Zakary2003
Well-Known Member
I love the look of mangroves and the idea of having a tree that grows in salt water in my tank. I decided to add some into the back filtration chamber of my waterbox 20 AIO by sticking some proagules in the little ventilation holes of an Intank 3D printed insert for the back chamber. I couldn't put any in the display tank due to coral placement and the nature of my Kraken Reef lid. I found 4 red mangrove propagules about a year ago after a hurricane hit my area. They are not in substrate and are just suspended in the water column. The roots are thick, red, stiff, and not as fuzzy as those found underground. They have two decent grow lights from Amazon that output a total PAR level of around 500 at the top leaves. The plants have grown a lot of roots and 4-6 leaves per plant, but I'd like to see more.
I keep my tank at around 5-10 ppm nitrate and I try to below.1 ppm phosphate (my goal is .05 but it's usually closer to .08 to .10 and I don't want to chase numbers too much). I use kalk in the ATO water but I also add all for reef to supplement when kalk can't keep up, so I don't know if I'm replenishing enough magnesium and trace elements or not.
My dad has a nano tank dedicated to mangroves. I collected him 4 propagules at the same time as mine, and his are growing in a totally different way than mine. His are rooted in the sand. While mine have grown taller with larger, thicker, darker leaves and lots more roots, his have some branches, more leaves that are smaller, thinner and lighter (even yellow in some spots), and thin fuzzy white roots. While his seem less healthy when looking at the leaves and overall growth, they have a much more desirable growth pattern. His nutrients run higher around 15ppm nitrate and around .3ppm phoshate, are planted directly into sand, and only get around 100 PAR. I think the difference in his growth pattern might be because of the extra nutrients and access to substrate, so I want to give mine that.
Also, my college (Eckerd college in St. Petersburg Florida) has recently started restoration and renaturalization of their seawall and part of that involves planting mangroves. After talking to one if the people involved, I learned that the mangrove saplings they brought in are about as old as mine, but they have 30+ leaves, multiple bushy branches, and aerial roots already. While I realize that mine will never grow as fast as those grown under full sunlight in extremely nutrient rich conditions, I'd like to give mine a boost.
How can I give mine nutrients and potentially access to substrate without also fueling pest algae or clogging my filter chamber? I came from the freshwater side of the hobby, so a few ideas popped into my mind. Will any of these work?
First, there's a technique I learned from a YouTube channel where you put nutrient rich substrate such as aquasoil or organic potting soil into a media bag so that it is contained (to prevent dirty looking sand in most cases) but still accessible to the plants. Aquasoil is totally safe for freshwater inverts, but is it reef safe? Will it leach anything (specifically iron or inorganic nutrients are my concern) into the water to fuel pest algae or harm corals? I cannot find a single thing about aquasoil in saltwater online. If aquasoil is a bad idea, then what are some possible alternatives if there are any?
Second, there are some liquid fertilizers that are commonly used in freshwater planted tanks, and I've seen some macroalgae growers use them. How would this affect a predominantly coral tank? I'd be worried about excessive algae, and it still wouldn't give my mangroves substrate. I've also seen regular dosing liquids with added trace elements for fuge chaeto. Would that work without chaeto to uptake the extras?
Third, root tabs are often used in freshwater. Do root tabs require substrate, or could I just stick them in the back chamber with the roots? Will they fuel pest algae or leach anything? This also wouldn't solve the substrate access unfortunately.
I'm also open to other ideas. Has anyone had long term success with decorative mangroves in the back filter of an AIO tank? I've seen some awesome mangrove refugiums and mangrove dedicated tanks on the mangrove thread, but not many AIOs with successful mangroves.
On a seperate note, I'd love some pruning advice to get that branching look. I've already cut off the growth tip of the second tallest plant with the most leaves to see if I can get it to split, but it hasn't been long enough to see results. Are there any other tips for branchy looking plants instead of one tall stalk?
TLDR: I like mangroves. Mine don't have access to substrate or nutrients and don't look as nice as the ones that do. How can I give them substrate and nutrients? I also provide a few different ideas based on my time in the freshwater hobby and would like to know if they'd be safe and effective or not.
I keep my tank at around 5-10 ppm nitrate and I try to below.1 ppm phosphate (my goal is .05 but it's usually closer to .08 to .10 and I don't want to chase numbers too much). I use kalk in the ATO water but I also add all for reef to supplement when kalk can't keep up, so I don't know if I'm replenishing enough magnesium and trace elements or not.
My dad has a nano tank dedicated to mangroves. I collected him 4 propagules at the same time as mine, and his are growing in a totally different way than mine. His are rooted in the sand. While mine have grown taller with larger, thicker, darker leaves and lots more roots, his have some branches, more leaves that are smaller, thinner and lighter (even yellow in some spots), and thin fuzzy white roots. While his seem less healthy when looking at the leaves and overall growth, they have a much more desirable growth pattern. His nutrients run higher around 15ppm nitrate and around .3ppm phoshate, are planted directly into sand, and only get around 100 PAR. I think the difference in his growth pattern might be because of the extra nutrients and access to substrate, so I want to give mine that.
Also, my college (Eckerd college in St. Petersburg Florida) has recently started restoration and renaturalization of their seawall and part of that involves planting mangroves. After talking to one if the people involved, I learned that the mangrove saplings they brought in are about as old as mine, but they have 30+ leaves, multiple bushy branches, and aerial roots already. While I realize that mine will never grow as fast as those grown under full sunlight in extremely nutrient rich conditions, I'd like to give mine a boost.
How can I give mine nutrients and potentially access to substrate without also fueling pest algae or clogging my filter chamber? I came from the freshwater side of the hobby, so a few ideas popped into my mind. Will any of these work?
First, there's a technique I learned from a YouTube channel where you put nutrient rich substrate such as aquasoil or organic potting soil into a media bag so that it is contained (to prevent dirty looking sand in most cases) but still accessible to the plants. Aquasoil is totally safe for freshwater inverts, but is it reef safe? Will it leach anything (specifically iron or inorganic nutrients are my concern) into the water to fuel pest algae or harm corals? I cannot find a single thing about aquasoil in saltwater online. If aquasoil is a bad idea, then what are some possible alternatives if there are any?
Second, there are some liquid fertilizers that are commonly used in freshwater planted tanks, and I've seen some macroalgae growers use them. How would this affect a predominantly coral tank? I'd be worried about excessive algae, and it still wouldn't give my mangroves substrate. I've also seen regular dosing liquids with added trace elements for fuge chaeto. Would that work without chaeto to uptake the extras?
Third, root tabs are often used in freshwater. Do root tabs require substrate, or could I just stick them in the back chamber with the roots? Will they fuel pest algae or leach anything? This also wouldn't solve the substrate access unfortunately.
I'm also open to other ideas. Has anyone had long term success with decorative mangroves in the back filter of an AIO tank? I've seen some awesome mangrove refugiums and mangrove dedicated tanks on the mangrove thread, but not many AIOs with successful mangroves.
On a seperate note, I'd love some pruning advice to get that branching look. I've already cut off the growth tip of the second tallest plant with the most leaves to see if I can get it to split, but it hasn't been long enough to see results. Are there any other tips for branchy looking plants instead of one tall stalk?
TLDR: I like mangroves. Mine don't have access to substrate or nutrients and don't look as nice as the ones that do. How can I give them substrate and nutrients? I also provide a few different ideas based on my time in the freshwater hobby and would like to know if they'd be safe and effective or not.
