Has anyone used Mangroves as Filter

[mccanei]

I have been thinking about using mangroves to help manage the nitrates in my 145 FOWLR. Does anyone have an opinion on Mangrove filtration?

 

[nudilove]

In my Marine Aquarium Management class we have one entire system that is managed by a mangrove sump system.
There is a 250 gallon shark tank, and four twenty gallon tanks containing our breeding clowns, plus a 55gallon sump containing powerheads and heaters. We werent having much luck just using a skimmer (it was too small for the tanks), so we added a loop and started about 12 small 9"-12" mangrove stalks. The nitrates came down within hours, and its a pretty high bioload with a 3ft bamboo shark in there.

 

[mccanei]

Cool, that was the answer I hoping to hear. What sort of lighting system do you need to provide? The reason I ask is becasue I want to add them to my sump under my tank and I am certain I will need to add a supplemetal lighting system.

 

[acrylic51]

They are good nutrient exports, but not the quickest route though

 

[nudilove]

The ones we have at school just have natural light from the skylights, our entire marine systems are in a green house to cut down on heating costs. So, mostly natural light though flourescents would probably be fine, thats our backup for rainy days.
They like humidity which shouldnt be a problem since they are going in a closed sump area, make sure you treat your wood on the inside of the cabinet as the water from the sump and heat from the light will make it weaken.

 

[28fishman]

I currently have 9 that started out about 4 to 5 inches tall, with a leave or two on each. This was about two months ago, the skimmer was taking out about two gts of scum a week or so. Since they were put in, they have grow to about 9 to 10 inches with several leave set per each. The skimmer barely does anything at all now. They work great.... As for their location and lighting, they are in a CRP Aqua Fuge Pro with about 2 or 3 inches of sand and lighting is 24 hours a day 65watt PC using a 50/50 bulb.

 

[sleasia]

What happens if you put them in the main tank? Do the fish eat them up? I would like to use some but I have no special lighting over my sump, only over the main tank.

 

[28fishman]

I have seen some different set ups at a few local stores, most have them in a over flow box or simular box, on some other tanks, some had MH Lighting above them, some also had either PC or VHO light, they all appeared ok, never saw/noticed any real growth on them. They always are small size... Maybe they are selling and replacing all the time or they are dying off and need replaced.