quesion about my red mangroves

[mattyparsons]

i've currently got a 20 gallon long underneath my main display tank, which acts as a sump/refuge. i have hung a 65 watt 10k daylight powercompact above it for lighting. the lighting is on from around 8am - 8pm.

in the tank is planted 10 red mangroves which have been thriving and adding new leaves about once every 6 weeks or so. the tank is also packed with chaeto.

now that i'm adding more critters to the top tank, my plants are starting to have a hard time keeping the ph above 8.0.

what i'd like to know is how the mangroves would react to a 24 hour light cycle?

or maybe to a 20 hour light with 4 hour dark would be better?

anyone have any thoughts?

thanks in advance!

here's a pic -

[Triterium]

Beautiful tank!

Mangroves do fine with 24 hour lighting.

But I don't think increasing the photoperiod of the refugium is going to raise the pH. Photosynthesizing plants/algae release carbon dioxide. This will actually drop the pH of your tank.

Try using any of the pH stabilizers sold on the market.
I use B-ionic. works great.

[mattyparsons]

thanks for the kind words!

i am quite proud of my work. started with a standard 55 gal and metal stand from petland discound, drilled the back, cut and shaped an overflow from 6 inch pvc, siliconed it to the corner, and then painted the back and the overflow with krylon fusion black paint.

all of which i learned from this website!


i'm about to go out tomorrow and get a ph/alk booster. i read a book back in the summer that spoke about using algae dump scrubbers to maintain ph, as well as denitrify water for large scale aquariums. i was hoping that i would be able to follow that recipe.

although, like i said, my alk still needs to be replaced, so i may as well just get a product that will boost both for me.

that being said, i will keep the light cycle the same for the tank to save electricity and bulb life, and just add the ph boost.

thanks again!


ps- someone mentioned trimming the roots of the mangroves for nutrient removal. any tips on doing that in a safe manner for the plant? any good tips for trimming the meristem on the top of the plant as well?

i snipped my first one today, as it's starting to grow a little too close to the lighting. i'd like to get them to start growing outwards a bit more.

[Triterium]

Trimming mangrove roots makes absolutely no sense for nutrient export. Sure you will be removing nutrients, but they are locked up inside the living tissue of the roots anyways (so not a threat). This will only stunt the growth of the mangroves. Mangroves aren't a great source of nutrient export anyways.

If you want them to grow outwards, use thin wire to help guide the stems (like they do with bonsai). Mangroves like to grow vertical otherwise.

[mattyparsons]

any tips on how to get them to branch?

[Triterium]

They will branch on their own eventually, but you can also force them to branch by pinching/cutting off the growing tips just above a pair of leaves. I would only recommend this on established plants. If the plant only has 2-4 leaves, I wouldn't try it. An established root system is more important than number of leaves. You could snip off all the leaves of an established plant and it would be fiine.

With my mangroves, i would pinch the growing tips, let two new branches grow. Allow them to each produce two leaves, then snip right above those leaves. I had mangroves with 200-300 leaves using this method.

[mattyparsons]

good info.

i have a few that are really doing well and putting out new leaves more regularly than some of the others. they're also growing larger as well. i cut half of the growth tip off of one today just to see, but i'm going to go back and cut the whole tip off at the base and see if that will get it to grow into two branches.

when you say "pinch", that is no different than cutting, right?

what if someone were to take a razor and split a growth tip down the middle from top to bottom and let it heal?

[Triterium]

pinching the soft growing tip off with your finger nails. Just faster is some cases. Cut right above a pair of leaves (~2mm). New branches will form where the leaves below the cut attach to the stem.

[mattyparsons]

awesome.

thanks again for your help.

if you are ever in the market for a very large, very aggressive clownfish that likes to attack hands, just let me know!