Mangroves

[slandis3]

Who all is keeping mangroves? Too all those keeping them what lights are you running? I was going to set ours up with a 175w halide but i am trying to save some money and am wondering what everyone else is using.

[Joel]

One of my sumps at the shop has 67K t-5's, I also have them under 67K pc on service accounts and under Aqua sun VHO's

[CoralBeauties]

I have 6 of them that I got from Joel and I have them with just a cheap single bulb reflector from lowes and a 100watt florescent daylight bulb in it.  they are growing but pretty slowly. I have been wondering myself if they needed more light?  But they seem good for now.  I have my cheato under the same lighting.
Jeff

[hayes112]

I have a few I have had them since july and all I using is NO flouresnt plant grow light from lowes it was 10 bucks for fixture and bulb. One of them has grown pretty tall and all the other ones have good growth as well the growth isnt super fast but very steady.

[lazylivin]

Just added one to my grow out tank, it is under 400w MH, hope it does not burn it up. Do the roots have to been in sand or will they eventually grow down into it. If I put in the sand the leaves would be under the water because only about 6" tall right now.

[aquavista99]

How much extra would it cost to run one 175 watt halide lamp vs. running power compacts or VHOs? Mangrove trees are found in the same areas as a lot of shallow SPS corals and are exposed to very intense light. Mangroves are quite adaptable to a wide range of light but prefer bright illumination. As the mangrove plant grows into a small tree, I think it would be easier adjusting one halide lamp as opposed to adjusting other light sources. I attached a link below that may provide you with some ideas.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/ac/feature/index.php

[gthorpe2]

I have 3 in my refuge.  They are under 18 watts.  I've heard that mangroves leaves should be out of the water and have only three leaves.  That is so they can remove the bad stuff out of the water.  (Nitrates or Nitrites)  I always get them mixed up.

[aquavista99]

I have 3 in my refuge.  They are under 18 watts.  I've heard that mangroves leaves should be out of the water and have only three leaves.  That is so they can remove the bad stuff out of the water.  (Nitrates or Nitrites)  I always get them mixed up.

When healthy, mangroves should have lots of leaves since they are trees. You may consider adding more light than 18 watts since mangroves prefer bright illumination. I use a 175 watt metal halide lamp for my mangroves. Unfortunately, unless you have very large mangroves (several feet tall and larger), a few small plants will not absorb the organic material, phosphates, nitrates etc. from the water that you are hoping for.

[jeblin]

I don't know where I read it, but I've read it in a couple of spots to leave only 2 or 3 leaves on a mangrove pod and to pinch off the others. I can't remember why, but I do know I've read it on a couple of sites.

Jerry

[hayes112]

I have read the same thing about only having 2 or 3 leaves and also ocassionaly trimmingthe roots to keep the trees growth stunted.

[slandis3]

I would think that if they are growing good they are pulling a good amount ot of the water. Once i decide on what bulb im going to run im going to let ours grow untill i have to rim them back

[Todd W.]

I've got about 12 that I harvested from Florida back in July 08 from propugules.  The lights are cheep T5s that I picked up at a garage sale for next to nothing.  The Mangroves are thriving....  I credit them with keeping Phosphates and Nitrates at nil for the past several months....

[slandis3]

well i have decided to run these http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page/001/PROD/Reflectors/1R402351

We are going to have to cut back on a lot of stuff around the house due to a slow down at work. Changing from 10 hours a day to 8 on our main lights will save us 7.05 a month. add that with the change of a 175w halide to this bulb will save a month  3.65. Changing our skimmer feed pump from an iwaki to a quite on 3000 will save us another 2.43. that's 13.13 a month. We will also be changing our frag tank light from a 250 to a 175 and dropping it from a 6hour on 6 hour off to a 4 on 4 off. will save us a grand total of 25.73 a month. doesn't sound like much but with the other cut backs were up to 225 a month savings.

[UD Flyer]

$2700 yearly savings is quite substantial.

If I were you I wouldn’t change the 6 on 6 off on your frag tank. 6 on and 6 off is the same as 4 on and 4 off. Both run for twelve hours each day. I just think you could get more growth with 6 hours versus four and its going to cost the same amount anyway.

[slandis3]

well im going to have it run a total of 8 hours i guess i should have worded it alittle better than that. My wife quit smoking there was 120 a month. We quit drinking pop that was anoher 80 a month. We are thinking of switching our 3 400w lights out for 250w lights. that will take us up to 35 a month. we can swicth out our maxi jet power heads and save more money