Lets talk about ecosystems

[Cory]

Here is a fairly recent shot of my little ecosystem. It has been running over 3 years with very little changes. Three fish, 4-5 crabs, pistol shrimp, snails, lots corals. Of course the lovely algae and cyano at times too.

Nice! You forgot to mention your bristle star lol. How do you think this tank is managing its nutrients? Its obvious its working. I see the hair algae is under control, perhaps the crabs eat it?

 

[Jacked Reefer]

I think of my tank as an ecosystem. A very small, incomplete one. But an ecosystem none the less. My export method for nitrate and phos? Bacteria. (Light slimming as well but I haven’t changed the cup since I set up my tank) I have a large assortment of sponges and feather dusters I have introduced into my sump. And rely on my urchin, 3 atrea snails, and various hitchhikers to clean up algea. I have not seen any since my diatom bloom. I believe my success is because of the high micro biologicaL diversity I introduced in the first few days. I also plan to continuously does phyto as my tank gains more coral mass. So no. I do not have a full ecosystem. But I can try and replicate nature and achieve amazing results.

 

[Cory]

I think of my tank as an ecosystem. A very small, incomplete one. But an ecosystem none the less. My export method for nitrate and phos? Bacteria. (Light slimming as well but I haven’t changed the cup since I set up my tank) I have a large assortment of sponges and feather dusters I have introduced into my sump. And rely on my urchin, 3 atrea snails, and various hitchhikers to clean up algea. I have not seen any since my diatom bloom. I believe my success is because of the high micro biologicaL diversity I introduced in the first few days. I also plan to continuously does phyto as my tank gains more coral mass. So no. I do not have a full ecosystem. But I can try and replicate nature and achieve amazing results.

So the way i see it is you skim bacteria but do not dose anything to grow bacteria like sugar or vinegar? Overdosing vodka is where it gets out of balance eventually and other tank critters suffer because something is outcompeting them for nutrients. Then oppotunistic feeders that can survive in those conditions grow like dinoflagellets.

 

[najer]

I have a sump refugium as well as a skimmer, the right side is my display refugium, display left and I view it from the left end where my desk is and not the front, there is a swim through hole for the fish and creatures, I have input, I don't do water changes unless required and top off about 6 - 8 litres a day ro manually, I do dose 2 part liquids by Reeflowers manually and odd bits and pieces, things can graze all day on a more natural diet.
Bottom left is a feeding rock with caulerpa brachypus, the yellow scopas and fox face don't go in the right side!

 

[Jacked Reefer]

So the way i see it is you skim bacteria but do not dose anything to grow bacteria like sugar or vinegar? Overdosing vodka is where it gets out of balance eventually and other tank critters suffer because something is outcompeting them for nutrients. Then oppotunistic feeders that can survive in those conditions grow like dinoflagellets.

I dose nothing besides large amounts of fish and coral food at this point. My sump is full of rock and bio media to the point anaerobic bacteria can flourish and process waste out as needed. I skim very very dry as to not remove to much bacteria but to airate the water and remove real bad waste. Everything happens naturally in my tank.

 

[Cory]

I have a sump refugium as well as a skimmer, the right side is my display refugium, display left and I view it from the left end where my desk is and not the front, there is a swim through hole for the fish and creatures, I have input, I don't do water changes unless required and top off about 6 - 8 litres a day ro manually, I do dose 2 part liquids by Reeflowers manually and odd bits and pieces, things can graze all day on a more natural diet.
Bottom left is a feeding rock with caulerpa brachypus, the yellow scopas and fox face don't go in the right side!

Wow your tank is pretty diverse looking! Is that a 4" sandbed in there? I love how you separated two areas or habitats. How do you think your tank stays under control of algae? Urchins someplace? The yellow tang must be helping.

 

[najer]

Wow your tank is pretty diverse looking! Is that a 4" sandbed in there? I love how you separated two areas or habitats. How do you think your tank stays under control of algae? Urchins someplace? The yellow tang must be helping.

I have a yellow scopas and a scopas scopas and a fox face, the sandbed is due to an engineer goby, currently in the display, the food in the above pic was harvested from my sump, free fish food that is good for them!

 

[Cory]

Bump for night crew

 

[A Young Reefer]

I have a sump refugium as well as a skimmer, the right side is my display refugium, display left and I view it from the left end where my desk is and not the front, there is a swim through hole for the fish and creatures, I have input, I don't do water changes unless required and top off about 6 - 8 litres a day ro manually, I do dose 2 part liquids by Reeflowers manually and odd bits and pieces, things can graze all day on a more natural diet.
Bottom left is a feeding rock with caulerpa brachypus, the yellow scopas and fox face don't go in the right side!

how do you like the reeflowers? how much do you dose?

 

[najer]

how do you like the reeflowers? how much do you dose?

Sorry, all for reef now.

 

[Dan_P]

So ill just post these and you guys can think how our tanks relate or not. And we can start to see how our tanks have problems arise. Do you think our tanks are an ecosystem?

Microbial loop:

Coral reef ecosystem:

Our aquarium seems like an ecosystem but with the aquarist replacing important parts of an ecological network. Light in our aquarium plays an important role but it does not result in a sufficient amount of food. The aquarist has to continually add food. Furthermore, without predation the larger occupants accumulate and overpopulate the space. And in many cases, organic waste must be mechanically removed. This means at the higher trophic levels that include things like coral and fish, the ecological system is not self sustaining nor stable. It is closer to a zoo: food put in, poop pulled out.

At the microscopic level, it is easier imagining the organisms forming an ecosystem, with primary production and predation playing important roles influencing the system. Just like the organization of multicellular organisms resembling a zoo, the microbial system resembles something else, a waste water treatment plant: organic waste impinges on flocs and biofilms that mineralize it, producing water with little organic content but higher inorganic nitrogen and phosphate content. And like a waste water plant, contaminating organisms can upset the system. Once again, the aquarist plays a major role even in this microscopic zoo.

I would characterize the aquarium as a zoo with a built in waste water treatment system that is being on average run by mostly untrained zoo keepers and insufficiently schooled waste water treatment technicians. Add to this that sometimes stuff just happens by accident, you have a realistic depiction of the average saltwater aquarium.

 

[Nano sapiens]

So ill just post these and you guys can think how our tanks relate or not. And we can start to see how our tanks have problems arise. Do you think our tanks are an ecosystem?

By defintion, yes. It's just that we have 'the real thing' (natural reefs) to compare against, so our reef aquaria look (and are) incomplete by comparison.