Planning my macro algae/ seagrass tank

[Subsea]

That's great you've gotten to the point of pruning back caulerpa. You're right about it outcompeting other plants with its fast growth.

I've had a love-hate relationship with mine. I love the look of it, I love how much export I get when pruning it back. I hate that it sucks up everything I dose the water column, outcompeting my seagrass. That's why I turned to substrate fertilization. If I had to do it over again, I'd plant my tank with lots of manatee grass only. Then, after it was very well established, I'd add macros. But that's only because manatee grass is my pivotal species (priority). When keeping macros and seagrass with equal priority, I think you just have to accept the disparity in growth rates and adapt and work with it.

Michael,
Your biotheme tank looks great. When I heard pivotal species, I thought of
John Tullock's book "The Natural Reef Aquarium". The book coalesced my reef keeping husbandry. My favorite quote from his book is "Less technology/More biology".
From your experiences with sea grasses, once established, do you feel that maintenance upkeep with sea grasses is easier than macro algae?

 

[nawilson89]

With respect to CO2 injection into a marine tank, you will have an effect of lowering the pH. Consider a calcium reactor that dissolves aroggonite. This would buffer your pH and increase your alkalinity.

Thanks! I'll Definitely Research A Calcium reactor

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Subsea, I have that book! Less technology, more biology is pretty much my guiding principal. There are limits, of course, since we are creating these micro ecosystems in our little boxes, but I think the more we work WITH Mother Nature, the easier this hobby becomes.

I don't think I'm quite qualified to answer your question on seagrasses yet. It's been over a year, and I don't feel they're all that well established - not as much as I'd want! So I don't know. It does seem, with their slow growth, that they'd be more stable than macros, which seem to grow and die back much quicker.

 

[nawilson89]

The weird:

I've been seeing some weird things lately and unfortunately I haven't been able to capture them on camera (it wont focus on them). So... crawling on my glass are what I would think are flatworms, or baby snails? They have a round head, short body with an orange spot in the middle and a forked tail.

Pods, pods and more pods:
My pod population has once again exploded. I'm seeing pods of all sizes. The biggest are a quarter of an inch I think. Some look like millipedes and the others are various copepods.

 

[nawilson89]

Figured it out. It's a flatworm Flatworm - Amphiscolops

 

[Subsea]

Because you said there was an orange spot near the tail, I suggest you research your identification some more. Google "Red Planaria" then go to Ron Shimek website. Check out picture of Convolutrilaba retrogemma

 

[nawilson89]

Because you said there was an orange spot near the tail, I suggest you research your identification some more. Google "Red Planaria" then go to Ron Shimek website. Check out picture of Convolutrilaba retrogemma

Thanks subsea. Wow both looks strikingly similar to what I have. That center spot. Definitely.

 

[nawilson89]

As my tank now sits and basically grows macros and populates with pods, and i decide exactly what I want to stock it with, i've decided to post on my next build.

So I have a bucket of sand and a tub of rocks on my patio that I would like to turn into my next and more realistic seagrass build. Though my 20g does have seagrass and it's doing pretty well from my standards I want to try something more and really separate my macro from seagrass.

Which brings me to my 29g. It's longer than my 20g and gives me more room to do what i want. originally my plan was to try mangroves, but I'd actually would like to stick with seagrass.

I'm not 100% on the exact method, but here's my plan as goes. A sectioned out area of tank for just seagrass with a 6+ inch bed of mud and sand. Up on this raised area I would like to do shoal, star and turtle grass, tallest to shortest. In that same area would be PVC pipe tunnels for the fish I would like to inhabit this area. Jawfish. A bit of reef rubble will also be there for them to do there construction.

Separating this area would possibly be a wall of glass with rock next to it. A smaller bed of sand and maybe mud. Where I will have a bed of caulerpa prolifera and fern caulerpa. The rocks in this area will also have a mix of red and green algae.

This plan is similar to my 20g, but i would again like to keep both algae and grass separate, as we've seen in my 20g caulerpa takes over. I may also remove the seagrass from my 20g to put in my 29g so it will have a better chance and let the caulerpa over run my 20g bed.

 

[nawilson89]

Because you said there was an orange spot near the tail, I suggest you research your identification some more. Google "Red Planaria" then go to Ron Shimek website. Check out picture of Convolutrilaba retrogemma

Subsea, just as you said I did more research on both what I think is Amphiscolops and what you think maybe C Retrogemma. I usually do all my hitch hiking research from http://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhiker.shtml it's been a great use to me in the past and i go there periodically just to refresh myself.

This is my first time dealing or seeing flatworms in my tank, but I have a side by side comparison of both, which has given me enlightenment. I still feel that what i've seen on my glass is amphiscolops. The spot is in the middle and not near the tail with a round head. I also witnessed one chasing a pod.

Below is a snippet from lionfish lair:



Thanks for your insight and help, pushing me to do a bit more research!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I've got some of those too. What have you found out about them? Friend? Foe? All I've heard, is that they're OK in small quantities, bad in plague amounts.

 

[nawilson89]

I've got some of those too. What have you found out about them? Friend? Foe? All I've heard, is that they're OK in small quantities, bad in plague amounts.

I haven't done much research into them as I was more into identifying them first. What I have read is like you said, ok in small amounts. Like many flatworms i've read about they can suffocate coral, but then again no coral here, other than hitch hiking zoa. I don't really plan on keeping coral in the future other than maybe Pulsing Xenia since they eat up nitrates and perform like a macro algae. I'm not to worried about them, i've only seen 2 or 3 on the glass compared to the HUNDREDS of pods. Unless their predatory skills are on comparison of lets say... us as human beings, it should be fine.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I wanted to add my two cents on your plan for the 29.

I like your idea of separate areas for the DSB and SSB (shallow sand bed). I'm not crazy about separating them with a piece of glass. Any straight, man-made objects in there won't look natural and will be an ugly distraction, detracting from an otherwise beautiful tank. You've got rocks. Use those to build a loose wall or transition hill. If you put glass in there, you'll spend hours just trying to hide it, when rocks alone will do the job, beautifully and naturally.

One thing I did when building my DSB planter was to saw rocks in half. That gives you a flat side. Use that as the bottom, and you've got a nice, stable rock.

Also, be sure not to divide the tank half and half. Go 2/3s or 3/5s for a natural look.

Oh, and post more pics. Keep at it and your pics will get better and better. My two cents!

 

[nawilson89]

I wanted to add my two cents on your plan for the 29.

I like your idea of separate areas for the DSB and SSB (shallow sand bed). I'm not crazy about separating them with a piece of glass. Any straight, man-made objects in there won't look natural and will be an ugly distraction, detracting from an otherwise beautiful tank. You've got rocks. Use those to build a loose wall or transition hill. If you put glass in there, you'll spend hours just trying to hide it, when rocks alone will do the job, beautifully and naturally.

One thin I did when building my DSB planter was to saw rocks in half. That gives you a flat side. Use that as the bottom, and you've got a nice, stable rock.

Also, be sure not to divide the tank half and half. Go 2/3s or 3/5s for a natural look.

Oh, and post more pics. Keep at it and your pics will get better and better. My two cents!

Truth, my first thought was to use rocks to build a wall and not the glass. I was concerned on sand and mud falling through the cracks.

Unfortunately I don't have a saw or access to one to cut the rocks. I'll be trying different methods too. Maybe in cracks I would push in some of my PVC tunnel openings or epoxy . That was a thought I had last night while trying to sleep.

I say "half" but I didn't mean to imply a 50/50 split. My original plan was a 66 macro/ 33 seagrass.

More pics. I do read that you yourself do about 100 pics a take. I do maybe about 4 or 5 and settle on one. I'll start trying more, my phone can handle it.

Thanks for the donation of advice

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Just don't put any mud near the divider. You can mix the mud with sand, so it's not just a big blob of mud.

I used an old hand saw (for wood). They're cheap. You might even find one in a yard sale. You don't need anything fancy, just something that will cut. Any old rusty thing will do. It's surprising how easily the rock cuts too.

I always import my pics into my computer for editing. I'll adjust color and crop them at least, and delete most because they are out of focus. I know a lot of folks do it all right on their phones, but I need a big screen.

 

[nawilson89]

Just don't put any mud near the divider. You can mix the mud with sand, so it's not just a big blob of mud.

I used an old hand saw (for wood). They're cheap. You might even find one in a yard sale. You don't need anything fancy, just something that will cut. Any old rusty thing will do. It's surprising how easily the rock cuts too.

I always import my pics into my computer for editing. I'll adjust color and crop them at least, and delete most because they are out of focus. I know a lot of folks do it all right on their phones, but I need a big screen.

I'll definitely try the mud mix.

Actually I think my uncle has a saw. I wonder if he'd cut the rock for me. Just have to ask him.

I'd need the big screen too. Is there a certain editing software you use?

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I use the Photos software on my imac for basic editing. Then I'll bring them into Photoshop to resize to 600 pixels wide for RC.

I would think just about any pic software would allow you to tone down the pink from your lights, and crop images.

Your tank is doing so well, we all want to see more of it!

 

[nawilson89]

I use the Photos software on my imac for basic editing. Then I'll bring them into Photoshop to resize to 600 pixels wide for RC.

I would think just about any pic software would allow you to tone down the pink from your lights, and crop images.

I see. I'll see what Windows 10 has to offer me.

 

[nawilson89]

Update:

Hello everyone! Hope everyone had a great holiday. This was my daughters first Christmas. Was a great day! Spent 4-5 days out of town and though of my tank everyday. Left it on a time. Came home and was pleasantly surprised. Other than gracilaria disappearing from my pod factory everything looks AMAZING. Sargassum grew as dead the grape caulerpa. Dragons breath looks lively.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Also It seems I have Stomatella snails! Where did these beauties come from. I think I have one or two. Not sure if I'm seeing the same one multiple times or its two different little ones moving around. So... prepare for the pic dump!

Left side. Caulerpa growing back strong. Sargassum on this side is becoming bushier.


Stomatella snail!


Left corner has some caulerpa going sexual. May leave it in and let it release nutrients. Going to the LFS tomorrow after work to get some water. Will do a water change and collect some. Letting the rest of the macro take hold.


Bushy Bushy Sargassum


Grape Caulerpa looking super well.


FTS. Extremely proud!


Right side, Grabbed some chaeto to replace my gracilaria on the right.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Your tank looks great! That is one sexy FTS.

I've had a similar experience, when leaving my aquarium unattended. I was out of town for a week. When I returned, the tank looked better than ever!

What does that tell us? Our tanks are better off without us? I think it just points to our trying to do too much, rather than being patient and letting Mother Nature do her bit. Rather than quickly reacting to changes in our aquariums, we should do nothing, except observe for awhile, and THINK for awhile.

Congrats!

 

[saltwater sam]

It's looking great man!