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I'm considering adding some macro algae & seal grass to my tank, mainly for display but also could stick some in the refugium with my ball of chaeto to help with nutrient export. For display sea grasses, algaes, what kinds do people like in tanks that don't get devored by tangs?

My idea is to have an area of the sand sectioned off from the rest of the tank using acrylic walls. This seagrass section would be around 16" x 6" footprint, sand depth is about 4". I'm not sure if acrylic walls in the sand are needed to keep it from taking over, I guess it depends on what type I put in there. I'd have the algae in the back of the tank with the goal of it growing pretty tall to 10" or more and kind of be a forest covering the back wall. Like a mini version of the kelp forest at Monteray bay aquarium. I f anyone has any links, resources, or recommendations with display algaes , please share.
 
I'm not familiar with seal grass? Was that a typo or is there a seal grass?

edit: never mind, googled it and given how many of the below popped up, I'm taking it as there is no seal grass :lol:

2.1251857901.sleeping-seal-on-the-grass.jpg
 
FWIW Matt Wandell is the perfect person to PM about this, or Sam Tran.
 
There are so many grasses I was curious if there was one... lots and lots of picture with seals on grass, guess people love to take those pictures :lol:

Sam + bluenassarius FWIW
 
Lots of seagrasses available from www.reefcleaners.org
I have an order pending through www.live-plants.com so I can let you know how that goes too. They have great prices. Both collect their seagrass from the Atlantic, and they specifically can only collect stuff that's free floating after being kicked up by boat traffic. They can't go yank it out of the ground. So, in a sense, this stuff is very ecologically "okay" to buy because the damage has been done and it'd be dead in a few weeks anyway.

Halophila ovalis is THE species to start with in a new sand bed. It's a colonizing species so will do really well in the relatively clean sand that you'll have. I'd wait a year before adding other species. From there you can go with Syringodium, Thalassia, Enhalus, Halodule, etc. These seagrasses are successional species and rely on an "aged" substrate with lots of organic matter from the decomposed remains of previous colonizing species. Succession is already familiar to us with algae--new substrate gets diatoms growing on it first, then green algae, then coralline, then cyano if you're not careful.

Here is a photo of Halophila ovalis. It's very delicate with thin roots but will grow nearly as fast as Caulerpa once it gets going.
a3780_lg.jpg


I think the websites have good info on water flow and light but generally moderate flow and the brighter the light the better are ideal for all seagrasses.

As far as water quality goes you may consider dosing iron, manganese, and potassium. Sam may have some better info on that, he is a real seagrass "whiz".

HTH
 
Bill let us know what you find. I was thinking the exact same sand on the end set up, but use rock and epoxy to build a quasi natural barrier to hold the sand.
 
GreshamH said:
Hey Matt, what about this question..

what kinds do people like in tanks that don't get devoured by tangs?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

In a small tank, I can't really say. I don't know how they'll behave without lots of other rock to graze on. Many tangs and rabbits will certainly devour Halophila--it's feathery and delicate. The other thicker and sturdier seagrasses may be okay, but I can't guarantee that.

I think a better question might be "what herbivores are best for a seagrass tank?", and to that I'd say Ctenochaetus spp. bristletooths and any herbivorous blenny. Lots of small Ecsenius spp. like the bicolor blenny will work great.
 
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