.

[piatotsini]

.

 

[AMS]

Marine plants arent actually plants, but rather decorative algae. Youll probably never find an LFS thatd deals these algaes. If they LFS specializes in marine only youll have a better (if not good) chance of finding decorative marine algaes. Im not sure as to where they are available online. but Dr. Smith and Fosters usually has some decorative marine algaes in stock.

 

[steelhealr]

MACROalgae......ask for macroalgae. I have seen only a handful of 'planted' marine tanks. They can be beautiful, but, you have to prune like crazy to keep it looking manicured. Macros are not usually kept in regular marine tanks because they can overrun the LR. SH

 

[Lynden]

I have found a few marine stores that sell macroalgae. It grows very quickly and it is very beautiful. I had a peice 1'' long and in a few months I had over a pound of algae in my refugiums. I tried to grow it in the tank as a food source but the angels would eat it before it took root.

A tank with just algae and snails or hermits is highly questionable- those types of tanks may work in freshwater, but in saltwater you need a more complete ecosystem. Soon the critters on the LR and algae would overrun the tank because of lack of predators. The tank would begin to look like a sewer output, not to mention devoid of any colourful and active fish and inverts, a boring system, in a sense. I would scrap the planted idea and go for a more standard reef system, with coral as the main attraction. They look plantlike in some cases anyway

 

[AMS]

Another feasible option would be seagrass. Seagrass is an actual true marine plant, it even flowers. You can create a diverse habitat in a seagrass tank. Fish like pipefish and seahorses actually spend a great deal of their lives in seagrass meadows. Seagrass meadows are also home to many many invertebrates. Most seagrass species are full strength marine, but others are also brackish species. I actually became very interested in seagrass myself a while back, its quite an interesting subject. Its difficult to obtain seagrass, but with a little looking you may be able to find some.

You could make a seagrass biotope tank, with pipefish and a few inverts. That would be awesome, except when it comes to feeding the pipefish

 

[AMS]

With a 4 gallon SW you really dont have a choice for fish, your pretty much stuck with inverts.

 

[Mr Miagi]

A tank with just algae and snails or hermits is highly questionable-

Questionable? What is questionable about that? Thats the idea about your refugium. Alot of people have only a DSB, Macro, and a clean-up crew.

those types of tanks may work in freshwater, but in saltwater you need a more complete ecosystem. Soon the critters on the LR and algae would overrun the tank because of lack of predators. The tank would begin to look like a sewer output, not to mention devoid of any colourful and active fish and inverts, a boring system, in a sense.

They do work in SW. You want the critters in the LR to take over. Thats that form of filtration we use. A planted tank wants pods and other macro inverts, along with sponges worms etc. A tank doesnt need fish and inverts to be interesting, but besides that, you can keep fish and inverts in a planted marine tank. Pipefish (readfish), cardinals, clowns, firefish (just the ones ive seen) and the list goes on. You can also have corals, both sps and lps, surrounded by macro-algae.

I would scrap the planted idea and go for a more standard reef system, with coral as the main attraction. They look plantlike in some cases anyway

I wouldnt. A fully feasable idea, if you research the idea thorughly. Apart from planning just a FOWLR, my next tank, hopefully something like a 2x2x2 will be a marine planted, and I will do a journal.

 

[Mr Miagi]

"Samala's" marine planted; No fish...

"Halophila"s marine planted tank; Firefish, a P. cauderni, and bass added in different stages if I recall correctly.

I will remove these images shortly, as im not sure if the owners want them used.

 

[Mr Miagi]

No probs. Its great to see Macroalgae taking off in this hobby. I look forward to your tank when you get it going fishkiller_nomore! Classic name by the way!

 

[Donya]

What species are in that first photo from Samala's tank?

 

[Mr Miagi]

I just hit the pay dirt! I havnt read it yet, but check this Japanese planted reef out!
AMAZING!

 

[Donya]

I get an "error encountered during translation" message...could you post the un-translated link?

 

[Mr Miagi]

Sure thing Donya. I dont know why that didnt work....

http/www.ne.jp/asahi/aqua/aquarie/ref.htm

 

[Opcn]

http/www.ne.jp/asahi/aqua/aquarie/ref.htm

 

[Donya]

Ahh...I see Strombus conches! That's a lot of fish in there...and a garden eel?