Mangrove / Macro / Softie lagoon - 20 long

[dansyr]

This is a retroactive build thread for my 'other' tank - I've been journaling my 'main' nano system, another 20 long but full mixed reef (macros through SPS & clams), over on reef2reef. I've really benefitted from the kindness of people I've met through SCR, and figured it was about time I make a thread for this tank.

Current Equipment
Standard 20 long, free from a nearby sidewalk
DIY LED bars
DIY acrylic AIO insert, about 4 x 9
Generic DC return pump from amazon, about 300gph into Y with duckbill nozzles
Flow: 1x MLW-10, 1x SOW-4
Scavenged 75w hygger heater
Tunze autotopoff (float switch type)

Macros
Red mangrove
Dictyota
Gracilaria / red ogo
Botryocladia (red grapes)
Halymenia (?)
Halimeda incrassata
Halimeda opuntia
Codium
Ulva (rogue, managed)
Chaeto (rogue, less managed)

Corals
Gorgonian (Grube's?)
5-6 types of zoas, not a names person
Capnella / Kenya tree
Sarcophyton elegans
Sarcophyton sp (green medium/long polyp)
Tubipora musica

Other inverts
Long tentacle anemone
RFA (potentially Borneman anemone?)
Feather duster
CUC (trochus, ceriths, margarita; no crabs)
2x skunk cleaner shrimps

Fish
2x Pink skunk clowns
1x Green clown goby


Current FTS:

 

[dansyr]

I'll catch up on some more of the additions later, but this is the rough progression:

As of October 2023 or so, it had been up for a month, with a bunch of macros and capnella dumped in from my other tank to carry all the bacteria and pods and good stuff, and live rock from Tropical Imports over in Glendale.

Don't have many FTS's of it, but looked like this by March 2024 - still not jungle mode, but getting there (bleached LTA recovery coming up next):

And a few months ago, I think this was early May? Was starting to get nice and full but note the lack of halimeda thicket:

And today, having removed so much halimeda, codium, etc, this is what we're at:

 

[dansyr]

And a quick shoutout to the local community here, most of these macros are from people around here. Only "imports" were Halimeda opuntia (the minor Halimeda here) and a ball of chaeto from ReefCleaners back in the day. Dictyota and Halymenia came in on live rock; everything else is from the generosity of people I met via the forums here over the last few years, thank you each and every one of you.

 

[drexel]

Looking good! I really like the choice of clowns with the nem and the S. elegans looks awesome!

 

[JojosReef]

Awesome macro softie tank!

 

[dontavo27]

Great looking set up

 

[joseserrano]

Very cool

 

[Tangwich]

Amazing tank. Congrats Dan!

 

[dansyr]

Looking good! I really like the choice of clowns with the nem and the S. elegans looks awesome!

Thanks! Pink skunks are my favorite as far as clowns go, and have a good natural host range.

 

[Reeferkcp]

Cool tank! Love that yellow leather

 

[jamie1210]

love the whole setup! Are the skunks Fiji pink skunk clownfish?

 

[dansyr]

love the whole setup! Are the skunks Fiji pink skunk clownfish?

Thanks! I'm not sure honestly, I suspect / hope they're generic captive bred. They're petco "rescues," long story but essentially I had ~3 hours to kill while waiting on my wife for something adjacent to nearest petco so I just camped out in the saltwater section there (aquatics guy there is awesome, on the forums here). Anyway, these guys were looking rough, one was reaaaally small and a 3rd one was looking poor, after picking up wife and coming back the 3rd was getting eaten by the hermits. Not bashing the place, it's great, all of my clams and couple corals are from there, livestock losses happen, I just felt bad for these poor clowns. The juvenile I have was definitely the smallest and figured it wouldn't survive the night, so took a gamble on their recuperation and brought them home.

Suffice to say they had a rough start, I think at least one had some gill flukes (or just dinged up gills from sleeping under rocks with all the hermits) and some fin damage but regardless they cleared up with FW baths, feeding, good parameters, etc. They definitely didn't have as good of coloration back then, see photo from like 2nd day.

So I have no idea about lineage, they weren't labelled as wild-caught and definitely didn't look particularly out-of-the-ordinary. They didn't take to anemone very quickly either, literally took months. But I'm quite pleased with how the female has colored up, they all get a good variety of frozen foods. I'll try to get a good picture of her tomorrow.

 

[Jimbo327]

The clowns are so cute! Are they paired up?

Love the natural look of that tank with the macros.

 

[dansyr]

The clowns are so cute! Are they paired up?

Love the natural look of that tank with the macros.

Thanks! Kind of paired. They were very paired at the start, but I suspect both were juvenile, or maybe male/juvenile. Large one is definitely dominant now, they used to be inseparable but recently the female keeps the male/juvenile just out of the anemone. They both sleep in it at night and don't fight so they're definitely not divorced.

 

[dansyr]

This is a little better picture of the female, lights just turned to evening mode before I took this so it's a little darker but still pretty accurate I think (enough other macros and sand in for color reference lol)

 

[dansyr]

Addition of the 2nd shrimp (thanks again @Tangwich ) produced some lovin' in no time. Just under two weeks, first noticed eggs on the female on Oct 1 morning. Water change was Sept 29th, so guessing that eggs were fertilized on 29th or 30th, making this day 13-5? Just started seeing eyes today but eggs are still a little greenish.

 

[dansyr]

And the shrimp hatched Monday night, 14 Oct, starting around 9:30pm, 30 min after lights out in room tank is in.

14 days minimum confirmed, 16 since my estimate. Threw some in a bucket with BBS, zero expectations but will see what happens. The other shrimp has been carrying since 13 Oct, probably 12 Oct water change day.

This is ~18h post hatch; little guy next to it in the 2nd photo is a baby brine shrimp for scale:

 

[dansyr]

Some of the larvae from the last hatch are still kicking and seem to be proceeding through the stages.

 

[Tangwich]

We will be having SCR shrimp cocktail parties soon enough...cant wait lol

 

[dansyr]

We will be having SCR shrimp cocktail parties soon enough...cant wait lol

They're both already carrying eggs again too! Fecundity = high