What Root Tabs should I give my Mangrove Tank?

[SauceyReef]

I have had a 6 gallon Red Mangrove nano for a few years now with the Mangrove being 4 years old grown from a Node by myself. The mangrove is doing great! It is getting quite large, and has rooted all the sand and rock. Sadly it is absolutely destroying the health of the tank though.

The Nano is a bit of a side experiment / setup for the Mangrove with no fish, so I do not test anything other than Salinity / Temp. I occasionally throw overgrown corals in there. The past year though barely anything lives long term. My three tanks I am running are all treated the exact same and basically share the same water. My 2/3 tanks are beautiful and filled with corals, and it is rare for anything to die. Yet the corals and even inverts in the Mangrove tank typically die short to long term except for some hardy corals, bristle worms, and asterinas. Even Pandoras will melt in a couple weeks!

With no equipment in the tank to be leaching anything, the same light on my Evo (check my build thread), and the fact I run all three tanks the same - I strongly guestimate that this is from a big Magnesium deficiency. Apparently this is quite common with Mangroves from what I have looked up. And most corals and inverts need Magnesium for proper growth and health. I have an ICP test coming in to confirm my thoughts.

Any recommended root tabs that are safe for a smaller aquarium? What do you use for your Mangrove?

 

[Subsea]

Interesting on the mangrove’s managing the ecosystem. I don’t doubt it. Google “coral holibiont” where microbes in biofilm of coral crosstalk with microbes in biomass of coral and using gene expression these microbes manipulate there environment.

With respect to forest ecosystems, trees like cedar & pine use chemical warfare to control competition. In reef ecosystems, we know chemical warfare is excercised amongst soft corals.

 

[SauceyReef]

Interesting on the mangrove’s managing the ecosystem. I don’t doubt it. Google “coral holibiont” where microbes in biofilm of coral crosstalk with microbes in biomass of coral and using gene expression these microbes manipulate there environment.

With respect to forest ecosystems, trees like cedar & pine use chemical warfare to control competition. In reef ecosystems, we know chemical warfare is excercised amongst soft corals.

They can manage, and ravvish the ecosystem they are in! I imagine the water near the mangrove areas is more devoid of certain minerals thus why reefs are harder to find growing into them. Plus they block out more light and use up more space, etc.. They still have multiple incredibly important roles in the wild. The hard part is balancing this in a reef tank.

I really want to see corals and inverts flourishing in this nano tank, but since adding the Mangrove there has been troubles.

 

[dangles]

Following along!

I have a young 5 gallon mangrove tank (linked in the first post of my display tank thread). Also an experiment of sorts. The mangroves in it are less than a year old and only have their first layers of leaves so I don’t have any of those issues that you speak of yet. I have some inverts, two very small mandarin dragonets, an RFA and a couple of mushrooms. The tank is plumbed downstream in the auto water change system I have set up so it gets water leaving the main 120 gallon display (and consequently, the same water change amount!). I doubt I’ll have issues with parameters since it’s the same water from my display and gets 1.5 gallons of water change each day, but I still may need to do root tabs down the road.

Good luck!

 

[SauceyReef]

Following along!

I have a young 5 gallon mangrove tank (linked in the first post of my display tank thread). Also an experiment of sorts. The mangroves in it are less than a year old and only have their first layers of leaves so I don’t have any of those issues that you speak of yet. I have some inverts, two very small mandarin dragonets, an RFA and a couple of mushrooms. The tank is plumbed downstream in the auto water change system I have set up so it gets water leaving the main 120 gallon display (and consequently, the same water change amount!). I doubt I’ll have issues with parameters since it’s the same water from my display and gets 1.5 gallons of water change each day, but I still may need to do root tabs down the road.

Good luck!

Welcome! This should hopefully turn into a good thread for both of us. After watching Inappropriate Reefers videos on YouTube about Mangroves - it seems he uses Flourish Root Tabs. Apparently they have Copper that can break down which does not bother the fish - his tank is beautiful. I think Inland Reefer uses the same root tabs. They both have beautiful Mangroves, and aquariums underneath.

 

[dangles]

Welcome! This should hopefully turn into a good thread for both of us. After watching Inappropriate Reefers videos on YouTube about Mangroves - it seems he uses Flourish Root Tabs. Apparently they have Copper that can break down which does not bother the fish - his tank is beautiful. I think Inland Reefer uses the same root tabs. They both have beautiful Mangroves, and aquariums underneath.

Cool I’ll have to check them out. I’ve watched IR’s mangrove episodes too but somehow missed that! Right now I have a pack of the API brand tabs that I used for a potted mangrove, but I haven’t put any in the pico tank yet because I’m not sure how they’ll effect the other stuff in that tank. I worry they’ll crank up the nutrients in an already small tank!

 

[SauceyReef]

17:20 he goes over using these

 

[sfin52]

They can manage, and ravvish the ecosystem they are in! I imagine the water near the mangrove areas is more devoid of certain minerals thus why reefs are harder to find growing into them. Plus they block out more light and use up more space, etc.. They still have multiple incredibly important roles in the wild. The hard part is balancing this in a reef tank.

I really want to see corals and inverts flourishing in this nano tank, but since adding the Mangrove there has been troubles.

It realt isn't. The trees create an environment perfect for the. Decaying leaves tide coming in and rivers leaving the mainland. I would imagine there's a lot of nutrients coming into a mangrove forrest

 

[SauceyReef]

It realt isn't. The trees create an environment perfect for the. Decaying leaves tide coming in and rivers leaving the mainland. I would imagine there's a lot of nutrients coming into a mangrove forrest

Yes, but not exiting Also you may want to edit your post its tough to understand.

My single Mangrove stalk that is barely a foot in diameter takes in so much nutrients and possibly Mangnesium its becoming a problem. I can only imagine a forest of giant Mangroves. Their root system must be ginormous! No wonder they do a great job breaking up potentially harmful waves.

Regardless I am not here to debate a wild mangroves nutrient uptake and whether it is significant - I am here to find the best root tab fertilizer that is reef safe.

 

[CHSUB]

I use same root tabs. 1 in six months so far with delicate corals and no ill effects. As far as magnesium, I disagree while mangroves use it, magnesium is in great abundance in saltwater and it’s unlikely, imo, your coral suffers because of mangrove’s use of magnesium.

 

[Eric R.]

Have you tested the magnesium levels of your water? Just out of curiosity, since you brought up it possibly being an issue. I would be surprised if it was as long as the tank is getting regular water changes. I’m growing mangroves in a bucket without issues currently. I’m using osmocote plus pellets in the substrate, but the bucket has no other organisms living in it currently.