Well, I haven't posted here for a long time about my oyster reef project. I still maintain a 20g simplified version, but basically, 99% of what was in that biotope aquarium went into this system. My goal was to create a great habitat for my favorite fish, blennies. Right now, the only blenny species I have in the tank is the striped blenny, Chasmodes bosquianus. I hope to collect the other Bay species next spring, Hypsoblennius hentz, the feather blenny. So far, they have not showed up at my collecting spots, although the Maryland Diversity Project says they've been caught near there. I found pictures of oyster reefs and even went and made my own videos of Bay locations that match my reef. The reef took a lot of work and time to build. Just as a reference, I started this project in 2007. There was much toiling about how do to things, saving money for the right equipment, and procrastination (mostly caused by fear of the unknown), and over researching. That's why I had a 20g system for so long. It finally took a contest and a deadline to get me moving on this project. Honestly, I didn't care if I met the deadline or not, rather, getting the tank up and running finally seemed like a reality. It was quite an honor to enter the contest. I will elaborate on that at a future date. The end result is that I can watch and feed my fish for hours, and I can't stop loving this tank.
Display Tank
This biotope consists of a 36"x36"x18" 100 gallon cubish acrylic tank. With the help of a few friends to get me started and eventually to the finish line, I was able to get a stand built. You may have seen pics, posts and videos about this project on my old thread, but now it's time to start a new thread, because this system deserves it. Why? It's my dream tank, finally realized. The tank drains through an external modified Bean Animal style plumbed overflow through my rec-room wall to my basement into the sump. The return is a Sicce Syncra Silent internal pump that shoots a fair amount of current into the tank. I have a very strong gyre pump but I have yet to use it because this tank seems to have plenty of current. The light fixture is a very strong Radion LED XR 30 G4 Pro, and I couldn't be happier with it. The overhead footprint is 36"x36" and the light works great for the entire tank. Everything in the display tank came from the Chesapeake Bay, including the oysters that make up the reef, the sand, the inhabitants, the plants, fossils and shells.
The Reef
I built the reef by collecting oysters in the area, from restaurants, my fish collecting spots, and even grocery stores. I had the shuck the oysters from the grocery stores. The nice thing about that was that they were matched pairs, but man, curing them was a stinky process after shucking. Some of the shells that I collected during fish collecting trips were dead oysters and matched pairs. But, the vast majority of them came from restaurants that I visited or my neighbor visited, and all of them were from the Bay. Of the loose shells from restaurants, I had to match up the right and left halves of each whole oyster. I glued each pair together, some with 3/8-1/2" gaps that serve as spawning locations for my benthic fish, but most glued tight. I then glued each oyster into cultches, or clustuers, ranging in size from small (several oysters) to very large, maybe as many as 50 oysters. After creating the main reef, I later added bases made of broken cheap tile pieces from a local hardware store. These bases ensured that the reef structures stay upright and prevent burrowing animals from tipping them over. Sand over these tiles is a great help. On top of each section also to form the base of each cultch were local Bay rocks, fossils, and the like to make the base more full and realistic. All of the sand was collected in the Bay, I also glued barnacle shells together and added some to the reef for added realism.
I am very proud of the reef, because part of it was in my 20g for a long time, and it held up nicely. I was happy how the fish used and bred in it, and I'm happy to see that happening in my new system as well. I'm happy with how it looks, and it looks a lot like my original design done long before I ever collected a single oyster.
The Sump:
I also have a 36"x18"x16" sump that is 40 gallons full t the top (overflow protection) that brings this system up from 100g to about 130-140 gallons depending on the sump water level. The sump right side is where the water drains from the tank, into a home made mechanical filtration box that I use sponge material in to catch debris and detritus. Underneath that, the water flows through a DIY biomedia filter box, full of various ceramic and rock filter media. I can also use carbon filtration in there or in the mechanical filtration box. The water flows over and under a couple baffles to the middle return section, where it's pumped back into the tank, and also to the right side of the sump where my refugium resides. Water is also pumped back into the middle section to keep the middle section water surface from being stagnant. I have macro algae, and other critters in there that I discuss in the video update at the end of this post. About 75% of the sand from my 20g tank went in the fuge to aid and seed the biological filtration when I put the finishing touches on the tank. Also, in the right section where the tank water dumps in, I have old limestone and coral rock that I've collected that is highly porous, for biological filtration. I hope it serves like live rock in a salt system.
Stocking List:
The 20g long is now a rearing tank, and maybe eventually a breeder tank. I have a bunch
OK, enough rambling. I think I have enough info here as a thread starter. Time for some fun. The first video is the very first one that I shot after I entered the contest. The second video was done this past week. In it, I discuss the changes and evolution of this system. After a few hardships the past couple months and related uncertainty, I can say that I'm finally really happy with the outcome. I have one minor problem, as some ich or related disease showed up a few days ago. I QT'd these fish and treated them, so I have no idea how that could have happened. I guess there was a pretty resistant pest. Now I have to figure out an eradication plan.
First video
Latest video
NANFA Youtube Channel 
