So apparently turtle grass loves my tank...

[Betta132]

This summer we were down at Port Aransas, and I was picking through the assorted shoreline stuff after a mild storm. I found some twigs/stems with leaves sprouting from them, but the leaves were too small to identify. Flinging stuff back into the water results in the stuff washing up at a later point, and the hotel has bulldozers that drive by every morning and push the seaweed into huge piles. The plants would have died, so I figured I might as well take them back and see what they grew into.
Turns out I have turtle sea grass. I know this stuff is supposed to be hard to care for, but it's not dying... It's doing great. I examined it for critters and then just tossed it into the tank, no planting or anything, but it seems to like floating. It's growing new blades that are bright green and healthy... The light bulbs in the hood are old and probably need replacing, and I have C Prolifera to compete with it... Why is this working?

 

[3D-Reef]

Turtle grass is capable of gaining nutrition from both the water column and the substrate. You obviously have what it likes.
It floats because it has air tubes in the leaves.You should go ahead and plant it.Because if the leaves are exposed to air for too long, it will start to drop them and the plant will die.

 

[Betta132]

None of the leaves are in the air, the stems are turned so the leaves are underwater. The stems mostly aren't even touching the surface for the most part, as they're mostly diagonal and kind of tangled so they stay that way.
I don't think I want to move them... They seem happy, I don't want to mess that up.

 

[JLynn]

Such a shame about all the dead seagrass from the storm. I would second the suggestion of planting them, but it's your call. Nice to hear that they are doing well! I wonder why that is.

 

[Betta132]

I may plant one or two pieces, but I'm also interested to see if it'll grow roots. Do you think it will?
Any clue why it seems to not mind the fact that my lights are old and need replacing?

 

[Betta132]

My pistol shrimp has now dragged a couple pieces down and stuck the ends in the sand near his burrow. I'll just wait and see what happens... Hopefully it won't mind.

 

[JLynn]

I don't think it will grow roots while floating around in the water. Technically, I suppose it is possible, but from personal experience, plants in general don't normally grow roots in plain water. I think it would definitely grow roots if planted in some nice, nutrient-rich dirt, though. My guess about the lights is as good as yours, but it is probably just that the water is nutrient-rich.

It is funny that your pistol shrimp took it into his own hands/claws! Lol.

 

[3D-Reef]

Ain't nothing like having a duel purpose shrimp. ;-)
IME the plant,once it gets so tall, it will put off horizontal roots. Turtle grass has both vertical and horizontal rhizomes. These roots will grow out and downward to the substrate until they secure themselves.Putting up new shoots every 7-9 leaf scars.But,they are connected to ones that are planted.
Having said that, the ones that are not connected to a rooted plant and are floating only last few weeks because they are living on stored up nutrients.Which it has a limited supply of.

A few years ago the wife and I went down to south padre island and there were tons of sargassium washed up on shore, but I didn't see any turtle grass. You must have been just in the right spot on the right day. B-)

 

[Betta132]

These definitely aren't living on stored food, I've had them since June. A couple are sporting little roots, but I'm not sure if that's something they already had.
Theoretically, would doing a fairly large water change upset the grass if it's mostly happy because of all the nutrients? The only fauna are a couple of snails, a little blue damsel, the shrimp, a small goby, a quarter-sized hermit, and a bean-sized hermit. And maybe a bluestripe pipefish, but he vanished two days after I put him in and I haven't seen him since.

We went to the beach after a minor storm, so I bet that knocked some stuff loose. I highly recommend beach-hunting after storms... All kinds of stuff washes up.

My pistol is about 3" long... Big enough that he can move just about anything he wants, short of the rocks. I put handfuls of stuff near his burrows sometimes, and he comes out and goes around moving things. You can practically hear him going "Okay, this goes here and that goes there- and what is this floating thing? Come down here, thing- come here- there! Now stay!"

 

[JLynn]

It certainly could. I would do a smaller water change. If you do 5%, I don't think that that would have much of a negative effect on the seagrass. Since you have fish in there, I don't think it would be wise to skip the water change. Especially if you haven't done one since June (you have, haven't you?). But if your nitrates, nitrites, and phosphates are okay, I don't suppose you really need to. (Also, chemistry is definitely not my forte, so take that advice with a grain or two of salt.)

 

[xian]

My turtle grasses send up rhizomes from the tank substrate and begin to root near the base of the leaves. When they do this I snap off the stem below the root and replant it. Most of the "good" nutrients are in the soil.