Mangroves in refugium

Hey guys/gals,
I would like to add some mangroves to my refugium to help suck up some nutrients. I've got a 29 gallon tank that i'm using as my regugium. I'm not exactly sure how to go about keeping mangroves in it though. I know you can get seeds, but planting them in my 29 leaves them with a lot of water to grow through to get up to the air. My refugium is all open, i dont have and baffles in it or anything i've just got a bunch of rock, and some cheato in there. My CPR skimmer and HOB emperor also hang on the back of it. So i've got room to hang something on the front to keep the mangroves in oro something.

Any suggestions or photos would be helpful! Also need to get my hands on some of the plants or some seeds...

 

Mine just hang out in my refugium. I did nothing special except throw them in. Some sank to the bottom, and the tree grew to the top of the water.

John at Reefcleaners can hook you up with some.

 

the seeds can grow underwater and are usually pretty long.
If you are worried about their tips being out of the water, you can suspend them somehow and allow them to grow arial roots.
Google Image Result for http://www.susanscott.net/OceanWatch2008/images/P1130683.jpg

 

Cool, i didn't know if they needed to be anchored in sand or not. Think i might just make a box out of that recessed lighting panel and hang that on the side. I've heard they need a ton of light, is that true?

 

They don't even need sand. Mine have their roots hanging out above the rocks in my fuge and they grow great.

 

i stuck mine in a piece of Styrofoam and just let it float in the fuge.

 

agreed, i have a dsb in my fuge but they are not sunk into the sand, they just kinda float around on top of the sand bed, with the leaves out of the water under my light. their roots have been growing like crazy, i would suggest not letting them grow close to a baffle of your sump or the corners of the tank, i have heard horror stories about the roots getting in between panes of glass and cracking them while growing.

 

Suspend them with styrofoam as previously mentioned. I attached a photo of mine. This is a very old photo (August of "2008"), so they don't look like that anymore. More like small bushes now. They ended about 3 inches from the sand's surface, so keeping the roots trimmed is easy. They started to grow much faster (Mangroves don't grow very fast at all) once they hit the sand bed. I just trim them so they don't break the glass, but letting them root on the sand is a good thing. I keep the roots that are growing on the sand, but cut back the ones that grow underneath as you can lose track of the root system and end up having leaking glass if you don't keep an eye on them.

Hope the pic helps.

 

Think i'll do the styrofoam trick. Going to be in europe for the next month so it will have to wait until i get back. If i still have a tank left when i get back that is... Hopefully the girlfriend can manage... :-\