125g 2 in 1 Seagrass Reef

[Michael Hoaster]

That's great your seagrasses are growing! I didn't know you had Turtle grass too. So you have 4 sea grasses? Impressive!

Your idea that seagrass doesn't require high nitrates is correct. Seagrasses outcompete macro algae by being able to get by with lower nutrients. That's why I think seagrasses are a better match for corals than macro algae, in aquariums.

[ThePurple12]

That makes sense, as seagrasses have roots and macros don't.

Here are the pictures as promised, let's see if this works:

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[Michael Hoaster]

The first two pics didn't show on my end. The third one looks great. Sweet tank!

[ThePurple12]

Hmm, let me try to fix it

[ThePurple12]

It's weird, when I try to upload them using attachments they come out upside down.

[ThePurple12]

Here

[ThePurple12]

Wow, that's really blurry. Here's another of one of my favorite fish, the copperband butterfly:

[Michael Hoaster]

Good pics! Yeah, I noticed that my photo quality degrades when uploaded to RC. I even did some controlled experiments to see if I could affect it, but no, no matter what I tried, they always came out worse. It's frustrating! You work hard to get the tank presentable, and take good pics, and then you upload and the quality goes down.

Did you get the Copperband to eat aiptasia? Does it do a good job? Does it bother your corals?

[ThePurple12]

Agreed!

No, somehow I don't have any aiptasia in the tank, even though I've never dipped a coral. I just got the copperband for the looks. Doesn't bother any corals. Its only downside IMO is its shyness.

[Michael Hoaster]

I was just re-looking at your pics. You have two of my favorite SPS corals; plating Montipora and Stylophora Pistillata. How are they doing? They look to have good color. I'm curious about what you do to keep them happy. Is it tricky, with the plants? Any info you'd care to share would be great.

Cheers!

[ThePurple12]

Have you kept them before?

They're both fast growers and really hardy, which is part of the reason they're doing well! I don't do anything special for them, just the basics, like keeping the water as stable as possible. I think that once I get my alkalinity to 7-8 and keep it there the rest of the SPS will thrive.

I don't think the plants get in the way of healthy SPS except for stripping nutrients out of the water. To combat this, I've just been pulling out macros.

I've actually seen multiple tanks with thriving SPS despite high nitrate (~50+ppm), including Marc Levenson's (melevsreef on youtube) and Paul B's. It doesn't seem to affect coloration very much.

[ThePurple12]

Which poses a question that I will ask on Dawn's build thread...

[Michael Hoaster]

I have not kept them. My ill-fated attempt at corals stopped at Frogspawn, when I tried reef keeping ten or fifteen years ago. I wasn't ready.

Good to hear they do well for you without too much effort.

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by ThePurple12

Which poses a question that I will ask on Dawn's build thread...

Ask away The Purple12, I will answer anything that I can. I will say that my tank only has a few sps, a pink birdsnest, an encrusting lepto and a languishing monticap.

[ThePurple12]

Cool, are they doing well in the high nutrient environment?

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by ThePurple12

Cool, are they doing well in the high nutrient environment?

The birdsnest is doing the best. It actually has some growth but it's slow. The lepto is pretty much stalled. I have had it for probably 4 years and it's no bigger or smaller in all that time. A friend gave it to me and I think it looks exactly the same. And the monticap is definitely losing ground and I expect to not have it much longer.

[ThePurple12]

Ah, might be the phosphate then. I've read that inhibits growth.

[vlangel]

Yep, it may be phosphates or it may be low alkalinity. This tank no longer needs as many water changes which was the main way I replenished calcium and alkalinity. I am terrible at testing so dosing is out because it is way too risky to dose blind. It is easier for me to choose coral that can adapt to the conditions of my tank. LPS and softies seem to be ok with my bi-monthly water changes and heavy feedings, so those will be the coral I will concentrate on.

[ThePurple12]

Makes sense!

[ThePurple12]

Here's a little story:

I have a 2.5 gallon freshwater planted tank sitting on my windowsill, where it gets plenty of natural sunlight. It has a few different plant species, 2 ghost shrimp, and probably 20 of those tiny endler's guppies.

I was walking past it last night. It was dark, and as I went by I snagged the heater cord... and the entire aquarium came crashing down to the floor! Fish were flopping everywhere, and those small black snails that freshwater tanks always get were scattered all over. There was also a lake sitting on the hardwood floor.

Fortunately, the aquarium is acrylic, and didn't shatter when it landed. But I spent half an hour searching the floor for fish and snails and cleaning up the mess. Nothing died, I think. I put all the fish, snails, and shrimp safely back in the tank.

Emoji time.

[Michael Hoaster]

What a relief, huh?

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by ThePurple12

Here's a little story:

I have a 2.5 gallon freshwater planted tank sitting on my windowsill, where it gets plenty of natural sunlight. It has a few different plant species, 2 ghost shrimp, and probably 20 of those tiny endler's guppies.

I was walking past it last night. It was dark, and as I went by I snagged the heater cord... and the entire aquarium came crashing down to the floor! Fish were flopping everywhere, and those small black snails that freshwater tanks always get were scattered all over. There was also a lake sitting on the hardwood floor.

Fortunately, the aquarium is acrylic, and didn't shatter when it landed. But I spent half an hour searching the floor for fish and snails and cleaning up the mess. Nothing died, I think. I put all the fish, snails, and shrimp safely back in the tank.

Emoji time.

Good for you for your immediate response in saving your creatures!

[ThePurple12]

I brought home a cleaner wrasse 2 days ago. It’s doing well, eating and cleaning. The anthias (I still haven’t seen any friends for him at the LFS) especially likes being cleaned.

There’s some kind of tiny red algae growing on the shoal grass. It’s light and feathery, and hard to remove from the grass blades. I’ll have to keep an eye out for some of those mini strombus snails. I emailed IPSF to see if they still have them.

Magnifica nem went looking for more light. Looks like it’s gonna park itself right under the metal halide.

[ThePurple12]

In that last pic you can see the algae up close. It only grows on the seagrass, and a little bit on the Caulerpa prolifera . Note that these pics were taken after removing most of it!

[Michael Hoaster]

That algae on your shoal grass looks tough to remove. I would remove the whole blade to make sure you get rid of it. Now that you have a good standing crop of shoal grass, it should be able to handle it. Maybe we could work out a trade for some snails. Got anything I want?