seagrass bed and red mangrove for Refugium

ouyadi

New member
Hello everyone,
I have a empty refugium with two sections for my new 210 gallon new setup. They will feed DT water directly without skimmer(skimmer,biopellt,GFO carbon will all host in third section before water flow back to DT), the dimension for first section is 13L x 18W x 12D, and 18L X 18W X 12D. My design is put liverock and Chaetomorpha in first section with a powerhead to prevent waste build up. and for second section, it will be about 5" deep sugar sand mix with fiji mud, i want to culture Manatee Grass, Shoal Grass and 1-2 red mangrove to create a seagrass ecosystem.There are a few question.

1. I have read some research papers which suggest not to remove seagrass's litter and allow waste to build nutrition into the sandbed, so the more rich nutrition in the sandbed, the maturer seagrass bed. The idea is when those waste get decomposed. most nutrition will deposit into sandbed and consume by the ecosystem. and eventually the ecosystem will transfer those nutrition to our fish and reef system or skimming out through skimmer. The concept definitely works for nature ecosystem, but do you think it will work for our such small system?

2. as total water level only about 6-7" deep, do you think it is good for Manatee Grass or Shoal Grass?
 
Regarding #1, I *believe* the general consensus is to remove dead leaves from mangroves, rather than letting them rot and decompose. I think the concept would apply equally to decomposing seagrass.

Not sure on #2.
 
Generally I would not put the fuge before the mechanical filtration. You have the situation where you could be killing pods and other beneficial life with the skimmer or other pumps before they have a chance to get into the DT. Just a thought.
 
Hello everyone,
I have a empty refugium with two sections for my new 210 gallon new setup. They will feed DT water directly without skimmer(skimmer,biopellt,GFO carbon will all host in third section before water flow back to DT), the dimension for first section is 13L x 18W x 12D, and 18L X 18W X 12D. My design is put liverock and Chaetomorpha in first section with a powerhead to prevent waste build up. and for second section, it will be about 5" deep sugar sand mix with fiji mud, i want to culture Manatee Grass, Shoal Grass and 1-2 red mangrove to create a seagrass ecosystem.There are a few question.

Howdy, Since You only have a foot to work with You'll probably want to stick with Shoalgrass.Manatee grass can get long and would grow out the top.
With Shoalgrass You wouldn't need as thick of a substrate either.Maybe 2"-3" at most.It could be 5" if that's what You wanted.

1. I have read some research papers which suggest not to remove seagrass's litter and allow waste to build nutrition into the sandbed, so the more rich nutrition in the sandbed, the maturer seagrass bed. The idea is when those waste get decomposed. most nutrition will deposit into sandbed and consume by the ecosystem. and eventually the ecosystem will transfer those nutrition to our fish and reef system or skimming out through skimmer. The concept definitely works for nature ecosystem, but do you think it will work for our such small system?

2. as total water level only about 6-7" deep, do you think it is good for Manatee Grass or Shoal Grass?

You will want to pull the leaves out.In nature the grass bed has a water change every 6-12 hrs.So conservation of nutrients is a priority for the grass.Which usually isn't the case with our tanks.Also leaving them there will slow down water flow thru the grass hindering nutrient up-take of the leaves,and may allow cyano to take hold.
The mud should provide the necessary nutrients.Although at first You may need to do some carbon dosing to get the bacteria going in the substrate.

I agree with SoCalDude and put the mechanical filter first then the fuge.The consistant incoming detritus will eventually overcome the grass.It takes a few years(IME),but,it can happen.

I think that a seagrass bed does enhance the small ecosystem.jmho
 
ive got that in my 50g + 20g fuge, although a very small section. i have cymodocea nodosa together with caulerpa prolifera and one mangrove, grown from seed, now having 3 pairs of leaves.

i agree, have the mechanical filtration first, as you get quite some detritus from the maintank, which then accumulates in the cheato and on the liverock, i think on the dsb it would not matter so much as the seagrass needs the nutrients.

i would grow some caulerpa first before adding the seagrass as you need some quite mature sand and mud. mangroves will accept the fresh sand, as they first use the energy from the seed, IMO.

will post pics if i find any decent ones.
 
caulerpa prolifera grows on rocks, but it does better in a sandbed.

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seagrass, caulerpa, cheato and mangrove in my fuge
 
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