Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[Michael Hoaster]

Thank you Dxpert!

[zachxlutz]

Check this site out, the guy has a calculator for everything. I hope this links to the right one.

https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/...etSalinity.php

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks zachxlutz. I tried it out. Too late in the game to help me, but maybe this could help others. If I ever need to do this again, I will definitely use it.

[Michael Hoaster]

Quick update on the hypo display treatment:

I still have to do one more (please!) water change to get to 1.009sg, but I'm very close.

On the bright side, the caulerpa racemosa is vanishing! I suspect it will be completely gone in less than a week. I have suspended dosing, as the caulerpa is doing it for me. Today I remembered that I had put a little of it in the qt. So, I ripped it out as best I could. Any remaining traces on rocks will be put into the display for eradication.

The grammas, of course, are still doing well, with only a few scratches here and there. Once I get salinity down to hypo levels, I will keep it that way for at least a month, maybe two. I'll base it on the health of the manatee grass to some extent.

[Michael Hoaster]

I'm there! I finally got my tank down to 1.009 sg. with another freshwater change this morning. I'll keep it this way for at least a month, to make sure to eradicate ICH-maybe until the end of march. I'm in no rush. I'll just keep an eye on my manatee grass, to make sure it comes through OK.

Sorry I haven't posted any pics lately. The tank's not very pretty and I'm so vain…

[Michael Hoaster]

It's pretty bizarre, seeing the caulerpa disappear. One thing that occurred to me is that all the nutrients bound up in the plant's tissue is being released into the tank. At first I thought no biggie, the other plants will take it up. But with the hypo salinity, they may not. So, I may get a micro algae bloom. It may have been good that it took multiple water changes, which should have exported some of those released nutrients.

It will be interesting to see if the caulerpa really does get eradicated. Seeing as how it disappeared for two months, and then came back on its own before, I have some doubts. With at least a month of hypo treatment to come, that may be enough to really get rid of it. We shall see.

The hypnea pannosa looks to be dying off too. Everything else looks good so far. I left a lot of snails. They all seem okay too.

I wonder what my tank will look like at the end of the treatment. Probably rather bare. I think I'll lose much more than I have so far, in this very early phase. I just hope the research I read is correct, that manatee grass can survive hypo events. If I lose every plant but the manatee grass, I can live with that. It would give me the chance to decide what I do and don't want, going forward.

[Chasmodes]

Yes, that's very interesting to me, especially since my oyster reef tank will be between 1.010 to 1.015 sg. to start. Once I catch everything there is to catch to stock the tank that is local to me, then I'll increase my specific gravity to 1.023. That way, if I collect further South toward the mouth of the bay, I have a better chance to catch a few exotic strays like spotfin butterflyfish, or perhaps get more inverts or macroalgae that don't live well up my way. That is way down the road though.

My plan for my tank is to go as natural as possible, including the use of macros. So, I'm glued to your thread, and the macro board as well. There is so much good info here and experience.

Oh, that calculator is cool!

[Michael Hoaster]

Cool strategy, Chasmodes, starting at one salinity then increasing it to accommodate 'saltier' species. I suppose you could average salinities once you have all the players in place.

It is kind of interesting. Forcing a 'hypo event' on my display kind of simulates seasonal changes that happen in inshore lagoons. Different plants come and go with seasonal changes in salinity, nutrient levels, etc. It will be interesting to see what plants flourish in the vacuum of the rapidly departing caulerpa.

[Michael Hoaster]

2/12/17 FTS



I pruned the seagrass today, removing encrusted blades. Simulated manatee grazing event.



Also notice the back wall is nearly bare. Hypo salinity defeats caulerpa race mosa? We shall see…



The gramas still look great. The tree grasilaria, not so much. Also, I'm seeing sponge recession.


This hypo treatment is going to be rough on my little ecosystem. But I believe it can rebound, as in nature.

[Chasmodes]

Looking good. Yeah, it will rebound. The manatee grass looks great! Did the grammas stop scratching?

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks, Chasmodes.

The manatee grass did not look so great before I pruned it. All of the taller blades were encrusted with a reddish brown coating of what I guess was cyano bacteria. I took my scissors and carefully snipped each individual blade, like a good, obsessive-compulsive aquarist does. This left me with nice, green grass, that I was happy to photograph and share. I've done this before and it seemed to go well. The grasses regain their height pretty quickly. I think it is part of their genetic makeup to grow back vigorously after being grazed upon.

I've tried scraping the blades with my fingernails before. That resulted in them dying, so I decided I may as well snip and export.

This is a tricky situation, I find myself in. The caulerpa has disintegrated, dumping all absorbed nutrients into the water column. I'm sure all the hypo water changes helped, but how much? And with almost all the remaining plants feeling the stress of hypo, how well will they take up access nutrients? Hopefully some will adapt and grow. If not, I may be in for an algae bloom.

Dosing is still suspended, while I watch and wait. I am however, still injecting CO2. By preventing carbon limitation, I hope the remaining plants are able to soak up whatever is still available. In nature, as well as in most aquariums, carbon is the limiting nutrient for plants. Their growth, and ability to take up all other nutrients is limited by the often scarce availability of carbon. By providing CO2, I prevent this limitation, so hopefully remaining plants can still 'perform'.

I haven't seen a gramma scratch in around a week or so. That is a good sign, but grammas are pretty ICH resistant. So, no matter how good they look, time will be the determining factor on treatment duration.

[zachxlutz]

I always enjoy your updates. Sounds like things are continuing to go well for the tank. Hows the weather? Have you been mountain biking yet? We're getting some warm days here and there in Georgia.

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks zackxlutz. I wish I was as optimistic about my tank as you! I'm very worried I'll get an algae bloom, as more plants die off. As it stands now, I think the seagrasses and the red macros will survive the hypo treatment. Everything else is on a downward slide.

The weather here in Boulder has been eerily warm. I'm staying off the bike for now. It looks like winter will taper off early this year, but we always get some spring dumps. I'm still getting my suffer on with skate technique cross country skiing. It's such a great workout, when I get back on the bike, it's easier!

There's definitely been an uptick of roadies around here, but I don't see as many pros about as I do in the summer. Better training weather elsewhere, plus a lot of them are racing already.

[Michael Hoaster]

The remaining aiptasia anemones look stressed. They look like they're hunkering down to 'weather the storm'. I haven't seen any berghia nudibranchs lately, so I don't know if they are tolerating the hypo salinity. It sure would be nice if the aiptasias all died.

I've got some chaeto in the display that I've been trying to get rid of. Now I'm leaving it in, so it can soak up nutrients. I can't be picky about plants right now. I need them all to keep growing and consuming whatever is left from the caulerpa disintegration.

I'm still worried I'll get an algae bloom. Maybe another water change is in order…

[Chasmodes]

Sounds like your plan is working...

Just curious, what do you have in your QT again?

[Michael Hoaster]

I'm crossing my fingers, Chasmodes! Disaster is a real possibility.

I put all ten pounds of live rock in QT, along with all loose sponges, the barnacle shell cluster, some macro frags, the condylactis anemone, two gorgonians, a bunch of snails and the fighting conch. I already had five mollies in there from earlier hypo treatment. Now there are rather a lot of molly babies as well. Their population seems to be shrinking. Maybe some have gotten too close to the anemone.

[Chasmodes]

Now they put out a bunch of babies...go figure...

[Chasmodes]

It seems to me that you have enough in your QT to bring the tank back with maybe a couple purchases too. But as long as you keep and eye on the grass and the grammas, the rest probably doesn't matter too much. If things go sour, you can always reverse the trend and start slowly increasing the salinity, or water changes. I think your plan is pretty solid.

I was thinking that ulva might be a good temporary solution because it seems to do OK in brackish water, but it might rob your grasses of nutrients when they need them the most.

[Michael Hoaster]

Yeah, now that I don't need them!

That was the 'ark' concept of QT-to keep a few frags to reseed the display. My biggest concern now is an algae bloom. Reversing the trend and increasing salinity before at least a month's time is not an option I'd want to consider. Hmm…algae bloom v ICH.

Thanks for the ulva suggestion! That could be a good idea if it looks like I'll need more plants growing. I'm still watching and thinking. I kind of doubt the grasses will grow much during hypo treatment, though the shoal grass is looking pretty good. I think they will just hang in there until it's over. What would really make me worry less, would be for ANY plant I have to 'take off' and soak up nutrients left by the dying ones. If none of them do, ulva may be the solution.

I wonder how well ulva would do. It did well for me, way back at the beginning of this tank. But that was at 26ppt. Now I'm at 13ppt. I might also consider hard water fresh water plants, like vallisneria.

[Chasmodes]

Check this link out, in particular the medium salinity grasses...I think that I saw widgeon grass for sale somewhere...???

http://www.chesapeakebay.net/fieldgu...ay_grasses_sav

It could do well during your treatment, and then when you increase salinity again, it can die off giving nutrients to your QT re-transplants.

[Michael Hoaster]

Widgeon grass looks like a good possibility. I haven't seen it for sale, but I'll have a look, thanks!

[Chasmodes]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Widgeon grass looks like a good possibility. I haven't seen it for sale, but I'll have a look, thanks!

I don't see anyone selling it right now Six months ago, I found it.

[Michael Hoaster]

Yeah, I couldn't find it either. There are other brackish plants to consider.

[Chasmodes]

Another option might be an ATS if algae gets crazy, if you have all of the parts and equipment handy, would be cheaper than having to order and wait for something.

[SantaMonica]

Sorry if I missed this, but what is the back wall made of?