# Red mangroves vs skimmers



## marko (Jun 11, 2010)

Has anyone used red mangroves in their sumps/refuge, I have recently bought two for my 20 long and are in my refugium. Upon further care instructions on red mangroves I have found some interesting articles on these plants cleaning up water quality, they called for one per 10 gallons depending on the size of the mangrove I suppose you could have less per gallon, and their could be space issues if they were to grow out but otherwise I can't see any down side to using them. The article stated that over a six months or so worth of growth his protean skimmer became obsolete, as in stopped producing or only produced very little skim. I was wondering if anyone else has had similar results, I personally enjoy growing plants in my aquariums and like the idea of having clean water without the use of a skimmer as my tank sits right beside my couch so noise would be an issue, plus since I'm using a hob the mangroves grow out the back of my refugium and will eventually be an added attraction to the tank. My refugium is 2.5 gallons is full of magic mud two mangroves live rock and Chaetao with two 15 watt soft white cfl bulbs, tank is 20 long with 30 pounds live rock 10 months in. :bigsmile:


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## Straghtguy (Nov 10, 2012)

I don't have any, but I read interesting articles on them. I am curious. Subscribed!


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

Just watch your magnesium levels, they suck it up pretty quick


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## aQ.LED (Nov 13, 2012)

make sure you have deep sand/mud bed so their roots would have enough space to grow and also be active of spray fresh water off the leaf every morning, becuase what mangrove does is abosrob the salt water and extract the salt from the water then push it out of its system with their leaf. So if you see the leaf has salty crystal on it, you will need to use fresh water to spray at it to make sure its health. If you don't do it, the mangrove will die slowly.

EDIT: Also I don't think mangrove can replace active skimming, so by keeping both would not be any problem.


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

I have 5 plants in my sump. Just like the algae scrubber, Im using them as add-on only. I doubt that they can be as efficient as a skimmer. I wouldn't replace the skimmer with them unless there is only a small bio-load in your tank. Also you will need to have enough plants, as well as proper lighting and substrate.


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## Flear (Dec 8, 2012)

while interested in having a mangrove in my own aquarium, my only hesitation is the size they grow.
like freshwater aquariums plants do great for nutrient uptake.

while searching info for deep sand beds and how they handle ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, ... one person commented that in the saltwater tank community it was decided after 4 or 5 years the sand bed should be changed to deal with nutrient buildup.

planted tanks in freshwater aquariums don't have such problems, the plants take in nutrients.
plants for saltwater tanks are hard to come by it seems, but the same logic should apply. using plants to deal with nutrient buildup in the substrate.

a mangrove in a saltwater tank it makes sense to me that this would prevent nutrients in the tank from getting out of control.

being a freshwater tropical tank person myself, i don't have experience with a protein skimmer. but the logic behind plants in the aquarium to deal with nutrients makes sense to me.

Marko as the articles suggest, after 6mo. the protein skimmer seemed to be doing nothing.
i'd agree with others to prevent catastrophes, ... keep the skimmer till it is just making noise and not doing anything productive.


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