Usernam Invalid
New member
Following along I was think about adding a display fudge to my system I have a spare 65g tank laying around. What type of lighting would you recommend
180g Super Display Refugium/Mangrove Tank
- Thread starter GriffinMarsh
- Start date
GriffinMarsh
Member
I am running full spectrum lighting mixed 6500/10000k and a 14k MH. I think a 65 would get you a great display refugium. Good luck!
GriffinMarsh
Member
New seagrasses to the aquarium
Halophila engelmannii
Halophila johnsonii
Syringodium filiforme
Halodule wrightii
Halophila engelmannii
Halophila johnsonii
Syringodium filiforme
Halodule wrightii
GriffinMarsh
Member
So more pictures of the seagrasses.
Don't mind the diatoms...
Johnson's Seagrass with the star grass. A good size comparison of the blades.
A close nice combination of the Manatee Grass and the Shoal Grass. Hard to tell the difference now, unless you look at the blades closeup.
Don't mind the diatoms...
Johnson's Seagrass with the star grass. A good size comparison of the blades.
A close nice combination of the Manatee Grass and the Shoal Grass. Hard to tell the difference now, unless you look at the blades closeup.
Awesome! I love the variety of seagrasses! Looks so natural! Best of luck with them!
No full tank shot?
No full tank shot?
GriffinMarsh
Member
I opted out in tanking a full tank shot, just because of the diatoms. Looks a little gnarly right now. I will post some full tank shots tomorrow in the morning when the diatoms have dissipated slightly. I also added an elephant ear mushroom to recover from the big tank. It got over molested by my perculas. I don't know yet if it is going to be a permanent addition yet.
Deftones2015
New member
Very interesting build. I love the planted version of saltwater though. I kept a planted tank for 3 years before I started doing reef tanks.
GriffinMarsh
Member
Before I go to crazy with my next post, I wanted to show off some of the new growth in my seagrasses. Both the Stargrass, and Johnson's grass have put out new growth. At only a week they seem to have acclimated nicely. The Shoal and Manatee Grass are taking a little longer, but nothing bad to report as all roots are still healthy looking.
Halophila engelmannii
The new growth is the center of the picture. You can tell the two smaller clusters are nice vivid green, untainted by diatoms. The older adult clusters are more brown/green with algae cover.
Halophila johnsonii
The new growth is just to the right of the adult cluster of the lower grasses in the picture. Very small but beautiful lime green.
Halophila engelmannii
The new growth is the center of the picture. You can tell the two smaller clusters are nice vivid green, untainted by diatoms. The older adult clusters are more brown/green with algae cover.
Halophila johnsonii
The new growth is just to the right of the adult cluster of the lower grasses in the picture. Very small but beautiful lime green.
GriffinMarsh
Member
The tank is moving in full swing. I just got my order of basic red and brown algae in and have decided that the remaining organisms(plant wise) that are going to be added into the aquarium will be more diverse in species. I will be posting a list of the algae and plants I hope to collect over the duration of this aquarium. Hopefully I will be able to see what does well and cater the remaining species to the ones that thrive. If there is something that looks too good to be true, I will of course attempt it. Well here are the algae that I received.
Brown Algae
Sargassum sp.
Dictoya sp.
Padina sp
Red Algae
Gracilaria sp. (will track down specific species)
Hypnea pannosa
Heterosyphonia gibbesii
Euchema spinosum
Galaxaura subverticillata
Botryocladia sp
Brown Algae
Sargassum sp.
Dictoya sp.
Padina sp
Red Algae
Gracilaria sp. (will track down specific species)
Hypnea pannosa
Heterosyphonia gibbesii
Euchema spinosum
Galaxaura subverticillata
Botryocladia sp
GriffinMarsh
Member
Some shots in the tank
Tagging along.
Very nicely done on layout with stage progression. I especially appreciated you including brown diatoms pictures. There is a natural progression in cycling a tank. Often, brown diatoms are a part of the cycle.
I really like your signature about growing a reef. As the hobby and hopefully the world progresses to sustainable practices, we all should strive for a better world as we impact it with our practices.
Very nicely done on layout with stage progression. I especially appreciated you including brown diatoms pictures. There is a natural progression in cycling a tank. Often, brown diatoms are a part of the cycle.
I really like your signature about growing a reef. As the hobby and hopefully the world progresses to sustainable practices, we all should strive for a better world as we impact it with our practices.
deepercon
New member
FORSURE...where do you get such a wide variety of species? Most sites say" out of stock" or "out of season"...
saltwater sam
New member
This is looking fantastic. Great updates!
GriffinMarsh
Member
Thanks for all your guys kind words. I got most of my plants from Gulf Coast Ecosystems. I just love the quality and the quantity of plants. I will most likely be placing another order through them to get some green calcareous algae. I would also love to track down some pacific varieties of seaweed and seagrasses. Sam your friends Chondria coerulescens is freakin sweet as fudge! Im gonna place a list of algae and seagrasses I would to one day have... Maybe y'all could help out. I can already tell an upgrade is in the future.
GriffinMarsh
Member
Here is a cool shot of the tanks through "the viewing window". It's like having a perfectly placed window to look at stuff so people aren't harassing my fish with their faces.
GriffinMarsh
Member
:headwalls: :headwalls: :headwalls: :headwalls: :headwalls:After 3 years and 3 tank moves, I think the mangrove is on its last leg. While it may be too early to tell, I fear the worst. Not sure exactly what the problem is, but in the course of the last week, all but a few leaves have dropped and the main branches are shriveling. I looked through all the prop roots and haven't seen any issues that would scream problematic. In fact all roots are showing good health and the trunk is firm. Some branches have lost green while others are browned out and dry. Chances are good that the last environment that the mangrove was in, got cooler at night than where it is now. I'm wondering if such a sudden increase in temperature is causing the leaf loss. If I recollect, the last time the mangrove was moved it did loose a lot of leaves, but rebounded in a couple months. Hopefully this is the case. Im debating weather or not to remove some of the branch material to help the tree produce new buds, but again fear that that could cause more damage than help. New buds are visible but they seem weak and slow to open. There may be a possibility of a rebound but unfortunately I have always had success with mangroves and this case seems different. If anybody has a suggestion that would be helpful. Daily misting is on the schedule and noticeable amounts of salt are present daily in the water drops. Possibly the mangrove is dehydrating due to excess temperature, or the enclosed glass space isn't helping it breath. Im going to put a fan on the tank tonight to help circulate air around the tree and see if that helps. I may also set up a humidifier to the tank to keep it humid around the tree until the buds grow back. It would truly suck to start from scratch again. I have been quite pleased with the tree over the years :facepalm: I may also try all solution as above and still get six or more large propagules to surround the tree to also aid in humidity.
Hang in there. Maybe it will be okay. Sounds like you're doing everything you can. Good luck!
saltwater sam
New member
Sorry to hear about the mangrove troubles, repotting any tree is a huge stressor, and mangroves are no exception. Keep doing what you're doing and hope for the best!
GriffinMarsh
Member
Dang its been a while since I've updated. Things are looking the same with the mangrove, which may be good...? I don't know, hopefully new buds will come soon. But the seagrasses that didn't get covered with cyano( of course I had a cyano bloom, didn't I tell you...) have doubled over the past week. Both Johnson's and Stargrass are doing great. After I did a thorough cleaning of system I also noticed new growth off the Shoal and Manatee.
Some of the new macros haven't faired well either with the Padina dissolving and most of the hypnea pannosa. But other than that I have two awesome new additions to the aquarium that I'm really excited about.
1) Well this update comes with a backstory. So about a year ago I was coming home from work exhausted but excited to go out and get some corals with a friend. We go out, get corals, get pizza, and head home. When I arrive my roommate approaches me and says, something smells like its burning in your fish room. Sure enough I open the door to plume of smoke accompanied by the sound of splashing water from my sump. I open the door to see one of my return pumps metal bands had rusted out and broke releasing the hose from the pump creating a geyser. The smoke was coming from my MP40 controller that was knocked down when the hose released from the pump. now facing upside-down the controllers wires provided a perfect highway for a crazy amount of saltwater to enter the controllers electrical port. Sparks were flying, smoke was rising, and I was freaking. After all the chaos had subsided I examined the pump I spent a couple months saving up to get, and sure enough it was fried, like the DC connector was melted to charred remains of the controller. So I was freaking ****ed off, why wouldn't I be?!?! Captain hindsight was with me as I kept thinking of all things I did right, but left the most expensive piece of equipment in harms way. I called ecotech and they gave me the diagnostic that I feared. The pump couldn't be fixed. Now time for the good news. A week or so ago I was watching diatoms turn into cyano in the display fuge, wishing that I had my old MP40 to add some extra current in the tank. I walked out to storage and found the charred remains of my faithful pump and decided to crack it open and finally see the damage to the circuit board. After I unscrewed the screws and cracked open the back of the controller, I was amazed to see that most of the board was intact with minimal burning around the DC port. Everything else was fine! I disconnected the wet side of the pump from the board and the RF Module and raced upstairs to order the quite drive controller and new power supply. Today everything showed up and WHAMMY the pump lives!!! So now I got more flow in refugium and the cyano is retreating to sumps mesh bag! I sure can't wait to clean it out tomorrow.
2) Well these don't really need explaining...
sorry for the bad picture quality, lights were going down.
Some of the new macros haven't faired well either with the Padina dissolving and most of the hypnea pannosa. But other than that I have two awesome new additions to the aquarium that I'm really excited about.
1) Well this update comes with a backstory. So about a year ago I was coming home from work exhausted but excited to go out and get some corals with a friend. We go out, get corals, get pizza, and head home. When I arrive my roommate approaches me and says, something smells like its burning in your fish room. Sure enough I open the door to plume of smoke accompanied by the sound of splashing water from my sump. I open the door to see one of my return pumps metal bands had rusted out and broke releasing the hose from the pump creating a geyser. The smoke was coming from my MP40 controller that was knocked down when the hose released from the pump. now facing upside-down the controllers wires provided a perfect highway for a crazy amount of saltwater to enter the controllers electrical port. Sparks were flying, smoke was rising, and I was freaking. After all the chaos had subsided I examined the pump I spent a couple months saving up to get, and sure enough it was fried, like the DC connector was melted to charred remains of the controller. So I was freaking ****ed off, why wouldn't I be?!?! Captain hindsight was with me as I kept thinking of all things I did right, but left the most expensive piece of equipment in harms way. I called ecotech and they gave me the diagnostic that I feared. The pump couldn't be fixed. Now time for the good news. A week or so ago I was watching diatoms turn into cyano in the display fuge, wishing that I had my old MP40 to add some extra current in the tank. I walked out to storage and found the charred remains of my faithful pump and decided to crack it open and finally see the damage to the circuit board. After I unscrewed the screws and cracked open the back of the controller, I was amazed to see that most of the board was intact with minimal burning around the DC port. Everything else was fine! I disconnected the wet side of the pump from the board and the RF Module and raced upstairs to order the quite drive controller and new power supply. Today everything showed up and WHAMMY the pump lives!!! So now I got more flow in refugium and the cyano is retreating to sumps mesh bag! I sure can't wait to clean it out tomorrow.
2) Well these don't really need explaining...
sorry for the bad picture quality, lights were going down.
