So, what's up for year two in the Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon? I'm not really sure. For a start, I'll list some things I'd like to happen.
I'd like to get my overall water movement improved, while sticking to my no visible plumbing rule. If I can find a pump that moves enough water without being herd, that will be a good start. The tricky part will be integrating it into a tank that's already up and running. I think I can drain the water down to accommodate the process, as long as I can do it quickly and fill it back up. I'm still thinking on it. I may need to think outside the box on this one.
I hope to get the Manatee Grass back to lushness. I think I'm on track to do it. The plants I have now are doing well and growing tall. I still have a few more to move, to get them more evenly distributed. So when the growing season hits, they'll have room to multiply.
Getting the back wall covered in life is another goal for y2. I'm happy with the progress so far. There's a little ways to go. I've still had no success getting any of the Turtle Weed transplanted onto the wall. I at least have kept the plant alive, while I try to figure it out. In the meantime, it sits leaned against the wall, with the hope some will make the jump on its own. It's a challenging plant, but it's doing well, so I'm optimistic.
One of the big surprises coming out of the live rock was a macro algae I've never seen before, that I named Petticoat Algae. The thing that most surprised me is that I like it up on the back wall, as well as growing between the seagrasses on the sand. This little plant could end up being the dominant plant in the tank! It seems adaptable to a wide range of lighting levels, moves well in the current, and generally looks good wherever I put it. I have been trying out several plants to serve as ground cover, on the sandbar, and this looks like the winner. It will provide great structure and refuge for all my pods, worms and micro star friends. I'm stoked to have a hitchhiker plant turn out to be so useful! I'd like to get this plant covering a lot of the back wall, as well as the sandbar in year two. I'm well on my way to getting there.
On the patch reef, I'd like to get some of the less prominent red macros more prominent. As much as I love the Red Grapes, I'd like a little more variety. There are two or three plants I have in place, that just need to grow bigger, so I prune back the grapes to give them more light and room to grow.
Also on the patch reef, Ive got a good selection of sponges that I'd like to see more of. So far, I haven't made any efforts to feed them, but I may change that this year. In v1 I had pretty dismal luck with the sponges I bought and added to the tank, but the hitchhiker sponges always did well. So this time around I have resisted buying any, and will focus on cultivating what I have on the live rock.
This is a pretty good list of year 2 goals. I'm confident I can reach them, and if I do, I should achieve the overall vision of the tank I've been dreaming about. Yeah!
