Mangroove and grape algae as nitrate remover

[kareen]

Just wana share some findings about a little experiment that I have carried out....

I have setup up a small tank with about 20 ppm of nitrate measure from test kit with no fish and same lighting enviroment.....

For 7 days, with about 10 stalk of mangrooves (3 big and the rest pretty small, about 3 small stalk without roots), it remove less than 5ppm of nitrate.... After taking the measurement on Friday, I put a handful of grape macro algae in the same tank and remove the mangroove from the tank which nitrate measurement shows less than 20ppm. 3 days later, the same nitrate test kit show a nitrate colour of almost a nil.....

Well, this experiment sure reveal some interesting fact, isn't it?

[VanDeam]

i dunno how controll ur experiment is but a few factors to consider

I am using more than 100 mangrove for controlling my no3 , so currently so far so good .

but if u find that grape algae better , theres a few danger u might experience like ur algae go asexual .. and its good game to you .

a few reefer have experience total wipe out with just a hand ful in their tank , some success .. so i think its still up to the reefer to choose .

mangrove need a period of few weeks to settle in , when they start sprouting leaves and aerial roots they will start processing , i notice mangrove only start working when they have more than 4 leaves , every morning their leaves will be cover in salt particle , and they drop their leaves every 3-4days .. = export of excess nutrient as long dun drop back into water.

just my 2cent

[Achilles Tang]

Why don't you guys try chaetomorpha? I have disconnected my beckett skimmer for many many months and just use chaeto now! They grow like weeds and easy to harvest!

[kareen]

VanDream: As I said in my title... my findings. There may be some imperfection in my experiment that's why I put down details of the mangrove.... you may be right....

Achillies: ok.... currently I have abundunt of grape mah.... I may be using chaeto in future....

[VanDeam]

nah not saying ur doing wrong my meaning is to have it control enviroment is hard to replicate .

AT : coz wanna think outside the box lol .. who would know 20yrs ago

Liverock is the secret in Marine keeping

[kareen]

Currently, I personally feel that mangrove may be a bit costly compare to grape macro algae to serve the same function.....

PS: for this experiment, I paid >$30.....

[Reefaholic]

Beware of grape algae. your tank may crash if they go asexual. Try chaetos, they are hardy and dont go asexual. I have 30 mangrove and a bundle of chaetos, my water always below 5ppm.

Of couse with the help of my skimmer and ozone. I have many fishes and feeding them daily.

[Achilles Tang]

Vandeam: I believe that there are findings some time back that mangroves are not that cost-effective/efficient in nitrate removal compared to some other marine algae.

Perhaps there is newer information that proves otherwise?

Anyway true... experimentation is how people discover new things!

[Reefzzz]

Had been keeping mangroves for quite some time. If view from the efficiency aspect, i do agree with AT that marine algae does absorbed nutrients at a faster rate than mangroves do.

However, mangroves are not really slow absorber as the amount of new leaves developed = amount of nutrient absorbed. A mangrove ecosystem provide a totally different biotope altogether. The process of how the roots forms and grow, how it absorb nutrients along the way, etc also provides an immersely intangible educational value. A mangrove filtration system can be an unique and interesting display by itself.

Attached is a link by Julian Sprung on the care of mangroves. Enjoy and have fun.

http://www.twolittlefishies.com/documents/1100232022.pdf

[kareen]

Everyone here has made a valid point.... Mangrove may not be as efficient nitrate remove as marine algae but I believe there are still many merits about it such as a better habitat for many critters to strive...

Regarding grape going asexual, it will not happen when the lights are on 24/7.... so it never give me such problem..... very likely to test out chaeto.....

BTW, do fish eat chaeto? My fish such as YT, BT and flame angle will eat the excess grape when I hang some on the tank.....

[jasment]

if you guys know where to search on local beaches, mangroves are free..

[kareen]

I have ever taken few stalk somewhere at Malacca bench and it didn't last long... don't know why. Also, heard from reefers red mangrove is preferred and do not know how it looks like except to pay for it.

[loneteelay]

if you guys know where to search on local beaches, mangroves are free..

But be careful of mosquito, ants and other venomous animals...!

[izzat]

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/3/lines

[Reefaholic]

Normally they are hardy. But you have to constantly spray water on the mangrove leaves as it contains salt. I spray them every other nights to prevent them from dehydration.

[sisreefer]

Tangs will eat grape algae but be careful if you have sps as some of my sps died maybe due to the juice of the grape. My tangs will eat chaeto but they also shit out long strands of chaeto which get tangle up with my coral so I stop feeding them chaeto.

[VanDeam]

my understanding of convesion :

Nutrient -> Plant in take -> removal of excess algae or plant -> Remove excess nutrient

Nutrient -> Plant /Algae in take -> Fish Eat it -> Poo/Bio Waste -> Nutrient Again .

i try not to feed algae grown from my tank to fish . its just gonna reintroduce it back

just like growing Chaeto . if u dun prune it , the nutrient is always in the tank .. Worst is when it dies then it release back to tank.

[Ah-lim]

my understanding of convesion :

Nutrient -> Plant in take -> removal of excess algae or plant -> Remove excess nutrient

Nutrient -> Plant /Algae in take -> Fish Eat it -> Poo/Bio Waste -> Nutrient Again .

i try not to feed algae grown from my tank to fish . its just gonna reintroduce it back

just like growing Chaeto . if u dun prune it , the nutrient is always in the tank .. Worst is when it dies then it release back to tank.

Thought anything that fish eat will cause bio-load ?.....

So actually, fishes eating cheato should be okay unless constipate or something, haha.

The gd thing abt cheato is that, u can always donate to fellow reefers after pruning.

So far, I have not find any studies on the rate of absorbility[if there such a word]

of different Algae/Mangrove plants.

Is there?

[Achilles Tang]

my understanding of convesion :

Nutrient -> Plant in take -> removal of excess algae or plant -> Remove excess nutrient

Nutrient -> Plant /Algae in take -> Fish Eat it -> Poo/Bio Waste -> Nutrient Again .

i try not to feed algae grown from my tank to fish . its just gonna reintroduce it back

just like growing Chaeto . if u dun prune it , the nutrient is always in the tank .. Worst is when it dies then it release back to tank.

Nothing wrong with fish eating natural algae grown naturally in your own tank!

One thing about Chaeto... it's almost indestructible! I have never seen chaeto die before and it increases in mass so fast that it has to be pruned regularly or you run out of physical space and because it is so tough... fishes will never consume it as fast as the other softer marine algae!

Anyway.... forgot to add one point why I think mangrove has a few -minus points... they add tanin acids into the water, turning it brown... plus they don't oxygenate the water like chaeto... you can see thousands of oxygen bubbles rising up from a chaeto bunch!

My 2 cents!

[kareen]

Nothing wrong with fish eating natural algae grown naturally in your own tank!

One thing about Chaeto... it's almost indestructible! I have never seen chaeto die before and it increases in mass so fast that it has to be pruned regularly or you run out of physical space and because it is so tough... fishes will never consume it as fast as the other softer marine algae!

Anyway.... forgot to add one point why I think mangrove has a few -minus points... they add tanin acids into the water, turning it brown... plus they don't oxygenate the water like chaeto... you can see thousands of oxygen bubbles rising up from a chaeto bunch!

My 2 cents!

learn something I do not know...

[kareen]

Tangs will eat grape algae but be careful if you have sps as some of my sps died maybe due to the juice of the grape. My tangs will eat chaeto but they also shit out long strands of chaeto which get tangle up with my coral so I stop feeding them chaeto.

at least I know tang still eat them.... like AT said chaeto is almost indestructible and the feeling while holding chaeto is like wire mesh.... and I'm a little concern on the digesting part for fish....

Sisreefer: Do you feed chaeto often? I will hang a bunch of grape algae on clip in the morning almost everyday.....

[Achilles Tang]

Anyway, if I had the space and time, I would have loved to keep a mini-mangrove swamp sump tank in my house and fill it with mudskippers and fiddler crabs... but that would mean the mud would smell plus I hope it don't attact sandflies and other undesirables!

[sisreefer]

Kareen, I don't feed them chaeto anymore coz I find it difficult to clean out their long chaeto poo entangled to my sps.

[Achilles Tang]

MMmmm... that's true about the poo part...

[vagabond]

Anyway.... forgot to add one point why I think mangrove has a few -minus points... they add tanin acids into the water, turning it brown... plus they don't oxygenate the water like chaeto... you can see thousands of oxygen bubbles rising up from a chaeto bunch!

My 2 cents!

"they add tanin acids into the water" - is this true? Anyone can comment?