mangrove, coral, fish

swissgaurd

swissgaurd

Member
Hey reefers
Im thinkin of setting up another tank,small one eh.
from 10 to 20 gallons.

I havent heard anyone keeping mangroves in the same tank with
coral,and fish.
wonder how it would turn out.
no other filtration,skimmerless,dsb,powerheads for circulation.
will have live rock.
not sure on type of sand,lighting corals and fish,
i know i would like to get my hand on some of those colorful zoo's
dont see much of them in my area.

help me set up this tank.
probably get custom tank made so hight is the same as width.

your input will greatly be appreciated.

vic
 
Curtswearing

Curtswearing

Active Member
I have a friend who keeps mangroves in his fuge. Hopefully he will be at our December reefing club meeting so I can ask him about this.

(Here is the one thing I do know about mangroves----do not let the leaves fall into the tank unless you want to release all of the absorbed nasties back into your tank).
 
Dennis7

Dennis7

Member
I have a couple of mangroves in my fuge. They are doing fine, but aren't fast growers(at least the ones I have). I have a lettuce nubi, snails, and Hermit crabs but no fish. I run my lights 24/7 on my fuge and the tips are about a 1/2 inch out of the water. The fuge is about 13" high with a 3" sandbed which the mangroves are buried in.
 
swissgaurd

swissgaurd

Member
Ill be waiting patiently curt im getting kinda excited about this tank.maybe this is the tank with no water changes.
NA impossible but you never know.


vic
 
Maxx

Maxx

Well-Known Member
I wish!!
Curt's the master.....I'm just trying to assist while he's out!
Nick
 
M

Montanareefer

Has been struck by the ban stick
I hear you have to wipe off the leaves of excess salt with fresh water from time to time or the mangrove will lose all it's leaves!:)
 
swissgaurd

swissgaurd

Member
great link

still no fish and corals though

i mist the leaves with fresh water on a daily bases to remove salt also keps the leaves growing.

vic
 
M

mwrager

Active Member
I have mangroves in my sump, I also have corals, fish, skimmer, and live rock. I have had no problem with them.
 
ScottT1980

ScottT1980

Well-Known Member
I still interested in your initial thought of mangroves and fish in the main tank. I think that would be a VERY interesting setup. Having never worked with mangroves, I can't say for certain whether it will be asthetically pleasing.

Nevertheless, I have snorkled in the mangroves and it really does have some interesting life, serving sort of as a nursury for the juvenile fish. In fact, one of the biggest rays I have ever seen in my life was while I was in the mangroves. It is certainly a completly different habitat that I think would be really interesting to immulate.

Take er easy
Scott T.
 
swissgaurd

swissgaurd

Member
Scott exactly what im thinking.
what sort of life did you see.
what types of fish.

was it a muddy bottom or a sandy bottom.


vic
 
ScottT1980

ScottT1980

Well-Known Member
We did a morning in the mangroves off the Amberguis (sp???) Keys in Belize. I couldn't get any good photos because the water is a bit more murky around the mangroves. So, to answer your first question, the bottom was pretty muddy. More of a loam consistency than a sandy consistency. Thats why I worried about asthetics in a tank (muddy bottom with murky water).

To be honest, I saw hundreds of thousands of small fish, all ranging from the size of a quarter to the size of my palm. Again, identifying species and visualizing colors was very difficult a) because at the time I wasn't even in the aquarium hobby and b) the water was cloudy. From what I understood, a good bit of the fry from reef species would come to the mangroves (or actually eggs would be placed in the mangroves) to mature to adulthood whereby they would return to the reef.

I wish Otter or someone else with more knowledge could fill in the details. I remember seeing quite a few damsels and perhaps a few tangs but none of the other real colorful reef fish (I don't think I saw one parrotfish, something that really stands out on the reefs). I did see quite a few echinoderms and crustaceans, moreso than on the reefs. On the outskirts remained a good bit of large, predatory fish (barracuda, sharks, etc...). Rays were also found throughout...

It is a totally unique habitat from the reef, pretty cool indeed. I wonder if the Pacific mangrove regions are similar and what types of species one could find there...

Take er easy
Scott T.
 
Curtswearing

Curtswearing

Active Member
BTW---I will have some experience shortly. I just bought a mangrove. Or more accurately, I bought a green stick with a couple of roots sticking out of it.

I might get more later, I'll have to see how this one does first.

(a LFS just moved to within 3 miles of my office. I can make it there on my lunch hour----this is NOT good. :D
 
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