Seagrass Aquarium at the Ocean Discovery Visitors Center

[Brandon McHenry]

Hey Brandon, thanks for the ideas. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get any cerith snails in my area, however I do have a healthy amount of copepods and amphipods in that section. I've also got some rather interesting slugs, I think they are http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/bullampu but I'm not sure. They absolutely love eating algae and are multiplying like nuts!

Anyways, I've attached a few pictures but algal growth is only a few days old. I used caribsea oolite sand and Caribsea refugium mud, mixing them together for the initial layer and then put a 1" layer of sand on top of that. The total sandbed depth is approximately 4".

Initial:

Today:

So I misspoke, I meant Caribbean cerith snails like the ones in this link:

Cerith Snail: Saltwater Aquarium Invertebrates for Marine Aquariums

Also that is a cool tank you have set up. The sediment choice is perfect in my opinion. AndI have those bubble snails all around where I work. Haven’t noticed much in their ability to clean seagrass blades. I have had that very same algae and I do partially think that it is a seasonal thing and without the exact grazers necessary it’s one of those things that you had to suffer through. I also think you could benefit from some larger snails to work on your glass and sandbed which might help keep the overall tank algae down. Also a small powerhead could work wonders at prevent things from attaching to the blades. What are your NO3 and PO4?

 

[Sltloser]

So I misspoke, I meant Caribbean cerith snails like the ones in this link:

Cerith Snail: Saltwater Aquarium Invertebrates for Marine Aquariums

Also that is a cool tank you have set up. The sediment choice is perfect in my opinion. AndI have those bubble snails all around where I work. Haven’t noticed much in their ability to clean seagrass blades. I have had that very same algae and I do partially think that it is a seasonal thing and without the exact grazers necessary it’s one of those things that you had to suffer through. I also think you could benefit from some larger snails to work on your glass and sandbed which might help keep the overall tank algae down. Also a small powerhead could work wonders at prevent things from attaching to the blades. What are your NO3 and PO4?

That's okay, I figured those were the cerith snails you were thinking of. I'm hoping I can get some in the coming week but will have to see what I can get my hands on with the current pandemic and shutdowns in my area.

Thank you, you can check out my build thread here if you're interested ( https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/custom-40-breeder-aio.698257/ ). I would agree with that observation, I've seen one of them about 3 cm off the substrate on a blade of seagrass but that is about it. I agree about adding more snails, I had 2 red banded trochus snails in that section who were keeping it spotless, but a small algae bloom in the display had me repurpose them for now. The total dimensions on that section are 10" x 10" (if i remember correctly), I've toyed with the idea of a powerhead but haven't yet found one small enough to fit in there without making a complete mess of the substrate. I do get quite a bit of flow through the overflow, the seagrass slowly sways in the current but I agree that more flow would help to keep algae buildup to a minimum. I tested on 3/15 and had NO3: 0 and PO4: .025, I started dosing phytoplankton which may be the driving force for the increased phosphate. I've since cut the dosing in half and need to test again to see what the nutrient load looks like.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

That's okay, I figured those were the cerith snails you were thinking of. I'm hoping I can get some in the coming week but will have to see what I can get my hands on with the current pandemic and shutdowns in my area.

Thank you, you can check out my build thread here if you're interested ( https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/custom-40-breeder-aio.698257/ ). I would agree with that observation, I've seen one of them about 3 cm off the substrate on a blade of seagrass but that is about it. I agree about adding more snails, I had 2 red banded trochus snails in that section who were keeping it spotless, but a small algae bloom in the display had me repurpose them for now. The total dimensions on that section are 10" x 10" (if i remember correctly), I've toyed with the idea of a powerhead but haven't yet found one small enough to fit in there without making a complete mess of the substrate. I do get quite a bit of flow through the overflow, the seagrass slowly sways in the current but I agree that more flow would help to keep algae buildup to a minimum. I tested on 3/15 and had NO3: 0 and PO4: .025, I started dosing phytoplankton which may be the driving force for the increased phosphate. I've since cut the dosing in half and need to test again to see what the nutrient load looks like.

Yeah a few more snails could definitely help. Also some shrimp may help consuming detritus etc. I think you could get quite a few inverts in there which may help keep things clean. I like the idea of phytoplankton and copepods to keep things diverse and healthy. And have you looked into the koralia 240? They should be pretty mild and you could always point it more towards the surface which would help mitigate the flow. How has the seagrass growth itself been?

 

[Sltloser]

Yeah a few more snails could definitely help. Also some shrimp may help consuming detritus etc. I think you could get quite a few inverts in there which may help keep things clean. I like the idea of phytoplankton and copepods to keep things diverse and healthy. And have you looked into the koralia 240? They should be pretty mild and you could always point it more towards the surface which would help mitigate the flow. How has the seagrass growth itself been?

Shrimp are a good idea, I was toying with ordering some mysid shrimp to see if I could keep them alive in the sump/display. As a fellow biologist I've always tried to work from the bottom up when it comes to setting up marine aquariums and creating successful food webs, so far it has worked very well for all of my aquariums! I haven't seen that one, I've been searching for used pumps around here but that one looks fairly inexpensive so I may need to just go ahead and purchase it.

The growth has been good, I've noticed about every 1.5-2 weeks new leaves are coming up from the same stem. There is some turn over as leaves turn yellow and die, but new leaves are always pushing up right behind them. The one thing I have not noticed (which may be because I didn't take good stock of where each stem was when they were planted) is rhizomatous growth leading to new new stems and leaves. I'm not sure what the typical growth rate for rhizomes and roots are on seagrass, but I've been patiently waiting for new stems to push through the sandbed!

 

[Sltloser]

Thought I'd give you an update since we talked last. I got an order of live sand in from Indo Pacific sea farms which brought in some new copepods, they decided the algae on the seagrass was delicious! Since then everything has been doing very well.

One question as well, are you supplementing the roots with anything to encourage growth?

April 27th

June 17th

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Thought I'd give you an update since we talked last. I got an order of live sand in from Indo Pacific sea farms which brought in some new copepods, they decided the algae on the seagrass was delicious! Since then everything has been doing very well.

One question as well, are you supplementing the roots with anything to encourage growth?

April 27th

June 17th

Look at those pods! Looks like they did a number on your epiphytes, that’s great! I do supplement the sandbed with Seachem Flourish tabs for freshwater planted tanks. They seem to work well and keep the “fertilization” in the sand and not available to the algae in the water column.

 

[Sltloser]

Look at those pods! Looks like they did a number on your epiphytes, that’s great! I do supplement the sandbed with Seachem Flourish tabs for freshwater planted tanks. They seem to work well and keep the “fertilization” in the sand and not available to the algae in the water column.

Yep, they have absolutely destroyed all epiphytic algae in the system (they have taken hold in the display as well).

For application, are you just pushing a tab into the sand in close proximity to the roots? How often are you adding them?

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Yep, they have absolutely destroyed all epiphytic algae in the system (they have taken hold in the display as well).

For application, are you just pushing a tab into the sand in close proximity to the roots? How often are you adding them?

Yes i just shove the tabs into the sand spaced out every few inches. I usually add more every 3-4 months or so.

 

[Sltloser]

Yes i just shove the tabs into the sand spaced out every few inches. I usually add more every 3-4 months or so.

Thank you for the info, I'll try this out and see how it goes!

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Thank you for the info, I'll try this out and see how it goes!

You’re welcome! Keep me posted!

 

[ThePurple12]

This tank is beautiful! Definitely one of my goals.

I was wondering if you could help me. Do you know the nitrate and phosphate levels of your tank? I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with my seagrasses (shoal and Johnsonii). They haven't been doing well for the past several months. They used to grow like weeds, but now there's no growth at all. Adding dirt and even rose fertilizer to the sand bed didn't help much.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

This tank is beautiful! Definitely one of my goals.

I was wondering if you could help me. Do you know the nitrate and phosphate levels of your tank? I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with my seagrasses (shoal and Johnsonii). They haven't been doing well for the past several months. They used to grow like weeds, but now there's no growth at all. Adding dirt and even rose fertilizer to the sand bed didn't help much.

Thanks! Both nitrate and phosphate run near zero, it’s practically a big refugium lol. I fertilize the sand bed with Seachem Flourish tabs every few months, it works pretty well. I also keep around a 6 deep sandbed which is important to root growth. I know that seagrasses can be finicky at times. Any pics?

 

[ThePurple12]

It's not that yellow in person, I promise

 

[Brandon McHenry]

It's not that yellow in person, I promise

How old is the tank? I’ve noticed it takes a while for the grass to build up momentum.

 

[ThePurple12]

It was set up in January, and some of the sand is 3 years old.

What really bothers me is that the grass was thriving a few months ago, and the only change was a light upgrade from 150w MH to 250w MH. This happened recently, after the grass had already stopped growing.

I've tried raising nitrate to 15 ppm from .5 ppm and so far nothing. Maybe the tank is better off at low nitrate, but the macroalgae is loving it.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

It was set up in January, and some of the sand is 3 years old.

What really bothers me is that the grass was thriving a few months ago, and the only change was a light upgrade from 150w MH to 250w MH. This happened recently, after the grass had already stopped growing.

I've tried raising nitrate to 15 ppm from .5 ppm and so far nothing. Maybe the tank is better off at low nitrate, but the macroalgae is loving it.

I may try fertilizing the sandbed, the roots may need some nutrients to build up a solid foundation.

 

[ThePurple12]

Thanks for the help, I’ll try adding more fertilizer.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Thanks for the help, I’ll try adding more fertilizer.

Take a look into the Seachem flourish tabs. Push them a few inches into the sediment and that should help!

 

[CMMorgan]

Hi guys!
I work as a graduate student assistant and aquarist at the Ocean Discovery Visitors Center. We are a small educational facility designed to showcase all of the research being conducted by the marine scientists and engineers at Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, which is located in Fort Pierce, Florida. We have recently renovated the visitors center to include several aquariums that highlight some of our research areas. As a long time hobbyist and member of Reef2Reef I wanted to show everyone here some of the aquariums we have built.

Also check out two of my other threads about aquariums at the Ocean Discovery Visitors Center

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/1...t-the-ocean-discovery-visitors-center.413700/

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sponge-reef-at-the-ocean-discovery-visitors-center.409311/

The aquarium I would like to highlight is our first ever build that is part of our Marine Ecosystem Health Exhibit. This tank showcases the beauty and importance of seagrass ecosystems that are found in the Indian River Lagoon.

For those of you who are not aware, the Indian River Lagoon is an estuary (which is a mix of freshwater from inland and saltwater from the ocean) of national significance that runs approximately 156 miles along the east coast of Florida. It encompasses 6 inlets from Ponce Inlet in the north to Jupiter Inlet in the south and is made up of the Indian River, the Mosquito Lagoon and the Banana River.

The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) contributes nearly $8 billion to Florida's economy each year and it is the most biologically diverse estuary in North America. It is home to approximately 2,200 animal species and 2,100 plant species. Much of the animal diversity in the IRL is driven by our 7 different species of seagrass that grow throughout the estuary. Seagrasses are submerged flowering plants that provide a nursery ground habitat for the nearly 1,000 fish species that live in the lagoon. These fish serve as a huge source of recreation for fisherman as well as an important food source for many wading birds and upper level predators like dolphin. Seagrasses are also an important food source for the manatee population that live here in the IRL.

It is for these reasons that the seagrass in the IRL are of critical importance and why we have decided to highlight them in this build. Our researchers here at FAU Harbor Branch work to study seagrass by conducting transects to determine coverage in our local areas as well as the impacts that water quality have on the seagrass beds in the Indian River Lagoon. Unfortunately, there has been a significant decline in seagrasses coverage throughout the IRL, upwards of 60% loss overall. Much of this decline is due to increasing poor water quality, freshwater releases, algae blooms and increasing storm severity. Due to these losses we are seeing a decline in the abundance and diversity of fish in impacted areas. In order to combat these losses our research team is working to aquaculture seagrass in an effort to eventually transplant these critically important species back into the estuary.

This is a build that has gone through many ups and downs and I will be showing some of the difficulties that I have run into while trying to grow these fairly tricky species.

Current system supplies:
30 gallon Clear for Life Acrylic Aquarium
2 Aquaillumination Hydra 52 HD LEDs
Aqueon 1700 Return Pump
Reef Octopus Classic 90 HOB Skimmer
Jebao PP-8 Powerhead
Coralife 9 watt UV Sterilizer
Eheim 100 watt Heater

Humble beginnings:
6 inch live sand/mud bed

Floating seagrass fragments were collected from behind our campus after a significant storm and planted into our aquarium. We chose to showcase the three most common species found within our area of the IRL.
Thallasia testudinum (Turtle grass)
Syringodium fileforme (Manatee grass)
Halodule wrightii (Shoal grass)

Since all of the livestock was collected from the local environment, we found we were prone to many types of algae blooms. Our first was a cyanobacteria bloom that covered our sandbed and persisted until we found...

...our little superhero! This ragged sea hare devoured all of the cyanobacteria in our seagrass tank and made it look brand new again.

Another issue that we have encountered in this build is the presence of epiphytes. Epiphytes are small plants or algae that grow on the surfaces of other plants, in this case our seagrass. However, by finding the right grazers we were able to naturally control these epiphytes within our tank.

But its not all bad. While we have been through many difficulties with this tank we have also been able to see some really cool things.

This is a seagrass flower found on our Turtle grass. Our seagrass researches were very excited because this was the first time they had ever seen this particular species produce a flower.

After almost two years this aquarium has changed quite a bit. We have had a tremendous amount of growth and have also been able to house some really neat juvenile estuarine fish.

We currently have:
1 juvenile spot porgy
1 juvenile filefish (not identified)
1 sleeper goby (not identified)
1 algae eating blenny (not identified)

I hope everyone enjoys and learned something about the Indian River Lagoon and the importance of seagrass beds. I will keep everyone posted with pictures and updates as we make changes!

You are giving me goosebumps. My grandfather was the chairman of the NJ Soil and Water Conservation. I grew up helping him conduct studies on dune grasses to protect our coastline. I've always wondered if sea grass could be successful in a reef tank. I am following you... your threads are the stuff of childhood dreams.
My grandmother lives in Vero. If we ever get passed this Covid-19, I'll come pay you a visit.

 

[ThePurple12]

Can we get an update? FTS?