Model Ecosystems | Natural History | Biophilic Design
Echoes – Microbialite Reef
A biotope aquarium imagines an ancient Archean sea.
We’ve had this setup installed for a few years. Faux stromatolite structures were assembled with reef tank aragonite stones, then seeded with a mixed microbial culture from Great Salt Lake wild microbialites.
Water is very salty (1.0649SG) to approximate Great Salt Lake conditions.
There are many more details to share, but here is a series of pictures to show progress.
Microbialite Reef, Day 1Hypersaline (1.0649SG) light refractometer reading. Wild microbialites exposed during low water levels. Great Salt Lake, Utah. Top view: Microbialite reef biotope aquarium, two weeks after establishment.Microbialite reef biotope aquarium, two weeks after establishment.Filamentous Cyanobacteria, possibly Oscillatoria, from Great Salt Lake field sample. 200x magnification.Benthic Diatoms, probably Navicula sp., from Great Salt Lake field sample. 200x magnification.Top View: Microbialite reef biotope aquarium, 15 months after establishment.Self-sustaining Brine Shrimp (Artemia franciscana) bowl colony with Great salt Lake field sample sediments and stones.Microbialite reef biotope aquarium, 15 months after establishment.
