Two questions w/ pic's

[moosejac]

1st one...just a simple ID

about a month ago...(the two little brown branches in the middle)

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a234/bigmona/P5040048.jpg

today...

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a234/bigmona/P6110066.jpg


2nd one...manatee grass has been going great lately, but in the past few days, one end of the strand has been browning or showing black patches...should I be concerned?

good side...

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a234/bigmona/P6110062.jpg

bad(?) side...

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a234/bigmona/P6110061.jpg

[graveyardworm]

The first pics are possibly sargassum, here's (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=841866&highlight=sargassum) a recent thread. Sorry I dont have much experience with the grass.

[moosejac]

sargassum is what I've thought, but the pic's I had seen looked a little different. The pic on the link looks exactly the same as what I have though.

[moosejac]

Anyone have any idea on the black spots?

Sarah???

[Samala]

Oooh look at your beautiful Halodule coming right along!! :D That makes my day! All those great little rhizome extension areas and such, looks fantastic!

I would not worry about the blackened areas and the loss of a few leaves. I find that after shoal grass has been growing for a few months, the older sections sometimes senesce, or die back, but do so in very short sections. If it looks like its spreading at all please let me know, it might be prudent to go ahead and snip out these areas. These are older areas, yes?

Your brown algae looks a lot like Sargassum, maybe S. hystrix considering the midrib veins, but maybe not. The stems are kinda thick though.. and its odd that its not growing upright. Hmm. When I get my algae ID book back in a few days I'll look for you. :) Maybe KMK will see this and give us a guess.

>Sarah

[moosejac]

That's a relief! It is occuring on a older area, and the other side is going great. I had thought about snipping it off, but didn't want to damage the rest. I'll keep an eye on it...

How's your Halophila coming along???

Nathan

[Samala]

Nathan, I find that snipping out small sections.. a few plants worth of the rhizome.. does very little damage to the leading/growing areas. Hardly a hiccup usually in fact. Once the plants are established as yours are, you'll get to a comfort zone with this kind of stuff. ;) I know it took me a while before I was willing to pull up plants to send off as fragments!

The H. ovalis is still growing, nothing fantastic but still hanging on. H. decipiens is also growing really really slowly, but the fragments of both of these species that are in a low light prop tank are growing a bit better. I think I shocked them with all the light honestly. H. engelmannii is doing very well now, spreading happily. :)

>Sarah