Update #23: Small equipment update, a few critters/algae, and my aquarium philosophy
Got the ol' Mp10 from my last tank working again! I'm honestly really surprised that it even started. It's been in a cardboard box for over a year at this point, but it works just like the day I got it. Got to get my flow back up for when my coral shipment comes on Wednesday. That gyre broke down a while ago, worked well for about 2 1/2 months. I recommend it to Jeff Bezos, maybe he'll be able to buy 5 new ones every year.
Some people brag about their thriving stands of acropora. I brag about my thriving stand of this stuff. No idea what it is, but it hasn't spread any in the last few months, so I'm not complaining. I'm going to put a red mini maxi in the middle of it some day, I think it'd look good.
I'm entering in the competition for the best bubble algae. I figure it won't overgrow the softies I have planned for this tank, so I'm going to live with it. At least that's my excuse for being too lazy to do anything about it. Right below it is the only surviving patch of
Dictyota in the entire tank. I used to have a plague of it, but there's almost none left. My tank has stabilized at a population of two female emerald crabs, both of which have been eating it. Twice now I've added several males and females to this group, but every time, it whittles down to these two females. The bubble algae is too big for them.
Conch in the rhodactis field. Keep the algae at bay, little dude. I had a split recently, the elongated one in the middle of the rock broke away from the smaller polyp to the left and up a bit. I expect it to make another division soon.
This is the biggest feather duster in the tank. I'm planning to put my incoming RFA garden where he is, what's good for one invertebrate is probably good for another.
Controversial opinion these days, but the goal of a reef tank is to replicate the ocean as closely as possible. It isn't about collecting the latest rainbow acro, it isn't about keeping a tank pristine and free of hitchhikers, it isn't about having the fanciest equipment. On the wild reef, a rainbow acro is a tempting target for any hungry corallivores, and fancy equipment isn't anywhere to be found. If you threw it in, it'd just be another place for coralline to grow and fish to make their homes. What we call pests and hitchhikers are as prevalent on the reef as the things we are trying to grow. Go to any wild reef, and swim close to the rock, looking not just at the fish and corals. You'll find those things too, of course, but you'll also find bubble algae. You'll find aiptasia, you'll find vermitids, and you'll find gorilla crabs. Of course, there are things on the reef managing and controlling those that we call pests, preventing plagues. But, nothing is trying to eradicate them. Nothing is pumping them full of chemicals, harming microscopic life as they go. In order to maintain our tiny oceans, we should try to keep a balance with these things. Introduce predators, or take the role of the controller, and manage hitchhikers yourself. I try to do this myself. There are only two hitchhikers I wouldn't manage in this way, those being octopi and bobbit worms. Octopi are too intelligent to ignore or remove, if I ended up with one, I'd try to set up a tank for it, or even convert my system into a habitat designed for one. Bobbit worms are predators too large for my system. They'd break the balance, and eradicate every other macroscopic animal. If I find one, I'll freeze it and feed it back to my fish. Other than that, most things are welcome, as long as they don't take over or pose a risk to me/my fish. I can't claim to be all-knowing when it comes to reef keeping. Other forms of maintaining a system are valid, even if they stray from nature. For me, trying to replicate the ocean and the balance within it is the ultimate goal. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
