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Mangrove Build/Showoff


Eatfrenchfries

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Broke my heart selling my original set of mangroves before the move here but I am of the firm belief that a captain (mangrove) goes down with the ship (tank). Easier than reconditioning them. 

Started in August with 80 Red mangroves. 4 were tossed, 30 sold, 10  traded. October I started with 20 black mangroves. 6 tossed, 2 sold. November I received 5 white mangrove seeds. 

*Thread will be pictures of mangrove growth procession and pruning. Hopefully others will show off their own here too. 

Been toying with the idea of a higher brackish - lower marine tank to house diamond terrapins for my dream build. This involves playing with varying levels of salinity to see what kind organisms will supplement this intertidal zone. Have a few palms and a hala tree I feed with my water changes for this scape. 

My 29gallon cull/growout tank is where I play with chemistry, diy gadgets, cultivating techniques, etc before moving on to my main systems. Been running for over a year now. 

Specs:

No mechanical filtration.

Two powerheads. Heater. ATO. 

AI Prime 16s at 5500k, 100%. Mangroves supplemented with led grow lights once they got too tall. Will be floating T5s for better coverage. 

Sloped sandbed starting at barebottom with live rock rubble and shifting to 5-6 inches. 

Maintenence:

15% water change weekly + DIY continuous phyto reactor/doser, still working on it but that reminds me one of my friends recently launched a patreon for projects which are pretty interesting. Hoping to be able to tweak it for different strains. 

 https://animoto.com/play/QJHCotkk4Gojq81g95390Q

Livestock:

Guppies, mollies, green spot puffer, fighting conch, assorted macroalgae (red, blue, brown), hermits, nerites, trochus, collonista, stomatella, cowries, strombus maculatus, ceriths (few varieties). 26 red, and 9 black mangroves. The rest are in my main display. 

Chemistry:

CA - high 400s, 

Alk - 8

Mg- high 1400s

Phosphate - 0.7 

Nitrates - 25

I harvest algae weekly and generally use it to fertilize the tank again if it isn't desirable. High in, high out but always moving. Never stopping. 

Mangrove Pruning: 

After the the second set of leaves come in I'll cut them off right above the first set to keep them bushy. Just did it at the 7th month mark for the reds.  Apparently blacks are a lot easier to work with. Haven't trimmed the roots yet since I'm planning to bonsai them. Any plants that go into shock get put into lower brackish water to recover since they don't have to waste energy on salt but still be able to swing them back to marine. 

 

Got some orange mangroves sprouting in full salinity which will dispersed between my tanks soon. 

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Edited by Eatfrenchfries
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