Quick questions

[ka34579]

I've kept hobby fish for about 15 years, and had the same f/o saltwater tank for 2 years now, a 75-gal. After years of buying expensive sands and overpriced equipment, i found that the best system for me ended up being a simple modified wet/dry filter, a heater, a few basic additives like buffer and obviously some salt, and other than that the actual tank decor and even some of my water has come directly from the ocean. I have about 100 lbs of new england sand, a couple pieces of base rock I found while beachcombing, and a few hermits that have done amazingly well in warm water, out of the 7-8 I picked up two years ago Ive only had one die. As far as fish I have 4 green chromis, a coral beauty, and a 4 inch heniochus. Despite all the flack Ive taken about the morality of taking beach sand or the possibility of polution, Ive never had a fish die and my water is crystal clear and tests perfectly.
Ive become interested in keeping some seagrass. These questions might be immediately shot down or worth a shot. Beachcombing in Rhode Island I find about 4-5 different types of uprooted grasses washed up, some with roots in tact. Basically what I'm getting at is, how feesable is it to plant these in my aquarium, will they become just prey for the fish, or is my lighting too much? I have about 260 watts of fluorescent lighting. Any help, thanks

 

[graveyardworm]

You could try and let us all know how they do. From what I understand grasses from up here have a dormant season, and just because they are in warm water they dont forget this, and possibly need it for health. The water where you are in RI? may be a little warmer than in NH so you may have a better chance.

 

[billsreef]

There are several species of grass you could be finding. Two are marsh grasses that need to be grown like mangroves, Spartina alterniflora and S. patens. The S. alterniflora is fairly tall and rigid, this ones grows in the intertidal area at the edge of salt marshes and can do well. S. patens is from somewhat higher ground where it's roots get wet, but the plant is seldom submerged...I'd try this one in a plant pot that is perched such that only the base of the pot is in the water. The other two are true aquatic sea grasses. Eel grass, Zostera marina is a fairly long bladed grass and needs cool temperatures...and does not do well if the temp gets much over 70F for long periods. The last one is Widgeon grass, Ruppia maritima, also called ditch grass. Ruppia ranges from Cuba north to Maine and does well in aquarium set ups with at least 2 inches of organic rich sand or mud.

 

[halophila]

yeah, I like the widgeon grass very much. I started this colony from a single seed half a year ago. It adapts very well from various temperature and different nutrient conditions.

 

[piercho]

My almost 5-year old aquarium was started with nothing but sand from a Puget Sound eel grass bed, a large power filter, and a 6500K plant bulb. I had several larger critters in the eel grass sand survive the temp transition, the most apparent were head-shield snails. Anyway, I would agree that the spendy gear and imported sand and rock are not as important to a functional tank as they are purported to be.

Zostera marina - eel grass here on the West coast - is difficult to transplant into a tropical tank, IME. When I tried it the blades died back and the substantial rhizome just kind of hung out without sending up new shoots, like it was waiting for an environmental cue that it was not getting.