Chesapeake Bay Oyster Reef Biotope Aquarium 100G Project

Hi Everyone.

Many of you have seen my 20g oyster reef tank updates, but that is a smaller version of a much bigger project that I've been working on for a long long time.  It's my dream tank.  I've always wanted to keep blennies native to the Chesapeake Bay.  I've been doing it for several years now in my smaller tank.  But the time is here for my larger project to come to fruition.  My 100g tank will be plumbed this week, and I hope to have it set and cycling by the end of this weekend.  I have some fish that I will move from my 20g tank, but I also plan to do a lot of brackish fish collecting over the next few weeks to further stock the tank.  I've got a lot done, but I have a lot to do still.  It's a daunting task to get everything the way that I want it.  My river tank took forever, but that was nothing compared to this.  This project has been in the works since 2007.  Unreal.  I am ashamed about that LOL.  Anyway, here's a video update of some of the things that I've done to bring this project closer to completion.

The oyster shell reef inserts look amazing.  Definitely public-aquarium worthy.  Much like your stream tank.  Congrats on taking the time to do it right rather than rush it and be unhappy with the final product.  What other species of Bay fish do you intend to keep in there with your current stock?  Looking forward to seeing this up and running soon.  

Thank you Nick! 

In addition to striped blennies, naked gobies, skilletfish and sheepshead minnows that I'm currently keeping, I plan on keeping peaceful species that would be suitable for my 100g tank that also won't be picked on by the other fish.  Other killifish species could be stocked also, like mummichogs or striped killifish.  I'd love to add a hogchoker, but the prize would be if I could find a tropical stray, especially a spotfin butterfly fish.  I'd consider keeping fish like juvenile lookdowns or butterfish if I could work a deal out with GEPA to take them when they get too big for my tank.  I tried keeping sticklebacks but if they're too small, they disappear.  I think that the skilletfish ate them.  If they're adult size, they should be OK.  I kept rainwater killies, but the skilletfish eventually ate all of them.  The blennies left both species alone.  I know for sure that the skilletfish were the perps because I found one with a full belly and a rainwater killifish tail hanging out of it's mouth.  So, I guess that it depends on what else I can collect.

I think that I'm going to convert my 20g version of this tank to a grass bed tank for rainwater killies, sticklebacks and maybe seahorses.  I'd try pipefish if I can catch a species that I can convert from live to frozen foods.  If I can't, then I'll start culturing my own live brine shrimp.

OK, better stocking list options.  What I actually keep depends on what I catch and capatibility.  If I wind up with predatory stuff, then say goodbye to inverts.  But, I've loved to keep the mud crabs, hermit crabs, anemones, etc.

(Red = much desired, Blue = desired, black = maybe)

Current species:

Striped Blenny (Chasmodes bosquianus) - I have 1 male and 1 female.  I'd like 4 males and 2 or more females.

Skilletfish (Gobiesox strumosus) - I currently have 4, but would like 6

Naked Goby (Gobiosoma bosc) - I currently have 4, but would like several more

Species that I'd like to add if I'm fortunate enough to catch them:

Feather Blenny (Hypsoblennius hentz) - at least one male and one female

Seaweed Blenny (Parablennius marmoreus) - rare in the bay, but would love to have one.

Seaboard Goby (Gobiosoma ginsbergi)

Code Goby (Gobiosoma robustum)

Lyre Goby (Evorthodus lyricus) - if I'm lucky enough to catch them

Darter Goby (Gobionellus boleosoma) - if I'm lucky enough to catch them

Slim Goby (Gobionellus gracillimus) - if I'm lucky enough to catch them

Clown Goby (Microgobius gulosus) - if I'm lucky enough to catch them

Green Goby ((Microgobius thalassinus) - if I'm lucky enough to catch them

Fourspine Stickleback (Apeltes quadracus) - large specimens only other wise the skilletfish eat them.

Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) - large specimens only other wise the skilletfish eat them.

Spotfin Butterflyfish (Chaetodon ocellatus) - tropical stray, if I'm lucky enough to catch them, or any other butterflyfish

Bank Butterflyfish - Prognathodes aya - tropical stray, if I'm lucky enough to catch them, rare in shallow water

Blue Angelfish (Holacanthus bermudensis) - tropical stray, would love to have one.

Striped Burrfish (Chilomycterus schoepfi) - only problem is they'd eat my crabs and shrimp, so maybe on this one

Spotfin Mojarra or similar species (eucinostomus argenteus) - if small specimens

Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus)

Striped killifish (Fundulus majalis)

Scrawled Cowfish (Lactophrys quadricornis) - these get big, but maybe if a juvenile

Pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides) - predatory on inverts, so maybe not.

Spot (Leiostomus xanthurus) - maybe

Planehead Filefish (Monacanthus hispidus) - if caught small, max at 10"

Pygmy Fileifsh (Monacanthus setifer) - if lucky to catch

Pigfish (orthopristis chrysoptera) - predatory, so maybe

Lookdown (Selene vomer) - if juveniles, would have to donate if they get to big

Hogchoker (Trinictes maculatus) - small ones, but if they grow large, OK to stay in tank.  But grass shrimp will go quickly LOL.

Of course, my stocking situation at any given time will dictate how many fish I add. I won't be able to keep all of them. I don't want to just collect everything and keep everything.  Once the tank is stocked to maximum capacity, the collecting will stop.  Unless I need to make trades LOL.

If you started small (as you intend to with most of that list) a Striped Burrfish would be a very personable addition to your tank.  Your inverts may fall victim to a larger specimen, but if you still have the option to donate to GEPA I'd consider them.

You'd have better luck if you happen to vacation in the Outer Banks this summer, finding and catching the tropical strays.  They can be collected off piers and jetties in the right places.

Thank you NIck.  I may give it a go this summer.  We're planning a trip to Oak Island   I totally agree, striped burrfish are so cool. They have one at GEPA, and his name is Derp LOL.  He's about 7" long or so.  I'd like to collect one about the 1-2" size.  The inverts are cool, but, I'm a fish "finatic" anyway!

There's a guy on YouTube that lives near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel that has a lot of videos about tropical strays that he catches around the bridge.  He dives, I dont (I wish).  Actually, I was certified while I was in college and it's a lifetime cert from what I understand.  But, I don't think physically that I could do it anymore, at least for the depths and things that I'd like to do.  That said, less than 20 FOW, I think I'd  be OK in low to no current situations.

Of the list above, this is more realistic:

Striped Blenny (Chasmodes bosquianus) - I have 1 male and 1 female.  I'd like 4 males and 2 or more females.

Skilletfish (Gobiesox strumosus) - I currently have 4, but would like 6

Naked Goby (Gobiosoma bosc) - I currently have 4, but would like several more

Feather Blenny (Hypsoblennius hentz) - at least one male and one female

Spotfin Butterflyfish (Chaetodon ocellatus) - tropical stray, if I'm lucky enough to catch them, or any other butterflyfish

Striped Burrfish (Chilomycterus schoepfi) - only problem is they'd eat my crabs and shrimp, so maybe on this one

Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) - maybe

Striped killifish (Fundulus majalis) - maybe

Hogchoker (Trinictes maculatus) - small ones, but if they grow large, OK to stay in tank.  But grass shrimp will go quickly LOL.

You are correct; recreational diving is a lifetime cert.  However I would highly recommend doing a 'refresher course'.  Most dive shops offer them.  It shouldn't be super expensive and would only be a half day or so.  Absolutely worth it IMO.  You'll be surprised how much you remember and how quickly it comes back to you.

I like your list and it should be exciting to watch--even if you have to periodically replace shrimp and other inverts.

Thank you Nick!

A few updates on the Oyster Reef Tank:

• I've got the dry return dry fitted...waiting on a few parts to be able to plumb in the pump.  I should get them soon.
• I sifted and washed some of the sand that we collected from the Bay.  This is the first half bucket.  I collected 3 buckets, but after adding this, I think that I only need another 1/2 bucket in the DT tank.  I will also add some to the fuge mixed with the sand from my 20g tank.  I'll have plenty of sand leftover for future projects.  I like the dark look of this sand.

Please be sure to take photos of the LSS build.  I enjoy seeing the system come to life.

Will you be adding any 'live' sand to help seed the new display tank?

Thank you NIck.  I sure will include more photos of the build.  I can do a series of posts from start to finish after I'm done as well as a recap of the steps that I've taken.

Yes, I'll be adding all of the sand from my current 20g oyster reef tank, but it will be going into my sump.  In fact, almost everything in that tank will be included, including all of the critters, worms and all.  I'll be adding a few more species as well than I've kept in the past, especially over the long term as I expand my collecting range, but still exclusive to the Chesapeake Bay watershed..  

Well, I had the tank set up and running full of FW, checking with leaks and fine tuning the overflow.  Then, just before I was ready to start adding salt, I noticed a tiny leak coming from one of the bulkhead seals.  I tried to tighten it down but the bulkhead gave way.  I could still retighten, but it was leaking worse.  I thought that I broke something, either the bulkhead or the tank.  I drained the tank below the level of the bulkhead, pulled out some oyster clumps to clear the way, and took apart the overflow.  I thought that I was going to have to buy replacement bulkheads, or worse, a new overflow.  Luckily, after taking it all apart and examining everything, nothing was broken.  I checked the area around the holes, and sure enough, around the first hole were the tiniest of burrs from drilling the hole.  There was also a tiny bit of glue and paper (from the original paper that protected the acrylic) where the gasket met the glass.  I cleaned that off and took some sandpaper and gently sanded the tank hole edges.  I'm' going to put it back together today and test again before I add back the oysters.  Crossing my fingers, wish me luck.

Also, I had trouble getting my Bean Animal set up's main drain to fully siphon.  I got it to work the first time, but made some adjustments in the sump, and after that, I could not achieve a full siphon on that drain.  The overflow would drain alternating between a full siphon on the secondary and emergency drains.  I did some research and discovered that my overflow tubes were set up too deep in the sump.  So, I'm looking forward to fixing that and hopefully that problem will be solved.  If all that works, next steps:

• Paint the return section on the tank side black.
• Add salt
• Add bottled bacteria
• Add about half of the substrate and almost everything from the 20g display, fish, shells, Ulva, inverts...everything almost, leaving only 1/2 the sand,l and moving it into the new tank or the sump refugium.
• Install the lights to the ceiling
• Make/install the mesh screen top for the tank.
• Build the shadowbox background and lighting
• Somewhere in that time frame, add the fish from the QT tanks when their QT regimens are done (and add more bacteria).

Last weekend, we collected a bunch of blennies.  We got three adult males, two or three sub-adults, and about a dozen juveniles.  The adults will go into the 100g DT, the sub adults will be added later, and I'll put the juveniles into the 20g DT until they're big enough to move to the 100g.  We also collected about a dozen more small sheepshead minnows.  

Stocking list so far of fish collected for the 100g when fully stocked:

Fish

• 7 adult striped blennies (Chasmodes bosquianus)
• maybe 10 naked gobies (Gobiosoma bosc)
• about 6 skilletfish (Gobiesox strumosus)
• maybe a dozen mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus)
• 4 small spot (Leiostomus xanthurus)
• maybe a dozen sheepshead minnows (2 adults, the rest small)

• Harris mud crabs
• Black-fingered mud crabs
• Thinstripe hermit crab
• Ghost anemones
• Possible orange striped anemone
• Hooked mussels
• Oysters (a couple possibly alive still, they're out of my view.  Although I feed them every day, they don't live long and they're about the end of the time frame that I've been able to keep them alive)
• Barnacles (white and bay)
• lots of clam worms
• assorted other fouling tiny organisms

Wish List

Fish

• Feather blenny (Hypsoblennius hentz)
• Spotfin butterflyfish (Chaetodon ocellatus) or any other tropical stray in this family
• Striped burrfish (Chilomycterus schoepfi)
• Small hogchoker (Trinectes maculatus)

Invertebrates

• Sea squirts
• Red beard sponge
• Whip coral (if I'm lucky)

Here are a few pics after I drained the tank but before I removed the overflow:

thank you Todd!

Well, I bought new gaskets and tried again and it still leaked, even worse, for some reason.  I thought that by adding gaskets between the nut and inner wall of the outside overflow box would work, but epic fail.  It leaked worse than before, this time coming from the threads of the bulkhead.  Then, it dawned on my that I shouldn' t have put the gasket behind the nut.  I read it somewhere a long time ago and it stuck in my brain. So, I moved the gaskets around, placing them on either side of the glass.  It was better, but still leaked a little, so, gritting my teeth, I tighted each bulkhead nut down a little at a time, and the leak stopped!  I was back in business!  All I had to do is add salt and replace the oyster cultches that I took out.  The video below brings you up to date as of now:

I'm surprised to hear it leaked again.  But silicone is your answer!  Once you pass the bulkhead through the hole, put a generous bead around the opening (on the side  of the nut).  That usually always does the trick, and I generally do it anyway on my own projects.  Should look great with fish.

Thanks Nick!  I fixed the leak, but if it ever does it again, I'll try your solution.  My next video will have fix and hopefully the lights will be hung from the ceiling.  I'm just waiting for my salinity levels to stabiliize.  

Oh, and the last leak was just spash from the overflow and/or return.  I fixed both issues.  No leaking now!  I am so stoked.  I've been planning this since 2007.  My dream tank since I was in college in the late 70's when I caught my first Chesapeake Bay blenny, Hypsoblennius hentz.  I want some of those...I will find them!