Seabass's 17.4 Gallon (taken down)

[acer]

To me, it looks like the grass might be lacking nutrients (slightly reddish color on the new leaves might indicate low chlorophyll production due to lack of nitrogen). I think I might have to start dosing nitrate.

 

low phosphorus or low magnesium - but looking at the leaves, they don't seem slender, so that would take out phosphorus deficiency, but I don't know...

 

low nitrogen makes them go yellow/brown

 

if you can get a closer pic, I can let you know for sure.

[.Newman.]

good lighting will often make some green plants go red in color. idk if it applies to SW, but i dont see why it wouldn't.

[seabass]

good lighting will often make some green plants go red in color. idk if it applies to SW, but i dont see why it wouldn't.

Thanks, I'm just guessing, but I'm not sure that my T5 fixture can supply too much light for seagrass.

 

low phosphorus or low magnesium - but looking at the leaves, they don't seem slender, so that would take out phosphorus deficiency, but I don't know... low nitrogen makes them go yellow/brown

 

if you can get a closer pic, I can let you know for sure.

Thanks for looking, and your comments. Here are a few new pics. Any more thoughts?

 

Root structure:

Notice the growth from the previous picture taken just a couple of days ago.

 

Shot of the grass bed:

 

The Shoal Grass looks really good:

 

Top view of the bed without lights on:

 

Fungia Plate Coral:

 

Rock Flower Anemone:

 

Spaghetti Worm:

 

Strombus Snail:

[pyrocreep]

Lookin' good. How tall to most of these grasses get?

[gutterguy]

Looking great Seabass!!

 

Hows the stand doing. Are noticeing any color change or patina?

[seabass]

Lookin' good. How tall to most of these grasses get?

Thank you. From what I've read, the thin tall Shoal grass (Halodule wrightii) grows to 3" to 14" tall. The shorter Oar grass (Halophila decipiens) stays much shorter (just a few inches tall).

 

Looking great Seabass!! Hows the stand doing. Are noticeing any color change or patina?

Thanks GG! The stand is holding up good. However, if I were to do it again, I might use 3/4" pipe. The 1/2" pipe holds the weight fine, but it sways just a bit when you clean the glass (however, I'm not worried about it at all). You can see the patina on the copper, especially where any saltwater has touched it. I've found that rubbing it down, with vinegar on a towel, evens out the finish again. All in all, I'm happy with the copper stand. Thanks for following along!

[bitts]

come on don't we have this ready for seahorses yet. SLACKER!!!

 

[seabass]

It would make a decent seahorse tank. Hmm.

[acer]

It would make a decent seahorse tank. Hmm.

 

I was going to say add in a pipefish and filefish... but then I realized how big the tank is. XD

 

mmm I'll just give you points from my plant physiology textbook on phos/mag deficiencies...

 

phos- effects are generalized over the whole plant, older leaves end up dying

plant is dark green

-often develops red and purple

-stalks are short and slender

-effects growth in later stages of life

 

mag-- effects are mostly localized, little to no dying of older leaves

-mottled or chlorotic leaves (ummm yellowing/brown), typically reddening

-sometimes with dead spots

-tips and margins turned or cupped upward

-staks are slender

-large or small spots of dead tissue

 

just incase, nitrogen - effects are generalized over the whole plant, older leaves end up dying

-light green

-lower leaves are yellow, eventually turning brown

-stalks are short and slender if it is deficient in later stages of growth

 

all of these affect older growth, if you see it on new growth then it's something else.

 

hope that helps.

[animalmaster6]

Seahorses and pipefish FTW

 

No, you need a sea moth. This tank might now be equite big enough but your seabass, you can pull it off

[RESONANCE]

Really nice tank seabass!

 

some random remarks:

 

It would make a decent seahorse tank. Hmm.

 

until the anemone eats the sea horse lol.

 

Top view of the bed without lights on:

 

 

This was the same density I had my oargrass at when I introduced the cerith snails...then my oar grass began to disappear. Still not sure if it was the snails, nutrients or what.

[spanko]

PIPEFISH FTW! (no horses IMO)

[seabass]

Thanks for the info acer!

 

AM and spanko, maybe I'll save getting a Dragonface Pipefish for a larger tank. This tank is a couple of gallons shy of ten gallons.

 

Thank you RESONANCE! So in the spirit of experimentation, I'm adding my snails tonight... JK

 

Check out the growth tip on the seagrass now (just one day after the last picture):

The existing root has changed its structure and a new one is now forming.

 

Here are a couple shots of the patina on the stand for gutterguy:

 

[Zo0k365]

that stand still scares me every time i look at it.

[seabass]

For the fun of it, I've been dosing extreme amounts of DTs Reef Phytoplankton into my tank. I figure the pods love it and the nutrients in the liquid are probably good for the seagrass. If this was a straight reef tank, I would expect it to be suffering from a massive algae outbreak or a green phyto bloom. The surface of the glass is covered in life. Anyone know what type of worm is highlighted in the upper left?

They move pretty fast and get longer and constrict in a blink.

 

Stometella snail:

Now there are lots of Stometella babies crawling around on the rock.

[Zer0]

Does the worm move like an inch worm?

[seabass]

Not really, maybe I'll see if I can get a video of them. Not sure how successful I will be, they are very small. They are kind of interesting to watch.

[yoshii]

Does the worm have black jaws?

[Zer0]

True. Well then my guesses are out lol. Maybe just chalk it up to extremely micro sea life? lol.

[ajmckay]

Seabass, which patina did you end up using ? Looks fricken' sweet and I really like the progress of the sea grass.

[seabass]

Yoshii, I really can't see any details, I'd need a microscope (which I don't own). That macro shot shows the most detail I've seen. Maybe I'll capture one and try a magnifying glass. That might also help me get a better macro pic. They are about as thick as a hair.

 

 

Thanks AJ! Before I attached the wood, I tried the Palmolive dish soap; however, I don't think it had much affect (maybe I rinsed it off too quickly). Saltwater seems to affect the finish. I have also used vinegar to wipe off any blotches caused by a splash the wasn't wiped up. This seems to clean it up pretty good.

 

So the patina seems to be coming from salt and vinegar. This combination is sometimes used to demonstrate how you can remove the copper oxide from an older penny. It also removes some off the top layer of the copper (which is why you would never use this method to clean a collectable coin). However, the copper which I cleaned seems to have developed a patina, where the leftover copper pipe is still shiny.

[seabass]

Worm video (WMV format):

 

Plus you can see just how much gas the seagrass is releasing.

[Squared]

so did all your redspots die?

[seabass]

Yeah Squared, sorry to say they did. The last remaining one had quite an appetite and I was sure it would be fine. Then one day it stopped eating completely. I believe it was an intestinal parasite.

[Squared]

awwwwwwww poooooo that sucks. are going to try them again? or get something different?