mangroves long-term

[Europhyllia]

I've had mangroves in my bare-bottom sump before.
They grew well and were easily controlled of course since there was no substrate.
I would love to include some mangroves in my new seahorse set up but it will have substrate in there.
Do mangroves pose any risks in tanks such as root structure becoming too large and powerful (you know how even dandelions can grow through asphalt, etc.) to be safe for a glass tank long term?

I hate how disturbing the sandbed kicks off a diatom bloom etc. in an established tank so yanking them out periodically to trim doesn't seem like a really appealing option.

Am I overthinking this?
Any experience with mangroves long term?

[BSJF]

Have you seen them stuck in styrofoam at the top? The roots hang down in the water and I would bet the horsies would use them. Then you just trim them periodically.

[Europhyllia]

Hm. Not a big fan of styrofoam... Have to think about it...

[BSJF]

Egg crate? Tie wraps? I'm sure you could find something.

[BSJF]

floating trellis

[jc]

How about making a small pvc square. Paint it black and zip tie the mangroves with black zip ties. I wonder if the sealed pvc would float.

[justahobby]

You could have a piece of acrylic cut to rest on the back side of your bracing. Make a hole larger and just keep it filled in to support the stalk (removing, lets say toothpicks, a little at a time as it grows). That way you don't have ugly styro and you still get the roots growing down.

[Kristy]

What about playing with some variation of a potted plant concept? I know the roots are tres beneficial, but I don't find them very attractive til they reach near-tree status.

[Europhyllia]

I was just reading up on that option Kristy. Someone suggested to put them in a bag (like for filter media) and plant them that way so when you need to trim you pull it out that way

[Europhyllia]

or maybe shallow pots?

[Paraletho]

I want to try mangrove as a house plant by diverting sump water to a separate corner and circulating through a watertight planter. Still getting the advantages for the tank water and allowing the plant a more natural growth habit and much larger size.

[Paraletho]

I have never had them in a display just in the sump and the deep sandbed is full of roots (about 1 year now). Yea I guess eventually they could become a problem.