Nano Lagoon (15): Poof! No Diatoms

http://www.ipsf.com Just five days after introducing a Nano Lagoon Cleanup Crew to our 10-gallon Nano Lagoon reef tank, the organisms have done a great job of cleaning the rocks and sand of the diatoms present on Day 10.

The Nano Lagoon Cleanup Crew contains captive-bred Reef Amphipods, ReefWorms, MiniStars and several types of algae-grazing snails.

We now have the beginnings of a dynamic food web developing amongst the microorganisms and herbivorous invertebrates in our Nano Lagoon.

It has taken only about two weeks since starting with dry sand, dry man-made rock and Instant Ocean. Now, populations of bacteria, protozoans, microalgae, reef plankton, 'pods, worms, snails and MiniStars are adjusting their densities in accordance with the food, space, nutrients and other organisms present in the tank.

An ecosystem has been born!

No water changes have been done since we started the tank.

Please use only captive-bred organisms in your reef aquarium.

To see more of our videos click here:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ipsfdotcom&view=videos

To learn more about healthy reefkeeping visit our website: http://www.ipsf.com

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• ipsf.com
• Nano Lagoon
• Cleanup Crew
• Gerald
• Heslinga

[ipsfdotcom]

Friends, a shallow AEROBIC bed of coarse aragonite sand is key to success with this style of reef tank :-)

[ipsfdotcom]

Equipment is just the starting point. Are you also using the coarse sand, man-made rock and live organism packages we offer for sale? If not, we cannot predict what results you will achieve. The whole point of our videos is to offer a way to standardize the methodology and to achieve consistent results.

[ipsfdotcom]

We added about 20 Reef Amphipods, 6 MiniStars, 6 Mama Mia Worms, 6 Baby Bristleworms (safe ones), 6 Strombus grazers and 6 very tiny Turbos. The intent here is to limit the grazers and detritivores to captive-bred organisms that will breed in the aquarium itself, adjusting their population size to the available resources (mainly space and food) and to each other, just like organisms do in nature.

[ipsfdotcom]

we like biocubes and nanocubes too as long as they have a minimum of 4 watts/gal 50/50 lighting. the main issues for us are price and availability. for our Nano Lagoon newbie system we chose the standard 10-gal glass tank because it is cheap, reliable and widely available. we feel that it's also important to be able to quickly swap out the mission-critical components, esp. the filter and light hood.

[dokter213]

hey i have watched your videos on the lagoon and i want to say that i'm very amazed at the whole process. im doing research for salt water aquariums because i want to get a peacock Mantis shrimp. and i want to make sure that i have the proper equipment for it to be maintained. can you possibly give me some info about what i can to to prepare for it?

[ipsfdotcom]

the peacock mantis is an amazing creature but I would advise proceeding with caution -- these get to be 7 inches or so long and can break aquarium glass. they are voracious predators and will be killing snails, etc. they're called "thumbsplitters" and the name is justified! My advice would be to consider gaining experience with less demanding saltwater critters first before undertaking this...

[dogheartchucky902]

the man made rock help me alot thanks very much ,i have seen allyour clip about the nano logoon thanke again.

[riderinblack57]

this is so sad to see

[shakigwenlover]

how much did the light cost u? the one they have at my petco is 130.

did u say it was a DIY? is it cheaper n can i get a link to that video plz?

[BowHunt1229]

i have just started a nano tank, with only sand i plan on getting live rock, i started it 5 days ago and the water still isnt clear, i am using all the equiptment you are and it still isnt clear, i am usin sand, but i dont think it is live, its just whit fine sand. please help.

[IrishJedi26]

I think I am going to start this project, myself. I need to read more up on reef tanks, but where would I get those organisims for this stage? Can you buy them at the Local fish store?

[BlackBerryStormReVue]

Just curious as to the number of snails and other critters you added during this step. I don;t think you mentioned that :)

[dokter213]

thank you for your advice. I will research them and will get much more experience as you have said with other saltwater animals.and i have been looking into it and there are still lots more i need to know. thank you again for your advice.