Urchin boy
Community Member
As I mentioned in a few previous posts I am working on building a Carribbean biotope tank that is supposed to resemble a sea bottom with mainly sand and macro algae to replicate macro algae/seagrass meadows in the wild and I was thinking of using caluerpa prolifera as my choice of macro algae as they closely resemble the real seagrasses that I would have used otherwise had it not been for them being very tricky to get a hold off as a European outside the US or the Carribbean also the fact they are also fragile, expensive and may die before I get them home.
As you can sea I have now added my first layer of sand on top of the crushed coral gravel which will provide space for my beneficial bacteria to grow on and some digging space for my invertebrates to dig into but I do plan to expand it even more over the coming months until I am satisfied when I can start to plan ahead for the next details of my aquascape before cycling it which will be the last step of my setup process.
I will of course add some types of caves later on to provide hiding spaces either beneath the sand or above it and I will add some pvc pipes under the sand to provide even more hiding spaces for invertebrates like sand dollars, snails and any nocturnal sea critters once I have gotten a deep enough sand layer to do that as I am not sure if I need to increase the sand layer until it's deep enough to accommodate my guests.
In terms of caves it would be nice if I could obtain or make custom rocks that can be built and used as underground caves beneath the sand as I saw something similar being done on Dr plants video where he recreated an entire ocean ecosystem .
I am thinking of putting my live rock inside my sump compartment to provide all the benefits but without distracting too much and possibly I could also try to possibly grow copepods inside my sump using one of the chambers as a refugium for copepods.
I have looked into some suitable species of fish and invertebrates such as the yellowhead Jawfish peppermint shrimp and Halloween hermit crab that all occur in the Carribbean sea in the wild and would thus fit perfectly in this environment as these species should be reef safe and I don't really plan on growing very many if any corals as my main focus will be on my macro algae and providing the best possible environment for mainly fish and invertebrates that like to dig and sift through sand such as in seagrass beds in the wild and if I do use corals the only ones I will keep are the species that can be planted in the sand primarily easier soft corals.
This is what my tank looks like after adding the sand after letting it settle for a day or so.
What do you think of my plans so far, any suggestions?
looking at it as of now it does not look completely flat and there are now areas of what could be described as uneven terrain such as sand dunes or areas with a mix of the softer sand and rougher bottom layer but I would say I very much like it this way as in my mind this looks more realistic and much less sterile and less boring than the tanks using perfectly flat sandbeds and no bottom layer such as what I am using.
As you can sea I have now added my first layer of sand on top of the crushed coral gravel which will provide space for my beneficial bacteria to grow on and some digging space for my invertebrates to dig into but I do plan to expand it even more over the coming months until I am satisfied when I can start to plan ahead for the next details of my aquascape before cycling it which will be the last step of my setup process.
I will of course add some types of caves later on to provide hiding spaces either beneath the sand or above it and I will add some pvc pipes under the sand to provide even more hiding spaces for invertebrates like sand dollars, snails and any nocturnal sea critters once I have gotten a deep enough sand layer to do that as I am not sure if I need to increase the sand layer until it's deep enough to accommodate my guests.
In terms of caves it would be nice if I could obtain or make custom rocks that can be built and used as underground caves beneath the sand as I saw something similar being done on Dr plants video where he recreated an entire ocean ecosystem .
I am thinking of putting my live rock inside my sump compartment to provide all the benefits but without distracting too much and possibly I could also try to possibly grow copepods inside my sump using one of the chambers as a refugium for copepods.
I have looked into some suitable species of fish and invertebrates such as the yellowhead Jawfish peppermint shrimp and Halloween hermit crab that all occur in the Carribbean sea in the wild and would thus fit perfectly in this environment as these species should be reef safe and I don't really plan on growing very many if any corals as my main focus will be on my macro algae and providing the best possible environment for mainly fish and invertebrates that like to dig and sift through sand such as in seagrass beds in the wild and if I do use corals the only ones I will keep are the species that can be planted in the sand primarily easier soft corals.
This is what my tank looks like after adding the sand after letting it settle for a day or so.
What do you think of my plans so far, any suggestions?
looking at it as of now it does not look completely flat and there are now areas of what could be described as uneven terrain such as sand dunes or areas with a mix of the softer sand and rougher bottom layer but I would say I very much like it this way as in my mind this looks more realistic and much less sterile and less boring than the tanks using perfectly flat sandbeds and no bottom layer such as what I am using.
