i am in the process of setting up a small tank for dwarf seahorses and had a question about sea grass. I would like to include a few blades of shoal grass for them to hitch to and I was wondering if that will cause a big ph swing in the tank when the lights go out? I know macro algaes will, but I'm not sure if sea grasses do the same thing and how bad it will be. Would I need to run a fuge on reverse photo period to balance it out? I'm not sure my bioload would be enough to keep a fuge full of macro healthy. Maybe I should just can it and go with fake plants?! Anyhow, any advise would help, thanks in advance.
will seagrass cause a ph swing
- Thread starter exsulrex
- Start date
Samala
New member
Well, how many is a few blades? If you have high plant density then its entirely possible that you will have a pH swing of some kind. I set up something close to what I think you have in mind, except with very high density plants, and am now dealing with the pH issues. A refugium on reverse photoperiod may help.. I'm trying to see what else can be done. I'm not positive that the pH increase I'm experiencing is from the photosynthesis directly.. if you check out the other thread here.. "Stargrass flower, maybe" you will see the pH issues I've got going.
Hope that helps
>Sarah
Hope that helps
>Sarah
Thanks for the reply! Well, since it is a dwarf tank I want to keep it pretty simple so I can see the little devils. I was thinking only like 5 or 6 plants of shoal grass, just enough for them to hitch too. Also I would love a halimeda in the future. On a side note, I see that you mention shoal grass, is it true that it will grow in a shallower sand bed than turtle grass, which requires like 6 inches? Sorry for all the questions, but thanks for the help.
Samala
New member
Five or six plants, definitely not high density, very unlikely for a pH swing in the tank unless it's really really small. What size were you thinking of? Have you seen the pics on my website for my ten gallon dwarf-seagrass project? Just to give you an idea of how big these plants are.. nearly all of the vertical blades you see in my tank are shoal grass as its taking manatee grass a while to get going. I have possibly 50-60 individual shoal grass plants in there.. and it still doesnt really look filled in.
If you're going for simplicity.. not sure the seagrass fits the bill. For substrate, I'm using about 4.5".. and the shoal grass roots go all the way to the bottom of this.. I imagine if it was deeper they'd use all the room they could. In addition to substrate, also consider lighting requirements of the seagrass, its much more demanding than macroalgae.. I think most would agree at 4 wpg (a very loose rule) at the least.
>Sarah
If you're going for simplicity.. not sure the seagrass fits the bill. For substrate, I'm using about 4.5".. and the shoal grass roots go all the way to the bottom of this.. I imagine if it was deeper they'd use all the room they could. In addition to substrate, also consider lighting requirements of the seagrass, its much more demanding than macroalgae.. I think most would agree at 4 wpg (a very loose rule) at the least.
>Sarah
The setup is a 2.5 mini bow with the bottom cut out and a custom acrylic box fitted under it (hidden in the cabinet) to hold a deeper substrate without affecting the water column. In other words I have about 4 to 5 inches of sand, and I can go a bit more if I have to but I really want to keep about 8 inches of water column. The light is a 10 watt so over 2.5 will be about 4 wpg. It all works out in my head, but I was just looking for advice. Thanks again
I'd give the grass at least a week or two to stabilize before adding the dwarfs.. in the beginning you lose most of the leaves that the plant came with from transplant shock. Let me know how it works out. 
