Amp's 25g Cube Seagrass build REDUX

Benson said:
Nice thread Amp... it's good to see you push through all the troubles... I will keep that in mind as I work through problems with my new FOWLR tank... soon to be a reef tank!!!
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Thanks! The best advice that I can give you in light of everything is to make things easier for yourself. Quarantine and look for problems instead of just waiting for them to manifest. Deal with it before it becomes an issue. Unfortunately, I took the cheaper/lazier route and ended up with a small nightmare in the end.
 
Getting the shipment of more live sand tomorrow from two different sources. I'm also going to one of the LFSs to pick up a bit of sand, etc. as well. The algae/seagrass shipment should be coming in, as well, so it will be a busy day. I've got Halodule beaudettei and Thalassia testudinum coming--not sure how the latter will do, but we'll see.
 
Arrival

Well, the grasses and live sands came in today. So far, I ended up getting a few extras, like a few extra shoots of Thalassia as well as a nice surprise of Syringodium, though only one of the latter. Other than that, I got a boatload of shoal grass--more than enough to fill the tank.
 
Okay, some pics as promised. I added some phytoplankton, which made the water appear quite yellow-green. As a result, I adjusted the white balance a bit so that it looked closer to the way it did yesterday. You can see the onset of diatoms from the pics as well.

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This order of shoal grass was ridiculous. I ordered one unit of it and this is about a third of what I actually received. I also ordered 2 Thalassia shoots and got 4. The portions were overly generous. You can see the single thicker-bladed Syringodium in the middle and the obvious Thalassia blades in the back. Hopefully all does well. I'm waiting for the initial die-back that almost always occurs I'm expecting a big comeback afterwards, though. I'm also enjoying the various textures of the sand. The several sources of live sand I received have made a fairly diverse particle size distribution. Looks very, very similar to the sandy areas I've seen in grass beds in the Caribbean.
 
Quick update--not much to talk about, short of the fact that I've finally placed my fish back into the system. They're thrilled. The tank is also finally clearing up, but is still somewhat hazy. The other good news is that the grasses are already sprouting! I was especially surprised to see the Thalassia already pushing out new shoots. One thing I did do for these, in particular, was to place small bits (~1/10th) of a plant fertilizer tablet at their bases. These tabs have some nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, as well as potassium, so it should give the Thalassia a good head start. The shoal and oar grass has sprouted some new shoots, as well. Pics to come when the tank clears and I get the opportunity.
 
Some pics:

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The little extra sprouts of oargrass were not purposely planted. They popped up from a single sprig I planted in the front corner The older leaves on the shoal grass have died back, but are sprouting green again, as you can see. Unfortunately, I couldn't really get a decent pic of the Thalassia sprouting. It's getting there, though. I am happy with it so far.
 
ok, this is killing me and I have to know, why don't you clean the sides and back glass/powerhead/overflow box of all the dust? Toothbrush would take like 2 minutes on your size tank. LOL. Just one of those things that would drive me crazy, guess one my of OCD things, cleaning glass. Grass is looking good, nice to see new green things popping up.
 
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