I am curious about a tree like a Mangrove or something that I can add to my tank. What do I need to know about doing this or what would be the best plant to add?
Mangroves get pretty tall pretty quickly. How big will you let it get? I've done lots of them, but then I live in Florida and mangrove propagules are so easy to collect for about 6 months after they drop from the tree.
They can start in just water. They will eventually need sand. They drop leaves if you don't wipe them off occasionally. They expel salt that needs to go away. Normally rain does this. But I bet it doesn't rain inside your house?
I grew a black mangrove from seed in my tank over the last 3 years. I got the seed from the beach in the summer 3 years ago. Seed is small like a lima bean seed, flat oval with one pointed end 1cmX1cmX1/3cm. My plant is about 2 feet from water surface and 2 feet wide. I eventually will set up for this plant, so it looks nice. It is a very nice plant, but I am really cramped it in my sump.
The date of this particular picture was 1/21/2021. It is the earliest picture of my Black Mangrove. I collected the seed around September 2020 after one of the hurricanes here in South Texas. I remember the hurricane did not hit Corpus but just the disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico brings a large number of seeds on the beach.
The earliest picture here was on 1/21/2021. I am sorry I did not take any picture when they were young. I removed and discarded all but 1 plant, which is the one I have right now.
My current plant is about 2.5 years from seed. It is a very beautiful plant if I have the room and prune it, or even leave it grow undisturbed and un-pruned. It has started to flower under my care, but no seed. It needs a specific pollinator, I have not research on this yet. Vibrable seeds are easy to come by here in Corpus Christi.