Planted Marine Tank

miuYH · #1 12-05-2012, 07:03 PM

Not sure where to put this thread but I thought this was the most appropriate section.

I was just wondering if anybody has a planted marine tank?

I am just curious because I am trying to set up one and I have no clue where to begin searching for seagrass or macro algae. So if you do have one, where did you get them from? Or do LFS carry them?

So for those that have not heard of this emerging type of biotope, it is just using all sorts of seagrass and macro algae to create a saltwater planted aquarium.

Some examples:

whatcaneyedo · #2 12-05-2012, 07:14 PM

Its nothing new, its just not mainstream. Some of my older books also refer to them as 'Dutch Reefs'. J&L always seems to have a modest selection of macro algae to choose from these days. You may also want to consider just buying some fresh new liverock and seeing what pops up.

Ska's 28 Macro Algae Display is one of the few on this forum
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=43602

ferret · #3 12-05-2012, 08:16 PM

Before you start a saltwater plant tank, you need to consider what kind of other inhabitants you're going to keep in the system. You must stay away from fishes like tangs, rabbits, angels etc. for they will finish eating all your algae within a few days ( I experienced introducing 2 angelfish which was an impulse buy around 3" in size into my 120 gal macro algae system which had been running for a few years and was ruined by these little guys just in 2 weeks ). Moreover, you can't keep some of the snails like turbo and any large size of hermit crabs.

You may place a special order for the macro algae and seagrass from your LFS (usually supplied from Philippines & Indonesia, supplier from US is another topic) and J&L is a good choice. An alternative way is to visit your LFS knowing the arrival of new shipment of LRs and corals for some algae are attached as hitchhikes. If you're looking for the macro algae you need the live rocks for the holdfast of the algae while seagrass requires a deep sand bed (min. 4" - 5") and mud is the best.

I set up another small system (40 gal) early this year for seaweed together with 30 nos. + shrimps ( mainly sexy, ghost & long nose ) and just added a few dragon face pipefish once the system is matured. To me, saltwater plant tank is the best for keeping pipefish.