d2mini's Mangrove Tank!

[d2mini]

Finally got this baby setup. It was the last piece of the puzzle in my completely tank and fish room rebuild this winter.
It's located in the fish room, tied into the rest of the system which includes a large custom LifeReef sump, LifeReef Reefugium, and 40B frag tank.

Specs:
Glass Cages 18x18x16 tall.
24 lbs of Walt Smith's Fiji Mud
60 lbs of Caribsea Special Grade Arag-Alive Sand
200w Fluorescent with Daylight Spectrum bulb
I happened to have this fixture from my previous build. Will eventually look for something a little smaller/cooler.
4 Red Mangroves
2 Banggai Cardinals

My goal is to have at least one good tree going.
The Banggai Cardinals will go in tonight along with one of my giant red brittle stars.

Laying in the mud...

Sand...

Finished plumbing and filled with water.
Ended up with 7-8" of substrate at the tallest area.

It's not the prettiest setup with the plumbing and overflow but it's in the fish room.
I just want a bigass tree like Julian Sprung!

These propagules are always so short. Might end up having to float them for a bit until i get some strong roots.
We'll see how it goes.

 

[Mrs. Music]

Nice! I would like to see pics of the entire new space or some videos!

 

[saltwater sam]

Wow, it's looking great! You'll be able to get a big healthy tree with all that sand and mud!

 

[d2mini]

Nice! I would like to see pics of the entire new space or some videos!

My build thread is on the first or second page of reef discussion right now, but I need to get an updated pic. I'll post it here.

Wow, it's looking great! You'll be able to get a big healthy tree with all that sand and mud!

Thanks, I hope so!
Right now the sand is just sitting on top of the mud but I'm going to go home and mix it up to get all that good stuff in the mud spread out and closer to the mangroves. That stuff is so dense... its like clay!

 

[saltwater sam]

The mangroves LOVE dense anoxic mud like that.

 

[d2mini]

The mangroves LOVE dense anoxic mud like that.

Yeah, right... but it will be about 10 years before the roots will reach it. :lol:
Some are currently in the sand about a half inch!

 

[saltwater sam]

You wish, roots are the fastest growing parts of the plant! They'll consume all that substrate with roots in no time.

 

[d2mini]

I Hope so!
The last time I had planted mangroves, it was a year later and most all the roots were fine like hairs.
When I suspended them, then they grew the long, thick roots.

 

[saltwater sam]

Maybe you should try both? Start some planted but also have one or more suspended for a while to get the starting roots.

 

[boon_hogganbeck]

Awesome! Can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

[d2mini]

So I made a big mess. :lol:
I mixed the sand with the mud a bit. Wasn't going for a full equal mix, just wanted to get some of the mud particles mixed in with the sand up top.
Well of course the water instantly went black. So i continued mixing by feel, then when I felt satisfied I pumped out most of the black water, leaving the last few inches over the lowest area in front. Then refilled with fresh saltwater. When the water finally cleared, I could see that there is now a layer of soot on top of the nice clean sand. At least 1/2" thick at the bottom low area where it all settled. So now the tank is drained again. Tonite I will need to shovel out that top layer of soot along with a little bit of the sand, and then put in a fresh layer of sand on top (back to petco!). PITA! But I think that will get me where I want. A thin top layer of clean sand, a large layer of mixed, and then whatever thinnish area of pure mud may be left at the bottom.

And Sam, i may go ahead and suspend for a little while. I think I'm out of the foam discs, probably have to go buy more. Two of the propagules have put out little 1/8" long nubs at the bottom, the other two haven't started yet.

 

[d2mini]

Got it all cleaned up! :lol:

Drained it back down, scooped out a bunch of slop that collected at the bottom perimeter, and then added back in a layer of coarser substrate on top.
Looks good, and my Banggai's and starfish are in.
Will get another pic soon.

Now if things would just grow so the fish and star can get some shelter from the sun! haha

 

[d2mini]

Pic time!


Here's "Mangrove Hill"...

And as requested, here's a shot of the business end of the completed fish room...

 

[phobos2deimos]

Man that looks sharp. I really want to do a mangrove hill like you have, but with C. Brachypus covering the sand. I promised myself not to start another tank, but y'all are making it tough!

 

[d2mini]

Man that looks sharp. I really want to do a mangrove hill like you have, but with C. Brachypus covering the sand. I promised myself not to start another tank, but y'all are making it tough!

Thanks!
I've thought of doing some kind of ground cover.
I just have too many other things that need to take precedence right now. So maybe at some point down the line, once the Mangroves start to take off.

 

[saltwater sam]

Everything looks on point, as the kids say! That chaeto ball is impressive, very productive colony and system you have there. At what point are you going to cull that colony? Very excited to watch things develop!

 

[Mrs. Music]

Ii have serious fish room envy! How do you keep it all neat, especially the wires?

 

[d2mini]

Everything looks on point, as the kids say! That chaeto ball is impressive, very productive colony and system you have there. At what point are you going to cull that colony? Very excited to watch things develop!

Thanks! Right now I'm just curious to see how big it gets before it stops rotating.

Ii have serious fish room envy! How do you keep it all neat, especially the wires?

Thank you. I still have work to do neatening things up and everything is kinda spread out.


Couple more random pics from Mangrove Hill.

 

[mordibv]

Love your builds .
That room you built is totally immaculate ..How much benefit do you think the mud tank will bring to your system ? BTW I saw your pic's on a business website (not ecotech ) in NC which I thought was odd since I think you are in Texas. Anywho it got me revisting your old threads that I totally enjoyed .

 

[d2mini]

Love your builds .
That room you built is totally immaculate ..How much benefit do you think the mud tank will bring to your system ? BTW I saw your pic's on a business website (not ecotech ) in NC which I thought was odd since I think you are in Texas. Anywho it got me revisting your old threads that I totally enjoyed .

Thanks!
I don't know what, if anything the mud will do for the system, but I figure the Mangroves would like it.

Sent you a pm.