Amp's 25g Cube Seagrass build REDUX

[Amphiprion]

Well, I'm now feeding 3 cubes (edit: sometimes 4, like today) of food daily, plus pellets in this 25g. We'll see how this works out, because so far, the growth has been keeping everything down. Theoretically, I should be able to feed a good deal more than that without much worry. I'm just going to be ramping it up slowly, though.

 

[Amphiprion]

This stuff is nutz

This is a pic of the grass growing under the shade of a rock and a piece of Ulva (one of the only pieces left). It is actually growing up the glass and well above the substrate (which, due to flow, is non-existent here). It has officially circumnavigated the tank, now.

 

[Amphiprion]

Well, after being busy for about a week and unable to feed the tank as often as I need, I've noticed some issues. The grasses in the front have yellowed noticeably, which concerns me a bit. I'm working on feeding very heavily for a few day (~5x daily, 4 cubes per day) to see if that makes a difference. I may have to start heavily broadcast feeding phytoplankton, too. I'll see how the increased feeding works. Phosphate and nitrate are now undetectable.

 

[Amphiprion]

Well, the yellowing has spread to more of the front-most plants and some of them are beginning to rot away. That's kinda what I was afraid of. To hopefully help combat this, in addition to the extra food, I've purchased some root tabs that are used in FW planted tanks and inserted several amongst the yellowed grasses. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do in the areas where the grass has died. I've also tuned the Vortech a bit higher to hopefully curb and potential diseases, which may spread with more decay in stagnant areas.

 

[Amphiprion]

Wow. Woke up to a milky white tank this morning. Luckily, everything is still alive. There wasn't any kalkwasser left in the container, but it was already empty yesterday afternoon, so that didn't cause it. The only thing I can attribute it to is the plant tabs. I think one may still be exposed to the water column, but I can't find it in the middle of the grass. As long as the fish and few corals are fine with it, I can live with some temporary cloudiness. We'll see what happens. I'll be mixing some water for a water change tonight just in case.

 

[Conski]

Hope all your progress doesnt turn to crap with this man.. good luck

 

[Amphiprion]

I don't *think* it will. Like I said, everything still seems to be good hours later, but it's still pretty cloudy. I doubt there will be any significant algae issues, either. I just don't want anything potentially happening to my fish and corals. I know the grasses and algae can handle the rest, though.

 

[Rollinondubz200]

that sux man this is a sweet tank would hate to see it crash

 

[Amphiprion]

Well, still pretty cloudy. Everything still doing fine, as usual. Unfortunately, the seagrass still looks pretty rough. More and more of the front portions are simply turning yellow, then brown, and rotting. Not sure what to think or if it will affect the rest of the population. It can't be any sort of anoxia, because seagrasses thrive in anoxic substrates to begin with. They are also fully capable of coping with hydrogen sulfide. I can still only suspect a fairly extreme N deficiency.

 

[Amphiprion]

LOL, I can't win. My brand new return pump crapped out on me (I obviously have terrible luck with returns). It's been running sumpless for 3 days now until I have the time and opportunity to fix it. I've got an air pump running in the sump to keep that going, but the display looks fine in terms of the animals. Nothing looks out of order. Unfortunately, my poor seagrass continues to die at an alarming rate. I've already got fairly large dead patches in previously very healthy stands. I'm no longer sure exactly what is doing it, since it is still doing it after purposely adding potassium nitrate (and getting a measurable reading). I guess all I can do is wait and see.