I was going to write this up in @Lasse 's article thread, but it's too much of a disgression.
Anyway, after my tank crash, I'm thinking of the next tank. Part of me wants to do two interconnected tanks, a smaller (maybe 20G/75L) seagrass lagoon tank and a larger (maybe 40 breeder/150L) 25-45m/mesophotic reef tank.
But then another part of me wants to be, initially at least, more realistic, and this will be the focus of this thread: a nano seagrass tank (at least 9"/22cm high, since I need a 3-4"/7.5-10cm sandbed).
(Honestly, if the nano is successful, I can transplant it to the seagrass side of the dual tank whenever the dual tank is set up. Probably in the summer - after the current Beer Flu Lockdown is over, we want to redo the floors before getting any decent sized tank)
I did a comparison between @Lasse 's method and the Walstad method (the latter of which I had been thinking about for this potential tank, before Lasse specifically recommended I consider it)
The main difference between the methods seems to be that Walstad recommends going all out at first for the potting soil+ initial quick growing plants to basically set up a biofilter and then let it mature. In comparison, Lasse recommends getting the biofilter from wet live rock initially, and then sustaining it and building it up slowly and gradually with first one fish, then the CUC, then a few soft corals, etc. Of course, the biomass in a Walstad tank is mostly plants, while Lasse's biomass does not have any plants in it save for what one might add into the refugium months down the line.
I'm not sure that there are any marine equivalents to Walstad's inital recommendation of quick growing plants- I suppose the closest marine equivalent would be to use macro algae like various caulerpa and gracilara species first, vice seagrass (real plants) since seagrass generally grows slower.
At the same time, many macroalgae species do not need any sand at all to grow, and it seems the rhyzome does not derive nutrients from the soil (a major different with Walstad's quick growing freshwater plants). According to live-plants.com, ones that prefer the sand include C. prolifera (fast grower), paspaloides (fast), cupressoides (slow grower). I may also try gracilaria and ulva as fast growers, maybe on a piece of rock or somesuch.
The fact that macroalgae don't apparently take nutrient from the soil (unlike seagrass which I intend to add once the tank stabilizes, and once they are commercially available later this year!) raises the whole question of whether to imitate the walstad method for a seagrass tank. I've also looked around; some folks recommend Walstad's method of using potting soil as the base, other folks recommend using the various marine mud varieties. (I will also call my intended future seagrass vendor, floridapets, to see their recommendation).
(a key worry would be that the macroalgae would dissolve initially, which was my previous experience admittedly in a then-new reef tank. This time hopefully there will be more ammonia and the like available, though I might have to dose nitrates carefully at first)
Lasse recommends adding one hardy fish early to add ammonia to the tank, while dosing nitrifying bacteria, as well as (if needed) Prime or similar things to reduce ammonia. Half a week later he recommends a CUC. Walstad recommends adding fish only once the nitrogen cycle has stablized - i.e. Nitrates are 0, and it shows the whole soil -> fast plants system has stabilized after two months or so. Only then does the Walstad method recommend fish, though it allows for a CUC earlier for microalgae as needed.
Anyway, for my plan, I'd add a Koumansetta rainfordi, a few snails and shrimps for a CUC, then Halimeda incrassata and a soft coral, then my seagrasses, and maybe later a Stonogobiops nematodes+shrimp or a Opistognathus aurifrons (I love the latter fish very much).
Anyway, people's thoughts and experience would be welcome.
I am now particularly interested if people recommend a skimmer, and significant amounts of live rock or other media for nitrification/denitrification or not, and if so at what time I should employ them. It would seem that oxygenation is not a problem for a planted tank, and a skimmer might thereby cause problems.
I'm also considering an oxydator, per @Lasse 's thread, but again am unsure if it's not counterproductive to the whole planted marine tank objective.
Anyway, after my tank crash, I'm thinking of the next tank. Part of me wants to do two interconnected tanks, a smaller (maybe 20G/75L) seagrass lagoon tank and a larger (maybe 40 breeder/150L) 25-45m/mesophotic reef tank.
But then another part of me wants to be, initially at least, more realistic, and this will be the focus of this thread: a nano seagrass tank (at least 9"/22cm high, since I need a 3-4"/7.5-10cm sandbed).
(Honestly, if the nano is successful, I can transplant it to the seagrass side of the dual tank whenever the dual tank is set up. Probably in the summer - after the current Beer Flu Lockdown is over, we want to redo the floors before getting any decent sized tank)
I did a comparison between @Lasse 's method and the Walstad method (the latter of which I had been thinking about for this potential tank, before Lasse specifically recommended I consider it)
The main difference between the methods seems to be that Walstad recommends going all out at first for the potting soil+ initial quick growing plants to basically set up a biofilter and then let it mature. In comparison, Lasse recommends getting the biofilter from wet live rock initially, and then sustaining it and building it up slowly and gradually with first one fish, then the CUC, then a few soft corals, etc. Of course, the biomass in a Walstad tank is mostly plants, while Lasse's biomass does not have any plants in it save for what one might add into the refugium months down the line.
I'm not sure that there are any marine equivalents to Walstad's inital recommendation of quick growing plants- I suppose the closest marine equivalent would be to use macro algae like various caulerpa and gracilara species first, vice seagrass (real plants) since seagrass generally grows slower.
At the same time, many macroalgae species do not need any sand at all to grow, and it seems the rhyzome does not derive nutrients from the soil (a major different with Walstad's quick growing freshwater plants). According to live-plants.com, ones that prefer the sand include C. prolifera (fast grower), paspaloides (fast), cupressoides (slow grower). I may also try gracilaria and ulva as fast growers, maybe on a piece of rock or somesuch.
The fact that macroalgae don't apparently take nutrient from the soil (unlike seagrass which I intend to add once the tank stabilizes, and once they are commercially available later this year!) raises the whole question of whether to imitate the walstad method for a seagrass tank. I've also looked around; some folks recommend Walstad's method of using potting soil as the base, other folks recommend using the various marine mud varieties. (I will also call my intended future seagrass vendor, floridapets, to see their recommendation).
(a key worry would be that the macroalgae would dissolve initially, which was my previous experience admittedly in a then-new reef tank. This time hopefully there will be more ammonia and the like available, though I might have to dose nitrates carefully at first)
Lasse recommends adding one hardy fish early to add ammonia to the tank, while dosing nitrifying bacteria, as well as (if needed) Prime or similar things to reduce ammonia. Half a week later he recommends a CUC. Walstad recommends adding fish only once the nitrogen cycle has stablized - i.e. Nitrates are 0, and it shows the whole soil -> fast plants system has stabilized after two months or so. Only then does the Walstad method recommend fish, though it allows for a CUC earlier for microalgae as needed.
Anyway, for my plan, I'd add a Koumansetta rainfordi, a few snails and shrimps for a CUC, then Halimeda incrassata and a soft coral, then my seagrasses, and maybe later a Stonogobiops nematodes+shrimp or a Opistognathus aurifrons (I love the latter fish very much).
Anyway, people's thoughts and experience would be welcome.
I am now particularly interested if people recommend a skimmer, and significant amounts of live rock or other media for nitrification/denitrification or not, and if so at what time I should employ them. It would seem that oxygenation is not a problem for a planted tank, and a skimmer might thereby cause problems.
I'm also considering an oxydator, per @Lasse 's thread, but again am unsure if it's not counterproductive to the whole planted marine tank objective.
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