Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[Michael Hoaster]

Thank you, tajaba. I did have ulva in my tank, up high, very close to the light. It likes plenty of nutrients and bright light. It's a shallow water species, so probably in the 5000 - 6500K range. Hope that helps!

[Michael Hoaster]

My manatee grass is getting tall. The longest blade is four feet long!

[Subsea]

I do like the way the manatee grass undulate in gentle currents, erect and graceful in movement.

Have you considered a wave maker/ surge device where there would be gentle flow in both directions?

[Michael Hoaster]

Same here, Subsea. I could watch it for hours. I do!

I do have current in both directions. I have the main pump blowing left to right across the front. I have a tunze classic powerhead hidden inside the fake mangrove root, blowing right to left across the back. This gives me a crude gyre flow.

While I love wave makers, I am going for tidal current characteristics, rather than waves, as the manatee grass prefers strong tidal flow. The seagrasses undulate beautifully in this setup.

[Michael Hoaster]

[sam.basye]

I think you need more gramma's.

Gonna leave the grasses as is or still plan to weed it out a little bit?

[Michael Hoaster]

Seven grammas in one tank is pretty sweet. The harem social structure is working! Six teenage girls, one big daddy.

I think I'm going to remove the turtle grasses.

[Michael Hoaster]

[Michael Hoaster]

Someone asked me what kind of filtration I was using for my aquarium. I told him I don't filter the tank at all.

I have assembled a cast of characters large and small, plant and animal, to maintain a sustainable ecological balance. I just provide food and light and water movement. They do the rest. Feeding the tank generously is actually helpful.

I don't polish the water. I don't mechanically filter. I like my water teaming with specks! So do the plankton pickers and the filter feeders.

By reducing the man made elements to the bare minimum, I allow Mother Nature to step in and take control. I just get cozy on the couch and watch.

[Subsea]

Nature does not waste energy or resources. For ease of operation, nature should be emulated. One's waste is another's food. Using that fact, complex food webs are formed that recycle nutrients into desirable biomass of corals, fish, plants, macros, filter feeders down to the bacteria:
"The Microbial Overlords.

Remember who killed the Martians in the "War of the World". The bacteria did it.

[Michael Hoaster]

Right on, Subsea!

When I think about it, it seems insane that so many of us try to replace natural processes with woefully inadequate gizmos. It's so much easier, if we get out of nature's way to achieve balance, instead of a never-ending battle of fighting against it.

[taricha]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Someone asked me what kind of filtration I was using for my aquarium. I told him I don't filter the tank at all.

I have assembled a cast of characters large and small, plant and animal, to maintain a sustainable ecological balance. I just provide food and light and water movement. They do the rest. Feeding the tank generously is actually helpful.

So you put nutrients in (food)... do you export any?

[Michael Hoaster]

Great question, taricha.

I used to export huge masses of caulerpa. (When I had cyanobacteria, huge masses of that. The same with hair algae) I also did weekly water changes during the "algae phase". So there was a lot of exporting going on earlier in my tank's life.

My tank has matured and things are a bit different now, with the above mentioned cast of characters consuming most of the food input.

So, much of the input is now going into biological storage (in the animal and plant mass). Technically this is not export, but it does remove the nutrient input from the bulk water. Water changes are now done every month or two, both for export and replenishment of nutrients and trace elements that get consumed.

Many "high-tech reefers" go to great efforts to sanitize their tank water to the point that it's invisible. It looks great but it doesn't support much life at the bottom of the food chain. By exporting less, I encourage the growth of the organisms that consume nutrient inputs.

[Subsea]

Well put Michael. It is your philosophy to emulate nature, as your signature states.

Your statement about transfer into biological storage reflect another purpose for a refugium. When working away from home on a 28 day on and 28 day off schedule, my refugium biological storage would increase when I was home and heavy feeding my tank. When away, I added no supplemental food with a decrease in storage biomass.

[Michael Hoaster]

Taricha, I failed to mention specifically the Atlantic Blue Tang's part in all this. He is but one character in a large cast, but he is the King. Zippy, as I call him, has been consuming macro algae at a rate that will exceed their growth rate at some point, if it hasn't already. If he wasn't in there, I'd still be exporting via macro pruning. So, I replaced myself with a fish.

[taricha]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Taricha, I failed to mention specifically the Atlantic Blue Tang's part in all this. If he wasn't in there, I'd still be exporting via macro pruning. So, I replaced myself with a fish.

Thanks. Been following the thread for a little bit, so I suspected what your answer was. I guess my real curiosity is the follow-up question: what do you expect to see that will let you know to start exporting again?
The fact that your tank is part jungle means that there is a real productive place for a huge mass of nutrients to go, so I guess you won't export much while your tang eats faster than macro grows?

[Subsea]

The balancing act between too crowded and too sparse is a combination of Art & TLC.

I surely like the "little people" at the bottom of the food chain with their colorful fans and feathers. You know you are hooked in this hobby, when way before dawn, while drinking the first cup of coffee, you are gazing in your tank as it switches from night light to daytime. Some stuff goes to bed and some comes out with lights on.

[Michael Hoaster]

Another good question!

Well, if the tang died, I'd be back on caulerpa export duty. If micro algae or cyanobacteria came back, I'd export that. I actually have hundreds of tiny to medium sized snails reproducing and consuming micro algae now, so that seems unlikely. If detritus started accumulating, I'd probably export that with water changes. But it hasn't yet, with my detrivore community doing its thing.

Another question that I thought of is; what happens when/if the tang eats all of the caulerpa?

I was hoping to reach a tang/caulerpa equilibrium, where consumption and growth balance out. That's seeming less and less likely. On the upside, more of the nutrients I'm dosing go right to the seagrasses. On the downside, I don't have the option of an easily exportable macro. Hopefully, at some point the seagrasses will multiply to the point of overcrowding, so then they could be exported.

The day that I have to simulate a manatee grazing event, will be a very happy day!

[sam.basye]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

So, I replaced myself with a fish.

If only We could replace You with a fish ;P


Is it possible to have an obese fish? Or will your tang have the self control to know when to stop eating when it's full, unlike a horse or cow.

[Michael Hoaster]

I had an obese Kole Tang once. But I think it was a tumor. It eventually died. I've seen other koles with the same problem.

Zippy seems to have control. He's definitely fat, but not "average american" fat. He feeds on and off throughout the day, then, when the ambient light goes down, he spends the last hour of 'tank daylight' chasing his reflection. So he gets a nice workout in before bedtime, to burn those carbs.

I was watching him last night, and I think I saw a very slight blue tinge on his gill covers. They grow up so fast…

[Michael Hoaster]

I sorta kinda committed to removing the turtle grass in 4 - 6 weeks. Should be enough time to get myself psyched up to do it!

I'm not going to pull them until I know I can get hold of of plenty of manatee grass to replace it, which should be available in 4 - 6 weeks, from FloridaPets.com. They have a great selection of seagrasses and macros, and three different kinds of live substrate!

I'm very excited about this change! I know I'm going to love seeing just manatee grass, rather than a mixer of species. Plus the MG grows much taller than the TG. My tank is 30 inches tall, so taller grasses = better.

[saltwater sam]

I'm excited! Your MG is awesome, having a full patch of that will look great.

[Michael Hoaster]

Anyone out there dosing iodine?

My grasilaria hayi is losing color and some leaves. Iron doesn't seem to help. I haven't done a water change in a while, and I'm thinking iodine may be depleted. I may do one this weekend to see if it helps, but I imagine it gets depleted pretty quickly in my tank.

I just ordered some iodine and iron from MarineDepot.com. Shipping was only $4.99.

Any experiences shared with iodine usage would be appreciated.

[cksss]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Anyone out there dosing iodine?

My grasilaria hayi is losing color and some leaves. Iron doesn't seem to help. I haven't done a water change in a while, and I'm thinking iodine may be depleted. I may do one this weekend to see if it helps, but I imagine it gets depleted pretty quickly in my tank.

I just ordered some iodine and iron from MarineDepot.com. Shipping was only $4.99.

Any experiences shared with iodine usage would be appreciated.

Hi Michael, ive been dosing Iodine & Magnesium on-top of KNO3 and Iron and i have not been doing water change for nearly half a year neither
The blue ochtodes and grasilaria hayi seems happier when i started doing Iodine & Magnesium

Great FTS btw! I wish i've the skill to build an artificial mangrove root as well

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks for the info, cksss. Good to know. I think tanks with heavy macro growth and fewer water changes may benefit from iodine.

I just read an article by Farley, and he is skeptical on the need for it, but did say some macros need it more than others. This makes sense, as my caulerpa peltata is doing fine. With my tang consuming just about everything but grasilaria hayi, I'd like to keep it alive, since it may well be the only one left at some point.

Thanks for the FTS compliment! In my opinion, among us plant guys, yours is the best FTS out there! I do have a build thread for the fake root. It's not that hard, especially if you don't need to fit a power head inside it.