Thoughts/questions on a Mangrove tank/filter for my FO

[Richard Kagen]

Thoughts/questions on a Mangrove tank/filter for my FO
We have a 55 hex with a wet/dry sump, skimmer box set-up. Not a great saltwater tank, but it is what we have.

We love the idea of a seperate refug heavily planted with mangroves (red and white seems to be popular) as a place to have a jawfish, crabs and feeder shrimp and a couple of chunks of live rock from LFS

This is the set up I had in mind:

1) drill a 3/4" return hole 1" down on the side of a 20 gallon that sits 1' higher than the display tank, is there a danger of cracking drilling that close to the top edge of the glass?

2) use a Penguin BIO-Wheel 350 Power Filter on the 20. I am not sure if I can adapt the pick-up to draw from the display tank or if it will lift the 10 -12inches. If not, don't use the Penguin pump, but place a powerhead in the display tank to pump into the BIO-Wheel chamber. Thoughts?

3) put 20 lbs of live (bagged) sand in the 20, thoughts on an undergravel filter with airstones to keep some flow through the sand?

4) Eggcrate/open top (main tank is sealed up given the eels) with overhead lighting. I am thinking about raising some side & back walls of plexiglass to make it easier to spray down the salt on the mangroves and to keep the heat around the tops of the plants.

 

[pat8you]

mangrove tanks are a great way to filter nutrients out of your main display.
People usually choose them when they want to have a sump out in the open
that looks nice.

1) with a 20 gallon there is always the risk of cracking because the glass
is pretty thin. You will have to be very careful and chances are still good
it will crack. Try to do it on the back so you can just seal up the crack
and the mangroves will cover it up.

2) It would be a lot easier to but the mangrove tank below the main and then
have a normal pump go from the mangrove tank back to the main. Either way
the pumps in the biowheels are not very powerful and are not meant for that
purpose. Better off just getting a small pump. They also come with a guide
on the box telling you what flow you will get depending on the height it is
pumping to.

3) I would just use dry sand. It will become live over time. Especially
since it will be connected to a mature main display. Undergravel filters
will get clogged and are a bad idea. Get a few nasarrius snails. Between the
snails and the other micro life in the sand they will keep it aerated

4) Open top sounds good. The heat from the lights will probably be good
enough to keep them at the right temperature I would guess.

Roam around this site for a while. He has a lot of good info on mangroves
and natural filtration.

Chuck's Addiction

 

[Richard Kagen]

Mangroves - LFS says awful for water quality

Best and knowledgeable store here in the Boston area says that mangroves have no place in saltwater tanks, will not sell them, claims they destabilize the water quality specifically PH and salinity and other important disolved salts. Now I am confused Says macro alge Cheeto I think is what he said

 

[pat8you]

I've never heard that but then again i'm no expert. there are a lot of people that use macro algae though.

 

[CaptainAhab]

Pretty sure there are several around here (thincat being one I think) that have mangroves in their system. Though I will tell ya that cheato serves the purpose well too