A Seagrass and Deep Sand Bed Theory...

[WheatToast]

Could seagrasses be the solution to deep sand bed issues? My belief is that they could eliminate nutrient and organic buildup as they can only take in nutrients through their roots (edit: when they become too much for the bacteria and other organisms in the sand to handle). As a bonus, they also host large amounts of biodiversity on and around their blades. But maybe they are more of a trouble than they're worth. Seagrasses require VERY high lighting and trace minerals (which could be provided with freshwater root tabs). They also grow somewhat slowly and may add oxygen into DSBs through their roots (perhaps not enough to make them go aerobic though). Please tell me what you know or have to say about this topic.

This person appears to be succeeding:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1005370

 

[ZoWhat]

Close.... nutrients best controlled by these guys. It's their job commissioned by God himself

 

[WheatToast]

Close.... nutrients best controlled by these guys. It's their job commissioned by God himself

View attachment 2295030

Do they (I'm guessing phytoplankton) live in/draw nutrients out of the substrate? I'm pretty sure they are almost entirely limited to the water column.

 

[WheatToast]

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[Cory]

One benefit to seagrass is they would move the sand, keeping it oxygenated and thus preven h2s formation. Fwiw I have a bare bottom tank. I love the look, but the amount of dirt that accumulates weekly makes me not put it in.

 

[Ghost25]

Close.... nutrients best controlled by these guys. It's their job commissioned by God himself

I see you posting about this constantly. Can you post a full shot of your tank? It's much easier to take advice from someone when you see what the results actually are.

 

[WheatToast]

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[WheatToast]

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[WheatToast]

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[WheatToast]

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[WheatToast]

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[Fishfreak2009]

It's something I would like to eventually try. I snorkel the seagrass beds here in St Kitts once to twice weekly on my way out to the reefs, and they really are pretty neat. Looks like a sea of green at first, but as you focus they come alive with various fish and inverts

 

[WheatToast]

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[Greatreefer]

I would think this would work with the DSB and the sea grasses. I'd be willing to give it a shot however, cannot seen to find sea grass for sale anywhere online.
Wonder if you could also use CO2 injection?

 

[fermentedhiker]

I've had the same problem locating them for sale, especially the shorter species that would fit in a normal tank height. The restrictions on collection are pretty strict so I'm not sure that's going to change anytime soon. I've had a plan for an attatched low boy style tank(rubbermaid 50 gallon trough) with some mangroves along the back and something like star grass along the front with a school of psuedomugil cyanodorsalis mostly by themselves.

Maybe someday.

 

[WheatToast]

however, cannot seen to find sea grass for sale anywhere online.

I've had the same problem locating them for sale, especially the shorter species that would fit in a normal tank height.

Try to give these guys a call to see what they can source :
Aquaticus Plants
Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratories
Gulf of Maine

 

[Greatreefer]

Try to give these guys a call to see what they can source :
Aquaticus Plants
Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratories
Gulf of Maine

Dude. This is AWESOME! Anyone have any tips for keeping the sea grass long term?

 

[WheatToast]

Dude. This is AWESOME! Anyone have any tips for keeping the sea grass long term?

You are welcome! Here are some good reads :
Marine Plants in the Aquarium
Beyond the Refugium: Seagrass Aquaria by Sarah Lardizabal
Seagrass and the Reef Aquarium

 

[WheatToast]

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[BaghdadBean]

So, I’m coming back into this from a long, long hiatus out of the hobby, but I had always planned on seagrasses in my in sump refugium. I even had my sump custom built to accommodate them, and the deep substrates that they need. I wanted to mess about with testing out miracle mud vs regular oolitic sand, so I had the sea grass compartment further divided to keep apart the two substrates. I figured, keeping it contained like this would make it easier for bed removal if it didn’t work out, especially if I used nylon screen material to line each compartment, making pouches, in essence, of each material. It won’t remove every scrap, but it’ll sure help, especially as the bed sediments mature and stick together. Then I could repurpose the compartments to shallow beds and macroalgae if the seagrasses didn’t work out, or even to mangroves if I felt like it. I had this built during the hay days of DSB tanks, and I maintained a 6” DSB in my 125 for a number of years before selling it. I never had as many issues with the 125 and nutrients as I did with my 58 which only had a 2” sand bed, but I also had blue spotted jawfish in the 125 and nothing but inverts in the 58. I’m kind of a tinkerer though, I ran a number of totally different reef tanks to test things out, with various levels of success. The hobby has come a long ways since I was active in it, but I still just really enjoy the challenge of messing with a good thing and hoping it comes out okay.