Brackish Mangrove Riparium

[rhizotron]

I hope that there is enough of a tie-in with the Mangrove theme and that this topic isn't too far afield. There are a lot of great sub-forums here already, but has a brackish tank area every been considered?

Brackish Mangrove Riparium

The days are getting shorter, so I'm starting to think about how to re-accommodate some of my plants that have been growing happily outdoors in semi-shade patio conditions. They all seem so happy in the natural light, fresh air and warmth and I always feel bad about moving them back indoors...

This tub has a couple of pots with White Mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa) and a couple more with Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans). They are currently growing in regular freshwater, so they'll require some acclimation time for brackish conditions.

I have ideas for two new setups and one or both of these will be brackish water with estuary flora & fauna. Each of these will additionally build upon my other projects incorporating kinetic water motion and physics concepts:

1. 12-gallon bookshelf tank with water wave machine
2. 30-gallon breeder tank simulating estuary tidal water level changes with bell siphon and/or other mechanism

The first idea will be similar to my 7-gallon bookshelf tank. That setup doesn't really have enough water volume for livestock, but I can fit a few small fish into a half-full 12-gallon tank. I'll leave space above the 12-gallon and the trees can grow up several feet tall if they want to.

Years ago I built the mangrove setup below. Along with several Mangrove trees, it also grew Hala Tree (Pandanus tectorius) and Leather Fern (Acrostichum danaeifolium) and housed some pretty cool US-native estuary Killis and Poeceliids. If I set up the breeder tank for Mangroves it will be similar to this with the same footprint and approximate water volume, but with a little less real estate for plants because I will orient as a peninsula and leave the front end open.

I designed this style of riparium planter and it works pretty nice for holding plants nice and steady in shallow water—much easier to deal with in comparison with stacks of rocks or other solutions. Sand substrate covers the white base and growing plant roots and foliage shade and hide the other plastic parts pretty well...

I hope to have some more updates pretty soon. I have most of the stuff I need and just need to move stuff around in my fish room to make space.

 

[Doctorgori]

Build thread?

 

[rhizotron]

Build thread?

Yes. At this point I'm just deciding whether just one or otherwise both tanks will be brackish with mangroves.

Maybe later tonight I can get the breeder tank cleaned up and on its stand again.

 

[rhizotron]

I also need to accommodate some pretty cool larger freshwater plants, which is why I'm debating between my two tank setup ideas described above.

I've had this Equistem giganteum for a few years. This is quite an extraordinary plant that can reach to 16 in height or even taller. A mature stand of E. giganteum on moist ground will evoke an ancient Devonian-era swamp with towering Calamites, an extinct Horsetail relative which may have grown to 100 feet or more.

However, my E. giganteum has never grown very well. It does shoot new stems during the summertime outdoors, but these never surpass 20 inches or so in height and are rather soft and spindly. A few weeks ago I finally consulted with some plant growers in another group who told me that it needs to grow with bright light, generous fertilization and ample space for its rhizomes to run. I have had it going in these 5-inch net pots and apparently this has been my error.

I've always imagined E. giganteum would look cool in its own dedicated setup with its foliage growing several feet above the water in a shallow and broad tank. To further reinforce the prehistoric swamp theme, it could also be paired with representatives of an early-diverging fish group, such as Umbra Mudminnows. I might try setting it up in the 30 breeder tank this fall by planting in a broad large (18-inch) oval bonsai pot I have here on hand with a rich mud soil substrate, then propping that up in the aquarium on bricks or upside-down flower pots. Perhaps an arrangement like this will leave enough space for its rhizomes to spread out and for the plant to reach its potential.

 

[rhizotron]

Here's a couple more ideas for a freshwater setup. I would not put these together in the same tank with the Equisetum because that would get too crowded, but I think they would go together nice along with a couple other things I have here.

The Palm, Licuala auratiaca, is native to Thailand swamp forests and is quite a good one for ripariums and similar kinds of plantings. It's a pretty easy grower. Another project I put together years ago was this 56-gallon tank with L. aurantiaca and other swamp plants to represent a SE Asia peat swamp forest...

The smaller sprouting trees are the likewise interesting Barringtonia racemosa AKA Freshwater Mangrove. I started them from propagules and they've been growing very well so far. This species occurs in estuary mangrove swamps in numerous countries all around the Indian Ocean. Its habitat is mainly in the upper reaches of tidal estuaries, so it is more adapted to freshwater conditions. But I bet it also has some salinity tolerance and I plant to test that at some point with a couple of trees and a slow acclimation.

Barringtonia is a member of the robust and showy tropical tree family, Lecythidaceae.

(Creative Commons image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:穗花棋盤腳_Barringtonia_racemosa_-_panoramio_(1).jpg)