125g 2 in 1 Seagrass Reef

[ThePurple12]

Good point. Usually the blades come off when I try to remove the algae anyway. It might have come in on the shoal/widgeon grass I brought from Florida. It’s weird (and very good) that it only grows on those two species.

A trade would be cool, though I don’t think I have anything you’d want or don’t already have. Anything you’re looking for? I’d be happy to buy some snails off you, too!

Meanwhile, the magnifica climbs higher and higher:bdaysmile:

 

[ThePurple12]

I was in town today and decided to swing by Petco. They happened to have a Klein's butterfly, which is reef safe, beautiful, and (relatively) cheap. I was a little worried that there would be some problems between the Klein's and the copperband, but they get along perfectly fine. He's eating well and has been cleaned by the wrasse several times already. A solid new member of the community!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

What macros do you have? I might want something. I prefer trades, but I could sell them. We may need to wait anyway, now that winter is here. I'm open to possibilities.

What magnifica are your referring to? Is that a plant?

 

[ThePurple12]

You're right, it seems like everything is guaranteed to arrive late at the moment. I've got Sargassum, a ton of Gracilaria hayi, Caulerpa prolifera, Codium and...that's it. Pathetic, I know :hmm2:

The magnifica is an anemone species. In one of the previous pictures you can see it climbing the overflow box.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Plus the cold temps make shipping iffy. And those heat pacs are iffy as well. The codium might have worked, but I recently gave up on the ones I had, and brought my tank temp back up to 80 degrees, so that's out. Let's revisit this in the spring.

Oh, the nem! Some species wander more than others. One thing I read to try to counter that is to feed it well and frequently, once it is in a good spot, to keep it from wandering off again.

 

[ThePurple12]

Sure, hit me up when you think the weather's fine! FWIW, my tank is at 82 and the codium is thriving. Maybe it could be growing better.

I think the nem was just light hungry, so I moved it to a higher spot about 7 inches below the surface. It seems to be fine now.

Edit: now that I think about it, the codium is growing faster in the room temp seahorse tank. Interesting!

 

[vlangel]

I have codium that is doing alright but my tank is 74-75 degrees so cooler than most reef tanks. I did not know that codium likes cooler temperatures so am happy to find that out. I wished my tank ran more around 76-77 but my heater is small and I do not want to invest in a new one just now.

ThePurple, my nems settled just about 6" from the surface as well. They do not have a clownfish to bring them food but they are just in front of the overflow and they can catch food as it is being pulled to the overflow. Mine are perched on the top of a coral skeleton that looks like steeple. It tends to keep them from moving other places so I am happy.

 

[ThePurple12]

That's pretty cool. What do you have, bubble tips?

 

[vlangel]

That's pretty cool. What do you have, bubble tips?

Yes, rainbow bubble tips.

 

[ThePurple12]

Here are some pics before and after a huge pruning to try to get rid of epiphytic algae on the seagrass. I missed a few leaves, so I’m not 100% done.

...and of course, the pictures flip upside down when I try to upload them to RC. I’ll figure it out.

 

[ThePurple12]

Here we go. My tank isn’t that pixely in real life, I promise.

After and before:

 

[ThePurple12]

Just pretend you can see that second one:hmm5:

 

[Michael Hoaster]

OK, the pic I can see looks like a 'before' pic, because your seagrass looks uncut to me. Is that right? Are you posting an 'after' next?

Your tank looks great, by the way! Seagrasses and corals still happy? Any adjustments? Trends? Sorry for all the questions, but I'd like to know more. It's a cool tank!

 

[ThePurple12]

That's actually the after. What you see left are the relatively few leaves with little to no algae, although I still need to do a little more pruning. Here's a before:

 

[ThePurple12]

The tank is starting to shape up again. The dinos are beaten, hair algae is receding, coral colors are improving a little, seagrass is growing, and the fish are healthy as ever. I started dosing DIY 2 part (thanks to Randy Holmes-Farley) to keep calcium and alkalinity stable and at good levels.

I'm working on a project right now: breeding the bluestripe pipefish! I'm attempting to culture phytoplankton, and I've got a copepod culture doing well. Once I have enough pods I'll be able to raise the fry.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

That's great to hear. You're on track! Good luck with the pipes!

 

[vlangel]

Wow, it's looking very good. And best wishes with breeding the blue striped pipes.

 

[ThePurple12]

DINOS!! They're back!

I haven't changed anything except the 2 part dosing. I'm going to try lowering the photoperiod, which is currently 12 hours, and raising the metal halides.

Unrelated to dinos, I did some research and found that so much light for so long causes photo inhibition in corals, so lowering the metal halide photoperiod to maybe 8 hours should kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

 

[vlangel]

DINOS!! They're back!

I haven't changed anything except the 2 part dosing. I'm going to try lowering the photoperiod, which is currently 12 hours, and raising the metal halides.

Unrelated to dinos, I did some research and found that so much light for so long causes photo inhibition in corals, so lowering the metal halide photoperiod to maybe 8 hours should kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

I think lowering the photo phase is a good move. I never run my lights more than 9 hours in my display. I do have them on 12 hours in the refugium but is because my timer is a 12 hour on and 12 hours off and I can not change it. The leds on the fuge are cheap par 30 bulbs and I do have them about 24" above the water. Still I have had a little dino trouble in the fuge but never in the display. Since I have upped the nutrients dinos have not been a problem but I do have some cyano, which is in the display more than the fuge.

Good luck in the fight against the dinos!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Oh boy, dinos! My guess is that they are the same kind you had before, so whatever worked before is likely to work again.

For me, UV, regular manual removal, competition for nutrients (Ulva), predation (pods, mollies, army of snails), 4 day blackout and a large water change did the trick.