60 Gallon Acro Dominated Reef

[Perry]

Hey all,
I started this thread at a point where I nearly gave up in the hobby, as I struggled with my passion of sps keeping. Back in August, my buddy gave me a dozen acros and urged me to try one last time. Low and behold, they lived and my passion quickly restored and tank transitioned back to the original plan, ACROS!!! Not to worry though, tank still has mangroves thriving in sump fuge Thanks for following the journey New details continued on next page.
Cheers

 

[Perry]

Some pics

 

[laverda]

I think you will find 10 mangroves will be more than you need. I have 4 that are almost 3 years old and have been all the way up agains my lights under my tank for a while know. My Stand is 36” tall and they did not have a single leave when I got them. I plan to move them out from under my sump asap as a few days ago I realized that I don’t do it soon, I will not be able to get them out. I hope to get there new home ready buy the end of today. I never though they would be much of a nutrient export, but considering how fast they have grown I suspect I was wrong.
Your tank looks great already!

 

[Perry]

I think you will find 10 mangroves will be more than you need. I have 4 that are almost 3 years old and have been all the way up agains my lights under my tank for a while know. My Stand is 36” tall and they did not have a single leave when I got them. I plan to move them out from under my sump asap as a few days ago I realized that I don’t do it soon, I will not be able to get them out. I hope to get there new home ready buy the end of today. I never though they would be much of a nutrient export, but considering how fast they have grown I suspect I was wrong.
Your tank looks great already!

Thanks and great info, much appreciated for sharing I would love to have only one mangrove with massive aerial roots, but for now, this look seems to please my eyes. I do hope they grow like crazy, and then I can add more fish Thanks for checking out the thread, hopefully this one will be more fun

 

[Perry]

Mods, can this thread be added to member tanks, just realized it was under frag systems, doh.... lol
Thank you

 

[Tahoe61]

Love it.

With the Tridacna and the slopping scape it is perfect. Very natural looking with mangroves.

 

[Perry]

Love it.

With the Tridacna and the slopping scape it is perfect. Very natural looking with mangroves.

Thank you very much!
I appreciate the kind words

 

[laverda]

I finally set up my mangrove lagoon Sunday. It was a challenge getting the 3 year old mangroves out from my under tank sump. It is tied into my main tank.

 

[Perry]

I finally set up my mangrove lagoon Sunday. It was a challenge getting the 3 year old mangroves out from my under tank sump. It is tied into my main tank.

That's awesome!!!!

 

[laverda]

Thank you Perry. Here is my Mangrove Lagoon build thread. Mangrove Lagoon

 

[Perry]

Thanks for the link, I will definitely subscribe and check out the journal

So a bit of bad news...
The smaller clam didn't make it, large one doing fine, should have known not to purchase where I did, dang impulse buy!

I did add some life today, orange tree sponge, fingers crossed Also added a couple ultra RFA's, a neon green sinularia, feather duster, a couple of short spine urchins, and a handful of Mexican Turbos. The lagoon is coming alive, side note, all 6 t5's were WAY too much light for the mangroves, so I backed down to only 2 t5s, both Coral+, which seem to be much better, as the mangroves perked back up.

That's about all for now

 

[Perry]

Pardon the back glass, cannot break this hair algae, ugh...
No worries, hoping the urchins and turbos go to work!
I promise next picture will be a cleaner look, lol. Just a quick pic for reference

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Very cool setup! I love the concept of natural filtration in our tanks. In my 7.5g nano I'm using pom pom algae directly in the tank for nutrient control. Works like a champ and looks pretty

Will mangroves grow under "normal" reef lights, or do you need something with a specific spectrum?

 

[Perry]

Very cool setup! I love the concept of natural filtration in our tanks. In my 7.5g nano I'm using pom pom algae directly in the tank for nutrient control. Works like a champ and looks pretty

Will mangroves grow under "normal" reef lights, or do you need something with a specific spectrum?

Hello,
Thanks for the kind reply, I am sort of learning, I can tell you that the mangroves didn't do well under blue+ bulbs. I am giving this spectrum a chance before I replace with 6500k bulbs, likely my next play They should do well under any type of white light, so far so good, will keep you updated.

 

[jeffrey750750]

Very cool, I might incorporate something like this in my next build. Thanks for sharing

 

[laverda]

Mine grow like weeds under inexpensive ($25.00 from Amazon) red and blue LED grow lights.

 

[Perry]

Very cool, I might incorporate something like this in my next build. Thanks for sharing

Thank you for stopping by and checking out the journal

 

[Perry]

Mine grow like weeds under inexpensive ($25.00 from Amazon) red and blue LED grow lights.

I know, I am perplexed by using t5 as the grow lights for mangroves, just a lot of wasted light, but not interested in getting rid of the fixture, already have a halide setup gathering dust, lol. I have a really cool lamp that I could use for the mangroves, while keeping aesthetics in check. If I did this, then I would add a Kessil to the left side. Going to ride this setup out for a minute, and only using 2 bulbs, can always add a couple more...hmmm..... For now, I have plenty of equipment, so time will tell.

 

[laverda]

I hope it works out for you.

 

[Perry]

Wanted to share a quick pic under the hood
You can see the fuge is loaded with macro algae, almost pruning time. Skimmer still running, no filter sock, any leftover food or detritus is pushed to the fuge, which is teeming with pods