How to grow mangrove Q&A

lex

lex

Member
Personally i think they can do good for the system and i plan on growing some. but in Victoria Australia they are hard to come by as they are protected. so is it worth getting some, do they make a big enough change to the system?
(i have heard yes and no im a bit confused).
 
seafansar

seafansar

Well-Known Member
Thought I'd throw up some pictures of my dad's new sump set up.

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He's growing white mangroves, red mangroves, and two other salt marsh plants (forgot their names). Everything seems to be growing well.
 
seafansar

seafansar

Well-Known Member
johnmaloney said:
wow seafanstar! that is an impressive refugium + sump
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Thanks! My dad went crazy with it. He got the sump from a fish shop that was going out of business for cheap, so he figured why not.
All the plants have been growing pretty well and the hair algae in the tank seems be getting lighter and less thick. He recently added 5 fiddler crabs to the fuge. They are doing a good job of keeping the sand clean. There was a film of algae growing on the top of the sand and the crabs cleaned it up within a day. Poor things were at a bait shop in a container with no water or food, so no wonder it took them only one day to clean it up.
 
seafansar

seafansar

Well-Known Member
Yeah, he has some kind of grass and another plant in there. They are both growing and look healthy.

Apparently some of the fiddlers didn't get along and killed one. Hopefully they've balanced things out now. Oh, and we found out they can climb up the mangroves! So we have to be on the watch-out to make sure none have crawled out of the sump. I think my dad's going to remove the mangroves closest to the sides in hope that the fiddlers can't get out.
 
J

johnmaloney

Well-Known Member
I have seen those vines...I will get you and id on them, will make a cutting from the next one I see and match it up... I see them growing just like that in the wild, but I never thought to see them in a refugium...although that deep sand bed style refugium gives you different opportunities...Crabs in general are pretty wiley, good luck getting them to behave. :)

anyway, as a guy who has seen a lot of refugiums, that is in my top 5 for sure, really nice. Never seen a marsh biotope in a reef setup before.
 
Ssullivan

Ssullivan

Member
them viney ones are all over the place down here ive always been told they were called purse seine (like the drag nets) and that they are eatable (but really salty) i tried Google-ing it but i didn't get any info on them
 
seafansar

seafansar

Well-Known Member
Ssullivan said:
them viney ones are all over the place down here ive always been told they were called purse seine (like the drag nets) and that they are eatable (but really salty) i tried Google-ing it but i didn't get any info on them
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I know what you're talking about. I've tried them before..salty. lol. These vines are a little bit different, but I bet those other ones would work too.
 
seafansar

seafansar

Well-Known Member
Rhodes19 said:
Sara, your dad has a nice set up. I like the DSB with all those plants. :)
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Thanks. It seems like the DSB is getting clogged somewhat and restricting the flow through it. The water is now about an inch above the sand. We're going to dig back some of the sand and drill more holes in the acrylic. Hopefully that will fix the problem.
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
seafansar said:
Thanks. It seems like the DSB is getting clogged somewhat and restricting the flow through it. The water is now about an inch above the sand. We're going to dig back some of the sand and drill more holes in the acrylic. Hopefully that will fix the problem.
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Be careful. Depending on how long it's been set up if you dig in there you'll potentially release Hydrogen Sulfide like I just did by accident when messing with my Fuge. http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/reef-chronicles/21891-bigals-slow-chronicle-216.html#post744799

Check out this link . .

Hydrogen Sulfide and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com


Sara when it's time for me to set my new Sump/Fuge system up I'm going to have to insist your dad come give me a hand :)
 
seafansar

seafansar

Well-Known Member
BigAl07 said:
Be careful. Depending on how long it's been set up if you dig in there you'll potentially release Hydrogen Sulfide like I just did by accident when messing with my Fuge. http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/reef-chronicles/21891-bigals-slow-chronicle-216.html#post744799

Check out this link . .

Hydrogen Sulfide and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com


Sara when it's time for me to set my new Sump/Fuge system up I'm going to have to insist your dad come give me a hand :)
Click to expand...

My dad's crazy! I swear he does most things the opposite way. I always have to be there to say, "no dad. you can't do that." lol. For instance, when I first got into the hobby he decided he wanted to convert his underground pool into a giant reef tank. You'd be surprised how long it took me to convince him it wasn't a good idea.

The sump has only been set up for 2 months and we'd be digging back about 4". Do you still think there'd be a risk? I read what happened in your tank. That's pretty crazy. If anything, I'll just shut off the return pump and do a big water change. He has it all plumbed so water changes are really easy.
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
I'd say 4" is getting VERY deep in the sand bed.

without a doubt i'd isolate it, make the changes and do a HUGE water change specifically in the fuge itself. Heck maybe even 100% of the fuge and run carbon to be safe.
 
seafansar

seafansar

Well-Known Member
LOL.

Well he drilled the sump already. I guess he old went like 2" down. The tank seems fine today. My guess is that that sand hasn't been underwater long enough to build up sulfur. The water level has only been that high for about 2 weeks.
 
Clownfish518

Clownfish518

Razorback
PREMIUM
Okay, I have a question on mangroves.

I am building a 30 gallon system for BTAs and clowns. It will have a canopy that is 24" high, and the refugium will be 5.5 gallon tank on a shelf built into the canopy to gravity feed back to the tank.

When building the canopy, we fastened the top on with 4 screws so that it is removable. I am thinking to do just that - remove the top. Float some mangroves in the tank, and let them grow . I will trim them, but I can let them grow out the top. Grow some chaeto among the roots.

Anyone see any problems with this? What would be the best kind of mangrove, and how many?
 
seafansar

seafansar

Well-Known Member
That sounds fine to me. In a 5.5 gallon you could probably fit 6 in easily. Get red mangroves. They do not secrete salt like white mangroves. White's absorb salt and expel it through their leaves out salt glands. Red's just avoid absorbing the salt all together.
 
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