Mangrove Growth

[BlazinNano]

Do mangroves have to grow in saltwater? I have a couple small seedlings which are to small to be in the tank without being under water or floating. I was wondering if i could just put them in regular water and put them by a widow or outside till they got bigger

 

[Reeferdood]

Yes,
they will grow in freshwater. Keep your eye on the Mg levels though, Mangroves will use it quite quickly..
Good reading found here...Mangroves in aquarium

 

[Murfman]

When you transfer them over to SW you have to do it slowly though. Weeks to acclimate them.

 

[tekken]

why not enclose them in filter media bags... couple of bucks at the LFS... tie it to the top of the tank and let it float on top of the tank... that way, they get light and are in the water... once they grow out a bit, then you can take them out of the media bag... that would save you from having to acclimate them back and forth

 

[BlazinNano]

is it more important that the leaves get light or the roots?

 

[Reeferdood]

The seedlings will float upright if you want to let them float around.. I used them in a fuge once & they have quite large roots.. Unless you have a BIG BIG sump, I would just stick with chaeto..IMHO..

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

is it more important that the leaves get light or the roots?

Just the leaves.

Unless you have a BIG BIG sump, I would just stick with chaeto..IMHO..

+1, regardless of sump size.

Mangroves are pretty much useless in our aquaria in terms of nutrient reduction. They do an amazing, amazing job at utilizing nutrients out of the water column, when they're huge trees, but the little tiny one's we grow offer little benefit compared to algaes we can use.

With that said I love the looks of mangroves and have set up a manrove biotope before that was really cool, for the looks of them rather than for nutrient reduction.