Some of my marine planted tanks

[Plantbrain]

As I removed the other site due to piracy, this resized 50kb or less reefcentral gallery seems a good solution.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showgallery.php?ppuser=29998&cat=500&thumb=1

Yes, I am the crazy one possessed by plants.
I will be going into marine plants much the same way I do scientific review style articles for Freshwater plants also on my site as things progress there.

The flat trays are samples we collect every year at the plant fest in Florida.

Tender viddles!

Regards,
Tom Barr


www.BarrReport.com

 

[Seahorsewisprer]

WOW!

WOW!

I'm impressed! What a gorgeous and unique creation! Very To'M!

 

[Plantbrain]

I've gotten good at culturing algae in FW systems so it was not too hard, but getting some of the reds to stay where I wanted them and temperature issues made the tank much more work that I think perhaps it required.

Still, it was quite a learning experience.

It is much more work than reef tank of comparable size.
But not all marine macro tanks need be nor should have so many species kept together.

I think 2-6 species would be fine in a tank this size.

I did not do as well as I'd hoped with the vascular plants with all these macros in here, the seagrasses grew well, but grew taller than I'd wanted.

A larger tank is required for some of the seagrasses.

I'm presently working on cold water pacific marine plants.
I have a 40 gal cube with a 150HQI pendent over it.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Triterium]

Tom, that is beautiful. Now why cant I do that?

 

[Seahorsewisprer]

But not all marine macro tanks need be nor should have so many species kept together.

I think 2-6 species would be fine in a tank this size.

the seagrasses grew well, but grew taller than I'd wanted.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Tom , my tank is a 75 AGA. What species would you recommend? And which grasses will grow 16" or so?

TIA!

 

[Samala]

Jealous jealous jealous... Only 43 species? That's it? Come come Tom I'm sure we can add another 20 or so easily. Hehehe. I'd like to see what miracles you can work on the Halophilas I have. It really looks great. The coldwater tank is an interesting idea.. I'll never touch that until I get outta school. A chiller is most certainly not within my budget.

>Sarah

 

[Plantbrain]

You do not have to be poor while pursuing academics.
Some students are smart in their field as well as business, they make good $$ doing the work and are heavily funded and have other sources of income. Some own their own businesses on the side.

I recently got 5 chillers for a research project grant for the studying of varying the temp on Egeria densa, and we will do some similar temp studies on C taxilfolia as well.

Death to weeds!
I guess karmically I'm even, I kill weeds and I grow them.

Find the grant $$$$, find a need out in the real world, then you'll also find the job/purpose in life........

Or not.........haha

A 75 gal tank with Halo's would be neat, you guys need to really really really really need think about aquascaping.

I would suggest look at the rock design and work.
This will take the longest time in any design.
Marine folks generally do not use woods, so rock will be the main focus.

A simple design of rocks with one single foreground type short plant can make an awesome impression.

You can also see the fish and have lots of openessness just liek you would see in a reef or seagrass bed.

Some over stuffed coral tank is hardly an impression of a nice dive location.


Another thing, the rocks can be brown, black, smooth, semi rough, basalt, whitish old crusty coral/live rock.

They don't have to be all live rock etc.

Look at Japanese and Chinese rock gardening as well as natural scenes.

Less rock is "more".

Think also about the stage(the aquascape), for the actors,(the fish).

Do they match well?

Also see here: this applies to Marine folks as well:

http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/month.200301/msg00097.html


Regards,
Tom Barr

www.BarrReport.com

 

[Seahorsewisprer]

OK, I found a new idol!

I really want to make this tank different, and i was thinking about using different rocks. I found some really pretty smooth, black rocks in Soutnern Utah while hiking, and I stuck them in a terrarium. You think they would be OK in my planted tank? They really would look cool!

I was thinking about using sun polyps and just a few turquoise muhrooms as a focal point, surrounded by lush green plants waving in the tide! Getting rid of the rock is only a bonus.

So, how do I join your fan club?

Thanks, Suzy

 

[sylphid]

Sigh... those tiny pictures can't show the beauty of plants..

 

[Plantbrain]

Email a PM and I can send a nice one, I just got robbed when I put them up prior.

A sad shame truthfully.
You had to see the tank in person to see the health though.

As far as scaping folks: look at nature.

We normally do not find 43 zoo like species collections.

Here's some nice rock type scapes to ponder, these are from FW but it'll give you an idea on the difference in their view than "those coral people" haha. Nom offense, I love coral, but the scaping is much more challenging and flexible with faster growing weeds.

So you have more options.

Also, less is more.

Links to rock:

I like this OHKO rock and have done two tanks with it:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=8807

Wayne gives a nice layout set description and shows the rock layout well.

You will see quite a few ideas here that are FW but certainly can apply to Marine tanks.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/forumdisplay.php?f=14


I would like to see a nice little group of Mermaid';s shaving brushes as groups of trees on the hillside on 2 opposing mounds of Aragonite white sand..............

Some suitable fish to complete the scene..............

Ahhh...........

You folks get the picture?

Start with a few or a base color, build from that one plant/macro and go from there slowly adding to it.

Regards,
Tom Barr

www.BarrReport.com

 

[Plantbrain]

Another rock scaping idea and layout from FW.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=8670

 

[Harmsway]

Plantbrain, I love the way you think.

I have been diving/snorkling in the Florida Keys for over twenty years. My mind is engrained with what a natural habitat should look like. So when I look at 90% of reeftank pictures I just see another wall to wall montage. No feeling of being immersed in the habitat.

In my own reef I set out to have half the foot print of the tank bottom. Even though it's not a plant aquarium it has lots of open space and white sand. Well that was the initial intent until my mushrooms started spreading out across the bottom and a trip to the Keys brought back way too many gorgonians. It's about time I start posting some pictures I think.

Anyway for those of you who are plant oriented here are some of my ideas coming from past snorkling adventures. Particularly for those that want to add a touch of natural reef in with their plants.

The near shoreline waters of the Florida Keys are grass areas with an occasional sponge or coral head. Finger coral and a small grouping of button polyps is often found in the very shallow areas fringing around the islands.

For the aquarium add a small amount of LR with a brain and/or finger corals. Corals here are found sitting right in the sand. Then plant as much greenery as you like leaving some of the white sand for contrast.

If you have a large aquarium you could throw in a couple of purple sea whips ( gorgonians ) for added appeal. That's it for coral for this aquarium for it should be mostly green. Place some calcarous macros near the LR.

For inverts you may want a sea anemone with it's clown shrimp placed right in the grass. Peppermint shrimp are often found around the coral heads as well. Some snails, feather worms and small stars would be good too.

Finally you may want a few small fish. A butterfly fish would be ideal if you are capable of keeping them alive.

Well that's my aquascaping idea for a plant aquarium. The question is am I will to set up yet another tank?

We'll see
Gene

 

[Plantbrain]

I think many marine folks are more inclined to get out of their glass boxes and dive in and be the "fish".

FW folks seldom get out into a planted river or lake etc, they do exist, but few do it.

I know the mushroom deal, anyone that's had them and had a semi neglected tank understands that

The many species macro tank is tough, I think it's much better to address a few species well and with less effort, the look will be better also. Same for fish stocking.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Harmsway]

FW folks seldom get out into a planted river or lake etc, they do exist, but few do it.

Yeah, I spent all my summers on a lake in New Jersey throughout my childhood and never realized. I finally snorkled off an island in the middle of that lake one summer comming home from college. This was many years ago now but I'll never forget the underwater scenes from that lake. The plants growing around that rock island were incredibly beautiful and I was surprise at all the schools of fish that were there.

Pretty good memories

Gene

 

[Plantbrain]

Well heck, simply go to Rainbow, Ginnie, Ichetucknee springs and float on down.

Those hardwater springs in FL are great and full of plants, as well as many of the lakes in the central ridge in the middle of the state.

I take folks every year on a tour of the springs/rivers, and then to the Marine station in the Keys to collect the macros.

The Marine canceled due to Hurricane Dennis this year :-(

You can take the idea for a scape from many areas.
Also: read this old post from FW, it applies well to Marine scapes also:

Hummm....Well I'll start a new thread for this issue.


Regards,
Tom Barr