I FOUND STAR GRASS!

[jedimasterben]

Star grass (Halophila engelmannii) is in no way restricted in California, I don't understand what their issue is.

[MeepNand]

Star grass (Halophila engelmannii) is in no way restricted in California, I don't understand what their issue is.

Just an import problem and a destroyed package. Someone got jumpy on the trigger.

[andi.rahl]

Wisconsin here, same issue. lol

well in that case, I'll need to stock up before I move - I'm thinking that I'll be in Minneapolis by Christmas. *fingers crossed*

[Tamberav]

well in that case, I'll need to stock up before I move - I'm thinking that I'll be in Minneapolis by Christmas. *fingers crossed*

 

You're moving to MN? Hope you like the cold

[hypostatic]

Hey how is thegrass growing for you guys? Is the rhizome supposed to grow above or below the substrate? For all the ne growth I've gotten, the rhizomes have stayed above the sand.

[metrokat]

I have 2 leaves left out of the 6+ I ordered. Hope these make it.

[Tamberav]

Mine so far is growing well, it sometimes grows above the sand so then I bury the new growth. I figured it was just doing that because my sand bed is uneven.

[hypostatic]

hmm yeah, my new growth has been totally above the sand. Maybe that's how it grows? or maybe some sneaky hermits are doing sneaky things. SNEAKILY.

[hypostatic]

Sigh, it seems like maintaining these guys is a fine balancing act. When I first planted these guys I was having plenty of fast growth. I also was having a hair algae problem. I've been treating my tank with NO3:PO4-X, which has heped with the hair algae, but the star grass isn;t appreciating the low fert levels too much.

 

So, the good news is that if you can keep hair algae, you can keep star grass haha

[jedimasterben]

Mine that I ordered actually had doubled in size in a little over a week (had twice as many little nodules sticking up), but then I accidentally pulled it up and I'm wondering how it will react. This was with almost all new saltwater, by the way.

[hypostatic]

Here's a closeup of some of mine. All new growth.

[jedimasterben]

NICE!

[Acielot]

They almost look like little palm trees.

[Tamberav]

Those look great! Mine are growing still, not THAT good though. Do you have any other macro with it? I was thinking mine are prob competing and was thinking about putting out the cheato.

Here's a closeup of some of mine. All new growth.

I just received my first order from Florida Pets. I got a little bit of star grass and 40 small clams to feed my puffer and my mantis. The puffer is going nuts. She knows she's supposed to do something with them, but isn't sure what. She keeps gnawing on their shells...which is great because I don't want her teeth to get long, but she hasn't managed to crack one yet. The mantis knocked one all the way across it's tank. Everything arrived alive and in good shape and communication with John at Florida Pets was first rate. Very glad to have found a place that sells these tiny clams. Shipping was pocket change.

 

Wondering how those clams worked for you and if they survived long enough to feed your critters? Was going to order some for my mantis.

[hypostatic]

Ok, so I have a HOB filter that I've sort of converted into a refugium by adding some lights and chaeto to it. I think my system is generally high in phosphates. My NO3/NO2 levels don't seem really high, but I've had some crazy hair algae outbreaks, soooo SOMETHING must be feeding it. As previously stated I was doing some really aggressive carbon dosing, and I feel like the star grass wasn't too happy with low enough levels for the hair algea to be wakened.

 

That being said, I've also fertilized the sand right beneath the star grass. As previously mentioned, I was having a severe hair algae problem. Before resorting to all-out chemical warfare, I decided to try a friendlier biological control with a sea hare that I rented. I should note that sea hares will munch on star grass leaves (and Knopia???). Anyway, of interest to the discussion is the fact that I took some sea hare poo and shoved it under some of the stalks. For discussion's sake I would like to post the picture again:

 

 

So in the middle you'll notice that there are a lot of new stems popping up, but it's a lot less dense to the left or right or that area. Now, I don't really remember where I planted the poo, but it I had to guess, I'd say that was one of the placed that I planted the poop.

 

I particularly liked doing that because I was fertilizing the star grass with dead hair algae

 

I've also been recommended that you could try fertilizing the sand by burrying food pellets under the sea grass

[jedimasterben]

Or pellets of fertilizer, such as Osmocote or commercial root tabs like used in planted tanks.

Also, GENIUS! I'm totally gonna do that today with some osmocote, I think!

[Speaker73]

So...who's going to send some stargrass for me to try in my pico tank? Anyone? Anyone?

[hypostatic]

I would be cautious about using commercial fertilizers tho, for fear that they might be too strong and cause a bloom of something undesireable... Although I haven't tried it personally, so I wouldn't really know

[Tamberav]

Ya I'd be paranoid about root tabs and such. What about the mud stuff they sell? Fiji mud and miracle mud? Anything think that would be good for plants?

[hypostatic]

So I bought the "mineral mud" that florida pets sells. I.... wasn't a big fan of it. It was EXTREMELY fine silt/mud. Adding it to my tank clouded it it hardcore. I had to use paper towel as a filter media because it was so fine that my regular filter media couldn't pick it up

[Tamberav]

So I bought the "mineral mud" that florida pets sells. I.... wasn't a big fan of it. It was EXTREMELY fine silt/mud. Adding it to my tank clouded it it hardcore. I had to use paper towel as a filter media because it was so fine that my regular filter media couldn't pick it up

Thanks! I won't bother. Perhaps its okay if the tank isn't wet yet. Could layer it then add sand over it/plant everything and gently fill with water.

[hypostatic]

Oh, if you're starting from scratch and put some down and THEN layer some sand on top, it would probably be ok. I'd imagine that it woud be great for sea grasses since they have real roots that go down into the substrate and absorb nutrients unlike macro algaes

[gulfsurfer101]

I don't know what the deal is on this stuff being so sought after but I find this stuff free floating in the surf all the time here in the gulf. Any of you west coast folks want some, I'd be happy to trade it off for some zoasor lps frags. I usually find it rolling in with about two or three cluster strands. Just never thought it was that interersting so I never brought any home.

[hypostatic]

Eh, some people just like plants and macros

 

Also, some of us (me) live in temperate wastelands with no interesting flora or fauna, so almost anything is exciting haha

[hypostatic]

some pics!

 

I think something took a chomp out of one of the leaves, and there was a stream of O2 bubbles coming out of the leaf! I don't know why, but that was really cool

 

And one of the stems flowered! Nothing to phone home about, but still cool