Mangrove Growing

[carsona246]

Ok, i have a very limited knowledge of plants, but i love the way they look in the tank, and appreciate the benefits of having them in the tank. I just recently ran across some information on red mangroves, and i cant find much info about them. I realize that they do not suck nitrates out of the tank at first, so i guess my question is how long would it take for a red mangrove to get to a suitable age to suck nitrates out of a tank to a noticeable level. The reason i ask this is because i have a small ten gallon with a dp at the moment, and would have no problems growing out a mangrove until i have a decent sized house for my planned 125. this could take a while so i have no problem waiting for it to get big. This would be in a freshwater setup. Also would it be possible to train the roots, so that they wouldn't go crazy, and kinda guide where they go? One last quesiton, i currently have water wisteria in the ten gallon, would a sapling mangrove take all the nutrients and kill the wisteria?
sorry for the long post

 

[m1ste2tea]

hi carson, I am currently growing mangroves in freshwater setup, I am guessing that the initial nitrogen source would be from the tall seed pod itself and thats that you are referring to. I have had mine for almost half a year, and most of the seeds have grown between 4 and 6 new leaves in that time under relatively low powered lights. I also have a number of mangroves growing in another tank in which it competes with many other plants and they do not grow as fast in that tank even though the lights are stronger in it. this leads me to conclude that the mangroves are already in competition for the nutrients in the water.



I was also concerned about the roots going amok so I fixed them into sections of 1.5" dia tubing with all of the roots pointing downwards. this setup also protects the roots from fish that might find them tasty. As the roots grow longer and start sticking out of the bottom end of the tube I just slide the plant out a bit more.

here is the tubing setup

here is another tubing setup with the mangroves in them

here is the leaf growth from one month ago

I hope this helps.