MANGROVES!

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4 years, but still not ready? Sheesh!

LOL! They're almost proper trees at this point, grown from seedlings. They're around 42" tall now, not including root structure. I keep them outside during summer and bring them in for winter (Michigan).

They've become more of a house plant as their biotope has taken a back seat to many other projects. But it will come to fruition

 

[roelof]

where did you get mangroves i cant find

 

[nimrods]

beautiful,
i dont know why my mangroves died after 6 months of nice growing.
i will make as you did ! very nice !!

 

[stevieduk]

Here are a few updates. As expected, growth is slow, but steady. I lost one seedling, but the rest seem really happy. The roots are growing pretty slowly as well, and I suspect that's because they're suspended in water, and not buried in any substrate.

Circumstances in my reef tank dictated that this mangrove tank become a mangrove/peppermint shrimp tank. I had a couple shrimp that started eating my corals, so they got banished to the very barren mangrove tank. They seem to be doing well in there, despite the fact that there is nothing else in there, and that daytime temperatures often get into the mid 80s! I feed them daily, and they've both molted twice in a very short amount of time. I think that while feeding the shrimp actually caused this tank to cycle, the increased nutrients in the water might actually help increase the growth rate of the mangroves. I have nothing to back that up, except a fairly reasonable guess!

Stay tuned!

dont forget that in mangrove swamps the tide goes in and out so they are dry for a few hours a day

 

[Skygirl997]

Love this thread! Following

 

[cnseekatz]

I will definitely be following along. When I was a kid I went snorkeling in a mangrove lagoon, since then I've wanted to do something like this but I could never get my mangroves to take. Here is a pic I found online that I saved as inspiration.

I love this.

 

[cnseekatz]

Great thread and a great shallow one you got there! I was thinking of doing the exact same setup! I have 5 seedlings right now; one in the sump, one in the display and 3 in the overflow temporarily (long temporarily ).

I've had my mangies since December, red mangroves Rhizpora Mangle. Got them off ebay

At first, they were very slow to show any growth, but then I started spraying them with RO water at least once a day and BAM amazing growth! Maybe you should try that!

Also temperatures here in Egypt have been soaring all summer, ambient is around 30-32 degrees C and water temperature aroung 28-29 degrees C (sorry, no fehrenheit) , which is too hot for comfort I know! But no chiller and no AC Also somewhat humid as I live in a coastal city. Maybe this weather helps them feel at home?

We do have natural mangrove forests here in Egypt (although a different species I think) and they live in super hot areas near the southern end on the Red Sea where day temperatures can reach near 40 degrees C or more with blasting sun all year round.

Keep up the great work and inspire us! I hope I helped

All the best!

Thanks! I really don't think they mind the warm water much. I imagine in the wild, they get exposed to some pretty extreme temperatures, like you mentioned. It's just finding other livestock that can handle it too!

 

[cnseekatz]

The "New world reef sticks"!!!
A bed of sea grass would look EPIC in front of a line of mangroves. Nestle in a nem and some clowns and you are winning!

Totally... minus the nem and clowns! I love the idea of sea grass, & I think a little school of green chromis would look sweet in that setup!

 

[tomtom2245]

This will be awesome. I've gone diving in a mangrove forest and it was awesome. Great grounds for baby fish and eels.

 

[cnseekatz]

LOL! They're almost proper trees at this point, grown from seedlings. They're around 42" tall now, not including root structure. I keep them outside during summer and bring them in for winter (Michigan).

They've become more of a house plant as their biotope has taken a back seat to many other projects. But it will come to fruition

Looking forward to seeing what you put together!

where did you get mangroves i cant find

They're available all over the place online. Check out Amazon. I believe I purchased mine from a group called The Mangrove Project (but don't quote me, I can't find my receipt!).

dont forget that in mangrove swamps the tide goes in and out so they are dry for a few hours a day

I've given this some thought, and I think that simulating a daily tidal pattern would be extremely difficult in a small aquarium. What I am trying, which may or may not work, is allowing the water to evaporate (with no ATO) for a couple days at a time, and then doing my fresh-water top off. This drops the water level a little bit over the course of a couple of days, and exposes more of the roots to the air. I don't know if this will have any effect on the plants, or if the salinity swings will be worse than any benefit achieved. There's not a ton of documentation on this type of thing, so I'm just going to have to experiment and see how it goes!

 

[cnseekatz]

This will be awesome. I've gone diving in a mangrove forest and it was awesome. Great grounds for baby fish and eels.

Ooh... eels... that's a neat idea! Or maybe lionfish?

 

[najer]

Great thread and a great shallow one you got there! I was thinking of doing the exact same setup! I have 5 seedlings right now; one in the sump, one in the display and 3 in the overflow temporarily (long temporarily ).

I've had my mangies since December, red mangroves Rhizpora Mangle. Got them off ebay

At first, they were very slow to show any growth, but then I started spraying them with RO water at least once a day and BAM amazing growth! Maybe you should try that!

Also temperatures here in Egypt have been soaring all summer, ambient is around 30-32 degrees C and water temperature aroung 28-29 degrees C (sorry, no fehrenheit) , which is too hot for comfort I know! But no chiller and no AC Also somewhat humid as I live in a coastal city. Maybe this weather helps them feel at home?

We do have natural mangrove forests here in Egypt (although a different species I think) and they live in super hot areas near the southern end on the Red Sea where day temperatures can reach near 40 degrees C or more with blasting sun all year round.

Keep up the great work and inspire us! I hope I helped

All the best!

They will love the humidity / spray, my guys are nearly 9 months in but placed deep so are slow.
Once they settled they all have shoots bar 1, love watching new leaves open!

 

[stevo01]

Subscribed! @cnseekatz , I'm so excited to see where this goes for you. This is the edgy stuff that makes me so interested.

I can see a Mangrove Bonsai Bommie trend developing. Brilliant!

 

[Acameron2]

They will love the humidity / spray, my guys are nearly 9 months in but placed deep so are slow.
Once they settled they all have shoots bar 1, love watching new leaves open!

I actually take pics of mine opening their new leafs really like watching them take shape.

 

[cnseekatz]

Subscribed! @cnseekatz , I'm so excited to see where this goes for you. This is the edgy stuff that makes me so interested.

I can see a Mangrove Bonsai Bommie trend developing. Brilliant!

Glad to have you along! I don't think any of this is all that original, I just think that given how slowly they grow, people tend to lose interest before the plants mature. If they grew quicker, I think you'd see a lot more of the Bommies you mentioned. From what some of the posters on this thread have said, I may be looking at years before these guys are big enough to create the effect I'm looking for. Luckily for me, the tank is basically maintenance free (minus fresh water top offs), and is out of the way in the garage. So I can afford to just let them do their thing without them taking up any useful space, or time!

 

[cnseekatz]

I actually take pics of mine opening their new leafs really like watching them take shape.

Great shots. Glad to see I'm not the only nerd out there who finds this stuff rewarding!

 

[paraletho]

LOL! They're almost proper trees at this point, grown from seedlings. They're around 42" tall now, not including root structure. I keep them outside during summer and bring them in for winter (Michigan).

They've become more of a house plant as their biotope has taken a back seat to many other projects. But it will come to fruition

I put mine outside in the summer also but I have had problems with bugs eating the leaves. Late spring was really bad in coastal Texas. The leaves resembled Swiss cheese.

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

I put mine outside in the summer also but I have had problems with bugs eating the leaves. Late spring was really bad in coastal Texas. The leaves resembled Swiss cheese.

I've noted some bugs hanging out on ours, so it's hit with a gentle power washer stream prior to being moved indoors. Luckily nothing that eats them around here... yet!

 

[cnseekatz]

Here's an update that I consider a piece of learned information, that most of you will probably say "DUH" to, but I'll share it anyway. When the propagule is suspended above the water (as shown below), the plant will still grow, but no new roots will grow. Only the submerged roots will lengthen, and sprout little hairs. I imagine over time, these will split and develop.

When I drop the propagule a little lower into the water, so that the tip (circled in red) is submerged, it will sprout whole new roots from that tip. I'm using this technique to sprout new primary roots, and alter the shape of the root structure. You could easily manipulate this phenomenon to create neat shapes and configurations. The roots will drop straight down, regardless of the direction that the plant is growing, so you could encourage cool angles, curves, etc.

 

[Salty1962]

I actually take pics of mine opening their new leafs really like watching them take shape.

Cool!