I've always been into the niche areas of the hobby (You might recognize me from my Non-Photosynthetic Build ) and a Mangrove Lagoon build is something I've wanted to do for a while. Now that were building a big Mangrove Lagoon as apart of the new 'Ocean Pavilion' expansion at the Seattle Aquarium , I figured there was no better time. This build isn't going to a strict biotope, but it is based off of the Mangrove Forests in Raja Ampat, Indonesia which is apart of the Coral Triangle. I was going to start this once I actually had the tank up and running, but figured it'd be better to truly start from the beginning. I would've loved to do this in a true lagoon style tank, was looking at the UNS 60CS which has more lagoon style dimensions but didn't really want to build another stand so I'm sticking with the 60U I've got. A lot of the animals in here I'm choosing because they're found in the Coral Triangle so sticking true to that. The corals and macroalgae will be loose representations since some stuff you're not able to get from there, but it'll be mostly Soft Corals, a few LPS, and a variety of Macroalgae both from the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific. I put a lot of thought into this since I want to apply what's going on at the aquarium to this build.
Another big inspiration is the Mangrove Lagoon at the Steinhart Aquarium in the California Academy of Sciences , which is truly one of the best exhibits I've ever seen. I highly suggest checking it out if you're in San Francisco since the whole place is amazing.
Now to get onto the specifics:
Tank: Ultum Nature Systems (UNS) 60U ( 2ft L x 14.7" W x 14.7 H)
Background: UNS ATMOS LED Background (will be for the near future)
Lighting: ONF Flat One+ Blue White version
Filtration & Heating: Oase Filtosmart Thermo 100
Flow: AI Nero 3
Substrate: 40lbs of CaribSea special grade sand
Rock: 28 pounds of Icelandic Lava Rock (a lot of people don't know you can use lava rock in Saltwater. It's extremely porous, doesn't affect the chemistry, and makes for a cool contrast).
The neat part about the stocking is everything is readily available captive bred so this tank should be 95% Captive Bred (that other 5% is incase I find anything cool that's not captive bred, like a flaming prawn goby). This list can change but I'm pretty set on it. All of these fish can be found in the Coral Triangle which is why I'm going with them.
-Pair of Pink Skunk Clownfish (Amphiprion perideraion)
-Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni)
Either a Blue Striped Pipefish or Blue Mandarin, I'm still debating on which
to go with but leaning more towards the Mandarin. Either way, it will be from
Biota.
-Small eviota gobies to round out to foreground midwater.
Plants: 4 - 6 Red Mangroves, I'll have to see how many will fit to make it look lush. These are the best option since they're pretty easy to grow and don't need to be misted.
Macroalgae: Mainly keeping it to Indo-Pacific species. Will get into the
specific species once I get them. Halimeda will definitely have a spot since that's one of the most common genus in Mangrove lagoons, I just need to figure out what species.
Corals: Mainly softies as I mentioned, things like; Toadstools (especially
since Fiji just opened back up, definitely gotta have a Fiji Yellow!), Xenia, Gorgonians, Goniopora or Alveopora, Mushrooms, etc.
I'm really excited to get this going. Hopefully it turns out how like how I
envision it. I will most likely keep a youtube series on this which will be
started later. The rest of the rock and hanging kit is coming by Saturday (hopefully the rock comes tomorrow so I can get it up). Will post an updated
shot once it's full and scaped but for now enjoy this blank canvas lol
Another big inspiration is the Mangrove Lagoon at the Steinhart Aquarium in the California Academy of Sciences , which is truly one of the best exhibits I've ever seen. I highly suggest checking it out if you're in San Francisco since the whole place is amazing.
Now to get onto the specifics:
Tank: Ultum Nature Systems (UNS) 60U ( 2ft L x 14.7" W x 14.7 H)
Background: UNS ATMOS LED Background (will be for the near future)
Lighting: ONF Flat One+ Blue White version
Filtration & Heating: Oase Filtosmart Thermo 100
Flow: AI Nero 3
Substrate: 40lbs of CaribSea special grade sand
Rock: 28 pounds of Icelandic Lava Rock (a lot of people don't know you can use lava rock in Saltwater. It's extremely porous, doesn't affect the chemistry, and makes for a cool contrast).
The neat part about the stocking is everything is readily available captive bred so this tank should be 95% Captive Bred (that other 5% is incase I find anything cool that's not captive bred, like a flaming prawn goby). This list can change but I'm pretty set on it. All of these fish can be found in the Coral Triangle which is why I'm going with them.
-Pair of Pink Skunk Clownfish (Amphiprion perideraion)
-Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni)
Either a Blue Striped Pipefish or Blue Mandarin, I'm still debating on which
to go with but leaning more towards the Mandarin. Either way, it will be from
Biota.
-Small eviota gobies to round out to foreground midwater.
Plants: 4 - 6 Red Mangroves, I'll have to see how many will fit to make it look lush. These are the best option since they're pretty easy to grow and don't need to be misted.
Macroalgae: Mainly keeping it to Indo-Pacific species. Will get into the
specific species once I get them. Halimeda will definitely have a spot since that's one of the most common genus in Mangrove lagoons, I just need to figure out what species.
Corals: Mainly softies as I mentioned, things like; Toadstools (especially
since Fiji just opened back up, definitely gotta have a Fiji Yellow!), Xenia, Gorgonians, Goniopora or Alveopora, Mushrooms, etc.
I'm really excited to get this going. Hopefully it turns out how like how I
envision it. I will most likely keep a youtube series on this which will be
started later. The rest of the rock and hanging kit is coming by Saturday (hopefully the rock comes tomorrow so I can get it up). Will post an updated
shot once it's full and scaped but for now enjoy this blank canvas lol