Cheers, Will... my reply to you from WWM is pasted below here. I have been travelling heavily as of late and paused activity on WWM crew mail:
Seagrass and the re-write of War and Peace 4/14/03
Hello Mr. Calfo,
**cheers, my friend
I've got a few questions for you regarding Thalassia. First, let me describe my setup:
-20 extra-high (20"x10"x24")
-150w DE HQI pendant made by Aqua Clear (Btw, have you ever heard of that company? I'd never seen this pendant before I bought it, but it's really nice. The pendant's height is adjustable simply by pushing it up or pulling it down.)
**sounds very fine
-no skimmer
-10gal 'Xenia refugium', a somewhat novel technique I thought I'd try out.. Basically it's just a refugium covered in Xenia elongata with very little macroalgae. There's also a fish in there that I collected while in the Bahamas. It's a small goby of some sort. It's been doing really well for the four months that I've had it. Very hardy-- it's lived through hell and back.
-Substrate: 3" wild-collected mud that I got from a marine sanctuary on the SC coast (yes, it was legal heehee), ~1cm live Caribbean sand, 2" Southdown. Let me just mention that it's VERY active and full of live-- the mud brought in more critters than I expected: worms, amphipods, copepods, snails, even fiddler crabs.
**how are the fiddlers living without intertidal "dry" areas? Hmmm... climbing out on mangrove roots?
-Current inhabitants: ~15 lbs live rock, 3 mangroves, 2 Caribbean feather dusters, 20 blueleg hermits, 7 astraea snails, 10 nassarius snails, Tubastrea, Eunecia sp., Pterogorgia citrina, and a Pearly Jawfish (O. aurifrons).
-Future inhabitants: 6 Hippocampus erectus seahorses, captive-bred of course (This tank is really for my horses more than anything else. The reef tank is just becoming too "reefy" for them.), more Caribbean gorgonians, possibly some Ricordea, Montastrea, other Caribbean corals, and X-mas tree worms.
**wow... overstocked starting with 6 seahorses in a 20 gall (regardless of the 10 gall 'fuge). Its my strong suggestion to keep less seahorses or get a larger tank and fuge
-Flow: 1 Powersweep (the lowest one) and flow from and to the refugium provided by a Mag2
So, there ya have it. I think that pretty much sums it up. First of all, what do you think of the setup?
**its inappropriate and unnatural to keep cnidarians (stinging corals, gorgs, etc) with most seahorses... a recipe for disaster. Skip the seahorses and all else sounds like a fine mini-reef to me
I've ordered my seagrasses (Turtle Grass, Thalassia testudinem), which should be arriving middle or late next week. I got 12 individual plants-- that ought to provide the heavily-planted tank that I'm going for. I think the seahorses will really, really, really appreciate it.
**agreed on the latter
They're sick of hitching on acros!!!
**not a good long-term habit either
I've got a few more questions.. Lorenzo mentioned to be VERY careful when actually planting the grasses in the new tank. How should I go about doing that as to not injure them?
**hmmm... do see a recent thread on this (pasted below at end of this reply) that I responed to on RC at:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=176107
-Also, what would you suggest as far as supplements?
**without a skimmer and in fear of difficulty finessing additives with the sensitive and scaleless seahorses... I'd suggest large weekly water changes instead to dilute and reconstitute the quality of yor captive seawater
-I've done quite a bit of reading, and Fe and Mn seem to be the most common supplements used for grasses. Do you suggest that I use them?
**nope... the seahorses are very metal sensitive... the mature mud you have is far more helpful/nutritive anyway. Some concern for overfertilization here>
What brand works best? I know I've seen Kent around here and probably SeaChem too.
**I favor Seachem... and personally avoid Kent products>
Should I dose Ca? What about B-Ionic? Would that be adequate?
**all depends on water change schedule and demands of the system. Simply test for these parameters and dose as needed. I do like B-Ionic for this appilcation>
I believe it contains ionized iron, but I'm not sure. Lastly, how do I go about acclimating the grasses? I don't know if they'll be sent dry or wet. Will I need to acclimate them to the lighting?
**most will die back within the first couple of months but send new shoots up shortly afterwards>
Whew, I think that about covers all of my questions for now... So, I'm open to any suggestions about the setup itself and any answers to the questions above.
**it honestly sounds like way too much for a tank so small... the seagrasses once established will overgrow many/much desirable fauna... and they need a 6" minimum substrate in my opinion (on the advice of the experts at the Smithsonian to me)
-Thanks Anthony (I'm guessing you'll be answering this, being the resident "algae/grass guy" around wwm). I look forward to reading your comments. Again, thanks!
-Will ps- I'm so excited about this new tank!!! It's been in the works since the end of last summer!
**best regards, my friend. Anthony
From:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=176107
"The crash course for your seagrass is to plant it in live sand that has been established for a minimum of 6-12 months... and is at least 6 inches (15 cm) deep.
The pods or clusters of undamaged Thalassia are to be planted at least 3" deep in the sand by digging a hole, placing the pod in and then gently cover the crown/roots. Never push a seagrass into the sand like a plug (often fatal damage occurs).
Its my strong advice not to mix any plant species together here... it will be a waste of time/resources as one plant will inevitably outcompete the other in the short run.
You have made the right choice with Thalassia... Syringodium gets too tall for a 55 gall. The two other commonly recognized true vascular plants (Zostera, and paddleweed) are temperate and not yet in the trade, respectively.
The amount you select to start with is somewhat up to you. More pods will give you a faster start, but at some point in time (X months/years) you will have to thin them out in the tank with good growth. Buy at least 6-10 pods/clusters, I suppose. More if you can afford it.
As far as lighting... brighter the better with this genus (and Syringodium). Since you will have at least 6" of sand in a 55 and the water will be fairly shallow... you can get away with a VHO system. Still... MH or HQIs would grow them much better. Nothing too excessive though. 150 watt double ended 10Ks would be fine (2 lamps)."
Kind regards,
Anthony
Are the seahorses species you are keeping lagoonal... from the reef proper (rare)... mud flats, etc. My point is... you won't find extensive coral formations where many/most of these seahorses are found. It is unnatural IMO to do it in the home aquarium for most species (there are exceptions of course... particularly with gorgonia)
