Mangrove tank

[Giga]

that's pretty nice but looks like it was stuffed in there for the show lol

 

[saltwater sam]

Haha I'm sure that's exactly what happened. That tree is a slave.

 

[saltwater sam]

Look how much my younger clown is darkening up! When I got him, he was in a tank full of fry from 3 broods: one brood was true percula x true percula, another Picasso x true percula, and finally black onyx x black onyx. Now that his color is coming in, I think he's a black onyx!

Before:

After:

 

[saltwater sam]

Went to a frag swap this weekend, got a few additions.

This is a glass anemone shrimp. I hadn't heard about them until this weekend. This one is already hosting in my fuzzy mushrooms. It's a very transparent which makes it difficult to take a good picture of. But I hope you can see it in this one.

This is a species of Gracilaria macro algae, also called Dragon's breath.

 

[d2mini]

That shrimp is cool. Looks like a Sexy Shrimp at Mardi Gras!

 

[saltwater sam]

Some updates on my Asian mangroves.

Ceriops zippeliana

Bruguiera sexangula

Bruguiera cylindrica



and I also picked this guy up at the frag swap this weekend

Colt coral

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Great thread! It looks like you got the same red sampler plants I got! Everything looks great. Very inspiring! Using bonsai techniques is brilliant. Makes me wonder if I could fit one in my tank!

 

[saltwater sam]

Thank you, Michael! This project is my passion/obsession so it's very gratifying when other people can appreciate and learn from it! I'm very excited to watch your tank develop and grow as well.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

You're welcome, Sam. It is an obsession, isn't it. These forums are a gold mine of information that enrich our hobby, and we all add to the collective cloud of knowledge.

It'll be fun to watch our tanks develop in parallel. We have the macros in common, but our 'stars of the show' are different - mangroves verses seagrasses.

And good luck with your new coral additions. I bet the plant filtration you have will provide great conditions for them.

Cheers!

 

[saltwater sam]

Haha that's such a fantastic way to look at it, you just blew my mind! Yes! Parallel marine plant system projects! Fantastic!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Yes, and since our tanks have so much in common, we can be valuable help to each other, sharing information. Your advise on the Botryocladia was very helpful. Thanks!

If someone told me before I started this tank, that I'd lose maybe one plant of my first planting, I would be skeptical. I killed a lot of plants in my freshwater tank, before I finally had success. These marine plants seem to be much more adaptable. Yay!

 

[saltwater sam]

Definitely! When I move in a year I'll be getting a bigger tank, at which time I'll probably start collecting sea grasses. A year of watching your tank should be good preparation!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Right now my tank is in its ugly phase, so I hesitate to post pics. I'm so vain! Tank's 3 weeks old now, so it's right in the middle of its nitrogen cycle.

I'm surprised by the amount of algae, given I hadn't added any fish until yesterday. The only sources of ammonia I can think of are decomposing plant material and the glutamic acid pill I pushed deep in the DSB about a week ago. I would think the pods' and snails' ammonia production would be minimal.

I did add bio pellets to my canister filter, so that's probably a contributer to the cyanobacteria. I read somewhere that carbon dosing can lead to a cyano bloom.

I've just got to be patient, and not try to do too many things! Let Mother Nature do her thing…

 

[saltwater sam]

White mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa) seed sprouting. I have it in fw right now, I have not been able to get them started in sw. Once it has a few leaves I'll start acclimating it to sw.

 

[saltwater sam]

Botryocladia continues to stake its claim on the filter output

Before


After

 

[saltwater sam]

Newest addition to the tank, blue ribbon for anyone who can ID it! (I know what it is already) Hint: it's a halophyte, but it's not a mangrove.

 

[saltwater sam]

I realized those pics were a little dark/blurry. Take a look at these and see if they look familiar. I like how their stems are woody at such a small size, like tiny bonsais!

 

[JLynn]

My best guess, after a few minutes of Google searching (oh, what would I do without thee, Google?) is Salicornia maritima.

 

[saltwater sam]

That's correct, JLynn! The genus, anyway. I'm not 100% on the species, I'm taking it to my botany professor today. I think it's actually Salicornia virginica, but species ID of plants is always difficult.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Nice! Now I'd like to know its common name, where it grows, how big it gets, etc. I assume it's going in your mangrove tank. Tell us more about it, as well as your plans for it. It's a beautiful plant!