Mangrove plants

[chavez]

Hello again, im looking at getting a mangrove plant for in my overflow box. What should i all know about these plants before getting one. Please let me now.

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

From what I understand about mangroves ( which isn't much) is that you would need quit a bit to be as affective toward nutrient conversion as compared to other algea such as Chateo. Also, I believe Chateo is much cheaper.

[Original Fin]

You need a lot of them, and it takes a lot of time before their root structure matures to the point where they begin to make an impact.

Macro algae works faster, takes less space and is generally a much more effective way to export nutrients.

If you want to do mangroves, do it because you like the look of them, not because you want to reduce nutrients. There are easier more effective ways.

[chavez]

so basically your saying stick with chaeto? Can i just throw it in my sump beside my protein skimmer and give it some light or do i have to get a fuge?

[Original Fin]

Yup. Stick with Chaeto. I wouldn't put it in with the skimmer for two reasons:

-The lights you'll need to run will grow algae on and in your skimmer.
-little pieces of Chaeto will break off and clog your skimmer pumps.

If you can put some sort of divider in and a light shield, it might be ok.

[chavez]

so best would be to get a fuge? and how much space would i need to house one properly? and how much work is it to keep chaeto?

[Original Fin]

The most effective refugiums are usually more of a do it yourself thing. What most people do, is find the largest tank that will fit under their stand...glass, acrylic, new , used, it doesn't matter. Then you section the whole thing off with glass or acrylic dividers, and silicone them into place. Just be sure it's PURE silicone without anti fungal/microbial additives. You can google DIY sump/refugiums and find tons of info and tutorials from You Tube and other reef forums.

There are usually three chambers...the following would be a pretty typical way to set it up, but by no means the only way:

1. Incoming overflow from the display tank and protein skimmer. If you're going to use filter socks, this is where they'll go. I like to keep my heater(s) in this chamber too. It's a good idea to design a three pane bubble trap (Over-under-over) leading to the next chamber. If you have this flexibility with your skimmer, pipe the output directly to the refugium.

2. The return pump chamber would be next. The max water height here is determined by the height of the incoming bubble trap wall. You don't want to run it at max height though. It should be carefully designed to handle the extra water that siphons back from the display tank when power to the return pump is lost. (The return line(s) in the tank should have a small anti-siphon hole drilled just below the water line.) If you use an automatic top off, the level in this chamber will stay static. If you manually top off, this is where you'll see the level drop from evaporation. Personally, I like to make this chamber as large as possible, just in case there's a problem with the ATO or you forget to top off, you'll have a little more time before the level drops below the pump intake. The return pump plumbing is "T'd" with dual valves for flow control. One obviously goes to the display tank...Now, remember that skimmer output option? If your have a skimmer capable of plumbing output directly to the fuge, then the second valve on the return will just recirculate within the return chamber. But if you can't direct skimmer output to the fuge, then you'll want to use the second return valve to feed the refugium instead. The main difference is you know that output water from the skimmer is the cleanest, which is prefferable in certain types of refugiums...depends on what you want to keep in it, and how much chance detritus has to settle there.

3. Refugium. Water comes from either the skimmer output, or the return pump split. The fuge chamber overflows back into the return area. It has it's own light source which ideally only lights the fuge. Otherwise you'll have algae growing on any wet surface with light. Doesn't necessarily matter if this chamber is deep...it's more important to have a lot of surface area/ space for growth. Chaeto, if left to grow will quickly cover the surface and block light below a few inches, so you're not going to get any growth below that point anyway.
I like to create a secondary benthic zone here. It's basically a low light area where sponges, tunicates, dusters, pods, and other natural filter feeders can thrive. It's more bang for your nutrient export buck. Do so by building a scaffolding with eggcrate about 8-10" below the surface. Cover the scaffolding with live rock rubble, so effectively what you have is a light barrier between top and bottom. Normally, I'm not a fan of rock in sumps because detritus tends to settle there, so if you're going to use it, it should be done in such a way that detrivores will be able to live and thrive there free from predation. If you're feeding the fuge with skimmer processed water, detritus is much less of a concern.

As far as what you need to know about culturing chaeto...it needs light, water and a bit of flow. Lighting should be of quality, specific color temperature (3500-6500K) and fairly intense. Higher wattage compact fluorescent bulbs with clip on reflectors seem to work well. You also need to prune it regularly...every couple weeks is good usually. If you let it overgrow itself, the bottom layers will get brown/mushy and disintegrate.