An experiment with star grass

[Lypto]

Hello folks, 

I've been gone quite a while after moving across the country. 

And now I have access to a whole new section of saline interests! I found a small clump of star grass, washed up and out of the water in something of a roughed up state. I thought it'd be worth a shot to stick it in a vase with some dry aragonite sand and aquascaping soil and see what happens. I've read that rates are low for washed up species. 

Here's a basic log of what happens, I don't expect success, only data. 

 

[seabass]

You will have to make sure that your tank water has plenty of nutrients.  I'd probably shoot for at least 0.10ppm of phosphate and maybe 10ppm of nitrate (there are a few others like iron, iodide, etc).  Dosing will be critical for success.

[Lypto]

the substrate is fluval nutrient enhanced aquascaping soil under aragonite, evidently it's too rich for Halophila ovalis according to some research, I used river mud for the previous seagrass system I ran and they appreciated it but they were west coast zostera species so I'm not sure. 

[Lypto]

some parts are dying back, new shoots coming out. 

 

the leaves seem to have trichomes, which is neat!

 

[Lypto]

New Image dump, shoots are growing under the sand and it appears to be taking off. I'd like to get the leaves a bit darker and more fleshed out so I may experiment with freshwater planted tank fertilizers or f/2 medium mix. I'll avoid copper for now. 

[Lypto]

Once I have some healthy shoots to spare I'll begin my tissue culture experiments. I'd love to see macroalgae and seagrasses as common as freshwater aquascaping plants, as it'd really help prevent pests and keep them in the hobby without the boom bust cycle that seems to happen. 

I found a paper detailing a culture method that's very neat, an Agar and charcoal layer and an f/2 liquid seawater upper layer. The explants were taken from seed though so I need to see if leaves or rhizomes be sterilized in a bleach solution and it do alright without its endo and exo symbionts. the fungal associations must be crazy.  

 

Co2 injection and truly marine planted tank anyone lol? 

[TheCoffeeReef]

This will be cool to see what your experiment brings.

 

I come from a plant biology background, and wondered what examples of halophyte mycorrhizae you've seen or heard with the star grass? 

 

I'm just getting into freshwater planted aquaria, and the idea of a cross over of the concepts could be otherworldly.

[Lypto]

the star grass and manatee grass(?) seems to be doing well, I'm not a fan of how pale the leaves are, and put half an API root tab into the sand. I'm still unsure of how much light to give them as they're reported to be both a shallow water and deep water species. still, they have very rapid growth and it's enormous fun watching them grow. 

[TheCoffeeReef]

This is looking really beautiful, the prospect of seeing these fill in the space and possibly an invert or two (could see pendersons shrimp here or similar) and you would be confusing many as to if its freshwater or salt.

 

I suspect nutrients will be more critical than higher light levels for them, imagine it will be similar to growing algae, and that could be a thought to try and approach it like a refugium is for lighting.

[Lypto]

I think I may have Halodule Wrightii actually. 

 

[Lypto]

New update, we have Cyano! yippie! I was worried it'd be dinos so this is better. 

Here's some pics. It's growing wonderfully! lots of runners. 

debating chemiclean, just siphoning it, fiddling with nutrient levels etc. I love seeing the runners starting to go inwards and around the side. 

[TheCoffeeReef]

Syphon, nutrients and repeat- just been through a cycle in pico jar of cyano, and that's knocked it back 👌

 

Looking great as it grows in 🙂

[Lypto]

update, the grass was staying very small, until I left the light off and it only got it from the neighboring gecko tank. The new shoots were maybe 2x the size and much greener, I think I have been blasting them with too much light. 

[Lypto]

Stargrass still going shockingly, seemed to actually enjoy the pump being off

 

[sapling]

On 12/9/2024 at 4:28 PM, Lypto said:

update, the grass was staying very small, until I left the light off and it only got it from the neighboring gecko tank. The new shoots were maybe 2x the size and much greener, I think I have been blasting them with too much light. 

cool pics so far. just a guess, but maybe its a similar growth pattern that some freshwater plants have, will generally grow out shorter in response to stronger light. do you have a current pic? 

 

[Lypto]

I have moved homes, and sadly it all turned brown and died off. however, I am hoping to set up a better system soon and acquire more species of seagrass once everything is settled. I think you're right.

 

[TheCoffeeReef]

Glad to hear you want to try this again- it’s been fun watching such a unique salty tank and you’ll have learned much to improve the setup.