Guppies' 15g Caulerpa Heaven

[Arkardios]

I'm gonna convert my 15g freshwater guppy tank to saltwater. I'm envisioning a forest of caulerpa, specifically C. prolifera in there. Maybe some kenya trees as well.

Current pic.


This is probably going to take a good few weeks. I'll replace substrate and hardscape, and remove plants in 3 steps.

I'll slowly start upping salinity. I've successfully converted guppies to saltwater before, so I'm hoping this time will go just as smoothly.

Before I can really get into it I have to wait for some more supplies to ship though. Snagged a Reefdoser EVO 4 for less than half-price, and got a good deal on lava rocks and aragonite sand. Fleamarkets ftw.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[Arkardios]

Getting well into brackish territory! Currently sitting at 1.011 specific gravity.
Sand and hardscape is fully replaced and all fw shrimp & snails have been caught.
Only snails that are staying in are the malaysian trumpet snails. They can go up to at least 1.023, in my experience.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

If you are going to replace the Gravel with Aragonite, I’d add it slowly to keep from shocking the Guppies.

 

[Arkardios]

If you are going to replace the Gravel with Aragonite, I’d add it slowly to keep from shocking the Guppies.

No worries, did exactly that - over the course of three days.

Now we're at 1.015sg. I think by the time we reach 1.016-1.017 I'll add the first small bits of caulerpa. I don't remember what the lowest salinity C. prolifera tolerates is, so we'll see whether that's enough.

 

[souciemm]

Are you all the way over to saltwater? How'd it turn out?

 

[Arkardios]

Are you all the way over to saltwater? How'd it turn out?

Been a while! I switched out the the 15g for a slightly shallower tank.
At the moment we're still at around 1.016. I've neglected the tank a little bit other than basic care. The guppies are happy and breeding though.

Since I've got more time now, I'll start upping salinity again and finally adding macroalgae.

There's a nice green patina on the wood and acrylic. The guppies are happy picking at it and the copepods on it.

Unfortunately there's still some dead duckweed floating around, which is difficult to net up without netting 10 guppies along with it. Too curious for their own good sometimes...

 

[Arkardios]

First macroalgae deployed.



Some of the duckweed is still going strong at 1.023.

 

[Osprey223]

First macroalgae deployed.



Some of the duckweed is still going strong at 1.023.

Awesome! Pretty cool the duckweed is still going. My dad has been keeping guppies for a while and now I may just have to make a saltwater tank for some at my place!

 

[Arkardios]

Awesome! Pretty cool the duckweed is still going. My dad has been keeping guppies for a while and now I may just have to make a saltwater tank for some at my place!

I don't expect the duckweed to make it for much longer, lol, but it is definitely hanging in there!

Guppies are a super underrated saltwater fish. Mostly due to people not knowing they do well in salt, tbh. They really aren't for the average reef tank, but in a dedicated setup they're wonderful.

 

[Arkardios]

The duckweed is giving up and melting. Turning into food for the guppies.

The Caulerpa racemosa and taxifolia are doing well and growing fast. I did snag a cheap 1-channel dosing pump to feed them some npk daily. The guppies aren't producing enough to sustain the caulerpa and the green patina.

 

[Arkardios]

Taking shape.
I switched to a light with some blue LEDs in it and the gracilaria is enjoying it much more and actually growing now.



The caulerpas are a bit slow for my liking, but they're still doing well.

 

[Arkardios]

Finally the caulerpa is starting to grow nicely. Took some time to get used to the new tank.
Very happy with the development.

 

[Osprey223]

Looking great!

 

[Arkardios]

Very happy with the macro growth.
Currently I'm manually dosing some NPK couple times a week.

 

[jft]

COOL TANK! I LOVE GUPPIES AND MOLLIES! After doing reef tanks for 30 years I got bored and went back to FO tank and I recently setup Livebearer tanks with Guppies and mollies!