Considering a marine "planted" tank

N

niteowl03

My wife is breaking down her FW planted tank and I cant just let a perfectly good aquarium go to waste!!! She likes the idea of the planted tank and im not oposed to the idea totally either. While I was supposed to be working today I started trying to find someone who had done something similar to what i am wanting and this is the closest I have found.

[attachment=0]DSC04009.jpg[/attachment]

I was thinking of doing something like this with different macro algae in it (dragons breath, halimeda, padina etc) I was wondering if any of you had done this before and if there was anything I should be warned about before trying it!!

Here are my thoughts and concerns:

--The tank has a lid on it right now so I can have some of the "jumping" fish that I cant keep in my solana
--The current light is a bulb designed for a FW planted tank. I know that in FOWLR systems intense lighting isnt necessary and that in our refugiums we dont run intense lighting but would this be sufficient for FOWMA(fish only with macro algae!!) I am sure in the near future ill upgrade this to LEDs but is this necessary prior to setting up this tank?
--Obviously I probably dont want to put any tangs in the tank as they love to eat this stuff but are there any other fish that I should be leery of adding to the tank?

Lastly I see alot of chaeto and dragons breath on the boards, but does anyone have any other macro algae that I could add to this tank?
 
Sounds like a neat idea. Reefcleaners.org sells several different plants and macro algaes:

http://reefcleaners.org/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=6&Itemid=58
 
I sort of started this on my 20 gallon mantis tank with no skimmer. I run a 150w mh and I recently added a bunch of macros. So far so good. I added dragons breath, blue ochtodes, ulva, fire fern, and something called violet dream. Some of these macros are nicer than some corals. :) they really stand out when looking at the tank. They don't pop or glow under actinics but the tank has great color with the MH on. It's only been a short time so I'm waiting for it to all grow in. The blue ochtodes stands out as my favorite.
 
Just curious, but why would anyone want to just grow algae?
It seems like it would get boring very quick, and then you'd have to start buying corals again.
 
Where did you obtain the: blue ochtodes, fire fern, and violet dream?
Anything you would be willing to cut?
Thanks.

--Howard

@ritter6788 wrote:
 
I would contact True Percula. They have a skimmerless tank with tons of macro algaes and it's actually one of my favorite tanks. It's been set up for years and I'm a big fan. Stop by and give it a look sometime.
 
@Drew wrote:
Just curious said:
The tank is full of corals too. I have a huge green sinularia, big toadstool, Palys, zoas, xenia, blue snowflakes, neon clove polyps and even a Rainbow BTA. I call it my jungle tank. :) the blue ochtodes, dragons breath and fire fern rival some nice corals. I tried some gracilaria but I have trouble with it for some reason. I can't keep a lot of fish in a 20 gallon due to size and there's a mantis shrimp in there but I can keep blue damsels which I think are awesome but won't keep them in my 75 with the other fish. Basically I'm an addict. :D

This is an older pic the macros have grown and I've rearranged.
Click to expand...
 
@shse666 wrote:
Where did you obtain the: blue ochtodes said:
I got the fire fern from reefcleaners.org. The rest I got from a member on r2r. Ive been looking for blue ochtodes for a long time I haven't had them very long so I'm waiting for them to grow out. I'm not really in the dfw area but it can be easily shipped, (and I may be moving closer soon). ;)
Click to expand...
 
Just a heads up halmidia is one im looking for now. I have kept it in the past, and it grows best in higher calcium tanks. Also does not like a lot of light but does need more then a sump light.
 
@Drew wrote:
Just curious said:
Well first the plan is to transplant any hair algae that grows in the solana to this tank and it will just fit in!! JK

I have seen the tank at True Perc and will admit it is kinda cool, dont know that I will ever be able to go "filterless" on a 20g but it might be nice.
I have also looked at reefcleaners selection of macros, as well as live-plants.com (much larger)

ritter have you noticed any issues with snails/crabs eating the macro? Also would you be willing to sale me some clippings of some of your stuff? If not where did you get it?

I am considering seahorses/pipefish but I may desire more movement than that as well.
Click to expand...
 
@niteowl03 wrote:
ritter have you noticed any issues with snails/crabs eating the macro? Also would you be willing to sale me some clippings of some of your stuff? If not where did you get it? . said:
I used to have some of those huge Mexican turbo snails and they ate a lot of the macro. The regular turbos haven't touched it yet that I've noticed but I only have a few in there. I don't keep any crabs. I wouldn't mind selling or trading or giving some of mine but I haven't had it long so it will need to grow out some before I trim it. I got mine from a member on r2r named kataro.

http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/selling-forum-livestock/82155-macroalgae-sale-part-ii.html

The prices are a bit high but shipping was cheap. Me and another local guy split an order and ordered different ones so when they grow out we could trade.
Click to expand...
 
When I had the hilmidia in my 37 cube tank I ran filterless the whole time other then a HOB protein skimmer. Also, my 90 is filter less right now other then a HOB skimmer, no overflow, or sump on my tank. I even have a queen angel and bi color in there with other types as well , they're kinda dirty fish. But with enough rock and water movement never have any issues other then my over feeding that leads to high phosphates. That is controlled by not feeding for 1 day and doing 10% water change when it gets up over .5 on the test kit. Just run a little deeper sand bed to help. Here is a pic of the tank about 6 months ago. I need to get updated pics since i have a lot of corals and anenomes now.
47fccf92-66e6-6aa3.jpg
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Thanks for the input burbarry, I was actually considering running a jawfish which would work out with a 3-5" sandbed, I have read that the macro doesnt grow as well with a skimmer because they kinda thrive on the nitrates (hence the reason many people split their drains to the sump). Now I just have to decide if I want a more open aquascape or more full like yours. I would love to put like 4 anthias in there but they need more room. Im hoping to do some "less than" reef safe fish that wont go in the solana... but then again it is only 20g..
 
This is a 20 long correct? If so, I don't think a jaw fish would be appropriate.
I know you can read otherwise elsewhere, but these fish get too large for a 20 gallon.
With a 3"-5" sand bed, (these tunnels can, and should get much deeper)you won't have much vertical space for viewing anyway.
That tank would only allow 7.5"-9.5" of space to the water surface from the proposed sand bed.
I think the planted tank is a sweet idea and you should consider 3-5 tiny fish. Maybe a group of 3 glass cardinals and a Yasha Hayes goby?
I bet with the proper lighting, that tank would explode with gorgeous algaes.
Please keep us posted as you move forward.
 
It is a 20 tall and somehow the yellowhead has a min tank size of 10g and the blue dot has a min tank size of 30...either way I have found nothing at this point to say that they will have any problems in a 20g tank. If I am wrong please let me know
 
It's certainly a fine line, feel free to tread it.

"Assuming we are planning ahead, the ideal sandbed for a jawfish will be at least 10 - 12" deep. Emphasis on "ideal." Sometimes "ideal" is not always realistic. In such cases when 12" of sandbed is not realistic, I would consider 6" as being the absolute minimum. This is a personal observation only. Others have recommended a 3" sandbed as a minimum (Fenner, Wet Web Media). When you take into consideration that the minimum depth for a jawfish's den in the wild is 4", a 3" sandbed seems extremely inadequate."

This is a good read:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-03/hcs3/index.php
 
I have never used a goby or jaw fish in my tank when running filterless. I like to keep the sand bed alone. But, it is about 4-5 inches deep right now.
 
My big question on this setup is lighting... Obviously if I want to add any corals I would need at least T5s but if we assume for a minute that I am only going to run macro algae and fish are T5s the best route? MH? Do we trust LEDs to give the right spectrum for algae growth?
 
Amphitrite's pico has one of these for lighting http://www.amazon.com/CL26RD-Aquarium-Cliplight-including-Moonlight/dp/B003GVPPJQ/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1335890048&sr=8-10
The light has some blue to it, but I would say it is about 10k. She has turtle grass, caulerpa, and dragon's breath and they are all growing very well. Adding a very tiny portion of Kent's Macro-Alage supplement http://www.kentmarine.com/products/kent-iron-manganese.htm really made them take off. One bottle would last forever.
 
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