UPDATE on Mangrove Coastal Tank

[rwhhunt]

Hey Guys,
I tried to hunt down my original post, but without the search function it is practically impossible! So, this is an update of my progress with my coastal tank project, possibly some of you may remember my initial post many months ago...
But for a recap, I had ordered about ten red mangroves from Hawaii back in march or april, and set them up in my 20 long tank for a coastal setup. I had a GSP puffer and an Archer as the inhabitants as well as some big hermits. I was originally using an incandescent plant grow bulb and was having significant die off (lost two mangroves), until switching to a larger ballast and ordering a 42W powercompact ("metal halide") bulb off ebay (~$20), it has a nice whitish/blue tint to it, and is very bright. I have about 50 lbs of live aragonite in the tank with a 15W normal output flourscent covering the remainder of the tank. The new 42W bulb has made all the difference in the world! Large red tap roots starting shooting out within a week or so of changing the light!
BEFORE:

Intermediate:

NOW:

Next page...

 

[rwhhunt]

My recent activity has been kind of a conversion, I have moved the Green spotted puffer to my 55G FOWLR. I have raised the salinty to about 30, and put about 6 lbs of live rock into the tank for its' newest inhabitant, a Pseudosquilla ciliata Mantis shrimp! (These are some of the coolest mantis's next to the one in my other mantis tank: a Large 6" peacock!) I also got two good sized lyretail mollies, hopefully they will breed and make some bite sized babies. There are also two large hermits and a few very small ones, along with two pencil urchins...

My New Ciliata!

My Cleanup crew:

Full Tank Shot:

And My other Mantis tank with Boris:

Thank you for your help with my previous post, I am very pleased with how my tank is turning out! Hopefully the roots will extend and anchor themselves nicely in the sand throughout the tank...

 

[Mike4284m]

Wow those roots look amazing! It's kinda funny how the bottoms tend to curve up. I've had some do that as well.

 

[rwhhunt]

yeah, i dont know why that happens, they were turned up when i got them, but i guess it has helped the roots shoot up and out away giving it a much broader root structure, looks Very Cool Now!

 

[graveyardworm]

Setup looks great so far. Love the roots arch.

 

[Samala]

I think you've had some pretty impressive root growth for the timeline. Nice work. It's going to be so interesting to see how this continues to develop the rest of the year.

>Sarah

 

[jmanrow]

Nice setup! I'm curious about the 42W bulb that you are using. Can you give any more info on it? That is some great growth on both roots and leaves for only a very short time! I have used Metal Halides, but they tended to cause the leaves to brown on the edges because of the heat.
Is the bulb that you are using a threaded socket Power Compact bulb? Any brand name on it? Thanks.

 

[rwhhunt]

I bought the bulb on ebay, it was for growing plants, but has a metal halide color to it. I looked back on ebay and cant seem to find one like it.. But it has a screw in bulb into a ballast i bought from lowes. it was about $20. I believe the auction said it was "equivalent to 190 MH", but obviously that not really true...