rmchoi
Active Member
Who would ever think of planting a tree in saltwater aquarium? Julian Sprung has done this for years and grown an amazing mangrove tree in his tank. This was the inspiration for this mangrove refugium.
Originally, I changed from Zeovit biological filtration back to old school natural filtration, giving nature a try at balancing nitrate and phosphate. I removed the zeovit reactor and added a 25G refugium with chaeto and this 40G breeder with a mangrove.
In the 40G breeder tank is a “red” mangrove tree. It is about 36” tall. There is about a 4” substrate with a under layer of miracle mineral mud full of bacteria, microfauna, worms and minerals for the tree roots. Capped over the mud is Carib Sea live reef sand.
For lighting the plant, there is an ATI SunPower light fixture. It has six 24w 6,500K daylight T5 bulbs. The fixture is set high enough to barely feel heat above the leaves. The light intensity ramps up in the morning and down at night for total of 12 hours a day.
Between the return water and a Ecotech powerhead, there is moderately strong flow. The strongest flow at the top keeps the surface rippling and enough to keep the detritus from settling at the bottom.
To keep the maintenance low, the top and sides of the tank are kept blacked out to reduce algae growth. A long spine sea urchin eats the algae that does grow. Iron and iodine get dosed weekly. And few times a week, the leaves get a mist of water.
There were low expectations if the two refugiums would be adequate filters for a 80G mixed reef tank. All three tanks flow through a Lifereef sump. Once the chaeto and mangrove became established, the skimmer hardly produces skim, but still runs for aeration.
Starting out reefing, the colorful fish was the allure. Then came colors on “steroids” from corals, starting with LPS. Then came SPS corals with their high demands of water quality, time and care. These days, this plant growing in saltwater has the intrigue.
Originally, I changed from Zeovit biological filtration back to old school natural filtration, giving nature a try at balancing nitrate and phosphate. I removed the zeovit reactor and added a 25G refugium with chaeto and this 40G breeder with a mangrove.
In the 40G breeder tank is a “red” mangrove tree. It is about 36” tall. There is about a 4” substrate with a under layer of miracle mineral mud full of bacteria, microfauna, worms and minerals for the tree roots. Capped over the mud is Carib Sea live reef sand.
For lighting the plant, there is an ATI SunPower light fixture. It has six 24w 6,500K daylight T5 bulbs. The fixture is set high enough to barely feel heat above the leaves. The light intensity ramps up in the morning and down at night for total of 12 hours a day.
Between the return water and a Ecotech powerhead, there is moderately strong flow. The strongest flow at the top keeps the surface rippling and enough to keep the detritus from settling at the bottom.
To keep the maintenance low, the top and sides of the tank are kept blacked out to reduce algae growth. A long spine sea urchin eats the algae that does grow. Iron and iodine get dosed weekly. And few times a week, the leaves get a mist of water.
There were low expectations if the two refugiums would be adequate filters for a 80G mixed reef tank. All three tanks flow through a Lifereef sump. Once the chaeto and mangrove became established, the skimmer hardly produces skim, but still runs for aeration.
Starting out reefing, the colorful fish was the allure. Then came colors on “steroids” from corals, starting with LPS. Then came SPS corals with their high demands of water quality, time and care. These days, this plant growing in saltwater has the intrigue.
