Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

Everything looks fantastic! I see what you did with the lighting, too, and it is a great effect. I love seeing tanks with single source lighting. Personally, I think it makes the whole aquascape look much more dynamic, even if it isn't normally faithful to real life. Of course, in your case the lighting is pretty realistic.

I agree that the hardscape looks pretty natural. Good job on that! It was definitely worth all the hard work. Are you planning on getting any encrusting macro algae to put on the live rock?

karimwassef said:
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
Click to expand...

Lol, I totally know what you mean. Bugs are a nightmare in Texas. I am surprised that they notice the lights during the daytime, though. What lake do you live on?
 
My refugium pic was deleted by accident. Here it is again

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/A4D67D43-B2B5-4264-B26E-82CAD9727847_zpsgjpwq0w7.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/A4D67D43-B2B5-4264-B26E-82CAD9727847_zpsgjpwq0w7.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo A4D67D43-B2B5-4264-B26E-82CAD9727847_zpsgjpwq0w7.jpg"/></a>

I'm on Lake Ray Hubbard in Dallas.

I agree on the natural look and lighting. I can't wait for more pics
 
Thanks, JLynn. I've got some of the caulerpa peltata around the planter. I'll probably get a little caribbean live rock for additional hardscape and biodiversity.

I've been moving the red macros around, trying to make everyone happy. Have I mentioned they're stunning? All the plants are moving in the currents and it looks so right!

Tomorrow I'll bring the canister filter with CO2 injection online. There's still so much to do! So much fun, now that the tank's up!
 
Karim, your refugium looks to have a large capacity. Great pics too! Have you tried any hair algae grazers, like tangs or urchins in your DT?
 
I have a sailfin tang and two stripe rabbit.
I also had a lawnmower blenny until Friday :(
The difficulty is the scale of the problem. It's a 380gallon DT with a total 660g.

The blenny and tang ate until their bellies were swollen. The blenny had an obstruction and died.

I have 100 hermits, 100 snails, 10 massive turbos, 9 emerald crabs and a 10" arrow crab. I had a sea hare and lettuce nudi but I'm not sure where they got to.

To put it in perspective, the snail shells have algae 2x as big as they are.

This is kin to having an outside tank with all the natural dirt that can fall in. My 12' skimmer generates 2 quarts of gunk a week and still it grows.

I did a 100gallon water change today and manually weeded for hours. Let's see.
 
I added an 80W CFL to the scrubber. Let's see if that helps.

Believe it or not, removing the hair caused my pH to drop. Even weeds have their uses and hair is photosynthetic. Their CO2 consumption was significant.
 
Sounds like you need a serious herbivorous army, Karim!

I wouldn't feed the tank at all. I'll never forget, leaving for a week, and coming home to find my tank in better shape than when I left it!

Consider more large herbivores. I've read that Skopas Tangs will make a difference.

You may want to consider the 'nuclear' option - urchins. These creatures will consume algae down to nothing. Start with several of them, then reduce them down to one, when you get it under control.

Multiple tangs, blennies, maybe even an army of mollies. As big as your tank is, maybe it could support one of those Galapagos Iguanas, that eats algae!

I think with your manual removal, more and bigger herbivores, absolutely no feeding, and then tracking down what is out of balance would help. It would seem you have a large nutrient source, to keep all that algae happy, and you're massive skimmer's sucking out serious gunk.

As you said, you like to experiment. Sometimes I try to do too many things at one time, and I just make things worse. You may try just doing one thing at a time, then just wait and observe. For two weeks. Give Mother Nature time to do her thing.

And there's always water changes! Large ones with RO/DI water or something close to that.

What are your goals for this tank? What organisms are you trying to feature in your display? What can you do to favor them, over hair algae?

Or maybe you're okay with the hair algae. You certainly have a sustainable population! You could probably support multiple herbivores, and never have to lift a finger again! No maintenance, no feeding, just keep the lights and pumps running.

You know, your hair algae is beautiful, in its way. There have been some beautiful tanks on the fresh water planted side, aquascaped with nothing but ground covers, like your hair algae, and rocks and driftwood. Check out http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/ Click on 'Aquascaping Contest'. Tons of inspiration!
 
Speaking of it. Last week, I ordered 10 sea urchins. My plan it to use them until it's under control and then give or sell them.

I'm sensitive to introducing large tangs due to my experiences with hyper aggressive behavior limiting my future options unless I tear the tank apart.

This is supposed to be an sps grow tank hence the absurd lighting and flow. The same conditions that make hair algae grow. The only problem is the mounds of insects that invade my garage and die on my halides.

I need a powerful skimmer (got that) and a strong bio filter (tank sand bed, DSB, Chaeto farm). I also added a GFO reactor.

It's slowly taking effect.

The only algae I need is coralline.
 
The best herbivore is supposed to be rabbit fish. Got one but small, and already the juvenile sailfin and the rabbit are playing territory games. They're each 2" and they decide to inhabit the same 4" of space is a 3' x 8' tank.
 
10 urchins ought to do it.

So, the dead bugs are your 'nutrient source'? They're dying and falling into the tank? And there's no way to prevent it? Maybe you could block the light that attracts them.

Or you could stock a surface-feeder, like an extra large Green Chromis or two. Something that swims high and has a big enough mouth to eat the biggest bugs.

Some Tangs don't play well with others for sure, but lots of folks have multiple tangs without incident. I think the key is to research them carefully, and then the order of introduction is critical. Of course the point is moot with ten urchins on the way!
 
I've used mosquito netting. That blocks the big ones but the gnats get in. I have a giant shower curtain (really) but it's not completely sealed and bugs are great at finding gaps. I can't seal the garage - wife needs to park or the tank goes...

I had a school of chromis but they fought to the death (who knew?).

I can't completely block the tank - still need fresh air and a way to remove the humidity from the surface. My LFS recommended a monster fan to keep the bugs from being able to land on the DT or sump water surface. Still considering that option.

Hey, if you ever run out of plant food - open a window. LOL
 
Today I got my canister filter running, with the CO2 injection. So that should help a little. Unfortunately, even though I cleaned it first, it spewed gunk and clouded my tank water. Let's just call it 'bacteria seeding' and go with that…

Played around (again) with the red macros. Trying to get a pleasing arrangement, that also gives them enough light. I need to stop and leave them alone, so they can adjust to their location.

I look forward to getting my refugium up and running! I cannot think of a better place for it than right in the middle, on top of the display tank. So I may have to supplement the lighting to compensate for the blocked light.
 
More pics for ya!

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Love this view! Kind of a mangrove root view out to the seagrass meadow…

It's really not fair. I get this instant beauty, without suffering for years in service of corals. Poor me!
 
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Here's where the red macros are today!

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Got a little more creative with their placement, so everyone gets light, but not too much…
 
The grasses look good. I have angled down the powerhead towards them, so they get a nice current, but not too much…

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Can't wait for them to take off! Got CO2 going today.
 
Some tech pics…

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Here's the back of the tank. You can see the white putty in places. It seems to be staying put, so I'm happy. Hopefully, over time it will get water-logged…
 
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