Weeds

[Michael Hoaster]

Surely they know how to find food, but figuring out that climbing a seagrass blade to get to it seems iffy. I think they get into position by chance, smell the delicious Ulva, then make the transfer when they bump up against it. Best guess! My niece was quick to point out that my fish are smarter than me. If Blue Whales have a brain the size of a VW bus, why don't THEY rule the world?

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I snuck a little obsessive-compulsive weeding in today, getting all the Caulerpa stragglers off the sand bed. I also removed the remaining small patches of cyanobacteria. Went ahead and snapped a pic.

Seymour the beige-colored Sea Cucumber ventured out into the bright light to lend a hand. The white things in the center are the suspended dead coral pieces with the Ulva tied to them. I'm almost tempted to prune the seagrasses all to the same height. I'm not crazy about all the varying lengths. It's purely an aesthetic choice. Too vain?

 

[ThePurple12]

BRILLIANT!

On trimming the grasses to the same height, I think it could look great. I might do it myself. Some of those stunning freshwater planted tanks come to mind.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Ha ha! I might! I could certainly come up with other good excuses to do it, not the least of which would be to protect the Ulva from the voracious snails. Even though I'm removing them every morning, the Ulva is loosing ground. Calcium precipitate on the blades is another good excuse.

Downsides? At first, it won't look as good, with all the blades shorter. And who knows how even they will grow back? That could be an interesting experiment. The fish would have more open water column to swim in. Hmm…I'll think about it.

I'm not seeing much improvement in the macros' coloring, since the new Iron dose. I'll give it a few more days. With the huge Caulerpa biomass, it may take a little more to move the needle.

 

[vlangel]

I love the pic! I rather like the varying lengths of seagrass because it looks natural. Of course I do not appreciate the natural look in my lawn and definitely prefer the manicured mowed look. And like a haircut, if you don't like it, it will always grow back.

Seymour is pretty big. I was comparing him to the damsels. He looks to be twice their size.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks Dawn. I appreciate an apposing point of view. I agree. It's just that I have these patches of tall grasses, rather than a mixture of blade lengths throughout that's bugging me. I actually need to do some transplanting, as there are numerous grasses growing too close to the back wall, and mingling with the Caulerpa. Maybe I should do that first, then see how it looks. At the minimum, I'd like to get rid of the 'snail elevator', so the Ulva intestinalis can thrive. Again this morning I had to remove snails from them, and they're gradually losing ground. It's annoying to lose a battle with tiny snails.

I'll give it some more thought.

 

[ThePurple12]

Michael, what about taking a small, snail-free piece of Ulva and putting it in a container with light and nutrients to act as a backup?

 

[Michael Hoaster]

That's not a bad option, ThePurple12. Thanks for the suggestion! Let me marinate on it.

For now, I'm liking the idea of moving some of the grasses around and perhaps pruning them down to even out their height.

After referring to themarineplantbook.com, I found that Galaxaura likes bright light. So I'm going to need to move some of them. I'll likely put them all on the left side on the patch reef, where the light is brightest. I've already moved my light a little to the right to give them more light. Hopefully that'll be enough. Heaven forbid I should move red plants into the green zone! That's not part of the vision!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thought I'd snap some more pics to show the new adjustments to the patch reef plants.

This has a kind of Secret Garden feel to it. I made a slight adjustment to the Halymenia at bottom right.

Patch reef overview. Lots of room for more plants in front and right side.

Three of the four Galaxaura and some Botriocladia looking nice and red. The fourth Galaxaura is behind the one at top.

Halymenia and Sargassum with growing beige sponge bottom center.

Closer shot of the Galaxaura. Hypnea at bottom right that I wish would color up.

Grasilaria and Sargassum. Since I moved the light closer to them, maybe the Sargassum will grow taller.

Nice variation of red tones. I'm curious how these will change with the change in light.

I hope the Galaxaura like their new location in brighter light.

Okay, this is my favorite of the batch! I love how the cool tones of the live rock bring out the reds.

 

[ThePurple12]

I like the adjustments. Do you know the name of that tall, red, Gracilaria-looking plant in the back? I think I have the same thing, but don't know what it's called.

Maybe the Hypnea would color up if you moved it to a brighter location? I remember in V1 you had a ton of brilliant blue Hypnea among the seagrass. Just a guess of course.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I'm pretty sure it's Gracilaria. It's kind of half way between the regular stuff and the thick 'tree' version. I've tried the tree before but never had luck with it. This stuff does great for me. I'm pretty sure I got it in a red sampler from GCE. Those samplers often have some real unique jewels in them, along with the usual hayi and stuff I'll toss into quarantine tanks.

Oh yeah, you're right about the v1 Hypnea. I'll give that a try. Also hoping the new Iron helps. There is a chance it's not Hypnea at all. It could be brown/black Gracilaria, which looks very similar in this small size.

 

[ThePurple12]

Ah, that's a good point about it possibly being Gracilaria. I guess we'll see.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Not again! Every time I post pics, it goes to the next page! So I'm quoting myself. Ha ha!

Thought I'd snap some more pics to show the new adjustments to the patch reef plants.

This has a kind of Secret Garden feel to it. I made a slight adjustment to the Halymenia at bottom right.

Patch reef overview. Lots of room for more plants in front and right side.

Three of the four Galaxaura and some Botriocladia looking nice and red. The fourth Galaxaura is behind the one at top.

Halymenia and Sargassum with growing beige sponge bottom center.

Closer shot of the Galaxaura. Hypnea at bottom right that I wish would color up.

Grasilaria and Sargassum. Since I moved the light closer to them, maybe the Sargassum will grow taller.

Nice variation of red tones. I'm curious how these will change with the change in light.

I hope the Galaxaura like their new location in brighter light.

Okay, this is my favorite of the batch! I love how the cool tones of the live rock bring out the reds.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

ThePurple12, I will plant some of the (possibly) Hypnea in the brighter light, and see what happens.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Last night, as I was about to go to bed I looked into the tank and saw more snails on the new Ulva. Enough! So I grabbed my scissors and cut down a bunch of seagrass blades. If they were close enough to reach the Ulva, they got whacked. I came down this morning and there were no snails on them. Success!

Then I went after Caulerpa stragglers and replanted a piece of Halymenia that had come loose. I noticed several tiny fragments of the Ulva on the sand bed and chose to leave them. Maybe some will survive and grow among the grasses, which would be cool I think.

I dosed more Iron and Ammonia. I may do a few more things with the tank today, depending how I feel. I plan to get my CO2 tank refilled next week, so a cleaning of the the canister filter is in order. I run the CO2 through it, so I need it to be working well. I've been out of CO2 for months, so I'm curious what effect it has on the plants once it resumes.

 

[vlangel]

I am glad that you caught those pesky snails in the act and WHACK! took care of the ulva that was left. Sometimes an aquarists has to do what an aquarists has to do!

I also like the last pic with the cool blue shadows on the rock contrasting with the red macros.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Right on, Dawn. I REALLY want the Ulva to make it, so I did what was necessary. And it's not like I did something destructive. It's just kind of nuts the lengths I had to go. A big part of the art of the aquarist is problem solving.

99% of the time, I love those snails. They are very important members of the ecosystem community. Possible the MOST important. I'm still amazed that they can climb the grasses and keep them clean. I dare say no other snail can do that.

I'm glad to hear you liked that last pic. It's always so exciting when I come across a pic that speaks to me. They're pretty rare, which makes it so special.

 

[ThePurple12]

Michael, I was checking out the plant forum in its early years, back in 2004+. Amazing how many seagrass keepers there were back then compared to now. Someone posted a thread asking about snails for a planted tank, and someone answered with Collumbellid snails, saying they're great seagrass cleaners and will multiply.

I looked up Collumbellid snails because it sounded familiar, and found the common name is dove snail. Here's a picture:<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/dtfadfgN80X2e_Kdb5HNMcHVKuCg5b07h8f8S6sPzJa3oF0gpx26tSXC41adF91-DNErAqYAO0VZSpNkAuZFprwn42XkhCFnV2pdtrZQEikfmwLn8nRUd15QZ5ckzcdu3iaLRze-5r1rvtVwk19lHAajD7W_Q2WeH8_f2Q" alt="Dove snail (Columbellidae)"/>

They look like a mystery snail I see in my tanks at night, and they really sound like your ulva eaters! What do you think?

 

[ThePurple12]

Here's the thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=937779

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Those could very well be what I have. I've just been using the Mini Strombus name because that's what Indo Pacific Sea Farms calls them. I'm guessing they named them that because of a passing resemblance to Conches.

I noticed that too, that more people were growing seagrasses back in the day. I have read that 'Old Helpful Posts' section several times. Lot's of great stuff in there!

Thanks for the link. I'll give it a read!