Mangrove tank - Page 3

saltwater sam · 07/01/2014, 06:16 PM

Mangrove foliage shot. They're growing fast!

The black mangrove's stem is now fully submerged.

TommyP · 07/01/2014, 06:25 PM

Do you spray the leaves with ro water ? I use sink water to spray the leaves on my house plants.

saltwater sam · 07/01/2014, 06:56 PM

I use ro water, my tap water has too many solutes. I use ro water to top off the tank so there's plenty to put in my water mister

saltwater sam · 07/27/2014, 06:27 PM

I have done some extensive bonsai wiring to my bigger red mangrove. You can see in these pics that I have bent and wired the branches on my mangrove in a way that will encourage the branches to grow downward instead of up.

And here is a picture of the newest addition to my mangrove collection: Bruguiera sexangula: the six angled orange mangrove

saltwater sam · 08/06/2014, 11:17 AM

underwater shot. I've increased the flow in my tank and that has reduced the caulpera population and slowed it's growth, which is very helpful as far as maintenance goes.

My orange mangrove propagule has germinated! See the red bud sprouting out of the propagule? Leaves should be emerging soon!

saltwater sam · 08/17/2014, 04:37 PM

Here's an update pic of the tank. Things have really come a long way.

saltwater sam · 08/21/2014, 08:00 PM

Beautiful Bruguiera cylindrica propagule

Full shot of mangroves

pnyf · 08/22/2014, 08:51 AM

Your tank looks great. I'm in the process of setting up my first saltwater tank and have gotten some good ideas here. Where did you get the pots you used? and do you think the mud you planted them in is nessessary or would normal sand work?
thanks

saltwater sam · 08/22/2014, 09:06 AM

Thank you! I got my pots on amazon. The mud really is what's best, however, sand is better than nothing!

saltwater sam · 09/02/2014, 12:07 PM

http://youtu.be/nnCyK5kn96E
First video with my new iPhone

saltwater sam · 09/15/2014, 08:24 PM

Check out my red algae Botryocladia proliferating on the output of my in-tank filter. It's in a super high flow area but seems to like it there!

Here's another colony that decided it would grow some stalks! You can see a few of my other macros in there too.

Subsea · 09/20/2014, 04:38 PM

Your trees look great. Tell me more about the light?

saltwater sam · 09/20/2014, 06:47 PM

Thank you! The light is a DIY setup. The two base lamps are actually medical exam lights with two clamp lamps on each. The bulbs are 6 20 watt PAR 38 5000-6000k.

saltwater sam · 09/23/2014, 10:35 AM

Recently I've noticed that seagrasses have become available, and I had always intended to get some. But today, I looked at my tank and I realized that I really don't need it. My caulpera species are sufficiently beautiful, and so easy to care for/manage!

saltwater sam · 09/23/2014, 10:49 AM

I decided to do a survey of my caulpera population. Why not, right? Haha. Turns out I actually have four! I thought I only had three. GCE hooks it up.

Caulpera prolifera

Caulpera mexicana

Caulpera ashmeadii

Caulpera sertularlodes

saltwater sam · 09/24/2014, 11:55 AM

Kind of a crazy day for this guy. I noticed his leaves were turning yellow so I thought he might need some air. I pulled him out of the water I found this long root coming out of the pot. Since the root had lenticels, it led me to believe that it was pneumatophoric. I went ahead and redirected the root to the surface so lil blackie could get some air.

Giga · 09/25/2014, 08:51 AM

Just be careful doing that to young plants like that, disturbing the roots has a great chance of killing the plant. That is also not a pneumatophore. It would most likely shoot pneumatophores from the root. That root may or may not dry out now as it's built for underwater/substrate and not air, though it may adapt.

saltwater sam · 09/25/2014, 09:19 AM

I actually did notice it getting dry and moved it down. I knew it wasn't a pneumatophore, but a lateral root from which pneumatophores sprout. I hope I didn't kill the little guy! I've repotted him once before and he did fine. I actually put it a new bigger pot so hopefully it does alright.
Any more tips would be appreciated! There's not a lot of info out there

saltwater sam · 09/25/2014, 10:03 AM

Root disturbance is actually the main reason I use pots, to avoid that stress. If you see the pic where I have it out of the pot you can see that the roots are pretty undisturbed, the only root that suffered much harassment was the big one which I turned around. I was able to add more mud to its new pot so hopefully that will help encourage more growth.

Giga · 09/25/2014, 10:26 AM

Roots are the lifeline of trees, and even moving them around like you did can cause undesirable effects. The issue I see is now that the root is above the water/substrate the root won't have the need to go to get O2, thus two things may happen-the most probable outcome is the tree(sapling in ur case) will put energy elsewhere and the root will wither away about the soil line. Or it will force a change and the root will overcome the difference and turn into something viable. Its still a seedling so I would just let it do it's thing and be patient-then at the year mark make changes. I've done a lot of work with black mangrove and they are a lot tougher then red's but they still can decline quickly-I've killed a few figuring things out

Edit: also small pots will cause them to be root bound after a short time and it will slow the growth if your looking to put some size and age on these tree's. I let all mine grow in 5 gallon buckets or larger-one tree per bucket-maybe not idea for most people but it's just a reference. Think of it this way-the deeper/longer the roots are underground the taller the tree will be above it. They're directly related to each other. Also black mangroves put out roots at ridiculous lengths laterally and that is where the pneumatophores sprout(aka the root that you now moved)

saltwater sam · 09/25/2014, 11:04 AM

Wow, giga, thanks again. You're knowledge is invaluable

saltwater sam · 09/27/2014, 08:29 AM

Check out this guy's black mangrove. He uses really small pots for his plant, as you can see, it's only 3.5 inches. Maybe stunting the growth wouldn't be the worst thing since space is an issue.

saltwater sam · 09/28/2014, 09:03 AM

It was recently recommended that I increase the humidity in my tank to help encourage my oldest red mangrove to produce prop roots. I began to do so last night. Here's some pics of the "sun" coming up this morning!

And if you're looking for 50 seconds of serenity here's the video lol

http://youtu.be/7GALqooX_ts

blackradon · 09/28/2014, 09:34 AM

Awesome tank you have going on! Keep up the good work!

saltwater sam · 09/28/2014, 07:32 PM

Thanks blackradon!

Some of my Asian mangroves are starting to sprout their first leaves.

Here's my Ceriops decandra (short-spurred mangrove)

07/01/2014, 06:16 PM	#51
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	Mangrove foliage shot. They're growing fast! The black mangrove's stem is now fully submerged. __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

07/01/2014, 06:56 PM	#53
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	I use ro water, my tap water has too many solutes. I use ro water to top off the tank so there's plenty to put in my water mister __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

07/27/2014, 06:27 PM	#54
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	I have done some extensive bonsai wiring to my bigger red mangrove. You can see in these pics that I have bent and wired the branches on my mangrove in a way that will encourage the branches to grow downward instead of up. And here is a picture of the newest addition to my mangrove collection: Bruguiera sexangula: the six angled orange mangrove __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

08/06/2014, 11:17 AM	#55
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	underwater shot. I've increased the flow in my tank and that has reduced the caulpera population and slowed it's growth, which is very helpful as far as maintenance goes. My orange mangrove propagule has germinated! See the red bud sprouting out of the propagule? Leaves should be emerging soon! __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

08/17/2014, 04:37 PM	#56
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	Here's an update pic of the tank. Things have really come a long way. __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

07/01/2014, 06:25 PM	#52
TommyP Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 361	Do you spray the leaves with ro water ? I use sink water to spray the leaves on my house plants.

08/21/2014, 08:00 PM	#57
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	Beautiful Bruguiera cylindrica propagule Full shot of mangroves __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

08/22/2014, 08:51 AM	#58
pnyf Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana Posts: 6	Your tank looks great. I'm in the process of setting up my first saltwater tank and have gotten some good ideas here. Where did you get the pots you used? and do you think the mud you planted them in is nessessary or would normal sand work? thanks

08/22/2014, 09:06 AM	#59
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	Thank you! I got my pots on amazon. The mud really is what's best, however, sand is better than nothing! __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

09/02/2014, 12:07 PM	#60
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	http://youtu.be/nnCyK5kn96E First video with my new iPhone __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

09/15/2014, 08:24 PM	#61
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	Check out my red algae Botryocladia proliferating on the output of my in-tank filter. It's in a super high flow area but seems to like it there! Here's another colony that decided it would grow some stalks! You can see a few of my other macros in there too. __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

09/20/2014, 04:38 PM	#62
Subsea Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Austin, Tx Posts: 1,882	Your trees look great. Tell me more about the light? __________________ Laissez les bons temps rouler, Patrick Castille Current Tank Info: 10,000G. Greenhouse Macro Growout

09/20/2014, 06:47 PM	#63
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	Thank you! The light is a DIY setup. The two base lamps are actually medical exam lights with two clamp lamps on each. The bulbs are 6 20 watt PAR 38 5000-6000k. __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

09/23/2014, 10:35 AM	#64
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	Recently I've noticed that seagrasses have become available, and I had always intended to get some. But today, I looked at my tank and I realized that I really don't need it. My caulpera species are sufficiently beautiful, and so easy to care for/manage! __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

09/23/2014, 10:49 AM	#65
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	I decided to do a survey of my caulpera population. Why not, right? Haha. Turns out I actually have four! I thought I only had three. GCE hooks it up. Caulpera prolifera Caulpera mexicana Caulpera ashmeadii Caulpera sertularlodes __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

09/24/2014, 11:55 AM	#66
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	Kind of a crazy day for this guy. I noticed his leaves were turning yellow so I thought he might need some air. I pulled him out of the water I found this long root coming out of the pot. Since the root had lenticels, it led me to believe that it was pneumatophoric. I went ahead and redirected the root to the surface so lil blackie could get some air. __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank Last edited by saltwater sam; 09/24/2014 at 12:41 PM.

09/25/2014, 08:51 AM	#67
Giga Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Virginia beach, VA Posts: 1,709	Just be careful doing that to young plants like that, disturbing the roots has a great chance of killing the plant. That is also not a pneumatophore. It would most likely shoot pneumatophores from the root. That root may or may not dry out now as it's built for underwater/substrate and not air, though it may adapt. __________________ "You said it didn't bite!"......."Well"......"It didn't bite me." Current Tank Info: cool

09/25/2014, 09:19 AM	#68
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	I actually did notice it getting dry and moved it down. I knew it wasn't a pneumatophore, but a lateral root from which pneumatophores sprout. I hope I didn't kill the little guy! I've repotted him once before and he did fine. I actually put it a new bigger pot so hopefully it does alright. Any more tips would be appreciated! There's not a lot of info out there __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

09/25/2014, 10:03 AM	#69
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	Root disturbance is actually the main reason I use pots, to avoid that stress. If you see the pic where I have it out of the pot you can see that the roots are pretty undisturbed, the only root that suffered much harassment was the big one which I turned around. I was able to add more mud to its new pot so hopefully that will help encourage more growth. __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

09/25/2014, 10:26 AM	#70
Giga Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Virginia beach, VA Posts: 1,709	Roots are the lifeline of trees, and even moving them around like you did can cause undesirable effects. The issue I see is now that the root is above the water/substrate the root won't have the need to go to get O2, thus two things may happen-the most probable outcome is the tree(sapling in ur case) will put energy elsewhere and the root will wither away about the soil line. Or it will force a change and the root will overcome the difference and turn into something viable. Its still a seedling so I would just let it do it's thing and be patient-then at the year mark make changes. I've done a lot of work with black mangrove and they are a lot tougher then red's but they still can decline quickly-I've killed a few figuring things out Edit: also small pots will cause them to be root bound after a short time and it will slow the growth if your looking to put some size and age on these tree's. I let all mine grow in 5 gallon buckets or larger-one tree per bucket-maybe not idea for most people but it's just a reference. Think of it this way-the deeper/longer the roots are underground the taller the tree will be above it. They're directly related to each other. Also black mangroves put out roots at ridiculous lengths laterally and that is where the pneumatophores sprout(aka the root that you now moved) __________________ "You said it didn't bite!"......."Well"......"It didn't bite me." Current Tank Info: cool Last edited by Giga; 09/25/2014 at 10:34 AM.

09/25/2014, 11:04 AM	#71
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	Wow, giga, thanks again. You're knowledge is invaluable __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

09/27/2014, 08:29 AM	#72
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	Check out this guy's black mangrove. He uses really small pots for his plant, as you can see, it's only 3.5 inches. Maybe stunting the growth wouldn't be the worst thing since space is an issue. __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

09/28/2014, 09:03 AM	#73
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	It was recently recommended that I increase the humidity in my tank to help encourage my oldest red mangrove to produce prop roots. I began to do so last night. Here's some pics of the "sun" coming up this morning! And if you're looking for 50 seconds of serenity here's the video lol http://youtu.be/7GALqooX_ts __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank

09/28/2014, 09:34 AM	#74
blackradon Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 22	Awesome tank you have going on! Keep up the good work!

09/28/2014, 07:32 PM	#75
saltwater sam Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota Posts: 553	Thanks blackradon! Some of my Asian mangroves are starting to sprout their first leaves. Here's my Ceriops decandra (short-spurred mangrove) __________________ It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank