Mangroves

[crny11216]

Hi there,
I wanted to see what kind of success folks have had with planting mangroves in their fuges, etc.

About 2.5 mos ago, I ordered some mangrove seedlings (no roots) from an ebay acct. I planted them in my quarantine tank then 'forgot' about them after 3wks of no growth (I can be very impatient).

I cleaned out the QT tank and thought I would 'throw' or 'give away' the mangroves, thinking they were duds or that they would not amount to what I wanted (after hearing such stories from many other reefers).

To my surprise 5 of them have roots and 2 of them seem to need a few more weeks before the roots break out!!

They are growing!!! I did clean out the QT but created a fuge section in my new sump and replanted them. They were in about 4 inch of South Down Sugar Fine half full of aged saltwater from my original tank. I had no heater, pump, etc running in that QT for 2 of the 2.5 mos (the QT ran its own trickle and skimmer during the .5).

Any stories? Why did you get mangroves? Why haven't you?

[Elsherst]

I am going to get some mangroves along with some other macro algae to put in a fug. Frist (and most important) I need to get my fug setup and running.
Why? because it helps remove nitrates and phosphates. On the algae, just have to remember to prune it when it needs it.

[crny11216]

I bought them because they were a natural method at nitrate and phos. removal, but mainly because I thought they were neat.
I did a few research papers on marsh habitats and it caught me.

Are you running your fuge as part of your main tank (in sump, on back, in tank) or sep.

[icereefer]

I have a few red mangroves in my sump, I really like how fast they root and grow and there great exporters, but they do like there magnesium.

[crny11216]

Hm, do you think I should eventually integrate mine?
Essentially they are not in my system, they are just in an area of the sump that I'm not using (by switching the location of my pump).

I was thinking that I'd let the roots grow out a bit more, and hopefully either
1) it would become taller (because I don't want them to be completely covered in water even though it will still grow) 2) I buy enough sand to make it 6" deeper so it can stay just above water level

Also, I've been warned that root systems may eventually take strong hold on your tank and cause cracks. My sump is acrylic, but have you two any worries?

And Icereefer, how do you choose compensate for that loss?

[Elsherst]

I don't have my fug setup yet, as soon as I do I'm going to get some Mangrove and some macro algae to put in it. So I'm not sure about the mangrove's being able to crack a tank, but I've seen lots of systems that have had them in their tanks for a long time with no problems.