RUNAS Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Hi there, during a trip to the beach to get some hardy little rock pool fish to help cycling my take I found a rock covered in bright green leafy seaweed, sooo I thought great, thats cool, Ive got a home for you! Now three weeks down the track all is still well, my blennys,triple fins, olive rock fish and glass shrimps are all doing awsome as well as the sea weed. Im currently going through the diatom phase which I understand will pass, but is the sea weed a wise idea? the fish certainly love it. RUNAS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Do you mean sea lettuce? I used to collect this for my local marine and it looked great and the fish and other inhabitants loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#!CrunchBang Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Sounds like ulva which will be fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirt Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Ulva= genus of sea lettuce? That's IIRC from biology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNAS Posted April 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Yes I suppose it would be called that, please forgive my aquaculture ignorance, :nilly: I was concerned that it may create unwanted "stuff" in the system at this stage,I also got some red anenomes(noobie to marine) which I was told after I put them in ,that this early on they werent a good idea,they need good light good water quality etc, well I have about 15 baby ones now! in three weeks. I fear these are going to be a problem if they are spreading this quick! I will endevour to post photos soon RUNAS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 blood red anemones replicate when under stress you don't need fish to cycle your tank just patience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNAS Posted April 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Is this sea lettuce? Livingart That does make sense, their introduction was probably quite stressfull which may have caused it. They seem to be all happy now, open like the one in the pic RUNAS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#!CrunchBang Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Yep that's sea lettuce/ulva. looks good too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNAS Posted April 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Thanks for that One thing I forgot to ask,will it start growing on other rocks? I would like it to. I also have a little sprout of a red looking one too, which im keeping an eye on, I would like abit of that on other rocks also. Im guessing it will need a fair bit of light(correct me if im wrong)which I "think" I have? 2x39w sunlight and 2x39w blue t5s over a 900x600x350 tank,for the sea lettuce to grow better,but due to my diatoms at the moment Im leaving the off most of the day,theyre only on for about 4 hours total,at the moment. Any advice or info appreciated. RUNAS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 When I had a cold marine I didn't have much light on it and the red anemones were fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNAS Posted April 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 "When I had a cold marine I didn't have much light on it and the red anemones were fine." Sorry Caryl I should have been clearer, I was refering to the sea lettuce, I have a little sprout of a similar looking one to the green varitey but red. Not the anenomes. Does the sea lettuce spore or some such thing to spread? RUNAS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 The sea lettuce will die once available nutrients have diminished. The Olive rock fish will grow quickly and then eat all your shrimps/triplefins The red anenomes will do fine for a while, but really need to go in and out of the water like they do in nature for a long life. Unlike tropical nems, they do not require lots of life, they will move into the shade if too much. like LA said, all you need to cycle the tank is a dead shrimp or mussell, not live stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNAS Posted April 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Well on that bombshell, we shall wait and see. I will keep tabs on things. RUNAS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 you can mitigate some of the bad things that may happen by doing 2 x weekly water changes with fresh salt water cold water marine takes longer to cycle and then mature than tropical marine or fresh water systems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 To make that sea lettuce grow somewhere, point a pump at the place you want it to grow, it will start, even on a bit of glass. That anemone is not photosynthetic, however that is kind of a bad thing because you have to feed it, chopped mussel is good. But that adds nutrients to the tank, and if you don't feed they slowly die. In the comparative stillness of a tank they tend to gradually shrivel up also. Ideally you want some kind of way to really blast the crap out of it very 6 hours or so, same as they get bashed around by waves in the tidal zones they live in. If you can do it they are pretty though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNAS Posted April 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Hey thanks WASP, They are funny creatures I have to admit, I am "trying" as we all do to recreate the natural flows so to speak of the ocean, my setup has great flow and water circulation. I feed the anenomes a micro plankton every second day, when I feed the fish, I shut the pumps down when I do and the result is really cool! The whole tank comes more alive, the anenomes puff right up(more than usual) they must have receptors or some thing cause they know when its feeding time! I shut it down for about half an hour and then start up the tunze recir nano pump 1st then the main return pump 20 mins after that. I have considered timing the main pump to shut down for an hour every six hours and time the nano accordingly but as this stage Ill keep it as is. :smot: Sadly I couldnt get a VSD (variable speed drive) or a VFD (variable freqency drive) for the main pump, if I could have it would have ment I could have a automated control of the main return pump to speed right up eg in comming tide/full tide and slow back down slowly eg low tide, and it change every six hours But because of the type of pumps I have I couldnt do it. YET! Im enjoying it heaps, keeps my brain full. RUNAS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 You can't really have enough flow, the more the better. One thing you'll fine if you can maintain or grow some seaweed is that it becomes a trap for all the crap floating around, some like the rimu weed a natural filter wool. I brush mine, daily with a bottle brush and siphon it clean with water changes weekly, and this on a mature 2plus yo system. I have a mp20, and 2 sunsuns, and strong return and need at least that much again - like wasp has said, the seaweeds and associated life are use to huge currents and surges, but you need it more in a tank to keep it clean. In a small tank like yours, growing seaweed will consume nutrients pretty quickly, and i find can start growth, die back, growth cycles. Sorry if i sounded a bit blunt, wasn't the intention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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