Tunze Mangrove box

[MikeG]

Sorry, just saw the post that you were married!!!

Congrats!!

I guess you'll get back to me later....!!!

 

[rvitko]

I just went and collected some and you can pick them now, my personal experience is they don't occur north of Rockport with much frequency, you may find an odd mangrove now and again further north but I can't say for sure about Galveston, they like marsh land, they grow in really foul mud and aren't much on freezes. Port Aransas, Mustang Island and North Padre Island seem to be the best sources. You may find some near Galveston but they don't like groomed beaches and sea wall areas, look in the marshes near the coast on the bay side. I just got back with them so we still need to clean, sort and pack them but I can get one to you if you prefer. The farthest north I have personally seen them is where the Guadalupe river enters the Gulf of Mexico near Victoria. That marsh delta is actually really thick with them but is a protected nature sanctuary but you can see them from the road in huge groves.

 

[gotfrogs]

Thanks Roger but I just ordered 25 of them online this morning!

 

[rvitko]

Black mangroves? I have never seen them listed before?

 

[gotfrogs]

Yep, hope you don't mind.
http://floridacoastalmangroves.com/buy-white-red-black-mangrove-seeds.htm
Now I just need 24 more mangrove boxes!

 

[rvitko]

Thanks!

 

[gotfrogs]

The ones that I planted have started to sprout.

 

[gotfrogs]

Well only one of them really took off and made it but that is all I need.

 

[rvitko]

Looks good, it looks like it may need a bit more light given the long internodes, either that or more red spectrum light. I went to collect more on Tuesday and the freeze didn't do them any favors, they had no leaves and all the seeds had dropped, I did manage to get a couple hundred and we kept back about 60 here and I now have a proper set up to keep them going. For anyone else who may want one the US price will be $18, I can't sell them as cheap as those guys because we pot them in rockwool and I have to take care of them, not to mention it is a 4.5hr drive each way and I spent nearly $100 on fuel to get there and back.

 

[gotfrogs]

I have been slow to react but I installed a light fixture for the mangrove last night. Man it is already hot in the attic. I was sweating like a pig. The fixture is in place and the bulb ordered. I just need to get the wiring completed.

 

[rvitko]

What type of light does that fixture use?

 

[gotfrogs]

Roger - It is just a standard light socket. I finaly got my Par38 light to screw into it, a 6500K LED made by http://www.sunbritelighting.com that I purchased from Exotic Aquarium.

 

[gotfrogs]

My mangrove has out grown the space under the LED. I was a little concerned on what I was going to do but thankfully four buds have popped out of the trunk and I am no longer scared to trim it back. Here are some pictures that I took today.

 

[spicytuna]

My mangrove has out grown the space under the LED. I was a little concerned on what I was going to do but thankfully four buds have popped out of the trunk and I am no longer scared to trim it back. Here are some pictures that I took today.

Is that a years growth? And also what media is the mangrove in. Sorry if I missed it, but is that a black or red mangrove?

 

[gotfrogs]

That photo was taken 1.3 years after the seed sprouted. It is a black mangrove. Here is a picture that I took today (2.1 years after planting). As you can see, it really took off after cutting the top off.

 

[gotfrogs]

As for substrate, it is just Carib Sea Aragonite Reef Sand.

 

[COCO]

Looks great!

 

[gotfrogs]

Thanks! I really need to modify the lighting setup. At a minimum I need to raise the light 12" but I really want to increase the wattage and take the plant outside and rinse all of the salt residue off of the leaves.

 

[Krazy]

That is awesome! I've never seen one grow that well in an aquarium!

 

[ebacon]

The boxes can be ordered now, I don't have them in the US yet as I was not planning to bring them in until we have black mangroves in stock again in the fall. These are legally collected as propagules here on the Texas coast and shipped to Germany for distribution, it doesn't make a lot of sense to have them shipped back so I was waiting until more were available for collection. The mangroves will be $23.24 US. The mangrove box will be $68.68.

Roger, i met you at macna in iowa 2 years ago, are the boxes available?