Growing Black Mangroves

[Johnny Tang]

I know everyone grows reds in their tanks but why not blacks?

The reason I ask is because i got black mangrove shoots and seeds for free from a friend and would rather try to grow them than buy reds.

Any info is greatly appreciated!

 

[Samala]

They tend to grow higher up on the shoreline than Rhizophora and don't always adjust entirely to having their roots in the water column as so many people like train red mangroves to do in aquaria setups. I've only had success with growing them with a heavy substrate for them to establish in.

In the wild they take a higher range of salinities and red mangroves tend to dominate in the salinities we would typically keep reef tanks at. That said, you can certainly find black mangroves rooted and healthy in sections of shoreline that maintain 30-34ppt, they're just usually outcompeted by reds here. I don't have experience growing black mangrove at these salinities though, so I'm not sure how they fair as seedlings.

>Sarah

 

[Johnny Tang]

Thanks Sarah.

I am giving it a try and will see what happens.

Mangroves need lots of phosphates right?

 

[Samala]

I haven't noticed them needing a ton of phosphate to keep growth up. Like most other plants the demand is pretty high for nitrogen once they're established and growing well and I've seen other articles note that magnesium seems to be something they like as well. Most reef setups probably generate just what they'd like. Old water after water changes is what I've used to grow mine.

>Sarah

 

[bigben]

Johnny,

Ditto what Sarah said. IME in the gulf coast area of Texas, the blacks were farther inland in the brackish marsh areas prone to flooding but without long-term submersion. Substrate was "stanky mud" for lack of a better description (it's late here).

To my wife's chagrin, I did set up a few cursory experiments in my apartment during graduate school in which the roots were fully submerged in buckets of saltwater (old water from my reef aquarium) for several months consecutively. Water changes were approximately 1/3 every week or 2 (no strict schedule).

My observed results were either failure to thrive or gradual decline. Hope that helps,

Ben

EDIT: I was in Galveston at the time--I'm TAMU class of '98. There were, in 2000, plenty on the east end of the island

 

[Johnny Tang]

EDIT: I was in Galveston at the time--I'm TAMU class of '98. There were, in 2000, plenty on the east end of the island

HOWDY!

That is exactly where my friend got these. He gave me two small "branches" that he pulled up. One already died while the other seems to be doing fine. The one that is still growing is sticking in my tank just like growing a red mangrove...but we will see how this goes.

Also, he gave me some seeds he found which i planted in half a milk jug with some sand in it which. I put several holes in the bottom and sides so that the sand could get wet and then put the milk jug in an empty styrofoam dish. We will see how well they grow. I like the idea of giving them nutrients by using water from changes.

Anyways- they are starting to sprout so maybe they will grow?

 

[bigben]

You might be able to get a couple to grow for a little while, but for the purposes of your aquarium, I don't expect you are going to have any long-term success..the blacks just don't work the same way the reds do. (FWIW, the reds do very little with regard to filtration in saltwater aquaria, but I do admit, they're really cool).

 

[winn]

I'm very curious how this turned out for you, as I've got a black mangrove almost a year old now and looking to make it a brackish riparium.

HOWDY!

That is exactly where my friend got these. He gave me two small "branches" that he pulled up. One already died while the other seems to be doing fine. The one that is still growing is sticking in my tank just like growing a red mangrove...but we will see how this goes.

Also, he gave me some seeds he found which i planted in half a milk jug with some sand in it which. I put several holes in the bottom and sides so that the sand could get wet and then put the milk jug in an empty styrofoam dish. We will see how well they grow. I like the idea of giving them nutrients by using water from changes.

Anyways- they are starting to sprout so maybe they will grow?