Mangrove Swamp Set-up?

Question

Im interested in starting a mangrove swamp. Im not gonna build the tank just yet but I am still gathering the facts.

-How should I set-up the mangrove swamp?
-What equipment is needed?
-What fish would go well in the set-up and what would I feed them?
-What should I put in the water??

Any other suggestions would be appreaciated.

Answer 1

In addition to what copper said...just wanted to add a few more things. First of all mangroves are awesome in a refugium as they can handle the salt as copperhead was saying and they absorb phosphates and nitrates which are stored in the leaves. If you do them in a marine habitat be sure to wipe the leaves clean of salt every 2-3 days and dont let any leave fall off and decay in the water. It will cause an excess of phosphates and nitrates so be careful and always check for fallen leaves. Otherwise what fish you can put in with them will dpend on if you have them in fresh, brackish, or saltwater as well as the size of the tank. You really have endless options and if done right they will make an awesome tank.

Answer 2

Great habitat. Mangroves tolerate salt well, so you could do any of a range of brackish conditions to full saltwater. As far as fish, you could keep anything from mudskippers, gobies, scats, monos, archers, mollies, puffers, or pipefish (not necessarily all together!). Since some of these have more specific salinity tolerances while others can go in anything from fresh to salt, and others need changes in salinity over their lifetimes, you'd do best to research the requirements of the species you like the best and see what are compatible. You'll have a better idea than we do as to how much "fiddling" you want to do with your water chemistry.

And spealing of "fiddling" you aren't limited to keeping fish in the tank. You might forego the fish to create a habitat for snails, fiddler or red-claw crabs, or other brackish inverts (which wouldn't require as large of a tank).

Your biggest limitations will be lighting (the mangroves will go up and well out of the tank, so consider a suspended light above the tank that can be adjusted) and size of the tank.

See this link for more on brackish tanks: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/BrackishSubWebIndex.htm

Answer 3

Mangroves (generally) are trees and shrubs that grow in saline coastal habitats. The word is used in at least three senses, (1) most broadly to refer to the habitat and entire plant assemblage or mangal, for which the terms mangrove swamp and mangrove forest are also used, (2) to refer to all trees and large shrubs in the mangal, and (3) narrowly to refer to the mangrove family of plants, the Rhizophoraceae, or even more specifically just to mangrove trees of the genus Rhizophora. Mangal is found in depositional coastal environments where fine sediments, often with high organic content, collect in areas protected from high energy wave action.

Answer 4

I really have no knowledge of this, but did some surfing and here is a guy who talks about mangroves in many applications, one being aquariums. He gives links to buy them, but warns of making sure you know about state laws first. http://www.toptropicals.com/html/aqua/plants/mangrove/mangrove_eng.htm This link is much more specific. http://groups.msn.com/BTFTropicalFishkeeping/mangroveswamp.msnw

Answer 5

oh ! I am SO excited about this question ! * A bit of a warning though, I may have an unfinished answer from time to time, because I have customers, but I promise I will finish!*