High Nutrient Macro Algae/Sea Grass Reef

[vlangel]

Well being 'invested' shows you care about about how the information you share impacts your followers. That is commendable and and all of us should endeavor to do the same!

I think I rescued Mr Frog just in time, it snowed yesterday and this morning so I am sure he would have froze to death if I had not seen him.

This morning I added carbon to the Aquaclear filter. I noticed that my toadstool coral has been closed for the last couple of days. Perhaps it is being affected by something in the dirt? I think the system has tannins built up in the water column also because the water looks yellowish when viewed from the end. The carbon should help crispen the looks of the water too. I did another small water change.

I was very pleased to notice that the nuisance algae at the end of the shoal seagrass blades looked less. I do not have a lot of seagrass that made it but what I have is looking better and better so I am pretty stoked about that! In general everything looks real good except the toadstool (and they act weird from time to time)but it should probably be ok.

[Michael Hoaster]

Good idea on the charcoal. I definitely had tannins in the water after getting it up and running, with the dirt in there.

That's interesting that you've got less algae on the grasses. I wonder why. Maybe it's because they're getting stronger and able to fend off stuff. More on the way when we do the trade thing. Temps are creeping up! Ideally, we'd be able to ship them without having to add heat packs.

I look forward to pulling the Shoal grass to see what Manatee grass remains. There are a lot of them that need to be moved around, like ones that grow right next to the walls. With the shoal grass gone, I can see where I need to replant manatee grass. Plus I'll need to make room for a rock or three.

[vlangel]

I am always surprised just how fast and effective carbon is in making the water look extra clean. Already some of the yellow tint is leaving and the tank looks more crisp already!

I wondered the same thing about the shoal grass getting stronger? It will be fun to watch how it progresses now. The new seagrasses will be starting off with better condition so maybe will establish quicker.

Yes, we may only need to wait a few more weeks to be able to have good mailing weather. That will be fun for both of our tanks!

[Michael Hoaster]

Cool beans! It's so nice when the water clears up. Plants use chemical warfare for sure, so that might explain the lessening algae on your grasses. I'm looking forward to tradin' time!

[vlangel]

I did not know that plants used chemical warfare. That is interesting and good to know. Is it similar to soft coral chemical warfare or is it a version of warfare specific to plants? Anyway from context I guess carbon is the remedy whether plant warfare or coral. And I am excited and pleased to see the shoal grass winning the war with the algae on the tops of the blades.

[Michael Hoaster]

I'm not sure of the differences between coral and plant warfare, but it is chemical, plus the stinging sweeper tentacles.

[vlangel]

Yesterday I finally bought myself a small Chromebook laptop. I enjoyed seeing the pics on a real screen and using a real key board was a nice upgrade too. Hopefully I can post pics from the Chromebook. We will see.

[Michael Hoaster]

That's great. Laptops are so handy! I think Google has a free photo editing app. Maybe its already on your Chromebook. Have fun with it!

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

That's great. Laptops are so handy! I think Google has a free photo editing app. Maybe its already on your Chromebook. Have fun with it!

I will need to look for that and tinker around with it. I had a google photo editing capability on one of my phone's a few years ago. Thanks for the heads up on that.

[Michael Hoaster]

You're welcome! I use the simple photo editing app on my iMac, even though I have photoshop. I do run my pics through photoshop afterwards, just to size them before I upload them to RC. But I do everything else in the photos app. It's quick and easy.

I bet your new Chromebook has something similar.

[vlangel]

I worked in the sump this morning. So far no cyano, diatoms or dinos which is very encouraging. The shoal grass is almost algae free which is terrific. More of it has broken off and turned brown however which is concerning. One theory I have is that the increase in lighting has caused that. The good news is that the green blades of shoal grass look the best they ever have in my tank. I just need to be patient and wait for the root system to continue to grow under the substrate so that it can send up new shoots. Also when Michael sends me some more it may flourish faster with the substrate now supplemented with dirt and better lighting. I am still very excited about the prospects of having my own seagrass flats in the fuge.

The display is doing well. I cleaned the glass which was long overdue. It was so bad that it made the water look cloudy. I am anxious to see how much better everything will look with clear glass.

[vlangel]

Oh happy day! Since I am playing on this new chromebook, I decided to peek at liveplants.com and they had Sargassum! They also had dragon's breath, Halimeda 5 pack sampler, and ricordia. So of course I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and placed an order for those items. It should ship tomorrow, which I think means a Wed or Thursday arrival. It was 1or 2 day whether by ground or air and there was a big difference in price, so I chose ground. I hope I am not disappointed with frozen merchandise. This should be cool.

[Michael Hoaster]

Sounds good! I'm sure your shoal grass will do fine. I look forward to sending you more.

That's amazing GCE had Sargassum in stock. I don't think I've ever seen it available. You put together a nice order. Now I've got to go take a look! My recent order from them had a heat pack in it, so it appeared fine. However, that gorg never showed any signs of life. But your weather won't be near as cold as mine was.

[vlangel]

I had no idea that is where your order was from. They did not have a lot of variety when I looked but they had some of the ones I wanted. I almost never see Sargassum either so I thought I better jump on it.

[Michael Hoaster]

I had been looking for a Candelabra Gorgonian for awhile, as it is maybe my favorite, in the looks department. I saw that they had them and like you, I decided to jump on it. I think it is one of the more challenging varieties. I gave it a shot…

Best of luck with the Sargassum! I'd pass along advice from my experience, but I don't know what I did!

[vlangel]

Your success with the Sargassum has encouraged me to give it a try. However I do know that yours came attached to a piece of live rock and that may make a difference, so I am going into this knowing that I may not get it to thrive. It is worth a shot anyway. Since it likes high light, I am planning on putting it up high in the tank in front of the overflow. It will get maximum light there as that is the highest par in the display. I probably should change out one of the actinic lights for a grow light.

[Michael Hoaster]

That sounds like a good plan. Mine really started to flourish once they were in better light.

[vlangel]

My order is due any time now and I am ready. I did about an 8 or 9 gallon WC this morning. I also dosed some 2 part. I use IO salt and I know it is low in calcium. Neither my display or fuge has coraline algae and I know that is because of the IO. When I used Reef Crystals I did get coraline algae. I am thinking that the calcareous macros probably need more calcium than they have been getting. My order has in it the halimeda sample pack and they all utilize calcium.

I also worked on covering the fuge and the sump to cut down on evaporation. I had them somewhat covered but it is much better now.

The feather caulerpa in the fuge is much more controlled since I really went at it a couple of weeks ago. I think my red macro algae and the codium seem to be growing more now. I was thinking of putting the new macro algae coming in the order in the display but as I pondered that more, I think the fuge is better. The display lights are good for the fish and coral but not as good for the macros. Perhaps the halimeda sample pack can go in the display but I think the sargassum should go in the fuge. I am up in the air about the dragon's breath. I had good luck with it before under reef lighting.

[Michael Hoaster]

New stuff on the way! That's exciting. Tough call on where to put everything. Maybe if there's enough you could split some up between both tanks?

I got coralline growth by putting mesh bags of crushed coral in my (CO2 injected) canister filter.

[vlangel]

My order still is not here and it is 2 hours late from the latest time it was suppose to arrive. I am feeling kind of worried as I need to go to a doctor appt and leave in 3 hours.

I could do that with a mesh bag of crushed coral in the Aquaclear! I do not want too much coraline algae as that is just maintenance. It would be comforting to see a little however to know that the tank has enough calcium. I do have a test kit. I guess I should use it, ha ha!

[Michael Hoaster]

Oh man, that's stressful. Fingers crossed.

Besides Halimeda, other plants need Calcium too, so I thing added Calcium is a good idea. You don't need a ton of course, but just enough to get a little Coralline, I would think.

[vlangel]

Well, I am cancelling my appt because UPS has not shown up. They did change the tracking from an 8:30 am delivery to a 9 pm delivery. Uhhg, this is frustrating but I hope they show up today.

I thought the same about calcium being added, that just a small amount should do it. So I added a capful of each of the 2 part.

[vlangel]

My order did show up and it was fine. All the plants are in the tanks. I put the ricordia, and the sample pack of halimeda in the display. I put the Sargassum and the dragon's breath in the refugium. I love the Sargassum, so I really hope it grows for me.

[vlangel]

Here are pics of the fuge. The Sargassum is in the top right corner of the tank. It's high for maximum light and I chose that area because it is above the drain and under the waterfall of the Aquaclear for maximum turbulence to mimic tumbling. I am really hoping that this mimics tumbling in the ocean.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/E5X3j2wAx4yRsJNA6
The next is a close up of the Sargassum with it's buoyant berries or whatever those thingies are. You can also see all the bubbles from the drain and the Aquaclear.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cKaxtWWQ94iykn547
The last pic is of some Codium with grass shrimp around it gathering pellets.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ekyYFepvUpxhYqub8
I will take pics of the display when the lights come on to show the halimeda and ricordia.

[Michael Hoaster]

That looks good. Your fuge is really coming together!