Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[Michael Hoaster]

Post Algae Cleanup Pics

Post Algae Cleanup Pics

Here's three pics taken a day after cleanup. It's just too embarrassing to show pics with 'the slime'!

For the fake wall guys"¦

It's getting various colors from algae, but the foam itself looks unchanged to me.

Full tank shot:

All the plants are still doing well. No explosive growth though. I look forward to seeing the whole left half of the tank green, top to bottom, with seagrass!

The Deep Sand Bed and Seagrasses:

It's crazy how fast algae comes back. It also illustrates how much I missed in cleanup!

Hopefully, things are settling down a bit, cycle-wise, so the algae won't come back so strongly, as it did the last time I cleaned.

 

[sam.basye]

Dang, that wall is looking like legitimate mud! Are the light brown areas diatoms? Have you attempted to clean/scrub the wall any?

How is the 'field of dreams' theory working out with the pods?

I've finally regained motivation and found time to finish my 26 gal bowfront build.... Bought another can of foam and contact cement - (give me feedback on this regarding it being fish safe to glue some sand on the wall). Karim - you seem to be the cement expert here, not sure if contact cement has anything to do with actual cement though. Lol. Have to build a brace extension for the little cabinet the tank will sit on and it will hopefully be filled with water by the end of next week so it can start cycling.

 

[JLynn]

Wow! I see what you mean about the cloudiness. It is sort of atmospheric, though.

You can't expect particularly quick growth from the seagrasses; as far as I know, they grow slower than anything else (compared to terrestrial and freshwater grasses, I mean). The halodule and halophila are pioneering species, so they will grow more quickly- I get the impression that they grow about as fast as your average lawn grass does. The thalassia, on the other hand, doesn't grow very fast at all. I think I remember a paper I read about thalassia last year saying something about the growth rate under good conditions being about two inches a year (vertically). I am not sure about horizontal growth, but it probably would be comparable to vertical growth. So... well, there is a reason we coined the phrase "as interesting as watching grass grow" . Maybe I should dig up old threads about seagrass tanks for more info... I'll get back to you on that.

Good luck finding a nice, authentic blenny! Have you looked at Sea Life Inc.? They catch their fish by hand from the Caribbean. I believe they are based somewhere in Florida. On their website, they have a Barnacle Blenny (aka Molly Miller Blenny), a Pike Blenny, a Sailfin Blenny, and a "Goldline" Blenny (never heard of that one before). They also have some other fish you mentioned you were planning on getting, like Chalk Basses and Cherub Angelfish.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Sam, the brown areas on the wall are silica sand and diatoms. The foam itself appears unchanged-grey/black. I have cleaned the wall a little. I'm getting some long strands of algae that are easily removed with a bottle brush.

I have yet to check for pods in the field of dreams refugium. The ulva is growing like crazy in there, and I just keep stuffing it back into it. As I said in another post, it's too high, so it's not easy to access/look into, but I will at some point. Whether it functions as a pod refugium or not, I will keep the ulva in there, because I like the way it looks.

I will defer to Karim on contact cement. I went with fiberglass resin. The important thing is for it to be inert when cured. Good luck with the build!

 

[karimwassef]

Unfortunately, contact cement isn't cement. It's a glue and I have no idea if it's reef safe.

Ask in the chemistry forum. I suspect it's safe if you wait long enough- but ask the experts.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Jlynn, anything you can find out about seagrasses, I'd love to hear. I've read all the old post-favorites about them on RC. They are a gold mine of info.

Yes, the blenny hunt is on! I have Sealife bookmarked and check their site often. I think I'll shoot them an email to ask their opinion/experience on the blennies they carry. They do have some of the fish on my list. I have a running list of the best prices I can find on each one, since I am very budget conscious. Sealife has the best price on cherub angels and blue tangs.

One thing I need to consider is the final number of algae eaters, and will there be enough algae to go around! Right now, I've got algae up to my ears, so I want an army of cleaners, but I know that will change. Once the tank has cycled and algae settles down (soon please!), there may only be enough for a blue tang and a conch. So I may have to whittle down the fish list further.

In the end, I may not need a blenny at all. And if I have to choose between a blenny and a tang, well, there's no contest!

 

[JLynn]

... Who wins that contest?

Anyways, a couple scraps I have found about Thalassia testudinum: it achieves optimum productivity (and thus, presumably, growth) at 30 ppt, according to a study done in Florida Bay. Thalassia testudinum grows the most in areas near the hypersalinic outflows from mangrove groves, with growth rates being progressively slower as you get farther out into the meadow. Also, higher temperatures increase growth rates. (That one was pretty common-sense, though.) I'll keep looking. I think there are some threads on nano reef... Pictures of the growth and spread over time in an aquarium would be the most useful for this situation, I think.

 

[braden]

Good luck finding a nice, authentic blenny! Have you looked at Sea Life Inc.? They catch their fish by hand from the Caribbean. I believe they are based somewhere in Florida. On their website, they have a Barnacle Blenny (aka Molly Miller Blenny), a Pike Blenny, a Sailfin Blenny, and a "Goldline" Blenny (never heard of that one before). They also have some other fish you mentioned you were planning on getting, like Chalk Basses and Cherub Angelfish.

I got 60 lbs of rock from Sea Life Inc. (which seems to be in the process of changing its name to KP Aquatics). They're in Tavernier (in the Keys). Good stuff, as far as I can tell. It's just been in the tank about a week now; my tank's still cycling. I'll probably go back to them for some livestock once things settle.

Mine will also be a seagrass tank. And I'm going the biotope route: trying to source things as close as I reasonably can to the environment I'm trying to recreate. I'd like to stick with Thalassia for seagrass; but I'm finding locating a source quite difficult.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Blue Tang wins! I so look forward to watching a juvenile yellow phase tang, growing and changing over time.

Most of my research focused on Manatee Grass, since Turtle Grass was initially hard to find. Manatee grass prefers 25ppt. I guess I'll split the difference!

Although I had originally planned on doing Manatee Grass only, I'm happy with all of them so far. I imagine a lot of plans will change over the years. It's all good.

 

[karimwassef]

Just a thought- cloudy water will reduce the benefits of your halide on growth. Are you clear yet?

If not, a skimmer may not be a bad idea for a short time.

I've taken all my urchins and put them in my refugium- they were starting to
munch the coralline!! They've got hair and Chaeto to feed on for years in there.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Welcome, braden! I'm thrilled you and I are doing similar tanks! Have you started a thread? If so, I'll read it before I ask you the many questions I have for you. Let me know.

Live Aquaria, diver's den is where I got turtle grass. I think you made the best possible choice for caribbean rock.

I look forward to hearing from you!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Karim, the water's getting clearer. As for light penetration, I think I may have a little too much light, so I'm not sweating it. I do love skimmers, but I'm going to do without, unless I find I have to have one. I already know which one I'd choose!

Urchins are serious life-munchers! I'd get rid of them, or all but one, if I were you.

What's next for your tank?

 

[karimwassef]

I'm keeping them in the refugium in case I need them again. My special reserves.

My coralline is finally showing. I got a bubble coral and a mated pair of clowns. Next step - wait till everything goes pink and purple

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Sounds like a good plan.

What kind of clowns? Are you going to set them up with an anemone? I had great success with the rose bulb anemone, and a pair of common clowns. In the meantime, your clowns may host on one of your corals. Anyway, sounds life fun, adding livestock. I'm chompin' at the bit over here! Just a couple more weeks or so, and it's my turn to add livestock…yay!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Remember a while back I mentioned a tiny hitchhiker? I thought it might be a cucumber. This to me looks like a sea hare or nudibranch. Anybody ID this little fella?

I tried shooting through a magnifying glass on this one.

But wait, there's more!

I found another similar looking thing, laying eggs. I guess I better get to work figuring these out. Hope they like algae!

 

[braden]

Welcome, braden! I'm thrilled you and I are doing similar tanks! Have you started a thread? If so, I'll read it before I ask you the many questions I have for you. Let me know.

I have not. Ask away. I'll post a picture tomorrow. Right now the tank's quite cloudy as I was rearranging the rock a bit. The sand bed is 280 lbs of CaribSea Ocean Direct Oolite; which is really nice sand, but comes with a fair amount of silt.

Briefly, the tank is a 93 gallon Marineland frameless lit by three 150W metal halide pendants.

Live Aquaria, diver's den is where I got turtle grass.

How recently? I don't see it listed on their site.

I think you made the best possible choice for caribbean rock.

I am pretty happy with it. KP Aquatics was one of the few places (or perhaps the only place) I found that would ship uncured aquacultured rock. I wanted uncured rock since the tank is just starting out and I wanted to retain as much diversity on the rock as possible.

I've been following this thread for some time. A seagrass tank is something I've wanted to do for some years; though I've only recently been able to get back into this hobby.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

You should definitely start a thread. Tell us about your goals/plans for the tank, etc. This is my first thread, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it! Plus, it has helped me stick to my plans, by stating them publicly. And this place is a goldmine of information!

I forgot to mention, it's Live Aquaria, Diver's Den, inverts section. I just checked, they have 'em. Reefs2go.com also carries them, but they're out right now. Plus they're pricier than LA. Live-plants.com is another source, and they're macros are great.

I am assuming you're doing a caribbean biotope, since you got caribbean rock, right? What are your tank's dimensions? Are you curing your rock in-tank? If so, I'd advise protein skimming, lots of water movement, water changes and more time to complete the nitrogen cycle. It may get mucky for awhile, but you'll be seeding your sand with live stuff too.

Any particular fish, inverts, etc?

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Hitchhikers - friend or foe?

Hitchhikers - friend or foe?

So, I've got at least two sea hares (I think), and a coil of eggs one of them laid. The good news is they are apparently voracious algae eaters. The bad news is, they squirt ink when threatened, which could be bad in the confines of an aquarium. I'll leave them be for awhile. The trick to remove them, would be to get them out without alarming them, and be ready to do a water change if they squirt.

I've also found several (many?) little tiny anemone/jellyfish-looking things. I think they are a larval stage of some kind of anemone or coral. They have tentacles like an anemone, and 'swim' like a jelly. They swim, then settle and repeat. Since I have no way of catching them all at this size, I'll wait and see.

Kind of exciting/terrifying!

I did no dips with the seagrasses or macros before introduction. Hopefully, I won't regret that later…

 

[braden]

You should definitely start a thread. Tell us about your goals/plans for the tank, etc. This is my first thread, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it! Plus, it has helped me stick to my plans, by stating them publicly. And this place is a goldmine of information!

Alright. I'll start my own thread tonight and stop hijacking yours.

I forgot to mention, it's Live Aquaria, Diver's Den, inverts section. I just checked, they have 'em.

Found it. Thanks!

Reefs2go.com also carries them, but they're out right now. Plus they're pricier than LA. Live-plants.com is another source, and they're macros are great.

I inquired at Gulf Coast Ecosystems (live-plants.com) and the owner indicated that he hadn't collected any seagrass recently because the beds weren't healthy enough to produce enough of the viable dislodged shoots that he collects (once they've washed away from the bed). He attributed the situation to algal blooms.

I am assuming you're doing a caribbean biotope, since you got caribbean rock, right?

Right.

What are your tank's dimensions?

30"×30"×24"

Are you curing your rock in-tank? If so, I'd advise protein skimming, lots of water movement, water changes and more time to complete the nitrogen cycle. It may get mucky for awhile, but you'll be seeding your sand with live stuff too.

I am curing it in-tank. The main idea there is that it gives me the best chance for seeding the sand well. I deliberately got a bit more rock than I anticipate using. I wanted to improve my odds of getting good "stuff" on it and give myself some ability to choose the pieces that work best. Once it's fully cured, I'll probably unload 30-40% of the 60 lbs I got.

No skimmer. I want the organics to break down and feed the bacteria (and whatever else). There will be lots of plants in here; so I'm not worried about accumulating nitrate and phosphate at this point.

The return pump from the sump is an Eheim Compact+ 5000, which is overpowered for the overflow on this tank. I've had to dial it back quite a bit; but there's still a fair amount of water flowing through the system. It's providing all the water movement at the moment.

I'd like a somewhat-gentle wavemaker. I need to investigate my options there more; but I'm wondering if a couple of Vortech MP10s pulsing simultaneously on one side of the tank would achieve what I'm after. The new Gyre pump looks intriguing, too.

I did a 10% water change three nights ago. I may do another one tonight depending on how things look. The night before last it was looking like my ammonia level may have peaked and the nitrite was starting to pick up. I didn't have a chance to test last night; but I'll see how things look tonight.

At this point, even after stirring things up, the water clears within a couple of hours. I'm using felt filter socks on the overflow output; but aside from that, the only "filtration" is a block of reticulated foam in the sump. Once things stabilize, I intend to discontinue use of the filter socks to keep things as plankton-friendly as possible.

Any particular fish, inverts, etc?

I'll leave most of that to the new thread; but for the most part I'm kind of open-ended about livestock. There will probably be horses. And there will definitely be a blenny or two.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Sounds awesome! I'm impressed. I look forward to more. Post a link to your thread here!

So stoked to have another member at the party! And a no-skimmer guy to boot!

Is it 24" high or front to back?