Bio-Luminescent Fish : No-Light Tank

hi all.  i have been doing some heavy research for an idea i have.  i bought scott michael's book, "Reef Fishes Vol. 1", and it is amazing.  can't wait for volume 2.  but, i was reading on deep reef fish, particularly bio-luminescent fish.  i want to set up a no-light reef system.  red and yellow ball sponges, sun corals, feather dusters, and any other invert that requires NO lighting.  the interesting part, of course, is the fish.  i was thinking a pineapple fish, 3 flashlight fish, and a small scorpionfish in a 55g or 65g tank, with no lighting except for the moonlight fixture, and maybe a red fluorescent light.  how does this sound?  has it ever been done?  successfully?  i really want to do this, and i am willing to invest the money in these rare fish, especially because of the money i will save on lighting.  any information is GREATLY appreciated.  scott's book was great, but i would like some info from people who may have kept them.  sorry for the long post.  thanks for any help!!!

roger

 

Re: No-Light Tank

[glow=Purple, 2, 99%]Hey Roger,

I haven't done this. But I knew a guy who tried it. The problem is that you have to keep the tank so full of nutrients that the nitrates go through the roof. The ocean is so large it can keep a nutrient-rich environment for those corals and sponges that need no light. But in a closed system, we try to keep our nutrients that high and the nitrates become a death-trap.

We can keep discussing this and maybe work out a compromise solution, but a tank with no light, keeping sponges and corals alive -- that is a scientific experiment worthy of SeaLab.

Good Luck, and keep me posted!!! I want to help if I can!!![/glow]

 

Re: No-Light Tank

i understand how tough this will probably be. the sun corals and ball sponges are non-photosynthetic, so i hope those would work out. to keep nitrates in check, i was going to plumb a refugium to the tank for macroalgae and a DSB, and do weekly water changes of about 15-20 %. how hard are mysis shrimp to raise in a refugium? where can i get live mysis to start such a colony?i was reading that i might need those to initiate feeding in the flashlight fish. are ghost shrimp just as good? where should i look to buy these fish? i saw them listed on liveaquaria.com, but it said that they were temporarily unavailable.

 

Re: No-Light Tank

I'd like to keep posted on your research as well. Sounds very interesting yet very challenging. Great info. Wrassman!

 

Re: No-Light Tank

hey craig. exactly what level of lighting would be healthy for these animals? ambient room light for the day time, and moonlight bulbs at night?

 

Re: No-Light Tank

i would like to see how someting like that would work out myself that sounds interesting. There was a show not to long ago on discovery about bioluminescent fish it was quite interesting. for some fish the more complicated the pattern the more dangerous they can be especially jellyfish. ill have to find it but one of the sites sells the biolumincent brittle star ive see that before.

 

Re: No-Light Tank

Hey Roger.

I know these posts were a while back, but if you're still into this. Here's an article on Breeding Mysis shrimp.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/sept2003/breeder.htm