100 Gallon H. Erectus, Seagrass, Macro Algae Lagoon

R

redmangrove

New member
seagrass1.jpg

seagrass2.jpg


fulltank.jpg



Here is some information about my marine planted tank setup. The initial goal was to create as natural a system as possible. I am very satisfied with the setup so far.

100 gallon acryllic
6000 Quiet One Pump 1500 ghp (Rainbow Lifeguard)
30 gallon sump
5 48" 6500k t8s and 1 48" actinic t8 (think tanning bed)
125 watt compact florescent spotlight on the mangroves
CO2 Injection (yeast method first, now compressed tank injection)
Bio ball nitrate factory
No skimmer
Detritus pump from sump to mangrove sandbeds.
Botryocladia Sp. on lve rock *** garden
100+ pounds of live rock

Specs
Temperature 76-80 F
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 0-5ppm
Alkalinity 240-270ppm
ph 8.0-8.5

Sandbed Setup
125+ pound Sandbed
Florida Reef Sand: 1-2 mm diameter grain size. Coralline pink/red highlights
Fiji Gold Refugium Mud
Fiji Gold Coral & Live Rock Supplement (calcium carbonate clay)
Silica Sand
Decomposed mangrove, seagrass, macro “Compost”
Coarse crushed coral

Maintenance/Nutrients
*** Seagrass/Macro/Mangrove compost *** I have found that this is key to a successful marine planted tank. I basically let the plant material decay in an anerobic environment then I puree it in a blender and add mud. I also seed the sandbed with macroalgae and mangrove leaves that in turn die and decay in the sandbed.

20% water change bi-monthly
Fiji Gold Coral and Reef Supplement (calcium carbonate clay)
Fiji Gold Refugium Mud
Just started Iron/Potassium supplements bi-monthly

Notes
I ran metal halide (HQI) lights but they made the tank too hot (no chiller and I am in Southern California) and the macros and seagrass seemed to do much better with the t8 setup.

I was able to acclimate my mangroves to a 24/7 light cycle. I am absolutely stunned by how rapid the mangroves grow now. I am getting 4 times the growth rate compared to when I was using a 12/12 light cycle. Sometimes less than 1-2 weeks time between new leaves on the pistal. They seem to have started a “vegetative” growing state similar to how some terrestrial plants respond to 24hr light cycles.

Livestock
2 Hippocampus erectus - Tank Raised
Tons of copepods, amphipods, mini stars, pests, etc.
Extra Large, Fat Male Mandarin Dragonette

Mangroves
25 Rhizophora mangles (Red Mangrove)

Seagrasses
Syringodium filiforme (Manatee grass)
Thalassia testudinum (Turtle Grass)
Halodule wrightii (Shoal Grass)

Hair Algae
Chaetomorpha aerea (Seagrass algae) - On Liverock
Chaetomorpha crassa(Spaghetti Algae)

Red Macro Algae
Halymenia floresia (dragon's tongue)
Botryocladia Sp.(String of Pearls) - On Liverock
Botryocladia Sp.(Red Grape) - On Liverock
Botryocladia Sp.(Small Red Grape) - On Liverock
Galaxaura fastigiata (Large Red Branch Branching/Red branching Codium)
Galaxaura sp. (Small Red Branch Branching)
Gracilaria curtissae/ Laminaria sp. (Red Kelp)

Calacarous Macro Algae
Penicillus sp.(Shaving Brush Plant)
Udotea sp.(Mermaids fan)
Halimeda copiosa (Small Branch Halameda )
Halameda Tuna (Halimeda with holdfast)
Codium

Green Macro Algae
Caulerpa prolifera
 
I was hoping you would post this here! :D I'm curious, you noted that the mangroves are on 24 hour light photoperiod. Is the main part of the tank also on continuous light?

Did you note any nuisance algaes crop up in the beginning of the life of the tank, such as cyano, diatoms or dinoflagellates? I've wondered how adding nutrients and CO2 from the start would alter the natural progression of these nuisances in a young marine planted tank.

Overall, looks great (as you know). Keep us posted here on RC!

>Sarah
 
Hey Samala,
Yeah I was planning on posting here as well. These forums seem to be a bit more active. Yes the mangroves are on a 24hr light photoperiod. I was experimenting with the light photoperiod and decided to try it. They seem to be in a vegetative state and are throwing new leaves very close together on the pistal. This is common with young terrestrial plants.

The main tank is on a 14 on, 10 off light photoperiod currently. I have tried various light photoperiods and this one seems to be the best for this tank. I also vary the light cycle slightly as far as start and end times and sometimes have half the lights running for a few hours to simulate weather events (clouds/storms).

I have had some problems with cyano, especially when the tank was young, but I stayed on top of it. I also started with a converted 1+ year old reef tank. I slowly added the macros and seagrass as the tank “converted”. During that time the mangroves were acclimating to the tank. I think that 25 small mangroves help with the overall tank stability now that they are acclimated, but I want to increase the number to 50+. I did not add any nutrients or c02 until the tank was mature. The tank has occasional hair algae that you can see on the Botryocladia in the pictures.

I forgot to add this to my original post:
Special thanks to Sarah Lardizabal and Angie Chicca at Scripps Birch Aquarium for the great articles and setup advice for my macro and seagrass tank
 
You might consider adding some aeration, heavy in the macro tank.
The T8's or less light if you can get away with it makes a macro tank grow slower and thus easier to dose and maintain, allowing things like old plant detritus to have enough time to rot/decay and remineralize into NH4/NO3/PO4/Fe etc.

I took some of the macros I have at work and did this, same thing like plant compost, adding soil.

I'm tickled that marine and reef folks buy "mud", often at quite high prices.

Dirt + water = mud. Mud is namely just anaerobic sediments with a relatively high organic matter content.

Stinky tidal mud flats.
But if you do not live near the coast of near a places that's not polluted heavily, then........

Still, you can soak pootting soil good for a few weeks and do the same type of thing, or you may boil the soil first for 10-20min and that will oxidize and mineralize things faster.

Then add a little. Same type of thing in a FW planted tank, you just do not need as much here.

The mud acts as a source of organic carbon to help mineralization via bacterial cycling, bacteria need their carbon/carbs as well as N and P etc and many new tanks have little and thus limit and bacteria by organic carbon rather than N or P etc.

So you just need a little to get started, then after some time has pasted, and detritus has built up, it's no lnger required.

Alternatively, we can add mulm, the detritus that settles on the bottom of a bucket after deep vacuuming an old established DBS/deep gravel layer.

Add that to a new tank. We did this some 30 years ago with our marine tanks at a LFS.

Adds precisely what is missing from a new tank that exist in a old mature established tank.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
Wow that is amazing. I can only hope my tank turns into something like that. How long has this been up and running for?
 
wish i could see the pics. only getting red x's. just took the topshells out of my reef. i have enough smaller snails now so i can get the macros the topshells kept eating.
 
Holy Gamoley that's nice!!! How long has that been running for?

Also, are you selling any of that macroalgae? Thanks.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10355859#post10355859 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by malsavant
Holy Gamoley that's nice!!! How long has that been running for?

Also, are you selling any of that macroalgae? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I started with a reef tank that was running for about a year and a half. Most of the sand in the sandbed was mature and from other reef tanks. I slowly added the macros and seagrass as the mangroves acclimated. After the tank was faily mature I started automated co2 injection and nutrient dosing.

I do sell the following macros to my LFS.

Chaetomorpha crassa(Spaghetti Algae)
Halymenia floresia (dragon's tongue)
Botryocladia Sp.(String of Pearls) - On Liverock
Botryocladia Sp.(Red Grape) - On Liverock
Botryocladia Sp.(Small Red Grape) - On Liverock
Caulerpa prolifera

The dominant macro species is Halymenia floresia. The weekly harvest of this macro more than pays for the nutrients, macros, and seahorses in the tank. This is the first tank I have had that costs nothing except time and electricity.

I currently dose the following nutrients and I am experimenting with dosing amounts.

Carbon via co2 injection. This is automated and the solenoid in in sync with the lights.

Nitrogen via Seachem Flourish Nitrogen

Iron with DTPA (Dethylene-Triamine-Penta-Acetic-acid) and EDTA (Ethylene-Diamene-Tetra-Acetic-acid) chelators and Potassium via Tetra Flora Pride

Calcium and trace elements via B-Ionic Calcium Buffer System.

I will post some more pictures later tonight.


ps.
Doc Hammer,
Interesting photoshop job on the tank....
 
Beautiful setup!
If, by chance, you're willing to ship, I'd like to get a piece of each
Botryocladia Sp.
Pm if you're interested.
Thanks and happy reefing!
T
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10584253#post10584253 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Krypticol
Beautiful setup!
If, by chance, you're willing to ship, I'd like to get a piece of each
Botryocladia Sp.
Pm if you're interested.
Thanks and happy reefing!
T
Click to expand...

DITTO! very interested here
 
Re: 100 Gallon H. Erectus, Seagrass, Macro Algae Lagoon

Beautiful setup, Redmangrove!
I am also using 48" T8 fluorescents. What is the wattage of the bulbs that you are using? The tubes that I am using are 32W. Thanks!
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10313776#post10313776 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by redmangrove


Here is some information about my marine planted tank setup. The initial goal was to create as natural a system as possible. I am very satisfied with the setup so far.

100 gallon acryllic
6000 Quiet One Pump 1500 ghp (Rainbow Lifeguard)
30 gallon sump
5 48" 6500k t8s and 1 48" actinic t8 (think tanning bed)
125 watt compact florescent spotlight on the mangroves
CO2 Injection (yeast method first, now compressed tank injection)
Bio ball nitrate factory
No skimmer
Detritus pump from sump to mangrove sandbeds.
Botryocladia Sp. on lve rock *** garden
100+ pounds of live rock

Specs
Temperature 76-80 F
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 0-5ppm
Alkalinity 240-270ppm
ph 8.0-8.5

Sandbed Setup
125+ pound Sandbed
Florida Reef Sand: 1-2 mm diameter grain size. Coralline pink/red highlights
Fiji Gold Refugium Mud
Fiji Gold Coral & Live Rock Supplement (calcium carbonate clay)
Silica Sand
Decomposed mangrove, seagrass, macro “Compost”
Coarse crushed coral

Maintenance/Nutrients
*** Seagrass/Macro/Mangrove compost *** I have found that this is key to a successful marine planted tank. I basically let the plant material decay in an anerobic environment then I puree it in a blender and add mud. I also seed the sandbed with macroalgae and mangrove leaves that in turn die and decay in the sandbed.

20% water change bi-monthly
Fiji Gold Coral and Reef Supplement (calcium carbonate clay)
Fiji Gold Refugium Mud
Just started Iron/Potassium supplements bi-monthly

Notes
I ran metal halide (HQI) lights but they made the tank too hot (no chiller and I am in Southern California) and the macros and seagrass seemed to do much better with the t8 setup.

I was able to acclimate my mangroves to a 24/7 light cycle. I am absolutely stunned by how rapid the mangroves grow now. I am getting 4 times the growth rate compared to when I was using a 12/12 light cycle. Sometimes less than 1-2 weeks time between new leaves on the pistal. They seem to have started a “vegetative” growing state similar to how some terrestrial plants respond to 24hr light cycles.

Livestock
2 Hippocampus erectus - Tank Raised
Tons of copepods, amphipods, mini stars, pests, etc.
Extra Large, Fat Male Mandarin Dragonette

Mangroves
25 Rhizophora mangles (Red Mangrove)

Seagrasses
Syringodium filiforme (Manatee grass)
Thalassia testudinum (Turtle Grass)
Halodule wrightii (Shoal Grass)

Hair Algae
Chaetomorpha aerea (Seagrass algae) - On Liverock
Chaetomorpha crassa(Spaghetti Algae)

Red Macro Algae
Halymenia floresia (dragon's tongue)
Botryocladia Sp.(String of Pearls) - On Liverock
Botryocladia Sp.(Red Grape) - On Liverock
Botryocladia Sp.(Small Red Grape) - On Liverock
Galaxaura fastigiata (Large Red Branch Branching/Red branching Codium)
Galaxaura sp. (Small Red Branch Branching)
Gracilaria curtissae/ Laminaria sp. (Red Kelp)

Calacarous Macro Algae
Penicillus sp.(Shaving Brush Plant)
Udotea sp.(Mermaids fan)
Halimeda copiosa (Small Branch Halameda )
Halameda Tuna (Halimeda with holdfast)
Codium

Green Macro Algae
Caulerpa prolifera [/B]
Click to expand...
 
Sorry for the delay in posting. I was using the 32w t8 bulbs but have since upgraded to t5HO.

Current t5 setup:
Front
420nm Super Actinic
18000k Powerglo
6500k Lifeglo
18000k Powerglo
 
Redmangrove,

I am converting my refuge to be like yours and in need of some awesome macros. Will you sell me a package from your tank? If so can you please PM me with price. I can pay via paypal. Thanks.
 
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