simple mangrove fuge 1.1

I started by buying 21 mangrove sprouts for $9.99 plus shipping ($22 total) from http://stores.ebay.com/PACIFIC-SEEDS

I found out that these were sprouted in fresh water so I set up a two-bucket system with a heater and a powerhead to slowly bring these sprouts to 1.025 s.g. The only one that had leaves before it was shipped seems to be the only one that is sure to die; its leaves were broken. It is probably best to get them shipped without leaves or before sprouting.

In the bucket refugium I have a DSB. Deep sand of 6-8 inches. If it were finer sand I would need less. If it were crushed coral or rock rubble I don't think it would matter how deep but you might have to take it offline to clean it sooner. You would not get denitrification from rock rubble or crushed coral unless the mangroves take it out of the system.

They were doing very well and I looked at the roots to see growth. In hindsight I should have never messed with the roots if I wanted optimum growth. I know this because I watched leaves die after moving roots around but changing little else. So it's a good plan to have an idea of the final destination of your trees before you start anything. Then try not to mess with the sprouts until they have grown quite a bit. I have read that if you buy them non-sprouted then you can put them right into 1.025 s.g. water and so have everything ready before they sprout. This would be best so you don't have to move them or mess with them in any way until they get established. Here is a picture, but you should know that the roots grow much more than this and I have heard they can break almost any container. This is after just a few days.

Simple Mangroves 1.1 (a little better)

After a month my s.g. was to 1.025 so I could hook the bucket into my system. I found that my plumbing caused some bubbles I did not plan on. I had to change my bucket system. This is when I realized that a bulkhead fitting can save a lot of headache and is worth the cost. It can work nicely on a bucket as long as it is placed where the bucket has some flexibility. I used a bigger bucket with extra head space for bubble splatter and this is what I came up with.

As you can see, my mangroves are growing and have been at 1.025 s.g. for almost two weeks now. I have them in a window and also under a grow light.

The plumbing is really the hardest part of setting this up. I had noise and had to add a small air tube into my drain to quiet the noise.

You might have noticed the spray bottle next to the bucket. If you decide to grow mangroves, it is a good idea to have a spray bottle ($1, dollar store) filled with fresh water. You do this for two reasons. First because these trees are used to high humidity. Second because they leech salt out of the leaves and you must wash it off.

Please post any questions. I will probably have to fix this and continue to update as I go. Thanks.

Here are some that I last grew. I think these were about 6-12 mos old at the time.

 

I got some mangrove sprouts off of Eva a couple of weeks back and put them in my sump... I should check for sprouting leaves; If I'm lucky I may have a few already

I still think it's a good idea to take these new growth shells off before they fall off naturally. It might even help the leaves open up faster.

They are still doing very well.

 

 

Here's my mangroves... I guess they are "ghetto" since my whole sump is basically "ghetto" :

 

 

 

I am not a botanist or a biochemist so honestly I can't recite the "advantages" of mangroves (if any) over other refugium choices... I would assume, though, that like the macroalgeas  mangroves do aid somewhat in overall nutrient export by taking up nutrients out of the water and using them to build tissue. Do they do it "better" or target "different" nutrients than macros do? I don't know...

 

Me, I'm just a fan of using as many of the (reasonable) means as I can to make the aquarium enviroment as stable and "livestock-friendly" as possible. And (to me) adding a few mangroves into my fuge seems reasonable...