Mangrove swamp in a 10 gal.

[celticveil]

Ok, so my anager at the LFS I work for and I came up with a possible tank method for raiseing,(successfully,) baby mangrove trees. And here's the setup I'm putting together tonight to test it out:

10 Gallon tank

1 inch of fine sand (rooting material,)

1-2 inches of coconut fiber,("bed a beast" type stuff, for bog material itself,)

Mangrove sprout(s) (I only have one right now,)

Drift wood/plastic vines

2-3 land hermit crabs

1-2 red or fiddler crabs.

15 watt rep. light

25 watt blue night lamp

The idea is to do the sand/coconut fiber in a boggy style, with the substrate high and low in places, so there's water and raised areas. Now herew's the cool part, it's going to have salt added to the water for a brakish level. ANd from experience, the crabs,(hermits and such,) will benefit. There will also be a small dish of pure freshwater available,(cleaned daily,). The coconut fiber will be changed every could of weeks and so will the water. It's labor-intensive but sounds to me like a possible way to propagate these little mangrove sprouts which I haven't had luck with yet. This seems more natural than the "grow from back of tank" method I've seen online.

What say ye?? This is going into construction tonight. I rescued a baby mangrove from work,(owner keeps odering them, they keep dying...blah blah blah...) and am determined to MAKE THIS WORK!!

[Lotus]

I guess it's an experiment, so you'll have to report on how it works for you

From what I understand, mangroves are brackish/saltwater, and don't do so well in freshwater. The crabs are definitely brackish, not freshwater.

What kind of lighting are you using for the mangrove?

[celticveil]

It's a 15 watt esu tropical flourescent lamp. I plan on a night light too, just got to re-wire the fixture and get a bulb. I already have a low-wattage heat lamp available to keep it warm in the mean time. The exact salinity will be between brakish and marine conditions.

I'm going to see what I can find to pre-load the sand bed with nitrates for the mangroves initial fertilizer. I'm hoping the waste/excess food from the crabs will make a good fertilizer. I will keep ya'll updated, if it goes well I'll move it to my 35 gallon tank for permanent display.

[Shaunna]

sounds cool... would love to know how it is coming along! I really like mangroves.

[Lotus]

For a nitrate source you would probably be better off dosing nitrogen to the water as necessary. A large amount of nitrates in the water at the beginning won't be good for the crabs. Most plants need about 5-10ppm nitrates in the water, which is also a reasonable amount for inverts. You can either get powder form of KNO3 online, or use Seachem Nitrogen as a source. Of course, you shouldn't forget the other macronutrientsotassium and phosphate. You should also get a micronutrient mix to add to the water.

[celticveil]

I'm actually going to use water from my nano reef when I do the weekly water change. I'm not adding crabs for anopther few weeks at the soonest, I just inherited an abandoned baby cockatiel and all my mopney for crabs went to equipment for the lil' guy, he's very friendly and only cost me 17.40 starting up,(employee discounts of the wholesale price are awesome, 15 dollar cage!!) ANd also our last crab shipment,(besides hermit crabs,) sucked, a lot of dying off already, 1 week later in good conditions, they seem diseased.

[wayne]

Some tips from experience
1. your lighting is totally inadequate. Sorry to be so frank, but you want some real grunt for these in my opinion, but natural daylight will probably be the easiest way.
2. If you want aerial roots you're going to have to move the water level up and down, or move the mangroves up and down
3. Change salinity slowly
4. Wipe the leaves everyday , especially if you're going to keep them in salt.

Mangroves are excellent! Hve you been to a mangrove swamp. I went to one in Dubai in a canoe. First class mud