Putting mangrove roots in an aquarium is a good way to add something different and even amusing to many freshwater aquatic environments. Watching fish swim up and around the exposed root structures gives new life to what could otherwise be a lot of open swimming water.
There are plenty of YouTube videos featuring an “artist” at work on such an arrangement, with all sorts of angling, twisting, and turning that keeps the brain engaged while waiting for all those tropical fish to become active. And some folks might opt for artificial pieces that mimic such roots—narrow sticks or branches that make up part of what’s called an aquascape.
In my case, using photos from both local and distant shores enables me to recreate some types of scenarios as closely as I can without having hundreds or even scoreless quantities of muddy, aquatic plants.
Building a successful mangrove root aquascape requires thinking through the selection of “trees” to their placement in the tank. Each root must be chosen carefully not only for its particular shape and size but also for how well it might work with other roots. Color and texture matter, too—the roots should mesh well together visually.
As you look at online photos or go to local aquariums and see how different designers have used mangrove roots, you may get a sense for what kinds of “trees” work best together given certain color schemes (e.g., some colors play off one another better than others).
When I began adding mangrove roots to my aquariums, I was captivated by their beauty and unique structure. With slightly undulating forms that seemed almost humanlike, the sprawling roots could have been works of modern art. The compact, twisted forms of other pieces offered sharp contrast without being at all monotonous. My initial inspiration had come from pictures of beachside aquaria featuring such eldritch forms in seemingly dynamic relationship with diversely shaped rocks and coral heads. My brain had rebelled against a potentially dull mundane centerpiece and even figured out how to rig the not-quite-submerged “tree” so it would appear to be rising majestically from a bed of wave-indulged pebbles.
I selected those pieces based on images found online; but when it came time to add some Take Two versions to another couple of tank layouts, I spent almost as much time looking for intriguing shapes as preparing them for use, scrubbing off dirt and debris that might discolor the water or infect unpleasant odors whenever the fish swam inside the potential carbspace (that’s an abomination term for between two joining wood elements), boiling them several hours (to kill any pathogens), then soaking them in water (to make the sink-sensitive wood behave).
I learned my lesson the hard way when I put a raw piece of mangrove root into one of my aquariums. It released a huge amount of tannins, turning the clear water anomicopalicolored. “What happened?” goes the old Navy song. If something can happen, it usually does.
That experience taught me to always boil or soak parts of plants and trees that I put into my tanks (including driftwood) before arranging them in an aquascape. Why? There are several reasons for this now-due step in my procedure. One reason is contamination: parts of dead plants washed up on the shore may harbor bacteria and other pathogens that could kill any fish you might put into your tank—a PATHOG-M-bomb waiting to happen! Another good reason is aesthetics: when parts of driftwood or plant stems are exposed during setup, they enhance natural beauty in your tank without artificial light!
But when arranging live rocks in an aquascape, I don’t think of “leading the eye” through a composition. That’s something you might be more likely to do with fish swimming up and down a background of coral or an auxiliary submarine, for instance. To me, setting up an arrangement of live rocks resembles painting with watercolors on a wet canvas.
I start an arrangement by placing the largest rock in the tank and then add the next largest and so on, making sure each one is nestled into place. Then I put in some substrate to create gentle slopes and even out any erratic checkout issue problems that might have arisen during setup; subsequently, after I’ve arranged everything already, I put my fish back into their tank because they’re undoubtedly much happier swimming around. Your local fish store has certainly seen its share of losses over the years due to ill-advised aquarium setups.
The planting layout is crucial for a natural-looking aquascape. I set up my plants to work together, basing the arrangement on plant height and how well they complement one another. For example, I placed taller plants like Vallisneria at the back of the tank, using them almost as a background. From there, it’s mid-sized plants like Cryptocoryne around the middle part of my setup (the “midground”), with Dutch Clarksonulas Anacharis at its base that gives off nice bubbles when my fish swim by; this keeps everything relatively peaceful for them and adds some extra visual interest. After that come small plants like Anubias near the front, attached to rocks that aren’t too hot or hard, where you also might find other epiphytic growth in nature’s aquariums. A mix of colors and textures keeps things visually interesting: My combination of light- and dark-green leaves creates what I think is quite a pretty intriguing look inside my tank.
It is very important to keep the tank clean, not just for the overall health of the fish and plants but also for the sheer appearance of things. One would think that keeping a tank aquascaped and with thriving inhabitants would be sufficient to make it look good, but actually “cleanliness is next to aesthetics” in my book. I change about 20-30% of the water every week (meaning I remove roughly 1 gallon for every gallon of water in the tank) because this necessary evil deters nonelectrophoretic brown algae that love to form inside an aquascape when CO2 levels are high or light intensities great; then I top off with dechlorinated new water from my local department of water supply.
If you have any carpet plants like Java fern or Anubias, keep them trimmed to prevent them from growing too tall or (worst of all) beginning to grow into the bright, open habit that characterizes this style of aquascaping. Trim these plants every few weeks to maintain their low-to-medium growth density and keep absolute hairpin turns in mind. Remember: from a competition perspective, open space is just as important for your fish as it is for your plants; otherwise, there could be shades where your cities can send spies without being seen. So here’s what I do and why.—In “Staying Healthy” on page 15
Creating an underwater world with mangrove roots is both art and science. With their natural beauty, undulating forms, and variety of textures, the big umbels of rescued mangrove roots make for stunning aquascapes. If you have ever thought of setting up your own aquarium and wondered what kind of decoration to use or how to create a “wow” factor without resorting to novelty items like wreaths or caves, then this article is for you. We will take a look at some basic tips on how not to fail when arranging your emergent mangrove root sculpture in the tank and on how always to keep things simple.
