Who's growing seagrasses?
- Thread starter Will
- Start date
greenighs
New member
Hi, Will!
I'm trying to grow them. The first batch I got from Floridapets.com didn't do so well, I think it was because my DSB wasn't "ripe" yet, and it shipped in the hottest week of the summer, UPS drove it around all day, etc. This batch looks really strong, and the sand bed is really rich, so I'll keep you posted on how it does!
I have three types, Thalassia, or "turtlegrass", Shoal grass and Manatee grass. (don't know latin name on those two).
Do you think if the Manatee grass really grows it'll attract a manatee to my tank? I keep lots of bamboo, but no pandas have shon up yet. ;(
I'm trying to grow them. The first batch I got from Floridapets.com didn't do so well, I think it was because my DSB wasn't "ripe" yet, and it shipped in the hottest week of the summer, UPS drove it around all day, etc. This batch looks really strong, and the sand bed is really rich, so I'll keep you posted on how it does!
I have three types, Thalassia, or "turtlegrass", Shoal grass and Manatee grass. (don't know latin name on those two).
Do you think if the Manatee grass really grows it'll attract a manatee to my tank? I keep lots of bamboo, but no pandas have shon up yet. ;(
ChrisB
New member
Do you have your grass in a refugium? or in the main tank?
I have been giving some serious thought to putting a bed of seagrass in my main tank.
Wouldn't this be good for a DSB? I don't want anything that grows real tall. I could harvest it periodically and export nutrients that way. Is this feasible? Anyone using grass in their main tank?
I have been giving some serious thought to putting a bed of seagrass in my main tank.
Wouldn't this be good for a DSB? I don't want anything that grows real tall. I could harvest it periodically and export nutrients that way. Is this feasible? Anyone using grass in their main tank?
Will
Premium Member
Hey Clare! Yeah, I saw the picture of the grass in your tank. It looks really cool how you have it up in the corner in that little elevated area! I'm keeping Thalassia and another grass that Bill from Bill's Reef sent to me. The other one is unidentified, but it's very cool! It's really thin and really tall. I'll try to get some pictures (my camera is being serviced right now).
Chris, I wouldn't recommend grass for nutrient export. It gets most of its nutrition from the substrate. Algae, which uptake nutrients directly from the water, are better for that. Btw, I've got my grass in the main tank (actually the tank is based on the grass itself).
-Will
Chris, I wouldn't recommend grass for nutrient export. It gets most of its nutrition from the substrate. Algae, which uptake nutrients directly from the water, are better for that. Btw, I've got my grass in the main tank (actually the tank is based on the grass itself).
-Will
FishF00d
New member
Ruppia maritima (Widgeon Grass)
Halodule wrightii (Cuban Shoal Grass)
Thalassia testudinum (Turtle Grass)
These are the grasses that grow in the local waters here in pensacola. While working for the Department of Environmental protection we propagated some of these. We were not very succesful in reintroducing them back into the bay. Most of it didn't make it. I also collected some for my fuge and it all died. Here is a site to check out if you want to know more about them:
http://uwf.edu/rsnyder/ffnwf/seagras/seagras.html
Halodule wrightii (Cuban Shoal Grass)
Thalassia testudinum (Turtle Grass)
These are the grasses that grow in the local waters here in pensacola. While working for the Department of Environmental protection we propagated some of these. We were not very succesful in reintroducing them back into the bay. Most of it didn't make it. I also collected some for my fuge and it all died. Here is a site to check out if you want to know more about them:
http://uwf.edu/rsnyder/ffnwf/seagras/seagras.html
Will
Premium Member
vanburen said:
That's definately the impression that I was under. From my experience with it, though, it seems like once established, grasses are nearly impossible to kill. My crop has undergone a hell of a lot of stress in the past few months. We moved back in August, and I had never moved any tanks before. It was quite a mess, and I was very unprepared... The grass sat in a waterless tank for a good hour and a half. A lot of the grass got really limp and wilted, and it died back for about a month after the tank was reassembled. It's doing fine now though. Also, the tanks experienced extreme temperature spikes mid-August (must've gotten to about 95... It was just after we moved, and my parents were extremely paranoid about running the air conditioning system since this house is larger than our old one. Turns out our electric bill here is cheaper.). All of the bryopsis in both of my tanks died off, yet the grass is still going strong.
I credit every bit of my success to my substrate. It's mud that I collected in a marsh off of the South Carolina coast. Extremely rich stuff, and I recommend it to anyone wanting to try grasses. Marsh mud is the stuff!! A lot of people think I'm crazy for risking putting something like that in my tanks, but hey, this hobby is just a big science experiment anyway, right? Haha, but don't put a jawfish in a tank with a mud substrate.... You'll end up having your whole tank covered with a pretty substantial layer of mud, and your water will be cloudy 5 out of 7 days in the week. Hehe, I know from current experience. But hey, it's worth it. Jawfish are awesome little critters!
-Will
I think much of Sea Grasses hard to transplant and maintain reputation comes from restoration projects in the wild. With those projects comes many problems we don't face in our tanks, such as whatever reason the grass isn't growing in that location to begin with.
In aquariums it simply comes down to supplying the needed ingredients to for it to grow. Sort of like growing plants in a greenhouse. Organic rich substrates seems to be one of those ingredients. Either via an aged DSB or some mud like Will did. For new set ups, one can use plant fertilizer tablets like the ones used in FW. Also some good marsh mud if you have access to it works well as Will proved. The other ingredients I find are good lighting and iron supplements.
BTW, Will, the skinny grass is Ruppia maritima.
In aquariums it simply comes down to supplying the needed ingredients to for it to grow. Sort of like growing plants in a greenhouse. Organic rich substrates seems to be one of those ingredients. Either via an aged DSB or some mud like Will did. For new set ups, one can use plant fertilizer tablets like the ones used in FW. Also some good marsh mud if you have access to it works well as Will proved. The other ingredients I find are good lighting and iron supplements.
BTW, Will, the skinny grass is Ruppia maritima.
FishF00d
New member
we couldn't get the stuff to grow in the wild from the stuff we cultured in tanks. One reason was that it kept on accumulating sand and eventually was covered. One way that does work is taking plugs. We would take plugs and put them in the large prop scar areas and they would slowly recover(the local area has lost about 70% of its seagrass beds i would guess) The deepest you are going to find the grasses growing here is something like 6 feet deep water. It doesn't seem to grow any deeper than that with the turbidity in the area. I did collect some of each and sent it to Guy in NY along with some shrimp that i collected. He said he didn't have any success with it in his fuge. I also sent him some Spartina alternefloura and Spartina patens. I don't believe any of that made it. I'm sure you could use the patens as a nutrient remover in a sump. That stuff would thrive in the nastiest of waters here. We would plant some of these plants in areas with do not swim signs up. I should have had hazard pay. It was interesting how we grew the Ruppia, we would make up some hormone solution and take one node from a piece we collected and let it in the solution until it grew out and start the process again until all ourtest tubes were full. Then we would put it in a high current tank with a little bit of horomone for root growth. The idea was to get it use to the high current and pounding it would get in the bay. Then we would attach it to coconut fiber mats and let the roots take hold. After that mat filled in nice we would place them out at the restoration site where i would say 80% didn't make it. I might have had a problem with blue legs in my sump and compatition from the macros i had. Once it warms up again i might go collect some more and try again. On thing I would have to do is acclimate it to the salinity in my tank. This stuff isn't growing in very high salinity down here. The water temps also fluctuate down here. I'm sure the water is in the 60's or so now and was in the mid 80s over the summer.
Plantbrain
Active member
I've found about 5 Marine angiosperms growing around here in FL.
I'd say Ruppia is the easiest.
But the substrate is the key for all of these.
Deep and with organic matter.
Pruning these like FW plants is tough though.
It's tougher than replanting Vallsineria for example. And they grow slower. So making nice groups can be tough.
I may be doing a Marine Plant Fest this June and folks can come down and see these grasses for themselves along with Sponge Mangrove ecosystems, Rocky surf attached algae etc.
You can bring back all the mud you can carry
Regards,
Tom Barr
I'd say Ruppia is the easiest.
But the substrate is the key for all of these.
Deep and with organic matter.
Pruning these like FW plants is tough though.
It's tougher than replanting Vallsineria for example. And they grow slower. So making nice groups can be tough.
I may be doing a Marine Plant Fest this June and folks can come down and see these grasses for themselves along with Sponge Mangrove ecosystems, Rocky surf attached algae etc.
You can bring back all the mud you can carry
Regards,
Tom Barr
blackangler
New member
if anyone gets any extra sea grass or knows where i can get some
please pm me
please pm me
Will
Premium Member
Billsreef.com, very good stuff.
-Will
ps- Bill, I think that other grass is actually Syringodium. When you sent it, you weren't sure what exactly it was. You said it just came in with the shipment, so you were letting me have it to see how it faired. I'll try to get some pictures at some point.
-Will
ps- Bill, I think that other grass is actually Syringodium. When you sent it, you weren't sure what exactly it was. You said it just came in with the shipment, so you were letting me have it to see how it faired. I'll try to get some pictures at some point.
