whats the best way to grow red mangrove sprouts in a salt water aquarium?

Answer 1

Well, it should take if you just plant it in the sand, or between rocks. If you want to put it in a refugium, you can do that too, if it's illuminated, and the roots should take pretty quickly.
I have found that exposure to less light during the first few days of acclimation is better for the plant.

Answer 2

Sounds like a great plant to add.....

The Red Mangrove is a marine plant that can be used as a natural method of filtration and means of Natural Nitrate Reduction in saltwater aquariums. Mangroves absorb nutrients from the water in order to grow, and help lower nitrates and phosphates in the aquarium. The use of mangroves plants for filtration in a saltwater aquarium, particularly for helping to reduce and control nitrates is not a new concept.However, this is changing because more and more aquarists are looking for a "natural" method of filtration for their aquariums, so mangroves are drawing lots of attention. Mangroves not only have the ability to absorb nitrates, but phosphates and other organics as well. In fact, they remove organics so well from the water that they act as a replacement for a protein skimmer. When using mangroves you will notice your protein skimmer working less and less all the time. The more the mangroves grow and mature, the more they absorb the excess organics in your water, and the skimmer has nothing to remove and becomes obsolete. If you are a naturalist and don't want to have to use chemical additives or compounds to reduce and control nitrates in your aquarium, this is a very effective filtration method to consider. Can be planted in the sand, or in between rocks, in an aquarium, illuminated sump or refugium. The roots will quickly take hold in either a sand substrate or in live rock. The mangrove trees reproduce by forming seeds the size of a hazelnut, or by producing a tuber which is dropped from the tree allowing it to root. The form that we are offering is the tuber, which has proven to be much hardier for the aquarium than the seed. It is important for nutrient control in the aquarium, that when leaves are dropped from the plant that they are not allowed to decay in the aquarium.

When buying mangroves, it is very important to learn the salinity of the water from where the seedlings (propagules) sprouted, and insure the same at home. While propagules sprout roots and leaves readily in fresh-, brackish-, or full seawater just the same, they should not be moved quickly between them, but instead acclimated over a period of many weeks. You can imagine that the salinity of even nearshore environments is, by and large, quite stable by virtue of the volume of the sea. Mangroves do grow in a range of substrates from fine to coarse, but seem to strongly favor fine sand or muddy substrates.

Be warned, though, their very elaborate and extensive root systems must be given due regard in the aquarium. Even a seedling mangrove can develop a formidable root system that can stress or damage glass or acrylic aquariums in as little as three years.


Aquarists are strongly advised to seek only un-sprouted seedlings. If any roots or leaves are evident upon arrival, you really must learn the salinity level in which the propagules were sprouted. Without such information, salinity shock is a very real concern and may be evidenced by a "desiccation" and demise within weeks as the propagule takes on a wrinkled appearance from the osmotic shock.

To encourage elaborate, aerial root systems, begin seedlings tied gently to a post (PVC pipe, rigid airline tubing, etc.) with flexible gardener's tape - available at a landscape or garden center. Be sure to use flexible tape, as rigid ties will cut into the plant as it grows. Immerse the tethered seedling to a depth where only the lower 1/3 of the propagule is submerged in water. Roots will sprout before leaves. As roots begin to grow and develop, you only need to gradually move the "body" of the plant upwards on the stake. In this teasing manner, strong roots will grow thickened and extensively to support the weight of the tree above the water as if the tide was going out. It will take many months before the propagule's body can be lifted completely out of the water with an arched and anchored root system, but what a magnificent and natural sight to see! If, instead, you choose to simply stick a propagule into a bed of sand like a dart, substrata root development will occur quickly and profusely, but aerial prop roots are unlikely, if possible at all, without a replication of tides and the exposure of some roots to air over time.

Answer 3

isn't it brackish water and not sea/salt water?