Seagrass

[seabass]

Here is one of Sarah's inspiring seagrass tanks:

[RESONANCE]

Hey Seabass,

 

Thanks for the reply, but your second quote/ link takes us to a disease site for elegance corals.

 

 

 

Here is one of Sarah's inspiring seagrass tanks:

 

That's nice looking, but she only uses a thin layer of sand? Possibly she's able to do it with shore grass. Nice star grass too. Need to get star grass sometime this year... here's to hoping some people I know takes a trip to Florida in time for sea grasses .

Edited March 16, 2011 by RESONANCE

[seabass]

Thanks for the reply, but your second quote/ link takes us to a disease site for elegance corals.

Yeah, I know it's a crappy link for this subject. It's just the source of the quote (which is buried in there pretty deep, if you look for it).

 

That's nice looking, but she only uses a thin layer of sand? Possibly she's able to do it with shore grass. Nice star grass too. Need to get star grass sometime this year... here's to hoping some people I know takes a trip to Florida in time for sea grasses .

Star grass (like oar grass) only requires something like a 3" bed. Plus, I think that bed was deeper toward the back. I found that pic again when I was looking for her blog about setting up that tank (and mentioned use of fertilizer tabs), but those entries are no longer available on her site.

[seabass]

Better shot of the gas trails from my seagrass:

[jeremai]

neat.

[animalmaster6]

Here is one of Sarah's inspiring seagrass tanks:

 

Amazing!

 

There was a pic on Reef-Solutions of an absolutely amazing seagrass tank with a Cherub Angel.

I miss Reef-Solutions

[bitts]

Better shot of the gas trails from my seagrass:

That is simply fantastic!!!

[Amphiprion1]

Hi peeps,

 

Just wondering if anyone has tried using freshwater root tab fertilizers (like seachem flourish tabs) with sea grasses? Do you think it would help? Btw, flourish tabs aren't supposed to 'melt' when exposed to water. Thanks.

 

I have, actually. My only recommendation is to be careful. When I added some to my tank, the root structures of the grasses prevented the sand from filling in completely over the tabs. As a result, the tabs were exposed to the water column. Small nightmare and cloudy water + algae for about a month or so. If you decide to add them (not completely necessary, IME), then use small amounts of them (like break up a single tab and distribute it) spaced across the bed. Luckily, nothing died from the overload.

[RESONANCE]

I have, actually. My only recommendation is to be careful.

 

Did you notice any better or faster growth? Thanks.

Edited March 19, 2011 by RESONANCE

[Amphiprion1]

Did you notice any better or faster growth? Thanks.

 

No, not to any real extent. Even if it had increased it very slightly, it wasn't worth the potential risks nor the work involved. I still stick to my usual recommendations, which include good feeding and the occasional addition of potassium nitrate to balance levels out. Oh, and the occasional addition of iron seems to help in some circumstances.

[RESONANCE]

Hmmm... well last night (before I read your post) I just added 1/2 tab of a pond/ waterlily fertilizer and placed it beneath the roots of what I think is Halodule uninervis (its a small plant right now). So I guess I'll find out first hand. Hopefully my results will be better than yours (no offense) and I'll be able to accelerate it's propagation.

 

 

Just a slight clarification; I believe the sea grass I have is Halodule uninervis because:

1) It looks like it from visual and written description

2) I found it as an intertwined hitch hiker amongst a zoa colony from Indonesia

Edited March 19, 2011 by RESONANCE

[RESONANCE]

Just found this really cool Australian sea grass site. The link below helps you I.D. sea grasses relatively fast with very good scientific drawings and pictures as well:

 

http://www.seagrasswatch.org/id_seagrass.html

 

 

My contribution to the sea grass info pool here .

[Amphiprion1]

Hmmm... well last night (before I read your post) I just added 1/2 tab of a pond/ waterlily fertilizer and placed it beneath the roots of what I think is Halodule uninervis (its a small plant right now). So I guess I'll find out first hand. Hopefully my results will be better than yours (no offense) and I'll be able to accelerate it's propagation.

 

 

Just a slight clarification; I believe the sea grass I have is Halodule uninervis because:

1) It looks like it from visual and written description

2) I found it as an intertwined hitch hiker amongst a zoa colony from Indonesia

 

Maybe it will. It really depends upon whether or not something is actually limiting. In my circumstances, I don't think that was an issue. Temp, light, carbon availability, N, P, K, and Fe were all accounted for to the best of my knowledge and testing prior to using the tabs.

[RESONANCE]

Mineral mud or Miracle mud?

 

I'm hoping sometime this spring or summer to get some more sea grasses and start seriously cultivating them. Starting to think about taking out 2 inches of oolithic sand and replacing it with mud. So basically I'm hoping to have 2 inches mud covered by 3 to 4 inches of oolithic sand. But which one? There's so much cynicism out there written about both that I'm not sure which to buy! I was initially thinking of miracle mud but I recently read that it's made of 60% MINED (from terrestrial sources) quartz! Geez that really doesn't sound too much like 'natural' sea bed material that they claimed.

 

Anyhow, just wondering if anyone would have experience growing sea grasses in any of the so-called mud products being sold.

 

It'd be great if someone like John from reefcleaners chimmed in (hint, hint).

 

Thanks in advanced!

Edited March 25, 2011 by RESONANCE

[seabass]

Mineral mud or Miracle mud?

Good subject, I hope others chime in too.

 

I've used Mineral Mud before, but wouldn't recommend it for seagrass. I'm currently using Fiji Mud. I'm having better luck this time around (although I've made a lot of other changes besides the type of mud). FWIW, I'm more impressed with the Fiji Mud.

Edited March 25, 2011 by seabass

[RESONANCE]

Do you notice faster growth rates in seagrasses and macros with fijimud? Why are you more impressed with it?

 

Edit: I forgot to ask, with Fijimud, did you find the product was dry, wet or damp? On Fosters and Smith's website, it shows the 12lbs can was filled with 'wet' mud while the 24 oz can of mud looked 'damp'.

 

Thanks.

Edited March 25, 2011 by RESONANCE

[seabass]

It's so hard to say without a controlled experiment. There are just so many factors that could come into play. I mixed in a couple of the smaller jars into the substrate.

It was like modeling clay (I guess 'damp' but not wet).

 

When I used Mineral Mud, I wondered if it would do anything (still kind of feel that way).

[johnmaloney]

the nicest seagrass beds in the wild have algal based aragonite halimeda hash sand that is fairly coarse (loose would be a good term for it) for the first 8 inches or so....one day i will get you all pictures, but I know some of these places where 4 foot turtles grass blades are common, manatee grasses there are also much larger than you would expect. dont care what they say max size is, (unless it is over 4 feet lol), it can get that big. Oar grass and other halophila seagrass arent that way though...they tend to prefer fine packed muds that offer good root stability. Although even there they will not reach down into anoxic areas, so finding the right mix between too fine and too coarse is the thing to do for them. Shoal grass is somewhere in the middle and all over the place really, that stuff will grow anywhere i think on the fringes of manatee and turtle grass.

[seabass]

Oar grass (Halophila decipiens) roots:

[Builder Anthony]

I like the way that looks mixed in the sand.A good way to start a tank i souppose.Have you noticed anything eating the oargrass?

[seabass]

Have you noticed anything eating the oargrass?

Nothing in my tank. However, I've read that urchins, angelfish, rabbitfish, plus some other fish and inverts can make a meal out of seagrass.

[keydiver]

Nothing in my tank. However, I've read that urchins, angelfish, rabbitfish, plus some other fish and inverts can make a meal out of seagrass.

 

This thread is AWESOME.

 

Bitts I'm about to start the intimidatingly long article.

 

Great reads so far, maybe i'll try some seagrass once I get my new macro tank set up

[seabass]

Check out how the root has changed in just one day since the last picture. The structure of the first root has changed and it seems to be developing a new one.

[Builder Anthony]

Kind of like bubble caulerprea.Stuff like that is so good to clean the water.This may be a odd question but does the water smell good in there?Or .........umm whats it smell like since that stuff is bubbling of oxygen.I smell my tank and filters every so often and if it smells sweet it is uasually running good.

[Amphiprion1]

I can't speak for all systems, but my seagrass setup smells like fresh soil--for lack of a better way to describe the smell. It is pleasant to me, at least.