Transplanting mangroves from sw to fresh

[GDominy]

Currently my fuge on my reef has several mangroves over two feet tall growing in it. I am shutting this tank down in a few weeks and would hate to part with them. Has anyone managed to take mangroves from a saltwater setup and acclimate them to fresh? I would love to keep them growing in my new planted rig.

[steven p]

Reds are supposed to be super hardy and not much acclimation is needed.

[GDominy]

Im not sure what species they are to be honest. On my last trip to cuba I brought 30 back with me. Managed to get a dozen to grow quite nicely. Im pretty attached to them now.

Before anyone asks, yes I imported them legally into canada and had them cleared through agriculture canada for aquaculture use.

[somewhatshocked]

You shouldn't have too much of an issue. Since there's concern, just transition them slowly. May be a good idea to test things out with a single plant to see how it goes if you want to be extra careful.

Are their roots growing into any sort of substrate in your refugium?

[GDominy]

The msngroves were positioned in a way that the roots are mostly exposed but a few have anchored in and around the live rock. I plan on shattering the rocks to expose the roots on those pieces. Will be a delicate process but Im confident I can free them. I dont want to have live rock transferred to fresh due to the high calcium content. Would definitely cause problems with the water chemistry Im aiming for. (Not to mention the biological pollution that the dieoff would cause). The rest of the substrate is simply aragonite but most roots havent reached down that far

[hydrophyte]

Transition them slowly for best results!