Planning my macro algae/ seagrass tank

To update. Met up with a local reefer and got some great looking dragon's breath. Stopped at an LFS and picked up some reef rubble, caulerpa prolifera and ceriths.

Looks AMAZING compared to before. I love the addition of greens and red to the blue tank.

Was acclimating the Ceriths and went to dip the bag in some water just to get them started and dropped the bag... into the water... So Ceriths got a bit of a shock, hope I didn't kill any. A few turned over and haven't moved and one submerged himself in the sand.

We'll see tomorrow.
 
Think I'm going to need to go to my LFS and get some more Ceriths... The 6 I have are working hard, but haven't been able to get 80% of the tank. They've worked on one side of the tank since I got them, even though that portion is CLEAN.

Also I can't wait to add fish... UGH.
 
Sounds like your ceriths survived. Yay! From what I've read, snails are sensitive to water chemistry changes, so that's lucky. You might try moving them to where you want them to clean. Seems like that would work. Remember they multiply, so you may not need more.

Are your grasses getting coated? If so, you may want to manually clean each blade. With your tank, you can probably use two hands-one to hold the plant down/in place, and one to pinch and pull off the coating.

I'd try to leave the sand alone while the live critters in there multiply.

Lookin' good!
 
Michael Hoaster said:
Sounds like your ceriths survived. Yay! From what I've read, snails are sensitive to water chemistry changes, so that's lucky. You might try moving them to where you want them to clean. Seems like that would work. Remember they multiply, so you may not need more.

Are your grasses getting coated? If so, you may want to manually clean each blade. With your tank, you can probably use two hands-one to hold the plant down/in place, and one to pinch and pull off the coating.

I'd try to leave the sand alone while the live critters in there multiply.

Lookin' good!
Click to expand...

Ah thanks


Doesn't look like the grasses are getting anything on them, though I shall clean them off just in case.
 
What a Saturday morning! So quick trip to the other side of town and to the LFSs over there. Got my water tested, and my cycle isn't quite yet finish (this is the longest cycle ive ever had! Guess that's what happens when I don't use as much rock or sand from pre-existing tanks than I used too).

So at the LFS I picked up more pods, gracilaria and halimeda. I let it all acclimate and dropped it in the tank (need to get some more reef rubble to clue them too). Iron and Manganese and Lugol's solution from Kent's Marine came in the mail with my digital thermometer (at a brisk 73 degrees). Waiting for the rest of my macro's to come in the mail... (it's been so long I don't see many survivors in the mix).
 
Sounds like you're getting a good selection of plants. I look forward to pics!

Planted tanks aren't as dependent on bacteria, so cycling is less important, at least for the plants. I presume you are cycling so it's safe to add fish, right?

By the way, what are you using to drive the cycle? (something that produces ammonia) Some people use a sturdy fish like a damsel, some just feed the tank fish food, some add a dead shrimp, and some just add ammonia.
 
Michael Hoaster said:
Sounds like you're getting a good selection of plants. I look forward to pics!

Planted tanks aren't as dependent on bacteria, so cycling is less important, at least for the plants. I presume you are cycling so it's safe to add fish, right?

By the way, what are you using to drive the cycle? (something that produces ammonia) Some people use a sturdy fish like a damsel, some just feed the tank fish food, some add a dead shrimp, and some just add ammonia.
Click to expand...

Yeah. The cycle is to add fish. My cycle was of two things. First. The live rock, mud and sand had bacteria on it when I started the tank, some if not most of it is prone to die off creating the initial ammonia. I also added fish food to the tank as more of a kicker. Ammonia is actually at zero now, waiting for nitrates and nitrites to lower before it's safe to add my first couple fish.

I got some reef rubble and super glue to get my macro down and stop tumbleweeding across the tank. I also have dirt from the rocks super glued to my fingers (it's gotten annoying really quick).
 
As I gaze upon this tank I can't even understand why more people don't have a macro algae build or a display refugium. I mean this looks amazing to me right now!
 
This is the FTS.



Caulerpa and Dragon's Breath then some seagrass and behind them more caulerpa with some more Dragon's Breath



The largerst rock. Codium up front. Next to the rock is a large piece of dragons breath with some gracilaria behind it.



Last but not least. The bulk of the gracilaria with halimeda. This area has the least flow and will most likely be where the detritus will build up making my pod factory.

 
Diatoms are in full bloom. They've now covered 90% of the sand and a good portion of the rock. The 6 cerith snails I have seem to be out competed.

Everywhere I look though I see pods. Pods upon pods. Pods swimming in the water column. Pods on the glass. Pods on the algae.

YES. All according to plan. I need to purchase some amphipods though. All i have are copepods.
 
If your shoal grass and macros do well without dosing, you should be good. I have found that, with dosing, my anemone isn't always happy. So, from the perspective of focusing on seagrass growth, I sometimes regret adding the anemone.

I love the look of pulsating xenia, as long as it's not in MY tank! I (try to) avoid organisms that can overrun everything…(cough, cough, caulerpa). At least caulerpa is easier to rip out than xenia…
 
Michael Hoaster said:
If your shoal grass and macros do well without dosing, you should be good. I have found that, with dosing, my anemone isn't always happy. So, from the perspective of focusing on seagrass growth, I sometimes regret adding the anemone.

I love the look of pulsating xenia, as long as it's not in MY tank! I (try to) avoid organisms that can overrun everything"¦(cough, cough, caulerpa). At least caulerpa is easier to rip out than xenia"¦
Click to expand...

I actually already started the dosing as that was something I planned from the beginning. Last year when I tried this same type of tank it never went anywhere and pretty much died (it could have been inproper lighting). I'll never know. I never dosed and pretty much used my fish load as my buffer to my macros.

So this time I'm going to do everything I DIDN'T do before. I'll start with the mud and with a much better light and some dosing every week. I've already seen some growth from the caulerpa and it looks like the sea grass is also doing well, a few shoots are a bright green. The dragon's breath seems to be growing in some areas and the chaeto has gotten a bit bigger.
 
So growth update.

Haven't got to see much of my tank in the last two days. My girlfriend works at home and sets up in the bedroom where my tank is, plus I have a noisy seven month old so I can't just sneak in the room while she's taking calls. From what I have seen last night and this morning is my glass covered in diatoms (ew, but good. I'm happy) and caulerpa growth (not alot, but I see it). I see a bit of growth in the smaller dragons breath and havent seen anything happening in the larger dragons breath. Chaeto seems to be a bit bigger as is the halimeda branching out further. Gracilaria hasn't changed? Not really sure.

Copepods are EVERYWHERE when I look and I kind of regret ordering 250 pods from reefs2go now.
 
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