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#1
07/10/2007, 06:58 PM
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100 Gallon H. Erectus, Seagrass, Macro Algae Lagoon
   Here is some information about my marine planted tank setup. The initial goal was to create as natural a system as possible. I am very satisfied with the setup so far. 100 gallon acryllic 6000 Quiet One Pump 1500 ghp (Rainbow Lifeguard) 30 gallon sump 5 48" 6500k t8s and 1 48" actinic t8 (think tanning bed) 125 watt compact florescent spotlight on the mangroves CO2 Injection (yeast method first, now compressed tank injection) Bio ball nitrate factory No skimmer Detritus pump from sump to mangrove sandbeds. Botryocladia Sp. on lve rock *** garden 100+ pounds of live rock Specs Temperature 76-80 F Nitrite 0ppm Nitrate 0-5ppm Alkalinity 240-270ppm ph 8.0-8.5 Sandbed Setup 125+ pound Sandbed Florida Reef Sand: 1-2 mm diameter grain size. Coralline pink/red highlights Fiji Gold Refugium Mud Fiji Gold Coral & Live Rock Supplement (calcium carbonate clay) Silica Sand Decomposed mangrove, seagrass, macro “Compost” Coarse crushed coral Maintenance/Nutrients *** Seagrass/Macro/Mangrove compost *** I have found that this is key to a successful marine planted tank. I basically let the plant material decay in an anerobic environment then I puree it in a blender and add mud. I also seed the sandbed with macroalgae and mangrove leaves that in turn die and decay in the sandbed. 20% water change bi-monthly Fiji Gold Coral and Reef Supplement (calcium carbonate clay) Fiji Gold Refugium Mud Just started Iron/Potassium supplements bi-monthly Notes I ran metal halide (HQI) lights but they made the tank too hot (no chiller and I am in Southern California) and the macros and seagrass seemed to do much better with the t8 setup. I was able to acclimate my mangroves to a 24/7 light cycle. I am absolutely stunned by how rapid the mangroves grow now. I am getting 4 times the growth rate compared to when I was using a 12/12 light cycle. Sometimes less than 1-2 weeks time between new leaves on the pistal. They seem to have started a “vegetative” growing state similar to how some terrestrial plants respond to 24hr light cycles. Livestock 2 Hippocampus erectus - Tank Raised Tons of copepods, amphipods, mini stars, pests, etc. Extra Large, Fat Male Mandarin Dragonette Mangroves 25 Rhizophora mangles (Red Mangrove) Seagrasses Syringodium filiforme (Manatee grass) Thalassia testudinum (Turtle Grass) Halodule wrightii (Shoal Grass) Hair Algae Chaetomorpha aerea (Seagrass algae) - On Liverock Chaetomorpha crassa(Spaghetti Algae) Red Macro Algae Halymenia floresia (dragon's tongue) Botryocladia Sp.(String of Pearls) - On Liverock Botryocladia Sp.(Red Grape) - On Liverock Botryocladia Sp.(Small Red Grape) - On Liverock Galaxaura fastigiata (Large Red Branch Branching/Red branching Codium) Galaxaura sp. (Small Red Branch Branching) Gracilaria curtissae/ Laminaria sp. (Red Kelp) Calacarous Macro Algae Penicillus sp.(Shaving Brush Plant) Udotea sp.(Mermaids fan) Halimeda copiosa (Small Branch Halameda ) Halameda Tuna (Halimeda with holdfast) Codium Green Macro Algae Caulerpa prolifera |
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#2
07/10/2007, 09:36 PM
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I was hoping you would post this here!
 I'm curious, you noted that the mangroves are on 24 hour light photoperiod. Is the main part of the tank also on continuous light?Did you note any nuisance algaes crop up in the beginning of the life of the tank, such as cyano, diatoms or dinoflagellates? I've wondered how adding nutrients and CO2 from the start would alter the natural progression of these nuisances in a young marine planted tank. Overall, looks great (as you know). Keep us posted here on RC! >Sarah
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"Seaweed is cool, seaweed is fun, it makes its food from the rays of the sun!" "Wild means everyone owns it, and no one owns it." ~3rd grader |
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#3
07/10/2007, 10:36 PM
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Hey Samala,
Yeah I was planning on posting here as well. These forums seem to be a bit more active. Yes the mangroves are on a 24hr light photoperiod. I was experimenting with the light photoperiod and decided to try it. They seem to be in a vegetative state and are throwing new leaves very close together on the pistal. This is common with young terrestrial plants. The main tank is on a 14 on, 10 off light photoperiod currently. I have tried various light photoperiods and this one seems to be the best for this tank. I also vary the light cycle slightly as far as start and end times and sometimes have half the lights running for a few hours to simulate weather events (clouds/storms). I have had some problems with cyano, especially when the tank was young, but I stayed on top of it. I also started with a converted 1+ year old reef tank. I slowly added the macros and seagrass as the tank “converted”. During that time the mangroves were acclimating to the tank. I think that 25 small mangroves help with the overall tank stability now that they are acclimated, but I want to increase the number to 50+. I did not add any nutrients or c02 until the tank was mature. The tank has occasional hair algae that you can see on the Botryocladia in the pictures. I forgot to add this to my original post: Special thanks to Sarah Lardizabal and Angie Chicca at Scripps Birch Aquarium for the great articles and setup advice for my macro and seagrass tank |
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#6
07/11/2007, 01:17 PM
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You might consider adding some aeration, heavy in the macro tank.
The T8's or less light if you can get away with it makes a macro tank grow slower and thus easier to dose and maintain, allowing things like old plant detritus to have enough time to rot/decay and remineralize into NH4/NO3/PO4/Fe etc. I took some of the macros I have at work and did this, same thing like plant compost, adding soil. I'm tickled that marine and reef folks buy "mud", often at quite high prices. Dirt + water = mud. Mud is namely just anaerobic sediments with a relatively high organic matter content. Stinky tidal mud flats. But if you do not live near the coast of near a places that's not polluted heavily, then........ Still, you can soak pootting soil good for a few weeks and do the same type of thing, or you may boil the soil first for 10-20min and that will oxidize and mineralize things faster. Then add a little. Same type of thing in a FW planted tank, you just do not need as much here. The mud acts as a source of organic carbon to help mineralization via bacterial cycling, bacteria need their carbon/carbs as well as N and P etc and many new tanks have little and thus limit and bacteria by organic carbon rather than N or P etc. So you just need a little to get started, then after some time has pasted, and detritus has built up, it's no lnger required. Alternatively, we can add mulm, the detritus that settles on the bottom of a bucket after deep vacuuming an old established DBS/deep gravel layer. Add that to a new tank. We did this some 30 years ago with our marine tanks at a LFS. Adds precisely what is missing from a new tank that exist in a old mature established tank. Regards, Tom Barr |
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#8
07/14/2007, 03:50 PM
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wish i could see the pics. only getting red x's. just took the topshells out of my reef. i have enough smaller snails now so i can get the macros the topshells kept eating.
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Oh there's nothing wrong with it. Just a big hole where the pilots usually sit. 'Airport 1975' There were plenty of fish in the sea, but i wasn't ready to hang up my tacklebox. |
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#10
07/18/2007, 01:49 PM
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now thats cool ever tang in town is drooling after those pics!
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Always Trading with local Reefkeepers! |
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#13
07/27/2007, 06:00 PM
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BEHOLD!
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#14
08/01/2007, 06:09 PM
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Quote:
I do sell the following macros to my LFS. Chaetomorpha crassa(Spaghetti Algae) Halymenia floresia (dragon's tongue) Botryocladia Sp.(String of Pearls) - On Liverock Botryocladia Sp.(Red Grape) - On Liverock Botryocladia Sp.(Small Red Grape) - On Liverock Caulerpa prolifera The dominant macro species is Halymenia floresia. The weekly harvest of this macro more than pays for the nutrients, macros, and seahorses in the tank. This is the first tank I have had that costs nothing except time and electricity. I currently dose the following nutrients and I am experimenting with dosing amounts. Carbon via co2 injection. This is automated and the solenoid in in sync with the lights. Nitrogen via Seachem Flourish Nitrogen Iron with DTPA (Dethylene-Triamine-Penta-Acetic-acid) and EDTA (Ethylene-Diamene-Tetra-Acetic-acid) chelators and Potassium via Tetra Flora Pride Calcium and trace elements via B-Ionic Calcium Buffer System. I will post some more pictures later tonight. ps. Doc Hammer, Interesting photoshop job on the tank.... |
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#15
08/03/2007, 05:06 PM
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More pics
More pics...
    
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#16
08/18/2007, 11:02 PM
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Beautiful setup!
If, by chance, you're willing to ship, I'd like to get a piece of each Botryocladia Sp. Pm if you're interested. Thanks and happy reefing! T
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Krypticol |
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#17
08/19/2007, 12:24 AM
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Quote:
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Nothing good happens fast in this realm of underwater landscaping, only time will allow your reefkeeping and livestock to flourish! |
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#18
08/24/2007, 11:22 AM
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Re: 100 Gallon H. Erectus, Seagrass, Macro Algae Lagoon
Beautiful setup, Redmangrove!
I am also using 48" T8 fluorescents. What is the wattage of the bulbs that you are using? The tubes that I am using are 32W. Thanks! Quote:
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#19
10/25/2007, 12:13 AM
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Sorry for the delay in posting. I was using the 32w t8 bulbs but have since upgraded to t5HO.
Current t5 setup: Front 420nm Super Actinic 18000k Powerglo 6500k Lifeglo 18000k Powerglo |
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#22
11/29/2007, 02:28 PM
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Hi, Where can I buy some of the beautiful types of red algea like you have growing in your tank? Thanks, Lesley
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#24
12/03/2007, 08:30 AM
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this is indeed a beautiful tank. jaw-dropping
your fan from the Philippines moja |
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