Cold water(58F) macro pictures

[Plantbrain]

Hi, here are some tidepools near by, the algae changes seasonally, about 15 ft waves today.

Nice reds, typical dominate in the winter as is the case in tropical systems(Caribbean).





Regards,
Tom Barr

[Plantbrain]

This is where I was besides hiking in the redwoods:

About a 15ft wave:


Did not even see those sea lions behind me as I was taking pics of algae



I have some nice pictures of flowering Seagrasses.....


I'll post the seagrass later.

Monterey Bay grows most of these species pretty well, but they have an open system and get their water directly from the Sea there.

So the question becomes, how might we be able to grow all these nice attractive species in tanks?


Regards,
Tom Barr

[mano]

Nice macros for sure Tom! The Egregia is looking good, but I'm also looking at some of those reds to try for abalone food. You get get more reds up there than we do down here in the south it seems.

Thanks for sharing the pics! Looks like you enjoyed the low tides of the past few days.


Christine

[Plantbrain]

Well, it depends on the time of the year, I go to the low tide rocks pretty much monthly to do surveys for species.

So I have pictures all up and down the coast from Santa Barbara north to Del Norte counties. I also do a similar thing in the Florida Keys each year.

Abs and urchins are for dinner, not for eating my macros!hehe

I also have some nice pictures of seagrass flowers.
I'll get those up later on.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Plantbrain]

Here's some more pics about a month later and a few more miles south.







Waves are big this time of year



A nice close up:



So growing these plants in this environment is a challenge to the marine aquarist.

Few are up to the task, but there is a high pay off.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[norskfisk]

Very nice coraline algae there. I wonder if you could recreate that environment (in the last photos) by using an ordinary reef setup. That is, with very nutrient poor water. But the kelps and other fast growing algae probably need more nutrients. I find that unwanted thread algae have a tendency to grow fast as soon as more nutrients are getting into the water. In my tank they completely cover the coraline algae very quickly. I wonder if the water must be kept very nutrient poor some parts of the year with spikes of nutrients at other parts of the year.

[Plantbrain]

No, the upwelling is pretty rich here, the kelps grow at amazing rates, 300ft per year.

I'd say current and reef crest type flows are best(at least 2x a day), along with a good Chiller and bright daylight lighting.

I've been up and down this coast at all times of the year, same for the Florida Key's. Some species appear seasonally, Ulva was plaguing things here a few months back, but now is mostly gone.

Mermaid's wine glass seems to be rare in the winter in Florida, but is all over in the summer/spring. Reds seem to like winter in general.

I plan on using a 3000gph powerhead in a 65cm cube + 150 HQI light that moves with the same roation as the sun(I use a telescope worm drive+ a rail to move the unit)

High current knocks the micro pest algae off it seems to me.
There's just too much strong energy too often to maintain a noxious amount. Also, the growth rates outpace many smaller noxious algae as well as being high and dry a few hours 2x a day tidally.

I really do not want a high and dry tank for 2x each day and want a 60 gallon sump either.

But it could be engineered........

I can recreate the energy pretty well with the powerhead(It's a nice one).

Light, will be pretty good, about 500-600 micro moles over most of the area.

Water nutrients will be pretty close to that of the natural system, perhaps a tad richer except for PO4.

Regards,
Tom Barr