Plantbrain
Active member
I like the new design.
Regards,
Tom Barr
Regards,
Tom Barr
Let's see pics of your planted tanks
- Thread starter Paul-sn
- Start date
New Reefer
Premium Member
:
ixelFish::, I used to stay in Riversdale, quite near Mosselbay, but moved to Bloemfontein during December...I would guess that there are about 100 or so marine aquarists in South Africa - it's a hobby with great growth potential, but everything is *very* expensive - especially with the value of the SA Rand vs the US Dollar :mad2:
Livestock such as fish (and rock) can be collected by divers off Natal and the Wildcoast, but even so it is rather expensive if you do not dive yourself. As for hardware, and foods such as Selcon, Golden Pearls, etc - well, it's just not available, unless one is prepared to import it from the USA, and willing to take on the Customs bureaucracy :rolleye1:
Hennie
Hennie's pics -Red Macros
Hennie's pics -Red Macros
Excellent looking tank Hennie
that red algae in the front left.. have an identification for it?
Tom, that is the red macro i was trying to id earlier this year.. mine all succumbed to an overly hungry wrasse who found his way back to the LFS... d@mn thing never really ate any of it.. just pulled it all off and it got washed around the tank never to be seen again...
;-(
Joe in hot hot hot OKC...
Hennie's pics -Red Macros
Excellent looking tank Hennie
that red algae in the front left.. have an identification for it?
Tom, that is the red macro i was trying to id earlier this year.. mine all succumbed to an overly hungry wrasse who found his way back to the LFS... d@mn thing never really ate any of it.. just pulled it all off and it got washed around the tank never to be seen again...
;-(
Joe in hot hot hot OKC...
DensityMan
Active member
Dr. Ron has also informed me that these are hydroids of some kind. (see post)
I had thought that my wrasse had consumed them... while he may have eaten the heads off of them once, the 'stems' have regrown those lost heads already... (I don't mind having to fight a neat hitchhiker... its the ugly, destructive type I can't stand)
Tank update: I have lost the last of the live-runners to the cyano-carpet... while it seems to be in decline (finally) it has taken a toll on the parent shaving-brush and cost me the sea-fan completely. Once the cyano has cleared (go, go snail-power - 2 fighting conchs and 2 cerith tearing it up) I will try again with a fresh parent (or two) and a better place in the tank.
I had thought that my wrasse had consumed them... while he may have eaten the heads off of them once, the 'stems' have regrown those lost heads already... (I don't mind having to fight a neat hitchhiker... its the ugly, destructive type I can't stand)
Tank update: I have lost the last of the live-runners to the cyano-carpet... while it seems to be in decline (finally) it has taken a toll on the parent shaving-brush and cost me the sea-fan completely. Once the cyano has cleared (go, go snail-power - 2 fighting conchs and 2 cerith tearing it up) I will try again with a fresh parent (or two) and a better place in the tank.
Plantbrain
Active member
Well when cyano's appear, generally the larger macro's decline. The cyano's live on next to nothing while the larger macro's need far more nutrients to grow well.
I've never had any cyano's in my tank since I dose nutrients, I'll likely get cyano's after about 3 weeks or more without a dsoe, I have not tried this notion, but I'd bet it'd occur.
Mermaid's wine glasses are weeds in the Florida Keys, covering every rock near where I do research.
They don't like the current I have in my tank but a foreground of them would look very nice.
Since I have access to many species here, I try out different species all the time. Some do well. Many are seasonal.
So the coming and going is a common routine.
Many algae seem to last a few weeks then die off in our tanks. Some stick around and do okay and a few thrive.
I want to see about coming up with a good routine to have better success. I think a chiller would help since I know that temp greatly effect these macro's distribution seasonally.
I have no corals or many critters to influence things and have good test kits and various nutrients to dose. So I should be able to come up with a good routine for most species I see in nature.
I guess I'll have to get the thermo electric chiller since I'll get one soon anyway. Temp plays a big role on my tank's issues with some species. My temps go way up in the summer but the water temps are never over 80F often at the sites. Some species occur only where/when it's cooler.
This variable is underated concerning macro's.
FWIW, most of the calcareous species seem to do better in most folk's tanks.
Regards,
Tom Barr
I've never had any cyano's in my tank since I dose nutrients, I'll likely get cyano's after about 3 weeks or more without a dsoe, I have not tried this notion, but I'd bet it'd occur.
Mermaid's wine glasses are weeds in the Florida Keys, covering every rock near where I do research.
They don't like the current I have in my tank but a foreground of them would look very nice.
Since I have access to many species here, I try out different species all the time. Some do well. Many are seasonal.
So the coming and going is a common routine.
Many algae seem to last a few weeks then die off in our tanks. Some stick around and do okay and a few thrive.
I want to see about coming up with a good routine to have better success. I think a chiller would help since I know that temp greatly effect these macro's distribution seasonally.
I have no corals or many critters to influence things and have good test kits and various nutrients to dose. So I should be able to come up with a good routine for most species I see in nature.
I guess I'll have to get the thermo electric chiller since I'll get one soon anyway. Temp plays a big role on my tank's issues with some species. My temps go way up in the summer but the water temps are never over 80F often at the sites. Some species occur only where/when it's cooler.
This variable is underated concerning macro's.
FWIW, most of the calcareous species seem to do better in most folk's tanks.
Regards,
Tom Barr
Good Luck
Good Luck
well good luck w/the cleanup...
too bad about the fan algae too.. very nice
i had a different form of udotea growing from my LR when i first set up but it dwindled quickly and hasn't shown any signs of recovery..
crossing m y fingers that sometime next year it may!
joe
Good Luck
well good luck w/the cleanup...
too bad about the fan algae too.. very nice
i had a different form of udotea growing from my LR when i first set up but it dwindled quickly and hasn't shown any signs of recovery..
crossing m y fingers that sometime next year it may!
joe
DensityMan
Active member
Cyano is still declining (and in fact I have noted that certain especially hard to remove 'cyano' patches are intead coralline) and the halimeda forest is sproating it's second spurt of new growth already (on all plants simultaneously... it's weird).
I have thre new growth halimedaand the shaving brush has even made another growth surge to 'break-out' of its cyano cocoon.
I am pretty happy.
Noticed the first 100% positive patches of coralline on the tank-glass just yesterday and it gave me a warm, happy glow.
While the red bubble-bush still hasn't rooted itslf to the rock it is growing upwards and outwards from the near bare branch that it started from. Did lose the last brush-sprout (uprooted by a nassarius; though it wasn't doing great anyway). There may just not be enough food/soil/waste in the DSB to support the runners yet and the cyano covering some of the parent couldn't have helped either. Putting alot of elbow grease into the tank currently to stay ahead of the cyano (and hopefully defeat it utterly soon), but I am enjoying it a great deal and love noticing the little improvements daily.
This weekend I need to push one part of the aqua-scaping back a little to increase space on the sand up front. Currently more of my plants would have to be placed behind the rockwork than I anticipated and I want the space to place a few select LR frags in for eventual polyp/zoo colonies.
Only looking for what I call the 'mushroom' caleurpa, some bright zoos and shrooms (being VERY selective), some fire-dusters (a nice colony-rock would be perfect; still holding a shaded space for it) and the mermaids wine-glass plants (which I have yet to find locally still).
Hopefully this weekend will be the deciding victory over cyano and the tank'll be clean enough to post some more pics of all the wonderful growth (right now I feel like the king on prom-night, with a big zit on my nose).
SubmarinR: I have heard of the root-bulbs regrowing after time; showing seasonal growth. In fact instead of just removing the mermaids-fan altogether, I simply clipped the greenery off and re-planted the bulb in a dirtier/more favorable area in hopes it would return.
Plantbrain: I should be so lucky to have as many weeds as you have available... I'll keep ya'll updated in this threadon the cyano -vs- halimeda-zilla wars... :lol:
PixelFish: Thanks. I have had prbolems with getting it's runners to survive, but the parent plant is doing really well. I can't even take any credit for it doing so well, save that I put it in moderate current w/ good light and then left the root alone (I do turkey-baster the 'leaves' to clear detritus every few days). It looks ugly at the moment, but is regrowing strong breaking free of the cyano-skin.
Cheers all,
Scott
p.s. - think I can crash on the couch should I ever be in South Africa or Florida? Would love to be able to walk out to the beach, snorkel around for a bit and find something to add to the tank... /envy on
I have thre new growth halimedaand the shaving brush has even made another growth surge to 'break-out' of its cyano cocoon.
I am pretty happy.
Noticed the first 100% positive patches of coralline on the tank-glass just yesterday and it gave me a warm, happy glow.
While the red bubble-bush still hasn't rooted itslf to the rock it is growing upwards and outwards from the near bare branch that it started from. Did lose the last brush-sprout (uprooted by a nassarius; though it wasn't doing great anyway). There may just not be enough food/soil/waste in the DSB to support the runners yet and the cyano covering some of the parent couldn't have helped either. Putting alot of elbow grease into the tank currently to stay ahead of the cyano (and hopefully defeat it utterly soon), but I am enjoying it a great deal and love noticing the little improvements daily.
This weekend I need to push one part of the aqua-scaping back a little to increase space on the sand up front. Currently more of my plants would have to be placed behind the rockwork than I anticipated and I want the space to place a few select LR frags in for eventual polyp/zoo colonies.
Only looking for what I call the 'mushroom' caleurpa, some bright zoos and shrooms (being VERY selective), some fire-dusters (a nice colony-rock would be perfect; still holding a shaded space for it) and the mermaids wine-glass plants (which I have yet to find locally still).
Hopefully this weekend will be the deciding victory over cyano and the tank'll be clean enough to post some more pics of all the wonderful growth (right now I feel like the king on prom-night, with a big zit on my nose).
SubmarinR: I have heard of the root-bulbs regrowing after time; showing seasonal growth. In fact instead of just removing the mermaids-fan altogether, I simply clipped the greenery off and re-planted the bulb in a dirtier/more favorable area in hopes it would return.
Plantbrain: I should be so lucky to have as many weeds as you have available...
I'll keep ya'll updated in this threadon the cyano -vs- halimeda-zilla wars... :lol:PixelFish: Thanks. I have had prbolems with getting it's runners to survive, but the parent plant is doing really well. I can't even take any credit for it doing so well, save that I put it in moderate current w/ good light and then left the root alone (I do turkey-baster the 'leaves' to clear detritus every few days). It looks ugly at the moment, but is regrowing strong breaking free of the cyano-skin.
Cheers all,
Scott
p.s. - think I can crash on the couch should I ever be in South Africa or Florida? Would love to be able to walk out to the beach, snorkel around for a bit and find something to add to the tank...
/envy on
greenighs
New member
my planted tank with it's new syngnathid occupants 
Greenighs Site!
Greenighs Site!
Excellent pics! and fantastic design on the site too...
join my club and help us fix up our webpage!!!
and on another note .. i found a seahorse forum on yahoo the other day.. not too active.. but im hoping to learn more info on them so taht i can keep them one day myself.
joe
Greenighs Site!
Excellent pics! and fantastic design on the site too...
join my club and help us fix up our webpage!!!
and on another note .. i found a seahorse forum on yahoo the other day.. not too active.. but im hoping to learn more info on them so taht i can keep them one day myself.
joe
Plantbrain
Active member
Seahorsey advice: train them on live mysis shrimps(catch yourself around 4-5am in ponds/lakes) then after 3-4 weeks start adding in frozen. Afterwards, they do well on this diet.
Nice C prolifera. It'll be a very nice tank as it fills out/gets well established in the other areas.
Regards,
Tom Barr
Nice C prolifera. It'll be a very nice tank as it fills out/gets well established in the other areas.
Regards,
Tom Barr
DensityMan
Active member
Very cool tank indeed!
Aside from the horses it looks like we have pretty similar tastes: softies and plants.
Is the very tall-leafed plant in the back a well-shaded prolifera or something else (I like that one lots)?
Are the ginormous barnacles, front-left, still alive?
Final question, the shrooms that look blue in the top pic; those ready to frag yet?
Excellent work!
Aside from the horses it looks like we have pretty similar tastes: softies and plants.
Is the very tall-leafed plant in the back a well-shaded prolifera or something else (I like that one lots)?
Are the ginormous barnacles, front-left, still alive?
Final question, the shrooms that look blue in the top pic; those ready to frag yet?
Excellent work!
Last edited:
greenighs
New member
Thanks, Will! I finally posted pics on Seahorse.org, too!
As you know, with seahorses, there are only so many corals and other critters you can choose from that won't sting, impale, starve, eat or torment them. I'd like to get a hard coral or two, or maybe a clam, but I'm just going to see how the tank goes for the first year or so. I have two 175-watt MH 10,000Ks and two PC actinics on it, so the corals and gorgonians (so far only the photosynthetic kind) should do well.
Scott, that's Thallasia sp. turtle grass back there, from Florida Pets. And the shrooms, the ones on the far left are really blue/violet, but there's only four of them, so I don't want to frag. The ones that are more or less front and center are blue-green striped, and I wouldn't know how to frag if I wanted to! I'm just working on keeping stuff alive and healthy, propagating is the next insane, all-consuming obsession!
Thanks, I appreciate the feedback!
Oh, and the barnacles are just the shells, hidey-holes for my shy neon blue goby!
As you know, with seahorses, there are only so many corals and other critters you can choose from that won't sting, impale, starve, eat or torment them. I'd like to get a hard coral or two, or maybe a clam, but I'm just going to see how the tank goes for the first year or so. I have two 175-watt MH 10,000Ks and two PC actinics on it, so the corals and gorgonians (so far only the photosynthetic kind) should do well.
Scott, that's Thallasia sp. turtle grass back there, from Florida Pets. And the shrooms, the ones on the far left are really blue/violet, but there's only four of them, so I don't want to frag. The ones that are more or less front and center are blue-green striped, and I wouldn't know how to frag if I wanted to! I'm just working on keeping stuff alive and healthy, propagating is the next insane, all-consuming obsession!
Thanks, I appreciate the feedback!
Oh, and the barnacles are just the shells, hidey-holes for my shy neon blue goby!
Uncle-Edgar
Premium Member
<img src="http://www.98532.net/ReefPics/mushroom.jpg" border="0" alt="">
<img src="http://www.98532.net/ReefPics/planted_1.JPG" border="1" alt="">
<img src="http://www.98532.net/ReefPics/planted_2.JPG" border="1" alt="">
<img src="http://www.98532.net/ReefPics/planted_1.JPG" border="1" alt="">
<img src="http://www.98532.net/ReefPics/planted_2.JPG" border="1" alt="">
Uncle-Edgar
Premium Member
According to the LFS it's only lowly caulerpa begging to be harvested. I'll have to research about codium as I'm not familiar with it.
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