Growing plants in a reef tank?

[GenericReefer]

I've seen some tanks (such as the iconic tank of Wawawang) where there are air plants and succulents growing in crevices of the rockwork that's out of the water. How do they get this to work?

Source: Nano-Reef

 

[Tristren]

Very neat. Containers in the rock work for soil/sand and fresh water?

 

[lacrosseboss18]

@ecdrgonz. Had a really cool setup for his fresh water tank and his plants.

 

[GenericReefer]

Very neat. Containers in the rock work for soil/sand and fresh water?

I thought so, but the plants shown in the tank (aloe) get waterlogged pretty easily. And the other air plants need fertilizer which I worry about coming into the tank.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

As long as the roots or runners of the air plants are not inundated with saltwater, they should be okay. You do have to spritz them with water every so often but I doubt it would be enough to affect salinity or anything in the aquarium.

 

[inktomi]

Salt is pretty bad for air plants though - spray on the leaves would probably kill them. Same with saltwater getting into the soil for any other plant - if you've ever dumped water outside you know it's a pretty good way to kill most things. I'd be really interested to know how they got this to work!

(sorry for the necro, but maybe some new eyes will get us some info!)

 

[OffTopic]

I've seen some tanks (such as the iconic tank of Wawawang) where there are air plants and succulents growing in crevices of the rockwork that's out of the water. How do they get this to work?

Source: Nano-Reef

The original tank looks amazing, does anyone know where to find the original post? I see he referenced Wawawang but I couldn’t find it... I am just curious it looks great

 

[fish farmer]

I would be curious to know the longevity of said plants in that tank.

I've been working on and off with a saltwater terrarium since around 2014. Salt kills, but there are varieties of salt tolerant plants. Containers definately help, misting daily or every other day with RO/DI water is necessary.

I'll post more later.

 

[fish farmer]

I built an island in 2013 .

Here is early shot of it

Here is a bit of moss that did really well below the ATO inlet, it actually spread almost to the waterline and spread upwards to the left.

Morning glories did very well, they would pop up every few months and die back. I tried planting a few seeds this spring in one of the built in containers but they died quickly. I probably need to add fresh soil. I think salt creep has entered the soil areas.

This is a fall shot from 2013 with things growing out.

Currently I have added a few succulents still in their orginal pots to see how they handle the environment and they are growing. I reduced the lighting this year since my 90 watt PC was making the tank really hot and drying things out quickly. I'm planning a partial rebuild to make better containment areas. I believe salt creep has filtered into many of the rock areas where things used to grow.

I think containment of growing areas and using salt tolerant plants would work over a reef system or say NEXT to a reef system. If I was to plan a different land/water system I would think along the lines of a drop off tank with the upper section being dry land and the bottom be reef. Possibly lighing each separately depending on what plants are used. A crafty person could even design a planted area next to a current reef setup and allow a few rocks to hang down into the water.

I found an extensive lists of salt tolerant plants on the internet, mostly on landscaping sites for East Coast beach dwellers. I also feel that plants tend to grow quicker than corals so the ability to change out plants would be required, like keeping plants in its own pot and not directly planting into a rocky crevice where salt may eventually get to them.

There really isn't much info on the web regarding saltwater vivariums, I've looked high and low. I did happen to find this neat little crab tank that a New Zealand guy had going for a couple of years, i think he misted it daily.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I've seen some tanks (such as the iconic tank of Wawawang) where there are air plants and succulents growing in crevices of the rockwork that's out of the water. How do they get this to work?

Source: Nano-Reef

Such a beautiful reef!

 

[User1]

Such a beautiful reef!

You dug up a little gem today, didn't you?

I second what you noted above

 

[Daniel@R2R]

You dug up a little gem today, didn't you?

I second what you noted above

Yup! I was just searching through some old pictures on R2R and stumbled on this one and it blew me away! I figured it was worth bumping again so others could enjoy it.

 

[inktomi]

I would think using epoxy to glue rock around a waterproof plastic pot would work. You'd want something that is tolerant to the salt spray that would inevitably get on it - orchids, air plants, all that would die pretty quick probably. Much easier to make a freshwater vivarium!

 

[SoggyNW]

I remember reading the TotM thread on that one and he said that those plants are actually growing in small pots.

 

[Cory]

If you want salt tolerant, mangroves are it. They would look pretty sweet and help with export.

 

[Tristren]

I would think using epoxy to glue rock around a waterproof plastic pot would work. You'd want something that is tolerant to the salt spray that would inevitably get on it - orchids, air plants, all that would die pretty quick probably. Much easier to make a freshwater vivarium!

There are sites for gardening in coastal areas that look helpful:

Plants For Gardening With Salt Water Soil

Salty soils occur when sodium builds up in the soil. Even runoff from winter salt spray can create a microclimate in need of salt resistant gardens. This article can help with choosing salt tolerant p

www.gardeningknowhow.com

They list plants with differing levels of tolerance to salt. You’d have to figure out which would do well in small pots, with the lights, etc...

It really is a nice look though.

 

[saan1wu4]

I saw this on instagram and thought of this thread

 

[Tamberav]

I've seen some tanks (such as the iconic tank of Wawawang) where there are air plants and succulents growing in crevices of the rockwork that's out of the water. How do they get this to work?

Source: Nano-Reef

He said it was difficult to keep them alive as they dry out too quickly under reef lighting and its far from the ideal environment.

If you watch a video of the tank posted above... Several of the plants appear to be dead and are simply decorative?

 

[inktomi]

The salt spray alone would do in most bromeliads and orchids.