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Re: Mangroves in an aquarium?



Someone was complaining about people using "FFF" or Florida Flag Fish rather
than the scientific name? Well, IMHO, calling a tree simply 'mangrove' is
far worse. Please remember that 'mangrove' is a collective term for an
ecosystem, not a common name for a single plant species. There are literally
hundreds of 'mangrove' sps throughout the world, some of which will do ok in
fresh or salt water, but mostly from the salty swamps and river deltas of
the tropical regions of the world.

For a fresh water tank, look to the trees of the Amazon River Basin and
other flood plains. There are a number of good species for this that are
common houseplants; various figs (especially dwarf varieties like Ficus
triangularis, F. reticulata, but also larger ones like F. benjamina, F.
retusa, and F. elastica), Scheflera, many species of Philodendron,
Leptospermum (often used as a dwarf bonsai, but considered difficult because
it needs so much water) amoung others.

Brett Johnson
Green Man Gardens
bnbjohns at home_com