Hawaiian Biotope Pilot

The gallery below tracks the development of this display and also highlights some of the corals, inverts and fish. You will find stocking and other facts about this aquarium at the bottom of the page.

To navigate through the gallery you have two options. You can either click through each of the images in turn by clicking to the right or left hand side of the image to move forwards or backwards respectively; or you can click on the 'Thumbnails' tag on the top right of the image to reveal a carousel of smaller images which you can then scroll through and select with your cursor. To get rid of the carousel just click on the 'Thumbnails' tab again.

November 2004 - after initial aquascaping

Aquarium set up with an open rock structure to allow for good flow, and overhangs under which I could hide the stream pumps.

Chevron Tang - Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis

This was the fish responsible for my decision to focus on Hawaii for my biotope. Very colourful when young they become nearly black when mature.

Plate Coral - Fungia sp.

Here the Fungia coral lit is by actinic lamps. It was subsequently removed as it wasn't appropriate for the part of the reef zone I was modelling.

Snowflake Moray Eel - Echidna nebulosa

An early addition was a Snowflake Moray Eel. The aquascaping hid a network of PVC pipework which had been laid underneath to provided a secure home for the eel.

Tiger Tail Cucumber - Holothuria hilla

This cucumber was added to help keep the substrate clean and is usually noctural. It is able to reproduce asexually through division so I ended up with a few of these.

June 2005 - aquarium setting and finish

The aquarium stood on stand adapted from a kitchen unit. A surround was added to the top of the aquarium to cut down on light-spill and to help hide the equipment.

June 2005 - about six months after the initial aquascaping

The aquarium was taking shape and had stabilised enough for me to start adding SPS corals and frags to the zoanthids already present.

Collector Urchin - Tripneustes gratilla

The Collector Urchin is found around Hawaii down to depths of 15m. Another very useful member of the clean-up crew.

Halloween Hermit Crab - Ciliopagurus strigatus

After much searching I eventually managed to acquire some of these nocturnal crabs, which are normally found around Hawaii in waters 7m deep or more.

Zoos - Zoanthid sp.

Hawaii does not appear to have many soft corals or polyps, but they do have zoanthids. I built up a good collection of them - this was one of my favourites.

Zoanthid eating nudibranch

Unfortunately I wasn't the only thing enjoying the zoanthids! A series of freshwater dips eventually killed these pests and their eggs.

November 2005 - one year after initial aquascaping

I continued adding more frags and the groupings of frags of a single species are beginning to hint at the effect I was hoping to achieve.

Turban Snail - Turbo sp.

Another good addition to the clean up crew. The Turban Snail gets its common name from the shape of its shell.

Top Snail - Trochus sp.

Once the aquarium matured the Top Snails would regularly spawn in a syncronised event - with groups releasing sperm or eggs into the water column at the same time.

Tunicate

I also discovered various hitchikers - I think this one was a type of tunicate, a filter feeding organism. It was growing in darkness in an area of strong flow.

Pennant Bannerfish - Heniochus acuminatus/diphreutes

There are very few reef-safe Butterflyfish. These are one of the better behaved ones, but they still pecked at the zoanthids and feather dusters.

Pocillopora damicornis

By July 2006 when this photo was taken some of the corals were starting to make a real impact.

Montipora sp.

The vigorous green plating Montipora was steadily encroaching and overwhelming its neighbours.

Montipora mollis

This is a slow growing but beautiful species of Montipora that tends to follow an encrusting growth form.

July 2006 - Aquarium at two years old

The aquarium is nearing maturity.

December 2006 - Aquarium at two and a half years old, with fish removed.

I think this photo proves that this alternative approach to stocking and aquascaping can be very successful. I hope you agree!.

This pilot project was dismantled in mid-2007 as part of the upgrade to the larger biotope system now featured on this site, but I think it had matured enough by then to demonstrate that this aquascaping approach could be successful. You will find comments received on this original pilot in the Feedback page as well as any comments on the new project.