Marine Crabgrass

[Azorean]

Dear fellow aquariasts:

Everywhere I've snorkeled in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean I've seen lots of crabgrass growing around small coral heads. However, I've never seen this plant in aquariums. Has anybody kept this plant before? If so, what are your experiences? I'd really like to have some living around my live rocks. Please help.

Azorean
PS: This grass is sometimes called turtle grass and is usually separated by a few centimeters and is firmly rooted into the sand.
Here is a page with several pictures, the plants I'm talking about are around the queen conch. Thanks again for any help you can provide.

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...=&safe=off&rls=RNWE,RNWE:2005-23,RNWE:en&sa=N

Sorry for the long address, but if you scroll down and look at the queen conch you will find what I'm talking about surrounding the conch.

 

[Samala]

Where in the So. Pacific have you been, and are you there now? There are several species of seagrass, many that look physically like turtle grass, Thalassia testudinum, but are specific in range to certain oceans and seas. For example T. testudinum is only found in the western Atlantic, mostly in the Caribbean and in parts of the Gulf of Mexico.

A few of us are trying to grow this species in particular (its fairly available here in the US) and there are a number of tanklogs with turtle grass on this board. I can mine a few up for you if you'd like. And then there are the lucky ones who are living abroad and have access to other species of seagrass. The user Halophila comes to mind as someone who is working with Enhalus and other species of marine plants.

You might enjoy the Reefkeeping article: Beyond the Refugium: Seagrass Aquariums.

>Sarah

 

[Azorean]

Hi Sarah:

I used to live in Pohnpei (Micronesia) and Mauritius (Indian Ocean). I remember both of the species as being identical. I currently live in the Azores (cold water) and will wait until I move to Malaysia to start another marine aquaria. I'll collect my own crabgrass (thanks for the offer), I was just curious if there were people like you that kept them and how successful they were in keeping them. Once again. Kind regards:
Azorean (Chris)

 

[Azorean]

H. kuda

H. kuda

After reading your great article I'm positive I'm talking about H. kuda.
Chris (Azorean)
PS: Hey you live in Melbourne! I got my master's at FIT!!

 

[halophila]

Sarah, thanks for your introduction.... hahaha

and Azorean, nice to meet you

Crabgrass is a very interesting term to me, is it associated with the delicious mud crab?

Crabgrass,Thalassia hemprichii , is very easy to grow and non-demanding. Mine can regenerate from single shoot!

 

[Azorean]

crabcrass

crabcrass

That picture you have has several species. The one that interests me the most is the one with broad leaves. However, in the wild you will hardly see any of the root structure. Just like you took a skinny long lear and burried it in the sand with about 4 to 5 centimeters sticking out.

Once again, great shot:

Azorean