Mangrove lagoon biotope

[DougSupreme]

I'm in the planning stages of setting up a refugium for my reef tank. I got bored with the "glass box of algae" refugiums and thought it might be nice to do a mangrove forest coastal biotope. what other plants/animals should I try to include?

I have a 55G tank for this purpose, but I could easily find a suitable replacement if this ends up being too deep.

 

[Fredfish]

If you have ever seen a magrove swamp, it includes lots of mud and all the critters that live in it: crabs, mud skippers, all kinds of snails...

Oh, and if you live in Tropical Australia, salt water crocs, but you will need a bigger tank.

Fred.

 

[DougSupreme]

hehe crocs would be cool. kinda add a little too much bioload for my tastes tho.

so do you suggest a bed of miracle mud? I thought about crabs and snails, but I'd like to keep fish to a minimum.

 

[Fredfish]

Personally I'm not impressed by miracle mud. Its mostly quarzite sand with a little dirt mixed in. You can do that at home for a lot less $$.

a more organic substrait would really increase the benthic fauna, the stuff that grows in and on your sandbed. It would probably also speed up the growth of your mangroves.

The mangrove swamps that I saw last year in Australia were almost pure mud. You couldn't see more than a few inches in the water, but that might relate as much to agricultural runnoff as it does to the rich substrait.

You might try posting this question in Eric Bornemans forum. I had a discussion with him late last year on a seagrass/mangrove tank I want to set up. Tried to do a search to link to it, but the search function is disabled.

Eric can give you a lot more details on what's in a mangrove swamp. I think there is also a section on mangrove environmants in Scott Michaels first Reef Fishes book.

Fred.

Edit: OK found the link to the seagrass/mangrove discussion in Eric's forum.

 

[natual]

I have been in several different mangrove areas some right on the ocean and to the inland waters some have thick fine silty mud others are in sand with little bit of silt. they all have thousands of creatures in and around there branching roots. Sponges, hydra, corals, fiddler crabs, small green and other color chromis, yellowtail, upside down jellies, amphipods, an occasional manatee pretty much everything that would grow in a low current, high nutrient place. Although other than the mud i stirred up with a snorkel and fins everything was perfectly clear.

One thing to note glass tank...not a good idea. A rubbermaid tub would be better because a mangrove can split rocks with its roots (seen it) so it could cause your tank to leak by going through the silicone or internal pressure on an acrylic tank.

 

[MartinH]

I've heard this as well. I am setting my "tank" up a la rubbermaid. My plan is mangrove biotope as well. I found quite a bit of reading on google if you just type in "mangrove biotope". As the others have said, it depends what part of the world you are talking about. Maybe even a "tide pool" type would be neat! Any thoughts?