Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

Yep, that's tightly bunched chaeto. It's going in the refugium, so I haven't unbunched it yet.

I've mounted the metal halide over the left end of the tank, at about a 30 degree angle, towards the right. You can see in the full tank shot above, the beams angling out. I'm trying to decide if I even need another light over the fake root. I love the idea of 'only' one 400 watt light. Having the right end of the tank dimmer would certainly open up space for non-photosynthetic friends. All the red macros like medium to dim lighting, so it may just work. I'll know a lot more once the tank fills. And decloudifies…

Wow, I just have to say, after months of planning, I am ecstatic with how this thing is looking so far! Mixing what I've learned with fresh water planted tanks and reef keeping is making for a very rewarding hobby.
 
Who says you can't buy time! 30 gallons. This should get to within 1 day to full.

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You know. Unlike a normal reef tank, you want some nutrients in your water to feed the algae, right?

Is RODI all that necessary? Just asking.
 
Now you tell me! That's a very good point, Karim.

But, from what I've read, seagrasses like nutrient-poor water too, like corals. They need less nutrients than microalgae, so they can outcompete them. So, I'm trying to keep the the initial filling as nutrient poor as is practical. I'm going to try to fertilize them via the sand bed, with pills of glutamic acid, pushed down deep. GA is a preferred form of ammonia for them.

Once all the seagrasses get established and growing well, then I'll have more leeway with water purity. They'll be able to process nutrients very efficiently. Right now, I'm chasing the holy grail of new-tank scenarios-a microalgae-free first month.

I'm using a technique/strategy from fresh water planted tanks, also. That is to plant heavily when first setting up a tank, so the plants are already there sucking up nutrients before micro algae can at them.
 
Michael Hoaster said:
Now you tell me! That's a very good point, Karim.

But, from what I've read, seagrasses like nutrient-poor water too, like corals. They need less nutrients than microalgae, so they can outcompete them.
Click to expand...

That is one reason why it is important to have clean, fresh, saltwater, but there are a few more, too. For one thing, the dirtier the water in the tank gets (nutrient-wise), the poorer the light transmission. Also, the dirtier the water gets (plankton-wise), the less light reaches the bottom of the tank. Those sound like the exact same thing, but while the principle is similar, they aren't. The first one is similar to the effect of smog and the particles in the atmosphere; they absorb and reflect and scatter light from the sun so that we receive less of it. The second one is like how in the rainforest, the canopy formed by the tallest trees blocks out the vast majority of the sunlight, so that the shorter trees struggle to survive.

Furthermore, nutrient-rich water encourages the growth of epiphytes on seagrass blades, which blocks light from reaching their leaves. Lastly, seagrasses do get nutrients from the water, but from what I understand, it is something of a last resort for them to depend on that; the vast majority of their nutrients are taken in through the roots, and they have a limited capacity to take in nutrients from the water column.
 
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It's kind of a tricky balancing act, in this very early phase of the tank's life. I don't want to encourage microalgae, but I do want to encourage the grasses and macros. Plus, conditions are very unstable, with new bacteria getting established, the nitrogen cycle, plant uptake and die off, etc.

I have not pushed my 'plant tabs' into the bed yet. I'm not sure they'd do much good at this point, when none of the grasses have any roots more than an inch deep. I'll give them a little more time before I do. I will do it soon, I imagine. Even pushing them 5-6 inches deep, I'd expect some ammonia to get to them eventually. But right now I want them to have to work a bit to get strong and established, in nutrient poor conditions.

I did seed the tank with a little ammonia, to start the cycle, and vinegar, as a carbon source. Just a little 'kick-start', since I'm not adding fish for a while.
 
Oops, let me clarify; I haven't put any plant tabs in the tank. From my post above, it sounds like I could have put them in there, but not pushed into the substrate.

When I do put them in, it'll be straight into the depths of the DSB, so I don't let it into the water column.
 
Interesting. I was looking at culturing my phytoplankton and the recommendation was to use tap water as a starter to establish a nutrient base. But in my phyto acrylic cylinder, the lights are in a semicircle around the tank so the light penetrates directly to the planktonic plants and the air bubbles create a circulation flow so they all get to cycle to the light surface regularly. The nutrients also need to be immediately available in the water column.

I also have a macro scrubber that is literally at the water surface with a surge of new water flushing through it as it basks directly under the lights.

But with rooted plants, the access to light and nutrients is different. So the delivery of each takes a different form with different variables.
 
Well, finally…

Tank's (filled) up and running! Got the Tunze Turbelle powerhead within the fake mangrove root running. The wall hasn't floated away, and the fake root hasn't fallen apart. When I turned on the pump, I lost half my plantings from yesterday. But I got everyone replanted and they look so alive in the (mild) current.

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This pic illustrates the single point light source thing I got going. I doesn't do it justice of course, but you can see how the light tapers off to the right.
 
A little closer. It's funny, right now my seagrasses are dwarfed by everything else, but soon the tide will turn, hopefully.

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I'm so happy with how the DSB planter turned out! I was able to conserve space and get a cool hardscape that looks pretty natural.
 
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Filled at last! JOY! Just a few more notes…

I've only turned on the powerhead. The main pump, a Reeflow Dart Gold is not online yet, as it would be too much current, right now, in this early stage of planting.

I tucked some of the Caulerpa 'Peltata' in the gaps in the fake wall. I hope to get the wall colonized with all sorts of life. That will be so cool!

One thing that jumps out at me, is that this tank 'feels like' a natural place. No visible pumps, etc! I'm lovin' it!
 
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Karim, it is interesting, the various elements we are concerned with. You cultivating phytoplankton, me trying to grow seagrass, and keep microalgae at bay.

Sounds like you have a spanking macro scrubber! Is it in a display, or a refugium?
 
Refugium. It's the rainforest canopy to my modular tiered DSB. I experiment...

Pods like it, so do my glass shrimp. But snail and crabs keep finding their way there even with a plastic screen.

I'll take a picture
 
This is night mode so it's about 3" deeper than usual. During the day, my surge pulls all the water from the sump and the Chaeto is near exposed.

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/A4D67D43-B2B5-4264-B26E-82CAD9727847_zps2okax2le.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/A4D67D43-B2B5-4264-B26E-82CAD9727847_zps2okax2le.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo A4D67D43-B2B5-4264-B26E-82CAD9727847_zps2okax2le.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/B9D7954D-2EF0-4D26-87C0-704A893E214A_zpsbscsb3pk.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/B9D7954D-2EF0-4D26-87C0-704A893E214A_zpsbscsb3pk.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo B9D7954D-2EF0-4D26-87C0-704A893E214A_zpsbscsb3pk.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/571EF0EB-D913-497E-8762-A3B6D912AEFB_zpsnd4ab0p1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/571EF0EB-D913-497E-8762-A3B6D912AEFB_zpsnd4ab0p1.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 571EF0EB-D913-497E-8762-A3B6D912AEFB_zpsnd4ab0p1.jpg"/></a>
 
Nice! Funny how beautiful refugiums can be…

I plan to put chaeto and ulva in my refugium. I was going to put it on top of my display tank, but it blocks some of the light, so I'm still playing around with it. I hope to get a sustainable population of pods going and feeding the tank.
 
It is fast growing. I put it in 10 days ago:
<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/81EE9164-248C-454B-BBCD-97954044135D_zpsfisrpetk.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/81EE9164-248C-454B-BBCD-97954044135D_zpsfisrpetk.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 81EE9164-248C-454B-BBCD-97954044135D_zpsfisrpetk.jpg"/></a>
 
It's unfortunately competing with 1200W of halides and 400W LED in the DT growing my hair algae jungles.

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/6B45E405-2D99-4567-BA54-0EB3459E2FBB_zpstqn9z1bq.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/6B45E405-2D99-4567-BA54-0EB3459E2FBB_zpstqn9z1bq.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 6B45E405-2D99-4567-BA54-0EB3459E2FBB_zpstqn9z1bq.jpg"/></a>
 
I have the back of the tank in my garage and I live on a lake in TX. Every day when I open the garage door, my halides and blue LEDs beckon every insect in. The swarm dies and the mosquito netting only keeps the big ones out. The rest are "nutrient"... I have a 12 foot skimmer that generates a quart of thick gunk a week and a GFO.. And still my filamentous jungle grows.. LOL
 
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