Thalassia/turtle grass growers

[moonpod]

Hi guys, I am setting up a new tank that will have a low flow fuge in the sump. This is in my stand which is 36" tall. I am planning on a 2-3" mineral mud bed and was interested in growing turtle grass in there. Any tips? Any reccs? For lighting I was gonna stick a single 175w 6500k MH in there cause the stand is so tall. I don't want to lower the light cause I need free access under the stand.

 

[Will]

Instead of miracle mud, could you make your way to the coast to collect some of your own marsh mud? I don't know what condition the beaches are in over on the west coast, but if you could find a protected area to collect, marsh mud is awesome in a grass tank.
-Will

 

[moonpod]

Ain't no estuaries around L.A. w/o sewage in 'em that I know of....anyhow fourhand I posted this on WWM too, and was wondering what you thought about the lighting scheme....

 

[Mark]

Your setup plans sound great, except I would go with a 55k bulb. In the 175-watt range, the 55k beats the 65k in terms of par. Your turtle grass will love the the 65 or 55k either way, but the 55k's are a little cheaper and more par.

You will also need to make the substrate at least 6 inches deep for ideal turtle grass conditions. HTH.

 

[skattabrain]

could i keep them in 4" southdown with 2 x 400 watt radiums?

 

[technoshaman]

Moonpod - I don't have thallasia but I do have a smaller blade seagrass I've had in my fuge for about 9 months growing in a 8" deep southdown bed. I was kind of up in the air about supplementing the soil also - just ended up mixing in some detritus, rubble and old miracle mud from my old ecosystem 40 - I tried one of those freshwater iron tabs for the heck of it but ended up digging it out fearing a microalgae explosion.

There are pics somewhere on the forum of my old fuge - currently being moved and it's a mess but I'll snap pics of the grass once I clean it up a bit - am adding the mangroves from my old sump to fuge and then letting it settle again for a month before I plumb it into my new tank.

Edit - also I visited www.floridapets.com website recently and they have added a few other types of seagrass/vascular plants to their livestock list for very reasonable prices - anyone tried them out?

 

[moonpod]

hmmm, I may try that manatee grass. It sounds a little more viable in that it has a faster growth rate...otherwise, gracelleria and chaeto for me...