5 Red Mangrove Seeds

Very few true plants can survive in saltwater. The Red Mangrove is one of them. Red Mangroves can remove a large amount of Nitrate in your refugium, as well as chemical contaminants that come from your water or hands.

Because they do not "go sexual or respire" like macro algae, they present less risk to your systems pH balance, and have become popular recently with many aquarists. With proper trimming the plant can spend years in your refugium, larger plants will need an open top to grow out of. Many people are beginning to add the Red Mangrove to their display tank, as they want to mimic nature as closely as possible, while providing a habitat for their fish who will spend a large portion of time swimming in and out of the tree's roots.  The Dwarf Planaxis Snail and the Cerith Snail love Mangroves, and will quickly burrow around the tree's root system. The three make an excellent combination in a refugium.

In this order you will be receiving 5 Red Mangrove Propagules. They are each roughly 5-8 inches tall. However, seeds can differ from those average sizes. 

1. The growth tip, (the very top of the green portion of the seed), must be above the water line. They can be placed in a shallow fuge, sump or nano. If you don't use one of these, push the propagule half way through a piece of Styrofoam, until green half is fully through the top portion of the Styrofoam, and the red portion is hanging underneath the Styrofoam. Alternatively, you can bunch the mangroves together with rubber bands, and add a stick, or similarly shaped object to go lengthwise across the opening in the hood of your tank to hold the mangroves out of the water. We bunch them and place them in front of the heater to cover it up, and make the tank look more natural.

2. Add light strong enough to grow macroalgae, or a grow light. You can get these at home depot.

3. Heat. Mangroves like warm temperatures, try to keep them in a room that is at regularly 70 degrees or warmer for best results.

4. Misting. Even though red mangroves exclude the majority of the salt in the water, they should be regularly misted to prevent salt buildup.