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Unread 07/15/2020, 01:32 PM   #26
Michael Hoaster
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Happy to help!

On the mollies, if you don't want babies, get only males or females. If you do, get one male and the rest females, to spread the sexual harassment around.

Ispf's strombus are kinda pricey, but once they've reproduced to bigger numbers, and they're keeping your grasses and macros clean, the price feels justified.

The 14K looks good!


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Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018
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Unread 07/18/2020, 02:16 PM   #27
ThePurple12
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I got some white mollies 2 days ago from Petsmart. I bought 3, supposedly a male and 2 females but I didn't have a good look at them, acclimated them to salt for 4 hours, then dropped them in the tank. They were all swimming together, sticking to the surface of the water. They looked stressed, but that was to be expected.

The next morning I found 2 of the mollies swimming around in the corner of the tank. Where was the 3rd? I looked around and saw a fleshy white chunk sitting on a gracilaria bush. I looked closer and found that it had scales. It looked exactly like a headless and tailless molly...

I assume it got eaten and partially regurgitated by one of my 10 anemones, because really that's the only explanation. I have no big fish other than an engineer goby, which still isn't big enough, and I have no crabs or anything like that. Any other ideas?

Anyway, the remaining 2 mollies are very shy and I think are just starting to become bolder. They're eating well, and have just started to eat some algae from the glass.


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Unread 07/18/2020, 02:19 PM   #28
ThePurple12
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Michael, I think you were right. Those are dinoflagellates that are plaguing my seagrass, not cyano.

I think I'll wait for now on the mini strombus snails just because I don't feel like paying $50 shipped for 6 of them, but if the dinoflagellates continue for much longer I'll probably get some.


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Unread 07/18/2020, 09:09 PM   #29
Michael Hoaster
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Could the mollie have gone through a powerhead? I hope your other two do ok.

Yeah, they're kinda pricey at ipsf.com. I got lucky and spotted some in my LFS's tank, and bought them on the spot.


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As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance,
our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey

Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018
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Unread 07/19/2020, 06:08 AM   #30
ThePurple12
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None of the powerhead slots are big enough for a molly, otherwise that would explain it.

I'll be at a family reunion for the next 3 days, so I guess I'll try a tank blackout while I'm gone and maybe set up the algae turf scrubber at least temporarily. Lately, if I don't remove the dinos at least 2-3 times a day, the seagrass blades will die. I think the algae scrubber will outcompete the dinos and that could be the reason I didn't have dinos earlier.
I guess I'll leave the scrubber on and maybe dose nitrates until the seagrass gets established... if I can find the scrubber's screen!


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Unread 07/20/2020, 07:39 PM   #31
KingOfAll_Tyrants
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Very cool. My tank (plans posted here many months ago) still hasn't taken off, but I'm moving towards a half "reef" (simple reef for now) half seagrass setup. More details once I actually get a tank setup...... (we're doing a lot of rennovation in the living room of the 2BR/2BA apartment now. I'm thinking of setting up a tank in some obscure nook. Either way, build thread will come once tank is setup........).

How deep is your sandbed?

How did you get the Johnson seagrass and codium? I'm not finding them commercially, though I do local source for Thalassia and Syringodium from someone who grows it locally (4 inch sandbed no less).

And I guess the next question, just out of curiousity where in VA are you? (i'm in Fairfax)


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Unread 07/21/2020, 10:55 AM   #32
ThePurple12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KingOfAll_Tyrants View Post
Very cool. My tank (plans posted here many months ago) still hasn't taken off, but I'm moving towards a half "reef" (simple reef for now) half seagrass setup. More details once I actually get a tank setup...... (we're doing a lot of rennovation in the living room of the 2BR/2BA apartment now. I'm thinking of setting up a tank in some obscure nook. Either way, build thread will come once tank is setup........).

How deep is your sandbed?

How did you get the Johnson seagrass and codium? I'm not finding them commercially, though I do local source for Thalassia and Syringodium from someone who grows it locally (4 inch sandbed no less).

And I guess the next question, just out of curiousity where in VA are you? (i'm in Fairfax)
Nice, another seagrass tank. I’ll be looking forward to a build thread!

Sandbed is about 3”.

I definitely had trouble getting seagrass. I got the Johnson’s from Floridapets last summer, but who knows when/if they’ll get it again. I was very surprised/excited to see it in stock. I would send Floridapets an email, maybe they’d get some just for you. The Codium came from someone on Craigslist, but you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding some. I think someone’s selling some on eBay.

I’m in Christiansburg.


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Unread 07/24/2020, 05:10 PM   #33
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Sad news- I found the cleaner wrasse shriveled up on the floor. I had a screen on the tank, but it must've jumped out of the opening in the back beside the overflow. It was one of my favorite fish.

And some good news- an LFS ordered a male bluestripe pipefish for me. I picked it up the day before the 3-day blackout. It took an hour or 2 for it to find the female, but once they saw each other, they immediately became a pair, swimming together. Fast forward to today and the male is carrying eggs! I'll be ready on the 4th night to catch the larvae and transfer them to my 5 gallon fry tank, possibly along with some clownfish larvae.

As for the 3-day blackout, the dinos were gone for a day but are now back and plaguing my tank more than ever before. Every time I clean the seagrass blades (2-3 times a day) a few leaves fall off. The depressing thing is, the leaves that are falling off look green and healthy. At this point, no grazer will be fast enough to make a dent in the dinoflagellates. I need to get a new pump for the algae turf scrubber, but once it arrives I will set the ATS up in hopes of it outcompeting the dinos.


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Unread 07/24/2020, 11:15 PM   #34
Michael Hoaster
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Sorry to hear about your wrasse. I need to get my screen done.

Good to hear about your pipefish! Very cool fish. Having a pair must be amazing!

No hard and fast rules for beating dinos, since there are many varieties. Mine responded to UV. It takes weeks but works. Also I employed fast growing Ulva to outcompete and soak up any extra nutrients. Pods were also helpful. Lots of pods, an army of reproducing snails, and mollies all contributed.

The ATS might work. Makes sense. Provides competition for nutrients. I'd add predation/grazing and food reduction.


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As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance,
our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey

Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018
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Unread 07/25/2020, 06:11 AM   #35
ThePurple12
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Thanks Michael! If the ATS doesn't work, I'll bite the bullet and buy some snails.


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Unread 07/29/2020, 06:25 AM   #36
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Hey Michael, do you know if alkalinity affects seagrass? It’s affecting my corals, at least. My alkalinity has been running at around 5.5 for months now. I’m going to start dosing baking soda regularly.


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Unread 07/29/2020, 07:53 AM   #37
Michael Hoaster
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I'm a little fuzzy on the science, but yes, I think boosting alkalinity benefits seagrass, by making bicarbonates more available. The grasses can use them to make CO2, which is their preferred form of Carbon.


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As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance,
our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey

Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018
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Unread 07/29/2020, 08:02 AM   #38
ThePurple12
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Wow, maybe that's the solution! We'll see...


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Unread 07/31/2020, 09:19 AM   #39
neilp2006
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Checking in to say hi. I’m adding a planted 40g refugium to my system, total volume of 300g once done. I’ve posted on Michaels thread a couple times and thought I’d say hi.


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Unread 07/31/2020, 11:15 AM   #40
ThePurple12
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Nice, are you doing seagrass?


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Unread 07/31/2020, 12:01 PM   #41
neilp2006
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Nice, are you doing seagrass?

Planning to. Shoal and manatee in the back upper (7” sand bed) then a rock wall drop off with a 3” sand bed in front. Shaving brush, halimeda etc


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Unread 07/31/2020, 06:51 PM   #42
ThePurple12
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Hey, the rock wall sounds like a great idea! When are you starting?


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Unread 07/31/2020, 08:26 PM   #43
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Hey, the rock wall sounds like a great idea! When are you starting?

2 months ago, then homeschooling started,
Lol.

I have the eggcrate frame for the wall done, 30lbs of rock broken into small chunks, bags of sand, plumbing plan etc. just need time to get it going again.


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Unread 08/10/2020, 04:46 PM   #44
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I was in Florida for a week--got home yesterday--and brought home some fish/plants (and probably some COVID...just kidding!). I got a pipefish (for the seahorse tank), 6 dwarf seahorses (for a newly-setup 2 gallon dwarf tank), a bunch of ghost shrimp, turtle grass, Codium, 2 unidentified gorgonians (I think they're legal to collect), and a bag of mud/sand straight from a seagrass bed. The fish and shrimp were caught using a seine net.

I'm hoping the mud will help the seagrass and, more importantly, help to STOP THE DINOS. I think the dinos are receding anyway, probably due to the algae scrubber, which already has some of the "good" algae growing on it.

The Johnson's grass is spreading quickly, but still no improvement on the shoal grass. I'll be interested to see how the turtle grass does, but I've heard it's a slow grower.

While I was gone, the dinos overtook my biggest acropora colony and killed half of it because I wasn't there to blow them off. Not sure why they chose that single coral over all the other acros in my tank, which were unharmed for the most part....

The 20g long mysid tank is now completely devoid of mysids. There are tons of copepods in there, but not a single mysid to be found. No idea what happened, but I guess it's a sign to start up that seagrass/pocilloporid tank! Maybe I'll put some dwarf seahorses in there and try for a self-sustaining dwarf seahorse tank like someone from Reef 2 Reef has.


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Unread 08/18/2020, 08:56 PM   #45
neilp2006
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2 months ago, then homeschooling started,
Lol.

I have the eggcrate frame for the wall done, 30lbs of rock broken into small chunks, bags of sand, plumbing plan etc. just need time to get it going again.


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Here’s a crayon pic of the plan




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Unread 08/18/2020, 09:58 PM   #46
Michael Hoaster
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Nice drawing.

I did a similar rock wall/DSB planter in my previous tank. I made it out of old coral skeletons. It worked well at providing the needed sand depth for Turtle and Manatee grass, without the need for a Deep Sand Bed throughout the whole tank.

I think yours will work well too. To keep it natural looking, I'd recommend it have no straight lines. Make it curvy and organic looking, otherwise you end up with a very man-made looking thing.


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As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance,
our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey

Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018
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Unread 08/19/2020, 07:25 AM   #47
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Looks promising, good luck with it.


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Unread 09/03/2020, 04:31 PM   #48
ThePurple12
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The dinoflagellates are definitely going away now, along with most of the shoal grass...

The Johnson's is taking over, which is fine with me I guess. The turtle grass hasn't really done anything but lose leaves, but maybe it's still adjusting.


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Unread 09/03/2020, 11:53 PM   #49
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Following this thread, like the idea


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Unread 09/04/2020, 08:24 AM   #50
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Thanks Jeremy


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