Mangroves in a Glass Tank

[SpyC]

I recall reading numerous concerns about mangrove roots pushing through silicone seams and causing failures in 2010ish. With more people having larger mangroves in their systems, was this a warranted concern or an extreme case? I would love to get a shallow mangrove and macro algae tank going, but curious if glass is fine or if I should go with acrylic.

 

[WalkerLoves_TheOcean]

I believe if that was still a concern, we wouldn't be keeping them in our tanks. So, what I think is no, it's not a concern, but I could wrong.

 

[sfin52]

I recall reading numerous concerns about mangrove roots pushing through silicone seams and causing failures in 2010ish. With more people having larger mangroves in their systems, was this a warranted concern or an extreme case? I would love to get a shallow mangrove and macro algae tank going, but curious if glass is fine or if I should go with acrylic.

They grow super super slow inside. Mine have only grown a 1ft to 1.5ft in a yr. That's with heavy full spectrum lights. 2 noops k3 all channels 100%

 

[Holy handgrenade]

I have no experience in growing mangroves but i think the likelihood of the roots pushing through silicone is 50/50 imo. You are basically putting a tree in a pot to grow. If given time, it will become root bound and could possibly split silicone as the root ball is looking for more space to grow. We should make note that the roots of mangroves are very strong (withstanding hurricanes) but maybe not as strong growing vs anchored? I dont know, just my thought
It would be lots of fun to make a mangrove lagoon tank though. If you do make a tank like that, keep me posted

 

[sfin52]

I have no experience in growing mangroves but i think the likelihood of the roots pushing through silicone is 50/50 imo. You are basically putting a tree in a pot to grow. If given time, it will become root bound and could possibly split silicone as the root ball is looking for more space to grow. We should make note that the roots of mangroves are very strong (withstanding hurricanes) but maybe not as strong growing vs anchored? I dont know, just my thought
It would be lots of fun to make a mangrove lagoon tank though. If you do make a tank like that, keep me posted

40-50gal stock tank

 

[monocot]

Not mangroves, but I work on Thalassia seagrass (turtle grass), and they do push through silicone in my aquaria (photos below are a false bottom; the actual tank seams are acrylic welded). I haven't heard of this issue with mangroves and folks have kept them in glass tanks for ages without problems, but plants are pretty powerful!

 

[sfin52]

@Casket_Case look at last post