jeremai Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 Jeremai....A 5g hex?would that have enough height for the grasses w/ a DSB? Im kinda sketched out on using my cube with 16inches height? The tank is going to be predominately Halophila, maybe some tallish macros... so the height isn't much of an issue for me. Since the shorter star grasses don't need as deep a sand bed, I can vary it between 3 and 4 inches - that gives me 9 to 10 inches to the top of the tank. I want to try my hand at this kind of biotope without having to invest in any new equipment - if it's successful, maybe I'll move to a taller tank for shoal grass and whatnot down the road. Link to comment
clifford513 Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 Someone will end up buying or building a taller tank Those things look so cool, it's inevitable. Link to comment
Fishfreak218 Posted May 27, 2006 Share Posted May 27, 2006 The tank is going to be predominately Halophila, maybe some tallish macros... so the height isn't much of an issue for me. Since the shorter star grasses don't need as deep a sand bed, I can vary it between 3 and 4 inches - that gives me 9 to 10 inches to the top of the tank. I want to try my hand at this kind of biotope without having to invest in any new equipment - if it's successful, maybe I'll move to a taller tank for shoal grass and whatnot down the road. you can keep Shaol grass with a 4.5" sandbed (according to Samala).. i'll be keeping Halophila and Shoal Grass.. Soft corals (gorgonians, Toadstool leather, xenia, shrooms) but the plan isnt for a ton of bright colors.. all tan corals.. besides the bright yellow gorg and the orange sea fan.. with the green seagrass and amcroalge and then the red macro..and hopefullly i can get some brown Macroalgea like sargassum or something.... and the (hopefully yellow) H. Barbouri (maybe h. reidi instead).... a trio of threadfin cardinalfish, and a Pistol Shrimp with Goby.... it should look nice.. i have a tank im modeling it hafter.. i'll see if i can find a link no eels for me..this tank is for Seahorses and is designed around them.... Link to comment
clifford513 Posted May 27, 2006 Share Posted May 27, 2006 Sounds nice, FF. Would really like the link. Link to comment
Fishfreak218 Posted May 27, 2006 Share Posted May 27, 2006 here is where i got the look from: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...active%26sa%3DN look through this site.. some really nice pics and vids Link to comment
clifford513 Posted May 27, 2006 Share Posted May 27, 2006 Sweet tank. Are those chromis? Link to comment
Fishfreak218 Posted May 27, 2006 Share Posted May 27, 2006 ya (i wont be getting chromis..to active for SH's IMO) Link to comment
jeremai Posted May 27, 2006 Share Posted May 27, 2006 you can keep Shaol grass with a 4.5" sandbed (according to Samala).. I know. Still won't be enough water up top, though. Link to comment
skylsdale Posted May 27, 2006 Share Posted May 27, 2006 There have been a lot of discussions about this here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdis...?s=&forumid=176 I remember reading quite a few discussions about this sort of thing by Eric Borneman as well. The hard part with seagrasses is that they are a more evolved form of plant from algae, so their requirements are a bit different. I haven't been in on the seagrass discussion in a while, but last time I was, there were difficulties in maintaining them longterm...and part of it had to do with certain minerals or elements that they weren't getting in captivity, and crashes were occuring. You might look into that a bit more. Link to comment
deacon hemp Posted May 28, 2006 Author Share Posted May 28, 2006 That tank rocks FF! Good link,thanks for sharing. Link to comment
skylsdale Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 The latest issue of Coral magazine focuses on seagrass tanks...you might want to check it out. Link to comment
deacon hemp Posted May 28, 2006 Author Share Posted May 28, 2006 Thanks skylsdale i'll have to pick that up.Heres sarahs (samalas) article on grasses for reefkeeping magazine. http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-04/sl/index.php Link to comment
jeremai Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Bump, for information's sake. Anyone else have anything to add? I'm sure deacon is still digging for links. Link to comment
skylsdale Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 I've got a 5 gal bucket down in my basement. It is full of nice silty muck from an eelgrass bed in nearby Puget Sound. I was getting ready to set up a naturally lit mangrove tank a couple years ago and was going to use it in there...but that plan fell by the wayside. The bucket has been kept sealed and remained unopened in the basement ever since. I have no idea how STANK it probably is by now, but I'm sure it is packed full of nutrients and decaying matter. You're more than welcome to it...although I figure shipping prices would be absurd (unless you just wanted some smaller amounts of it to 'seed' the substrate with nutrients). Link to comment
deacon hemp Posted June 5, 2006 Author Share Posted June 5, 2006 Thanks for the bump guys,skylsdale im all good i have the substrate covered.I went with white/pinkish argonite,with the bottom layer mixed with miracle mud.I havent put it together yet tho,pics will be soon i hope. Link to comment
Samala Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Ooh eelgrass mud! One of the guys on RC has had a lot of luck with that as a base to his seagrass tank, which is now over two years old. It might not stink that much though.. I find that the fresher the mud the more it stinks, those hydrogen sulfide producing microbes die off after a week or two without fresh water. At least thats the case with the 'mud' I collect, which tends to be really diverse for microbes and stinky from their exhalations.. rather than from actual decaying organic matter. That ReefKeeping article has the exact ratios, but some of the substrate seagrass roots into in the wild isnt really full of organic's decaying, just lots of microbes and its nice and soft to root into. Other places are truly high organic. Its amazing how variable the quality of substrate can be and seagrass will still grow. I liked mineral mud a good deal, though I dont know if it did a whole lot nutritionaly for the grasses. It was at least soft and easy to root into. I hope this isnt too bold of me, but for information's sake there is also an article on Halophila on Conscientious Aquarist online magazine right now: http://wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/cav3i3/.../seagrasses.htm . I hardly ever post here (edit: today's my three year anniversary, and looky just nine posts!) but thought I might be useful for some links. Happy gardening! >Sarah Link to comment
jeremai Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 So, it's been a couple months... any progress from anyone? I'm almost ready to add grasses to my 40, and I'm thinking of doing a seagrass nano for the (eventual) contest, so I thought I'd get this thread moving again... Besides, Samala is nice, we want her to come back a lot. Link to comment
fewskillz Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 I've been inspired, thanks guys...all I need is more inspiration. I love this look: Link to comment
fewskillz Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Hehe, have a link? the article by Sarah that Deacon posted http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-04/sl/index.php Link to comment
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