Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

I ordered some new macro algae. I figure I got so many freebies, I should pay for some!

I ordered some blue scroll algae. I'm hoping it will do well on the dimmer end of the tank. Reminds me of plating montipora. I'm really kind of excited about this one!
Ordered some Cymopolia barbata. It's got calcified segmented stems that grow into long cylinders, topped by fuzzy green tops. These remind me of Dr Zeus' art!
And last, I ordered some Dictoya cervicornis. These have flat, spiral shaped blades, olive brown or golden in color.

It's good to add biodiversity, and I've kinda had my eye on those for awhile. Though the seagrasses are still the priority, there's no reason not to enjoy adding other stuff around the tank. And the macros are so pretty!
 
Live-plants and LA Reefs. They are fun, aren't they? I can't wait! I'm really excited about getting that blue scroll on the the fake root and fake wall! The C. barbata will go in with the seagrasses, adding more texture, but keeping it green. I may try the Dictoya on the eroded part of the wall. It's got a classic seaweed look to me.
 
Michael Hoaster said:
Well I should be eating it too, since I'm the 'acting' herbivore. Can I throw it in a salad? I like my foods super!

So you show up at the party with caulerpa racemosa? And that's working for you? How?
Click to expand...


http://www.thekitchn.com/la-farmers-market-report-seawe-58761

Here is another recepie for Ogo that should work equally well for Grape Caulerpa.

Actually, IMO, a slight squeeze of lime is all that is needed. It can be eaten straight up that way. For most consumers, the cost would be prohibited, but not for us seaweed farmers.
 
Michael Hoaster said:
I ordered some new macro algae. I figure I got so many freebies, I should pay for some!

I ordered some blue scroll algae. I'm hoping it will do well on the dimmer end of the tank. Reminds me of plating montipora. I'm really kind of excited about this one!
Ordered some Cymopolia barbata. It's got calcified segmented stems that grow into long cylinders, topped by fuzzy green tops. These remind me of Dr Zeus' art!
And last, I ordered some Dictoya cervicornis. These have flat, spiral shaped blades, olive brown or golden in color.

It's good to add biodiversity, and I've kinda had my eye on those for awhile. Though the seagrasses are still the priority, there's no reason not to enjoy adding other stuff around the tank. And the macros are so pretty!
Click to expand...

My Cymopolia barbata died during a caulerpa going sexual, and I just realized I forgot to pull my Dictoya cervicornis out of my 20g when I started taking it down. It's probably sitting under a couple pounds of rock and mud now.
 
Given that coralline algae does well in my tank, I have high hopes for Cymopolia barbata, aka tufted joint algae. This one falls into the weird-and-wonderful category, as does the blue scroll algae, I think.

Assuming I don't kill it, and it spreads as well as I think it will, the blue scroll, along with the hypnea, will make the overall color of the tank rather blue. But I'm getting ahead of myself! Let's just see if I can keep it alive first. They aren't sending a bunch-more like a 1-2" cutting.
 
picture.php

These fish! A seven-gramma harem is a thing to behold.
 
OK, so I got my blue scroll algae in today, from LA Reefs. Everything went very smoothly with my order, so, a good experience.

I got a cutting, maybe 3 square inches. I made the decision to frag it into 4 pieces. I placed 3 on the back wall, using push pins to secure them. Seemed to work well. When I take down the tank, I can re-use the fake wall as a bulletin board. For the last piece, I cut a rubber band, and tied it around the fake root, slipping the frag under it. I still had to put two hands in the tank, but I think it will work.

If all goes well, these things are going to look very cool! It kinda gets me to thinking about a subtle, actinic lighting accent. The algae is said to have no blue pigment itself, but that it reflects blue light really well.

The other two macros I ordered from live-plants will get here next week.
 
I checked out LA reefs and they seem like a pretty good place. I didn't know about them selling macros, but now that I know, I will put in an order soon from them.
 
It's good to have multiple places to get macros, since they all are often sold out of lots of them. This was my firs time at LA Reefs. Good experience. A lot of their macros were sold out as well, but they do get some interesting varieties.
 
picture.php

Seems to be a bit more blue.


picture.php

Let's call it Corpse Bride Grasilaria.


picture.php

I don't remember ever getting this one, but I'll take it.


picture.php

I was trying to capture the pink, coralline tips on the manatee grass, along with the pink anemone. The grammas threw in some pink too.
 
I can now finally say, that I can see a decrease in aiptasia anemones. I got some Berghia nudibranchs about 6 weeks ago. I probably should have gotten more, but the price seems a bit high to this cheapskate. They should reproduce, so I don't mind waiting a bit to see results. It's weird, having a natural predator taking care of the problem, while never actually seeing it perform. They are nocturnal and small. I may start shutting down my main circulation pump at night for them, so they can get to all of the little nems.

The blue scroll algae frags seem in good shape so far. The push pins are holding nicely. The piece mounted to the fake root looks kinda purplish to me. I really want to bring out their blue color, so I've been looking at blue LED fixtures. After looking at many of them, I've decided to try out a blue compact fluorescent bulb instead. I didn't want to spend a bunch of cash, and the LEDs seem very hit and miss, so I'm giving this a try. The bulb is a 100 watt equivalent, so hopefully I get just enough blue to accentuate the algae without making it look all disco in there. If it's not enough light, at least I didn't spend much cash.

My other two macros should come tomorrow. Excited!
 
Pretty good (lucky) photo shoot tonight!

Pretty good (lucky) photo shoot tonight!

Got the new plants in. I'm attempting to attach the Dictoya to the fake root, using the tied rubber band trick. I scattered the tufted joint algae around the sand bed. It fits right in! Try to spot the new macros in all the pics.


picture.php

Beginning with the full shot"¦


picture.php

Dictoya, or All-Purpose Generic Seaweed.


picture.php

Cymopolia barbata, near the front wall of the DSB planter.


picture.php

New weeds!


picture.php

The seagrass meadow.


picture.php

These guys are taking off.
 
That really looks nice. I'm sure you'll see some very interesting inverts along with these macroalgae. Very cool.
 
Thanks, McPuff! I'm liking the looks of the new plants too. I really love how the tufted joint algae ties the seagrass bed together. So natural looking. I did find a mini serpent star, and a couple of macro fragments. Who knows what else I got! Time will tell.

picture.php



picture.php
 
Thanks, Darth_Tater. It is cool! From what I've read, it may be a bit tricky to keep alive, long term. Honestly, I was expecting them to be bigger, so they would move in the current more. If I'm lucky, maybe they'll grow a bit.

Essentially, I'm already dosing calcium. In my canister filter I have one basket containing calcium carbonate media. I'm also running CO2 through it, giving me a calcium reactor. I another basket, I have bio pellets, as a bacteria reactor, for sponges and other filter feeders. In the third, I've got bio balls, for a nitrate reactor. So my canister filter is a multi-reactor! It appears to work quite well for calcium, as I have abundant coralline algae, including some of the cool plating variety. Also the grasilaria hayi does well, and it's a bit calcified.

picture.php
 
Hey, if you came straight to the last page, check out the new pics at the bottom of page 75. I got some good ones of the new plants.

picture.php

This one shows the new Dictoya, mounted to the fake root with rubber bands. These look really cool, moving in the current. These, to me, are the quintessential seaweed. They even smell funky, like when you get to the beach and there's some drying in the sun.

Also, at top right, with the blue rubber band, is a frag of blue scroll algae. Not much to look at right now, but if all goes well, it'll be pretty freaking cool!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

W
My seagrass tank
2
Replies
23
Views
2K
willychen
W
M
New
Replies
7
Views
459
griss
griss
K
upgrading tank and need more info
2
Replies
27
Views
965
wvned
wvned
J
Algae
2
Replies
23
Views
1K
griss
griss
F
Invasive Algae in my tank
Replies
10
Views
649
Timfish
Timfish
Back
Top