Hey Everybody,
I wanted to share a little project I've been working on. Last fall a friend of mine suggested that I should start a mangrove tank. I thought it sounded interesting and I had seen pictures of Julian Sprung's famed Mangrove Display Refugium, and the idea took hold in my head. Next step, put it through Congress "aka The Wife" and see if it passes.
Yeah, nope... That would mean another tank, light, pumps, plumbing, etc. All that and I live in a small NYC rental apartment, so space is next to nothing. I'm amazed I could fit my 34gal Cube in it! So, how to make this happen cheaply, small and take up next to no space. Well, I definitely couldn't plumb it into my main tank as a refugium, and the wife would not be OK with me buying another light for it. I did a bit of research and thought of a Pico or Nano tank would be pretty cool, as I wasn't really planning on keeping fish in it, ok maybe one fish. I was sitting at my desk staring at my plants on the window sill and BAM the idea hit. If my plants thrive in the window, why wouldn't a few mangroves and a few hardy corals? There was my answer! Plus, it would be a fun sort of Saltwater version of Aquascaping!
So I did a little online shopping and found a 3 Gal Mr. Aqua tank that fit my window perfectly at 17w x 5.5d x 7h.
The tank wasn't expensive (I knew the Wife could never say no to a Black Friday Deal!), and I already had a small heater, tiny pump that would work and some live rock and sand. Also, I realized that I wouldn't really have to worry about water parameters because I could simply use the water from my 34gal tank when I did a water change, and I could do pretty much a 100% water change in the mangrove tank. So BOOM, about $40 and I'm in business!
Right around this time, I happened to go back home to Florida for a visit and collected a bunch of Red Mangrove Propagules from a little island I used to camp on as a kid. So, back in NYC, I've got the tank, Mangroves and everything I need. I knew assembly would be a little work in progress and the tank technically had to cycle, but it looked great right off the bat. After a few weeks, I glued up a little rock wall out of rubble to cover up the pump and heater. Added a leather coral that was taking up to much space in my display tank, and a bit of macro algae and let it ride!
So far so good, all the mangroves are happy except for a few that just never started growing. And there is a certain time of day when the tank is backlit with the sun shimmering through that is just amazing.
Well I hope you all enjoy and maybe get a little inspiration to make your own!
I wanted to share a little project I've been working on. Last fall a friend of mine suggested that I should start a mangrove tank. I thought it sounded interesting and I had seen pictures of Julian Sprung's famed Mangrove Display Refugium, and the idea took hold in my head. Next step, put it through Congress "aka The Wife" and see if it passes.
Yeah, nope... That would mean another tank, light, pumps, plumbing, etc. All that and I live in a small NYC rental apartment, so space is next to nothing. I'm amazed I could fit my 34gal Cube in it! So, how to make this happen cheaply, small and take up next to no space. Well, I definitely couldn't plumb it into my main tank as a refugium, and the wife would not be OK with me buying another light for it. I did a bit of research and thought of a Pico or Nano tank would be pretty cool, as I wasn't really planning on keeping fish in it, ok maybe one fish. I was sitting at my desk staring at my plants on the window sill and BAM the idea hit. If my plants thrive in the window, why wouldn't a few mangroves and a few hardy corals? There was my answer! Plus, it would be a fun sort of Saltwater version of Aquascaping!
So I did a little online shopping and found a 3 Gal Mr. Aqua tank that fit my window perfectly at 17w x 5.5d x 7h.
The tank wasn't expensive (I knew the Wife could never say no to a Black Friday Deal!), and I already had a small heater, tiny pump that would work and some live rock and sand. Also, I realized that I wouldn't really have to worry about water parameters because I could simply use the water from my 34gal tank when I did a water change, and I could do pretty much a 100% water change in the mangrove tank. So BOOM, about $40 and I'm in business!
Right around this time, I happened to go back home to Florida for a visit and collected a bunch of Red Mangrove Propagules from a little island I used to camp on as a kid. So, back in NYC, I've got the tank, Mangroves and everything I need. I knew assembly would be a little work in progress and the tank technically had to cycle, but it looked great right off the bat. After a few weeks, I glued up a little rock wall out of rubble to cover up the pump and heater. Added a leather coral that was taking up to much space in my display tank, and a bit of macro algae and let it ride!
So far so good, all the mangroves are happy except for a few that just never started growing. And there is a certain time of day when the tank is backlit with the sun shimmering through that is just amazing.
Well I hope you all enjoy and maybe get a little inspiration to make your own!
