[e_baer]

I couldnt resist. i had always read how large the mangrove roots get and how elaborate they are, I pulled a tree ot to look at the roots. I cant describe it, which is why I took these pics.








The roots have to be at least 1/4" thick and they are each around 6-8" long with lots of root hairs. Root hairs basically add to the root surface area so the plant can get more utrients from the water. If you are wondering how I know that, I took a bio class in college.

[ianizaguirre]

NICE!!!!!! fast grower ???

[e_baer]

eh, took a few months to get there. I think I am going to try to put it in a pot and see how that works out for it. They are just getting too big for my tank.

[e_baer]

I could br wrong, but I believe the 2 largest of my mangroves may be starting to bud? I know they make flowers, but I thought they had to be older. I will take some pics later tonight of pics of the 'bud' and see what you all think.

[e_baer]

It grew enough so I can see it is not a bud....bummer.







I redid my whole tank. I got rid of all the cheato and added the red gracilaria and caulerpa AdamJ gave me. Also re-arranged a couple of mangroves and am trying a little experiment on how to get their prop roots to grow faster.

[e_baer]

And here is a part of a strand of seagrass....one of my only remaining strands

[e_baer]

So, I tried a little experiment. A few weeks ago, I took out one of the mangroves and added it to a bucket with lots of topsoil. I then planted the mangrove in the topsoil and filled the bucket with saltwater from a water change. I then put the bucket near a large window where it gets lots of light. I then decided to stake the mangrove until the roots get re-established in the bucket.



Since I replanted it, the magrove has grown an inch or 2 and sprouted some new leaves.

[ianizaguirre]

so how long are you letting it grow in the bucket till you put it back into your tank and why would you think it would grow faster in a bucket then your tank ???

[e_baer]

That one is too big for my tank. It was hitting the lights. No room for growth, so this was pretty much one of my only options. Within the next few months I will be adding most of my mangroves to buckets because they are outgrowing my tank. Once I put a few more in the buckets, I will add about 50+ mangroves to my tank. They will all be small and have lots of room for growth.

[ianizaguirre]

where you gonna get 50 mangorves from and what are you gonna do with the ones in the buckets

[e_baer]

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The ones in the buckets I will let grow and grow and grow until....I dunno. Ill haveto find a place for them eventualy.

[ianizaguirre]

oooo ok o and cant you just snip the mangorve in half to like trim it ? so you dont have to buy more

[e_baer]

I believe you can trim them. I just dont want to. I like them more when the grow in a natural way.

[ls1fst98]

The good thing about living where i am...i can just go get the seeds that are lying on the beach, plant them in my sump...and when they get too big...take them back to the river and put them in their natural home

[SECRETREEF]

Your mangrove is growing faster because of the higher nutrient concentration . sand does not have so much nutrients for it togrow as fast. the red mangrove does not like to be cut to much but yours is biG enough so you could cut it just above the leaves to make grow likea bonsai tree. instead of growing tall it will grow branches to the sides. and if you hold it with the roots barely touching the sand the roots will grow even thicker looking more like wild mangrove.

[e_baer]

Yeah, I want to see how big I can get it though. Once it gets close to the ceiling, I will start trimming it haha

[SECRETREEF]

You will need a bigger bucket for sure !

[e_baer]

oh yes! But not for another few months......hopefully.

[Tinyfish]

I am very interested in what happened to the sea grass. I read through your entire thread. Some of the pictures are not coming through.

What kind of grass did you get?

I really want to try to do shoal grass or turtle grass. What advice would you give me?

[e_baer]

I did shoal grass (halodule wrightti).

what adivce? at least 3" of a sandbed, fine sand of course. Make sure you have some good lighting over the grass. I would not get turtle grass unless you have a tall tank with lots of space. have about a 20x turnover rate, maybe 15x at the least.

sorry about some pics not coming up, they must have been deleted from my PB account.

[Tinyfish]

Thanks,
I was leaning toward the shoal grass for its size and shallower sand bed. 15x turnover? Is that to keep the grass clean? And I read about the lighting being very important.

[e_baer]

Lighitng is the most important thing....wihtout the proper light, the plants die. 15x turnover depending on the powerheads you have. It is to keep the grass clean and to keep unsightly algae from growing. You can, but should not keep algae eating fish in the tank with the grass....they may think the grass is yummy. crabs and snails can also eat the grass, but sea cucumbers will not!

Have you read the links that are throughout the thread as well? There are some very good articles. You can also check out the library (here on RB) to see even more links that will be very good for you to read.