Anybody grow mangroves?

sardonicscorpio · #1 07/07/2007, 02:52 PM

I've read about growing these in a refugium/sump/tank, just wondering if anyone here had tried it and what your thoughts are...

Kentanner11 · #2 07/07/2007, 03:04 PM

I havent tried it yet, but I was talking to someone on another forum who uses it and it worked out really, really well, the only thing was that they said, that mangroves filter, and grow best when their just by them selves, ie a mangrove filter. They just took a 5gal. bucket and used it exclusively for mangroves, with a pump bringing in and out water from the sump.

coralfish · #3 07/07/2007, 03:09 PM

I have some and they take forever to root and grow. I have had them for several months and some are finally starting to sprout, many just rotted away.

Rayman380 · #4 07/07/2007, 04:20 PM

I grow them and have a few for sale.

JeffKirk · #5 07/07/2007, 11:04 PM

I might like to try one.

How do you set up your sump for one? (Sand bed depth, water flow, lighting, how fast do they grow, etc...)

Oh and how much do they cost?

MelloYellow · #6 07/08/2007, 12:22 AM

They need a relatively deep sand bed and honestly...don't really do enough in my opinion in means of nutrient export to make them worth my time. They absorb most their nutrients from the sand bed and not nearly as much from the water column than something like caulerpa would. Plus I've heard stories of them breaking the tank bottoms/sides of smaller sized tanks

jpeggerling · #7 07/08/2007, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MelloYellow
I've heard stories of them breaking the tank bottoms/sides of smaller sized tanks

Really! Thats crazy, I have never heard that

dmilne85 · #8 07/08/2007, 01:09 PM

i have a bunch of them just floating and that way they grow the big prop roots which wont really happen if they are just put in the sand. i havnt really noticed any benifit in running them in my system for waste removal. i just think there cool and im eventually going to try to make a mangrove themed planted tank. and yes eventually over a long period of time they will grow to big for a small tank and could crack the glass... if you have seen a real mangrove forest you know how big they will get, haha

truthdesigns · #9 07/08/2007, 10:30 PM

I have a bunch in my refugium the roots grew right onto my rock.
I also have one that I bought 5 months ago at ATR to put into
my brackish mudskipper tank. It just stated sprouting and it looks
really cool!

sardonicscorpio · #10 07/09/2007, 02:25 PM

I saw a pic one time of an open top corner tank, with 2-3 ft mangroves, very cool lookin...