Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > More Forums > Reefkeeping Online Magazine > Anthony Calfo
Blogs FAQ Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 01/04/2007, 07:39 PM   #1
saltwater sam
Registered Member
 
saltwater sam's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota
Posts: 553
Aerial roots

Hey Anthony, I have recently set up a mangrove tank and I have a question about sprouting aerial roots. I have 15 red mangroves all tied up on stakes, and I am not sure what level the water should be at. I noticed in your article it said to have the propagules without roots 1/3 submerged, but how far should i have them if they already have a few roots? Advice would be appreciated, thank you!


__________________
It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment!

Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank
saltwater sam is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 06/20/2014, 07:29 AM   #2
saltwater sam
Registered Member
 
saltwater sam's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota
Posts: 553
I just came upon this post from 7 years ago to which you never replied. 7 years ago, I grew my devoted mangrove tank as your article described, tying them to stakes, suspending the plants and keeping the roots from becoming anchored. They all eventually died. That's because this method is flawed, no that is too soft a term, it is completely incorrect and lethal to mangrove plants.

If you do not allow mangroves to anchor their roots in substrate (whether it's sand, mud, rubble, rock, etc.) they will not produce healthy roots that can absorb nutrients. The leaves will grow in a very slow stunted fashion because all the plants energy is being devoted to root growth, not leaf growth. The roots do not produce the plant's food, its leaves do. After 1 year of growing mangroves with this method, plants will wither and die.

Your article encourages impatience with these plants, and instructs people to force their mangroves to produce aerial roots from seed. This is not how mangroves work. They don't produce aerial roots from seed in nature, they don't float in water and grow, and they won't do it in an aquarium either. It takes patience and time to grow aerial roots: no less than 2 years is necessary for them to form.

I would also like to address the fact that you said that black and white and basically any other mangrove species that aren't red mangroves are unsuitable for marine aquariums. That purely incorrect, and in fact, black mangroves and white mangroves tend to be much hardier than red mangroves, and grow much faster.

And one last correction to the flawed article: red mangroves do not export salt crystals through their leaves. Spraying them with freshwater is definitely a good thing to do, however, your article states that it is misting off salt to aid in salt excretion, which is factually incorrect. This would be correct in the black and white species of mangroves who excrete salt through their leaves, but red mangroves restrict salt absorption through their roots.


__________________
It's not too much to brag about if your fish can eat someone else's fish, but if your fish can eat somebody's dog, now thats an accomplishment!

Current Tank Info: 40 gallon SW mangrove/macro planted tank
saltwater sam is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:38 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.