Mangrove Roots

[Goodair]

I've been growing a mangrove in my tank to get it ready for a special tank I plan on doing way down the road. It grows out leaves, but the roots haven't really been changing much.
Is there something I can do to help the roots to branch apart so it can eventually hold itself. Similar to the picture attached. I was thinking of bamboo skewers and fishing line but depending on how much of an eyesore it is, I might not.

This will prob be a few years of waiting, so better to get it started as early as I can.

 

[ludnix]

You can definitely help them along by raising them up so the roots are submerged but you progressively raise it over time to get that cool effect. You are right that will be years before it's how you're imagining, I definitely recommend buying larger mangroves where possible or starting very early like you're doing. There are some farms out in Florida that will ship larger mangroves, though acclimation to saltwater is something you need to do carefully when the plant is larger.

 

[Goodair]

I never looked too deep to find if there were farms that sold bigger mangroves, always see small propagations for sale, so that's nice to know that there are some out there. I'll try lifting it from time to time, that will be challenge since the hood and lights will limit how much i can lift it so gotta figure out how to solve that issue lol. You got any ideas? I'll get a pic of the setup to get a better idea!

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Ya it seems like lifting them would work for the roots but like you said, with mangroves in a reef tank height is already a challenge without raising them up. Eventually I'll need to buy a second light which can be raised as my trees grow

 

[ludnix]

Yeah I'm picturing a second light scenario as well. If you could mount a spot light or something above your open top canopy it would be pretty cool with a large enough mangrove. I don't think that would be an issue for many years though when starting with a propagule.

 

[Goodair]

Any recommendations on lights? Preferably something not too high end and has a focused beam, so it doesn't light up the whole room.

 

[ludnix]

There are wall mountable plugin sconces on Amazon that might be a good option. Something with an opaque shade so you can get a direct beam:

I would look around for one that fits your aesthetic as there a bunch of options.