Tips to move established Mangroves

[crvz]

I've had these mangroves for years, but I moved them once and lost about 1/2 of the small trees I had at the time (about 3 years ago). Those that never seemed to re-establish in the new tank ended up dying after a month or so. The three that are left have really grown in the last year, and I'm considering making a longer, wider tank to replace this refugium, giving me some more space for the trees as well as some other critters. I'm a ways out, just thinking through ideas at this time, but are there are tips on how to move the trees? I imagine I will just use a large scoop and take huge chunks of the sand with the trees when I do it, but what say you people?

This was a picture from February of 2019, right when I added the two grow lights (I had previously run that Kessil LED as the main source of light).

These are the trees today. Two of them are almost 3 feet tall.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Maybe you could scoop them up in buckets or tupperware, keeping their roots in the substrate. And get them back under their lights at the same height. I think change shocks them. Try to mimic the original setup, to avoid changes.

 

[crvz]

I managed the move this weekend. I tried to get the majority of each tree in one giant scoop with a shovel. It seemed to work, but time will tell. I trimmed the trees as well as they're in deeper water, so I made sure to get all the leaves out of the water.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Great idea using the shovel. Very cool dedicated tank design! Are you putting fish in it?

 

[crvz]

Yes, there are currently two clarkii clowns and a tomini tang. No discreet plans on what’s next.

 

[AdamSabina]

Yes, there are currently two clarkii clowns and a tomini tang. No discreet plans on what's next.

That is one tank I've never had is a mangrove tank... My wife has been interested in having another seahorse tank. I think they would make very interesting perches for the Seahorse. how long to go from pod to your size mangrove?


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[crvz]

I got the propagules about 5 years ago, but as you can see above they really took off under the new grow lights. In the last year they put out a canopy that was 2-3 times as dense.

 

[crvz]

I ended up pulling the mangroves out because I found a bunch of eunicid worms in the sand. I had to sift through all the sand to get rid of the worms, and in the process really disturbed the root system of the mangroves, but within an hour or so replanted then. The leaves are starting to go limp, though, as I’m sure I pulled a lot of nutrients from the sand when filtering it. Is there a safe way to help fertilize the trees while in the tank? They also appear to be releasing sap (white stuff) in a few places submerged on the trunk. Thoughts?

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Not sure if fertilizer would help. Maybe a root tab? Mine are rooted in dirt from my yard, topped with sand.