallon breeder. I'm excited to do this because I feel like I will be able to keep so many more macros in the 40 than in the 29. The 29g is challenging to aquascape because of its odd vertical and skinny dimensions.I've been in the hobby for years and used to work as an aquarium maintenance tech in Dallas. I'd be happy to trade/purchase any rare macroalgae from anyone in the area. I've personally kept and set up freshwater planted tanks, nano reefs, and a few macroalgae tanks (I like to call them lagoons). I was a bit torn between setting this new 40g as a legit coral-dominant reef tank, but I think I will stick to my lagoon and keep macros and a few soft corals. I really like that these kinds of tanks are low maintenance but still look great and colorful. Plus the macros help keep the water clean.
substrate choice: adding crushed coral with sand?
I wanted to do a small layer of some sort of miracle mud at the bottom before adding the aragonite sand, but that stuff is so expensive I decided to just stick with sand. I did want to experiment with mixing substrates though. I bought some Caribsea crushed coral aragonite. It looks like this:
I've read some forums posts just now encouraging people NOT to mix sand and crushed coral... They say it the sand will eventually settle below the CC... I have an active pistol shrimp, so I'm wondering if that won't be an issue due to the constant mixing of the substrate. I'm still contemplating mixing them just to have some more variety to the sandbed. I wish the CC had those little red Tubipora (red pipe organ coral) pieces in it!
Here's a few photos of the 29g from various stages:
Right after set-up in Spring 2021:
After some growth! I was lucky that some hobbyists in the DFW area offered me some various macros to get the tank started right
After moving it downstairs:
After moving to a new city.
Unfortunately I lost my firefish and bangai cardinalfish that I've had since I set the tank up originally over 2 years ago... My buddy that helped me move the tank was too zealous and transferred the fish into the tank after setting it up. The temp of the water was too cold and they instantly got shocked and died pretty much instantly. It was pretty tough to see that when they were still perfectly fine in the containers before that.. Anyways... Oh and I got a rose bubble tip anemone from Aquashella, which ended up eating my cleaner shrimp. I also let the Caulerpa grow so much it shaded out the dragon's breath, which has completely vanished. I regret giving so dragons breath away when it grew prolifically!
Since then, one of my two LED bars went out, and instead of replacing it I figured I'd wait to transfer to the 40g. The 29 has gone a little downhill and started growing some cyanobacteria for the first time...
I'll post more pics of it soon.
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