FUGE MANGROVE PLANT IDEAS??

R6REEFER · Nov 3, 2015

Hey fellas,

I'm seriously considering doing a sort of mangrove for my fuge rather than the typical LR/LS macro. I want plants that grow out of the fuge mud. All am seeing is the typical mangrove bamboo looking things. I want a challange, and something asthetically pleasing. I have a Kessil H150 purple I'm going to put to good use. Please give me some suggestions and plant names as well as difficulty level! I'm very experienced with reef tanks but I'm recently getting into horticulture. I have a decent sized fuge, the sump os 47 gallons.

Thanks for any feedback!

-GSXREEFER750

rajkovich207 · Nov 3, 2015

I have never purchased from them but Scott Fellman has recommended this place before. I usually just go there for an ID as they are a bit expensive for my taste.
http://live-plants.com

chimmike · Nov 4, 2015

If you are in FL you can pick up mangrove chutes floating in the water for use.

I wouldn't expect much filtration out of even several mangroves. The general consensus is the nutrient export is little and slow with them. But when they grow, they are pretty! A LFS here YEARS ago had a 4' mangrove they had grown from a chute in a HIGH flow lagoon tank with probably 50 anthias. It was beautiful.

AllSignsPointToFish · Nov 4, 2015

chimmike said:
If you are in FL you can pick up mangrove chutes floating in the water for use.

I wouldn't expect much filtration out of even several mangroves. The general consensus is the nutrient export is little and slow with them. But when they grow, they are pretty! A LFS here YEARS ago had a 4' mangrove they had grown from a chute in a HIGH flow lagoon tank with probably 50 anthias. It was beautiful.

Interesting comment. I was once considering mangroves but had lately been leaning more toward Chaetomorpha. It wasn't that I was aware of the slow nutrient export issue but rather I was trying to determine how I would control them in the sump under my stand once they took off. Also, the would be competing with Chaeto for physical space in the sump.

Thanks for the information!

chimmike · Nov 4, 2015

Most guys stick 'em in some styrofoam to float until they develop some roots. Once that happens they can establish themselves on some LR or in a sandy bottom. They're not fast growers so you would have time to figure that out. They can be trimmed!

AllSignsPointToFish · Nov 4, 2015

Yeah, but if they don't do much in the way of nutrient export, then it would purely be for aesthetics....in a sump. lol

ReefMadScientist · Nov 4, 2015

AllSignsPointToFIsh said:
Yeah, but if they don't do much in the way of nutrient export, then it would purely be for aesthetics....in a sump. lol

Mangroves really do not do much unless you had a ton of them.

JFrar · Nov 4, 2015

I heard the same about nutrient export with mangroves... so I still use chaeto but have mangroves also. They are pretty and a nice feature

ReefMadScientist · Nov 4, 2015

chimmike said:
If you are in FL you can pick up mangrove chutes floating in the water for use.

I wouldn't expect much filtration out of even several mangroves. The general consensus is the nutrient export is little and slow with them. But when they grow, they are pretty! A LFS here YEARS ago had a 4' mangrove they had grown from a chute in a HIGH flow lagoon tank with probably 50 anthias. It was beautiful.

Also, I thought picking mangroves from Florida was illegal?

chimmike · Nov 4, 2015

If they're floating chutes, you can take 'em home. You can't pull anything out of the ground or mud that is stuck in there. Tons of floating mangrove chutes/beans around.