Sea Grass Growth

[arh1]

I am trying to maintain a tank with Gulf Coast eel grass and turtle grass. It also contains a seahorse and several pipefish. The plants are not doing well with a commercial sea salt mixture. Anyone have ideas/experience with trace element enrichment?

[hobogato]

what are you using for light? those are shallow water plants, so they really like lots of light.

[arh1]

The lamp has four bulbs, all white light. I turned off two of them because it looked like unnatural amount of light, and algae was growing faster than the grass. I have seen other lamps with one or more blue lights. Will different wave lengths help the plants?

[hobogato]

that may be the problem - the color temperature of the light. you should be able to get some plant grow bulbs at a hardware store like lowe's. i would try that first. what kind of nuisance algae to you have?

[corruption]

Not to be a thorn in the side... but isn't collecting Gulf Coast seagrasses illegal? I'm fairly certain that turtle grass is in the protected/restricted list -- but uncertain about eelgrass..

-Justin

[Third Coast Tropical]

To my knowledge, they are restricted in certain areas....if not in those protected areas they could be collected, but IMO should be left alone.....they are important in providing shelter and food for newly settled larvae (both fish and shrimp)....there are ways to simulate seagrasses in an aquarium wihout using actual seagrasses

[corruption]

Thanks for the clarification, Lindsay -- I was uncertain if it was an across-the-board ban, or just regionally restricted... I know that the eelgrass is quite prollific on its own as well...

Good luck!

-Justin

[subsailor]

i have a forty five gallon trough and i am growing a lot of native sea grass in. All of it that i have is legal and i collected only small patches to get it going. It is outside in natural sunligt and everything seems to grow great, however i use a constant flow of natural sea water and it overflows back into the bay.

[hobogato]

must be nice drew - i would love to have a constant supply of clean natural salt water...

got any pics?

[subsailor]

i will take some when i get home next week

[Paul28]

i have a forty five gallon trough and i am growing a lot of native sea grass in. All of it that i have is legal and i collected only small patches to get it going. It is outside in natural sunligt and everything seems to grow great, however i use a constant flow of natural sea water and it overflows back into the bay.

Yeh that must be nice, man i bet that looks cool !!

[Squiers007]

i will take some when i get home next week

Just make sure you check and make sure you are in a legal area before you collect and dont take too much. Thanks in advance for being responsible.

[Richard]

Not to be a thorn in the side... but isn't collecting Gulf Coast seagrasses illegal? I'm fairly certain that turtle grass is in the protected/restricted list -- but uncertain about eelgrass..

-Justin

Here's what TPWD told me....


I have discussed your question with our seagrass experts. It is OK to gather some for personal use only. You may not gather seagrasses for commercial purposes or from the listed Scientific Areas. Any uprooting of seagrasses in those areas is prohibited.

You can find information on the Scientific Areas on page 29 of the 2007-2008 Outdoor Annual. Although the paragraph states “uprooting using a propeller” the intent of the rule was that seagrasses should not be uprooted by any means.

Please also check the following link on our website

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/water/habitats/seagrass/

Regards:

Paul Hammerschmidt
Director of Strategic Planning
Coastal Fisheries Division
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

[Richard]

Here's a good article on keeping seagrasses...

http://www.reefland.com/rho/0305/main3.php


Sounds like you don't have enough light. They need as much light as acro's. A minimum 5 watts per gallon is recommended.

[arh1]

Relax guys/gals. The Aquarium at Rockport Harbor is affiliated with TPWD Coastal Fisheries Division. The grass was collected by one of their biologists.
The lamps I have in the tank are rated at 10,000 K, should be a lot of blue there. Nevertheless found a "grow lamp" at Walmart and added it. We'll see. The other issue is trace elements in the artificial mix. No mention of iron for example. Anyone tried nutritional supplements?

[subsailor]

i have been to the aquarium there, and it is right on the harbor. As the stuff in the tank is native have you considered using nsw? Everyone always say no way however the water from our bay systems is what the stuff you are growing is accustomed to, and it is already filled with all the nutrients needed for growth. It is also very clear water once the sediment settles out. Just a thought.

[arh1]

Natural water would be nice, but a driveway separates us from Aransas Bay, and Rockport harbor has hydrocarbon polution from the boats. Also we have no way to test for red tide.

[corruption]

Perhaps Lindsay or one of the others from UT marine sciences in Port Aransas will chime in here -- they pump from the channel, and they're several blocks away... Someone who's familiar with their pumping/filtration system may have some suggestions on how you can get around a blocks distance between you and the bay..

-Justin

[subsailor]

i would consider pulling straight from the harbor. You mentioned hydrocarbons, but if you are just growing seagrass and native seahorse then they are more than used to it. If you walk down past the yacht club and look right there in the harbor there is a ton of macro flourishing in the harbor water. As far as red tide that should not be a factor as that is tracked in detail by tpw. Just my 02 cents.

[nubz]

how are your seahorses doing? ive tried a few times with some i caught but they died.

[Mr Cob]

must be nice drew - i would love to have a constant supply of clean natural salt water...

got any pics?

I'd like to see some pics as weel. Sounds very interesting!