# Planted saltwater tank



## CampCreekTexas (Feb 28, 2007)

Pictures!!!!! PLEASE! And where are you going to buy the plants?


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

I _would_ like to see this. Lots of folks have posted intentions, but I've never seen it realized.

Thought I might help out. Here's some "inspirational video" from my last trip .


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## chinchek787 (Aug 28, 2005)

CampCreekTexas said:


> Pictures!!!!! PLEASE! And where are you going to buy the plants?


There is a link on ReefCentral under the macro and plants section that has several sites to choose from.


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## chinchek787 (Aug 28, 2005)

Here is a pic of the old tank but unfortunatly it is to big for my dorm.










Something similar but with more growth


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## CampCreekTexas (Feb 28, 2007)

chinchek787 said:


> There is a link on ReefCentral under the macro and plants section that has several sites to choose from.


Thanks! I'll have to go check those links out. I'm not ready for a SW tank at all, but I still like to look at them. And now that #2 and #3 sons are getting into it, I might surprise them with some plants (after doing research to make sure they'll fit into what they're doing of course).


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Never seen a marine planted tank?

Here's mine:









I only had one damsel, could not catch him.








Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

I should have known Barr would have tried this :hihi:.

Nothing like I expected, Tom. I wouldn't have thought that kind of diversity existed and that you could do so much scaping. How much of that stuff is algae? Cnidaria? Macrophytes?


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

All algae, 43 species successfully grown, took a lot of picking and 9 months to get it this way. So this is tough tank top produce, but awesome looking macro algae, many are weeds by many marine aquarists standards.

But I like to see what and how to induce algae.
So I have a skill few possess there.
They will not allow this tank in any planted competitions either, ADA, AGA etc etc. 

I guess if the judges don't have a clue or it's too novel, they give up:thumbsdow 

I think the same should be stated for non CO2 vs CO2 plant tank competitions myself.

It's all Aquatic horticulture.

Well, I had some Thalassia but it had too much competition really to bloom out nicely and the same for the Syrengonium.
I like Halophia more.
Seagrass tends to get pretty tall in a tank also, pretty weedy. 

I'll have another coming up this Fall for the 120 Reef with the 70 Gallon Macro scape filter for the reef. The reef will have the front foreground of the Halophia in the main tank.

Not quite sure yet, depends on the fish selection.










I have a 40 Cube that's going to be a cold water macro tank with Volcano sponge, Green aneome, Yound orange garibaldi, red/blue gobies, shrimp, and a dozen or so tidepool plants such as the one above. All native CA critters and weeds.

The issue was similar to plants back in the early 1990's, no one carries weeds. So you have to go get them.

This is nice in a away though, because you see the habitat and can learn a lot. I was light years ahead of folks on this planted area.

But still, no scaping competitions allow it(I asked and was flatly refused: too easy to win I guess)

But if you become an innovator and open up a whole new level of aquatic horticulture, you often run into harsh criticisms.
So tenacity is a good trait to possess.

Amano said that all the designs and scapes have pretty much all been done.
I resoundly disagree.

I generally post on ReefCentral under the macro algae section.
Samala has become quite good at marine macro culture and is highly interested in the seagrasses, she wrote a wonderful seagrass article that anyone should read that's interested in marine plants.



Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

In the top side view photo: from top to bottom on the front of the pic:

Sargassum
Brown stuff: Dictyota
Fuzzy red stuff below that: Heterosiphonia, damn pretty stuff.
Lime green strands: Neomeris
Pink hazy stuff is really poor in this pic, Neogoniolithon, looks like coral but is a nice red alga
And the bottom corn is the noxious weed, Batophora.
All of these are attached to hard rock sediments etc.

The other pic is namely soft sediment macro algae and mangrove root specific algae. They would normally die at lower nutrient levels.

Since I was testing things, I use some shrimp and a damsel as a canary.
Never did catch the fish till the tank was broke down.

Regards, 
Tom Barr

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## retoid (Jan 2, 2007)

Tom, that is awesome!


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## dantra (May 25, 2007)

plantbrain said:


> Never seen a marine planted tank?
> 
> Here's mine:
> 
> ...


Tom that is freaking awesome!!! roud: Never had I seen a planted saltwater tank that looks like your's do. That is a "WHOLE NEW FRONTIER".

Would you like to share how much and what kind of nutrients _etcetera, etcetera_ are used to grow such an elaborate tank. I am extremely interested to say the least. Honestly speaking and I'm not pulling your chain here, why don't you publish a book about "planted saltwater aquariums". 

Seems like there are a lot of freshwater aquarium books available that aren't worth the paper they're printed on. You on the other hand can open up a whole new experience and environment for hobbyist all over the world with the degree of knowledge you possess with planted saltwater aquariums. 

I know there may be some that will turn their nose up to this idea or what I have said about you, however, I have no ego when it comes to knowledge. If you don’t want to discuss it here, perhaps you will feel more comfortable talking about it over at your place.

One thing I despise about this hobby is the fact that people work against one another as opposed to sharing knowledge and ideas. By not letting you enter that tank in the competition, it robs every hobbyist of seeking a higher plateau of knowledge. Egos are something else. 

Aren’t the competitions for professionals and hobbyists alike? Isn’t it a place that we all turn to for new ideas, new direction and the place that makes us all push ourselves that much harder to achieve something new? I think the competition has become comfortable and lazy with itself, to say the least. If you challenge it too much they turn you away, if you don’t meet their criteria’s you don’t win. What happened to innovation? What happened with new direction? Yeah Tom, I see why you weren’t allowed to enter that tank in the competition. There is nothing out there that can compete, from the supposed “top dog on down”. Take comfort in knowing you challenge the so called boundaries and do away with them. //end rant\\

Dan


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

I'm interested in plants, not egos.
Ole, Troles, Karen Randall, Amano, Wim, all the profs, we all get long great and agree. If we disagree, we debate and then learn something from that and see which we think seems more reasonable etc, then we know and have discussed it, it's not personal. It's a curiosity and passion.

I'm not sure why egos start really playing a role, it's not the newbies(they know they know little), nor the real experts or professionals(both groups know they know very little), if the folks with enough knowledge to be dangerous but not enough to put the whole picture together. 

If you offer help some think you are out to stifle their curiosity and seeking of knowledge or some twisted weird mumbo. Folks act a lot different on line than they would in person I think.

I ask a question in person and folks respond far differently than on line here etc, they assume it's some sort of personal challenge or something.

I detailed out many of the Tank's parameters and took the concept to a higher level on my site and some post on ReefCentral.



> One thing I despise about this hobby is the fact that people work against one another as opposed to sharing knowledge and ideas. By not letting you enter that tank in the competition, it robs every hobbyist of seeking a higher plateau of knowledge. Egos are something else.


Well they have their perceptions, goals etc.
Some folks work against and do not share, some get personal and act like babies and some don't. We all have our moments and days.
I do not mind a transgression here and there, but there's a difference between being jerking around and being a jerk. I like honest folks, I do not care who or what you are, just that you are honest and that starts within.
Still, the contest are theirs, not mine:thumbsup: 
So if I do not like it, I can do something about it.

You cannot tell someone else what to do with their business:eek5: 
That ain't right.



> Aren’t the competitions for professionals and hobbyists alike? Isn’t it a place that we all turn to for new ideas, new direction and the place that makes us all push ourselves that much harder to achieve something new? I think the competition has become comfortable and lazy with itself, to say the least. If you challenge it too much they turn you away, if you don’t meet their criteria’s you don’t win. What happened to innovation? What happened with new direction? Yeah Tom, I see why you weren’t allowed to enter that tank in the competition. There is nothing out there that can compete, from the supposed “top dog on down”. Take comfort in knowing you challenge the so called boundaries and do away with them. //end rant\\



Well, the same is true with any art form, there's an academy type of rule set that's agreed upon.

It's very very difficult to break into to that.

Still, it's less about all that muck, it's about the plants to me.
I like plants, I go search for them in nature, in my tank, think outside the box etc.

In the end, the record does and will show what contribution I've left and given to others.

Check out the site and also RC.

regards, 
Tom Barr


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