# Red Mangrove Nano



## youjettisonme (Dec 24, 2010)

I know people say you can't grow mangroves in freshwater, but that information is incorrect. They will grow, and grow quite well. These mangroves have been growing in this tank for over 6 months, and their only lighting is a $25 Office Depot LED desk light. 

The rest of the plants are mini pellia, riccia, mini xmas, anubias nana, philip java fern. 

Substrate = GLA shrimp sand over Akadama Double Red. There is a sponge filter hidden behind the Seiryu stone to please the blue pearl colony.


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

Nice! Any fauna?

Edit: just saw you said Blue Pearls lol.


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## Bushkill (Feb 15, 2012)

Not only will they grow in FW, they'll thrive. 

The SW aquariums they do best in are the ones that are most poorly maintained. Not many plants do well in systems whose goal is to achieve zero nutrients. Hence most are seen in refugiums rather than displays.

At the very end of taking down my last reef system in the fish room. The last bit of livestock I had was about 15 or 16 mangroves that were at various stages of growth. I'd read conflicting stories about acclimating, death in FW, but none seemed to come from any real experiences. So I finally decided to just stick the last five or so I had left into my first planted tank. No acclimation or nuthin, and they've flourished for a couple of months now.

There's lots of theories people put out there without any sound logic. My favorite was the one about mangroves destroying fish tanks because the massive roots will eventually cause the tank to burst. Good lord, if I live long enough to see that happen I'll be a happy man.

One of the neat parts of mangroves is the root structures they form. If you can or desire to, you can try to suspend the mangrove pod in mid-water. The thicker root structure will reach for the substrate and form a natural driftwood-type aquascape. It's not a swift process though.


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## h2oaggie (Feb 28, 2011)

Very cool. What size tank?


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

I always wanted to do this in my 2.5g but I don't have the nice muddy substrate that they prefer, just large aquarium gravel :/


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## youjettisonme (Dec 24, 2010)

h2oaggie said:


> Very cool. What size tank?


It's an ADA "tiny". Forget which letter that is. ;-)



FisheriesOmen said:


> I always wanted to do this in my 2.5g but I don't have the nice muddy substrate that they prefer, just large aquarium gravel :/


I have a large grain akadama bottom so they do fine.


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## Bushkill (Feb 15, 2012)

FisheriesOmen said:


> I always wanted to do this in my 2.5g but I don't have the nice muddy substrate that they prefer, just large aquarium gravel :/


You'll find them incredibly adaptable.


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

Cool!!!

I'm going to set up a brackish tank and try this.


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## youjettisonme (Dec 24, 2010)

DogFish said:


> Cool!!!
> 
> I'm going to set up a brackish tank and try this.


Go for it! Mangroves look amazing in person, and as others have said, the roots look terrific out of the substrate as well, and provide natural shelter for inverts.


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