Mangroves

[seabronc2003]

Im new to the SW genre and have a question about planting Mangroves.

I have access to wild mangroves (lucky me ) that are about 6-8 inches tall. I was thinking about planting them in my Seahorse tank which has live rock and 3' live sand bed.

Can the mangrove plants live fully submerged or do they need "tidalal surges" so to speak with time out of the water.

Also if this is possible will a freshwater dip for a few minutes harm them... Dont want hydroids and nasties in my tank.

 

[hubris007]

Wow! 3 feet of live sand must have cost you a ton!


From what i can gather (new to mangroves myself), you at least need the leafy part above the water at all times. I don't think surging or air eaposure are necessary for the rest of it. I would think these would be great for a seahorse tank.

 

[seabronc2003]

i think you meant to say exposure and not "eaposure"

LOL we all make typo's dude

 

[RicksReefs]

they won't bud or grow (IME) without the tip exposed to air,
you could try germinating them in a seperate container, then moving them to the tank when they get big enough. but this
could shock'em & kill'em. they don't need wave action, but a
FW misting to wash the salt off the leaves on occasion helps.
FW dips should be no problem.
JMO/HTH

 

[ddoering]

If you are collecting them you also have to be careful when moving them to your tank. Are they growing in brackish water or are they right on the ocean? You will need to acclimate them to the salinity of your tank from what they are used to. Also, watch your magnesium levels, I believe that mangroves use it up in keeping out the salt. I have a few mangroves growing in freshwater right now, so a FW dip shouldn't hurt them.

The reason I am growing them in freshwater is that I have read they grow much slower in full strength saltwater because they expend so much energy in excluding salt uptake etc. Once I get my saltwater setup, I will transplant some to a big rubbermaid sump and acclimate them slowly to saltwater.

You will need to mist the leaves to wash salt off them as stated above, and you will need to watch out for the mangroves dropping leaves. They accumulate salt in older leaves and drop those as another way of ridding themselves of salt, so you don't want them dropping and sitting in the tank and decomposing.

Cheers,
Doug