Enriching the substrate with skimmate?

[greenighs]

I was thinking of ways to make my substrate more nutrient-rich for my turtlegrass, and I got this idea of using a big syringe to inject some of the rich gunk from my skimmer cup into the mineral mud around the roots of the grass.

Is this asking for trouble, or does anyone think it could be beneficial?

 

[SeanT]

Well,
We pay all this money to buy a contraption to pull this stuff out.
That should tell you something.
Placing all those nutrients back into your tank may very well cause an algae explosion. The bad kind.
Plus some other reactions which I won't even guess at.

 

[greenighs]

Hmmm. You've got a point. Of course, we also pay to get our garbage hauled away, unless we choose to compost it ... I guess I was thinking along terestrial lines, not marine.

 

[gregt]

What is your purpose for growing the turtlegrass?

 

[piercho]

Greenhighs: the same substate-enriching materials used for FW planted tanks are, IMO, suitable for SW. At this point (your sandbed is already established) I wouldn't recommend laterite, etc. But there are low-potency solid tabs like Seachem Flourish Tabs that you can push in close to the rhizome if you are trying to establish seagrass. This is what I'm trying to do right now. E. Borneman recommends another tab made by Tetra, i'm sorry but I forget the name. I also give the tank a little chelated iron, every day. Plus the bed in my tank is a 2-year old bed taken from a local seagrass flat (eelgrass) so I'm hoping that I have all the elements necessary for success.

There seems to be some good advice from people with a history keeping seagrass in this thread.

does anyone think it could be beneficial?

It's my understanding, or at least my hope, that protein skimming is effective at removing phosphate compounds, and some toxic organic compounds like terpenes. Returning a concentrated fluid of phospates, by itself, seems like an bad idea to me. Consider that the seagrass won't be able to use the additional available P that you are adding if N is in short supply. The plant tabs will provide nutrients in an appropriate ratio for vascular plant growth near the roots of the seagrass, and hopefully release them slowly and constantly over several weeks. This seems like a reasonable way to accomplish what you want to do, to me.

 

[greenighs]

piercho, that's the kind of advice I really needed - a safe and practical way to add nutrients to my sand/mud bed! I'll look for those items, and see if they will enhance the growth of my turtle and manatee grass!

I've only had a skimmer for about three weeks (an A.E. Tech Sea Dragon hang-on-tank skimmer, which I just love!), but since I've been running it, I've noticed a marked reduction in amphipods and other wee tiny critters on my rock and on the glass. I was wondering if I was depleting my system of valuable nutrients, but I think the depletion of dangerous compounds is worth more than the nutrients lost.

Thank you so much!