Mangrove tank

[Michael Hoaster]

More nice pics! That chondria is very nice! What's that behind it, ulva?

That's cool about your clowns. Two behaviors are dead giveaways; the smaller male doing 'the shakes' and cleaning a spot for eggs. Are you going to try to raise the fry?

 

[saltwater sam]

The greens are all Caulerpa! I don't think I'll be raising the first broods, but eventually I would like to. I would love to see the colors on the babies, since the parents are both different phenotypes.

 

[saltwater sam]

Ol' blackie is doing well in its new home, new leaves are emerging.

 

[cksss]

Love the diversity in your garden, I've also been trying to integrate more plants (non-marine) around the tank

Btw, could you tell us more about the substrate you are using in the pots where the mangroves sit? Are they the same as the substrate in the tank?

 

[saltwater sam]

Love the diversity in your garden, I've also been trying to integrate more plants (non-marine) around the tank

Btw, could you tell us more about the substrate you are using in the pots where the mangroves sit? Are they the same as the substrate in the tank?

Thanks cksss, the mangroves grow in caribsea refugium mineral mud. It's good for the plants, but you have to be careful not to get it into the aquarium water. I use large size puka shell substrate as a barrier between the mud and the water in the tank, this prevents the mud from spilling out of the pots.

 

[cksss]

Thanks cksss, the mangroves grow in caribsea refugium mineral mud. It's good for the plants, but you have to be careful not to get it into the aquarium water. I use large size puka shell substrate as a barrier between the mud and the water in the tank, this prevents the mud from spilling out of the pots.

Oh! that explains the shells. I was staring at them for a while and couldnt figure out why they are necessary. Very good idea on using the shells to settle the mud in :thumbsup:

 

[saltwater sam]

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[nawilson89]

Merry christmas as well

 

[RBKKREEF]

Love it! Merry Christmas!

 

[saltwater sam]

R. apiculata shoots coming through

 

[saltwater sam]

2 of 3 Halimeda species

 

[johnike]

Got mine plumbed into my reef system yesterday, now to get substrate and Macros!

 

[Pwnm30rdi3]

Looking great guys. Love the Christmas decor @ Saltwater Sam.
I've got a order of macro coming in soon and will have to post some pictures of my 55 gallon refugium. I haven't shared my mangrove tank here yet.

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

Looking great guys. Love the Christmas decor @ Saltwater Sam.
I've got a order of macro coming in soon and will have to post some pictures of my 55 gallon refugium. I haven't shared my mangrove tank here yet.

Share away!

 

[saltwater sam]

Got mine plumbed into my reef system yesterday, now to get substrate and Macros!

Lookin good!

Looking great guys. Love the Christmas decor @ Saltwater Sam.
I've got a order of macro coming in soon and will have to post some pictures of my 55 gallon refugium. I haven't shared my mangrove tank here yet.

I look forward to seeing it!


Here's a shot of my sexy orange mangrove (B. sexangula) and yellow mangrove (Ceriops decandra)

 

[saltwater sam]

Had to rip out >50% of my palm tree Caulerpa, and I may have caught it just in time. I noticed the fronds were turning yellow, the entire colony which was about 12 inches long.


When I looked closer, I could see their stems were turning white. This is a tale-tell sign that the colony is going into nuclear meltdown.


When you see this happening, the time to act is now. Get it out. It can break down into your water within hours.


Ended up being quite a large export, luckily, I still have one healthy colony in the tank.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Nice work, Sam!

It'll be interesting to see what fills in the new open space. Looks like the Prolifera is cueing up.

 

[nawilson89]

Nice move. I have a small bit of prolifera turning too. I thought I would leave it in and let it let some nutrients out but I may just pull it this afternoon

 

[ichthyogeek]

You should start selling your macros when you export them! All the macros in your tank are so healthy, and it's super hard to find all those different macros online! Do you dose stuff like Flourish? How do you keep up with keeping the Caulerpa from going sexual or preventing one algae from outcompeting the others?

 

[saltwater sam]

Nice move. I have a small bit of prolifera turning too. I thought I would leave it in and let it let some nutrients out but I may just pull it this afternoon

That's definitely not how you want to get nutrients in your tank, trust me. A Caulerpa meltdown will cloud your tank and destroy your filter media, and so on.

You should start selling your macros when you export them! All the macros in your tank are so healthy, and it's super hard to find all those different macros online! Do you dose stuff like Flourish? How do you keep up with keeping the Caulerpa from going sexual or preventing one algae from outcompeting the others?

I dose iron and calcium via essential elements for green macros and mangroves, and also dose iodine for reds. As far as preventing competition and meltdowns, I export Caulerpa strategically. As far as selling, I can reply to one of Michael's comments at the same time:

It'll be interesting to see what fills in the new open space. Looks like the Prolifera is cueing up.

I have fragged up the Chondria for sale in the spring, so hopefully that will fill some of that space up!