Seagrass Tank

Okay, I confess I really don't know where to put this thread.

My wife and I are fairly successful reef builders; there is still a long way to go, but we've got the essentials in place. My wife has been talking off and on for two years about a seagrass tank. Just a perfect cube, a dsb, and a good, growing colony of seagrass. Add a few biotope appropriate creatures and a little bit of flow and enjoy the fluidity of the whole thing.

Does anyone have any long term experience with sea grasses? I've done a lot of reading online, but there isn't that much. What are the best sources for it, how do I get seagrass still bundled with its natural substrate, what are good critters, what does this require for success?

Any serious help is seriously appreciated. If I can, I may make a Christmas present of it.

 

Sounds like a neat little tank. Perfect for a small colony of dwarf seahorses! A healthy breeding pod colony and you don't have to do quite as much intensive feeding of them.

I've read quite a bit about seagrasses on the seahorse.org forum, I guess they go together quite well. Other than being an armchair reefer, that's all I've got

 

I actually haven't decided on the size yet... perhaps a bigger tank if the seagrass is suited to it. Seahorses are definitely a planned inhabitant. Since we live on the gulf coast, a dwarf seahorse tank based on our local environment might be nice.

I really just don't know much about keeping the grasses alive. As delicate as seahorses or dwarf seahorses are, I feel quite confident with them in comparison.

 

FWIW, true seagrasses require lots of light and at least a 4" substrate to have any chance of doing well.

If you don't want to go to that extent, you can get some Caulerpa prolifera and it does a nice job of looking like a bed of seagrass. Just poke the rhizomes into the substrate and they'll take hold.

One thing you need to consider with "zots" (H. zosterae) is that hydroids can and will kill them, which is why most folks go for a "sterile" (dead everything) type of setup. You can try using a low dose of fenbendazole (Panacur) in the tank, but it will preclude you from keeping many invert species. At the very least, I'd give the plants a good dip in it.

HTH

 

Thanks for the very helpful information. I'm partial to the larger seahorses; it is my wife that leans towards the small ones.

As for the tank itself, I definitely want to go true seagrass. My plan is a 6 inch bed with lots of light. I have read I want grasses collected with their substrate intact. Any ideas on how I go about getting that short of collecting them myself (probably illegal)?

 

I am willing to bet John over at ReefCleaners could get some for you, or at the very least, point you in the right direction.

 

I am just starting a sea grass tank too, so hopefully we can learn from each other.

I believe I have seen threads with smaller Halophila species (like decipiens) being successfully grown on lesser sand beds, 2-3" deep. I'll see if I can dig them up. You are right though, most sea grasses require very deep sand... some websites say at least 6", especially for large sea grasses like Thalassia.