How to Stop Mangrove Roots From Floating

Mangrove swamps buffer the land from the sea. The silt their root systems trap creates areas for seedlings to develop but confines existing mangrove trees to grow in an environment of mud. This dense silt and mud environment is oxygen-poor, but the trees have overcome the problem by adapting their root system to grow mainly aboveground. Mangrove plants that exist in aquariums are not exposed to an oxygen-depleted environment like naturally occurring mangroves are, and so aquarium mangrove roots can be anchored in the substrate. Aquarists use natural rock and coral skeletons to anchor these roots.

Things You'll Need

  • 5-gallon plastic bucket
  • Aragonite sea sand
  • Marine or brackish-water aquarium
  • Mangrove plants
  • Five to six pieces of live rock
  • One or two well-cured coral skeletons
  • Thin, black cable ties
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Instructions

    • 1

      Half-fill a 5-gallon plastic bucket with aragonite sea sand and rinse it under a fast-flowing garden tap. Carefully pour off the water, ensuring not to lose any aragonite in the bucket in the process. Continue to wash additional aragonite until you have a sufficient quantity to create a 1- to 2-inch-thick sand bed on the bottom of the aquarium.

    • 2

      Push the roots of the mangrove plant into the substrate. The aragonite in this aquarium is not thick enough to form an anaerobic environment within the substrate, and the mangrove roots will be surrounded by oxygen rich sand.

    • 3

      Rinse and place five or six pieces of live rock over and around the main roots to further anchor them in the substrate. Live rock is typically highly porous marine sandstone, which is covered in encrusting organisms, such as living sponge, higher algae species and small mobile copepods. The rocks will be heavy enough to anchor the roots but, due to their porous nature, will not create dead and anaerobic conditions in the aragonite below them.

    • 4

      Tie any roots that continue to pull loose from the substrate to one or two pieces of well-cured coral skeleton, using very thin cable ties. Place the coral skeleton on the substrate. These pieces of skeleton give an authentic marine look to your aquarium and are heavy enough to anchor the roots. As these roots continue to grow, they will eventually reach the substrate and will naturally grow into the substrate.

    • 5

      Gently bend those roots that are growing outward and to the side of a real problem plant, downward and plant the mangrove in a back corner of the aquarium, with the problem roots against the glass panes. These roots will be forced to grow toward the substrate.