My Planted Marine

[lljdma06]

I've been lurking over in the Salty side since June and I wanted to say hi. I miss my planted peeps, but it's just too hard to be in two places at once. I also have something to show you.

You can plant a Marine tank too! This is my 36g. The journal is here.

Pearls of the Antillles

In addition to being planted, it's also a biotope, featuring species that are found in the Caribbean and Florida, which is where I live. I've actually seen some of these while snorkling the Caribbean and it's very exciting.

I used the following for the scape...

40lbs of cured Haitian rock
60lbs of oolite sand (4" sand bed

Halodule wrightii (shoal grass)

Halimeda opuntia

Tank after the initial planting...

After about a week... haha, you have to epoxy the macro algae to the rock work.

Tank at its current state, I did the planting mid-November. The shoal grass, after some initial die-off is beginning to root and you can see that the Halimeda has grown.

Some video of the tank...



Currently the stocking is

Clean up Crew

Florida ceriths
dwarf ceriths
blue-legged hermits
Nassarius vibex
Porcelain crabs

Display livestock

Mated pair of Yellowhead jawfish
Mated pair of banded coral shrimp (circumtropical, but also found in the Caribbean)
Royal gramma
4 chalk bass

I do about a 40% water change every week to keep my Calcium and Magnesium levels up. I'll be adding a shoal of Serranus Tortugarum (chalk basslets) in the coming weeks. There may also be room for a Royal gramma or other small showcase fish. I'm excited, this tank took forever to research and develop. I may consider upgrading my lighting soon as well. The lighting I have is ok, but I don't like the look any more and I want either Metal Halide or an LED fixture. I'll be taking better pictures of this tank soon.

Thanks sooooo much for looking. I miss you guys.

Big hugs!

L

 

[ian]

very nice!

silly question, but will the grass spread?

 

[lljdma06]

very nice!

silly question, but will the grass spread?

It does, but growth is much slower. It's already taken root, though. I can add CO2 and Tom Barr has and gotten good results with his seagrasses, but I've got Livestock in it and adding CO2 will drive down the pH, which isn't good for the animals. He had to stop adding CO2 when he started adding livestock and his growth slowed too.

 

[ian]

thats interesting, do they photosynthesise in the same way then? need N and P?

 

[fishprotector]

Wow that looks brilliant, I have never seen a planted marine tank before.

 

[stu40]

Nice to see something so different, looks ace

Looking forward to see how it develops.Don't forget to keep us updated

 

[minnnt]

Looks very nice! Well done Liz.

 

[lljdma06]

thanks everybody! I'll keep you updated.

thats interesting, do they photosynthesise in the same way then? need N and P?

Similar, and they do need N & P, but a lot of that is supplied with waste. It's rare that people need to dose, though.

 

[lljdma06]

Hi Everybody! I still got this thing chugging along... Some pictures for you so you can see the growth.

This update was done with a very bad iPhone, from Saturday last week, the 7th...

fts

Corals - I've got Ricordea florida. They have a huge sale today at the lfs so woooo! I'll be picking up some

They split and form new corals. Here's a recent split.

Details of the Halimeda opuntia and a new mystery macro algae (the reddish one). Not quite sure what it is. I suspect Chondria or Ochtodes.

And the seagrasses. It's doing ok, I've got some serious burrowing animals so it gets uprooted a lot. I'll be replanting it and confining it to a corner where there is less burrowing activity. It does grow though.

Alright the next day, Sunday the 8th. I discovered something icky. Some of my Halimeda opuntia decided to go sexual. It's because I didn't keep it in check. You're supposed to prune this plant and I wasn't sure on how to do it, so I waited. I asked around, but evidently all Halimeda planted marines are not that common, so I had to wait a while for an answer. Going sexual means that the plant dies and releases it's gametes into the water. Very gross process and it can nuke a tank. Thank goodness Halimeda gives some warning signs before it releases the gametes, so I was able to remove the plants before. The gametes in the water remove the oxygen and can harm the critters in large doses. Not a lot went sexual, but I didn't want to risk anything. Sorry, long explanation, here is a picture.

Now, you can actually keep a few gametes, which I did. Then you'll get baby plants later.

I didn't wait for anybody to confirm. I had read a couple articles that pruning stops the process, so I took my shears to the Halimeda and pruned it. Now I have bits of it everywhere. I need to reattach them or give some away. The good news is that nothing has gone sexual since, and I'm seeing the sprouts of new growth, so my instinct was good for this particular macro algae.

Critters are doing great. My coral banded shrimp has already released eggs. Yay, free food. And it seems that my jawfish are doing some breeding behavior. The male may be fanning eggs in this video. They are paternal mouth brooders. He ate them later, but at least I know they are trying.



Sorry I took a while to update. Ian, Caz, you think this should be in the journal section?

L

 

[stu40]

I have no idea what i'm looking at most of the time, but i like it

 

[ian]

yep, journal section! that way it won't get lost. Love that grass stuff!

 

[lljdma06]

I have no idea what i'm looking at most of the time, but i like it

Thank you. It's a neat tank to have.

yep, journal section! that way it won't get lost. Love that grass stuff!

I wish the grass would spread better, but this seems to be the typical pattern until the system is more mature. Then it takes off.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Nice growth there, would any of those plants survive in a brackish tank?

 

[coldcazzie]

I know I'm late to the party but yes, definitely a journal! looks lovely Liz, you're very lucky to have the access to these on your doorstep

 

[lljdma06]

@ps3steveo - The shoal might survive in a brackish setup, not sure. I know that the Halimeda probably not. I'll look it up though.

Thanks Cazzie.

Ok Time for more pictures!! I got my chalk bass and added a black background. Very snazzy. Also got a Royal gramma, but the chalk bass ganged up on him, in a strange, non-violent way, and stressed him to death. Both species have a residential cave for sleeping. The chalk bass would systematically drive the gramma from a cave he had selected. Very odd, not picking at all, just driving him away. When that species doesn't have a cave, it stresses very quickly. Was actually planning on taking him back to the store as he wasn't damaged, but I found him dead. Lesson learned. Chalk bass and jawfish, however, are thriving in this setup.

fts

video



This video is prior to the black background, but it really shows off the chalk bass well.



They are a fabulous fish, active and great swimmers. They now know mommy and come to the front of the tank begging for food. Really, to get an idea of this fish, imagine a kribensis merged with a tiger barb with regard to behavior.

I've got to reattach some cutting and give the tank a nice clean now. I'll be whipping out the hd camera this weekend and taking some quality pictures of this tank. It deserves it. I've been photographing my picos more and this tank really should get its due.

L