Bald cypress trees

Just a thought; seeing as marine keepers seem to love putting mangroves in their tanks, how come freshwater keepers dont do the same with cypress trees (Taxodium distichum)? They really easy to keep small and grow under a range of conditions and light.

Pic in their natural habitat:



Pics of mine:

 

Looks pretty cool.

 

That's awesome.

Have you got them in a pond?
Would they not get too big for a tank?

 

At the moment they in a shallow fishtank. They can be cut rather aggressively and they resprout. I have some that are three years old and are maybe 20cm high. A good root cutting also slows their growth.

 

459b wondering if it work in a malawi tank
where would one get a couple of trees

 

Dont see why not. Provided the trees arent totally submerged they should be fine.
Nurseries sometimes have them, i grew all mine from seed

 

Does it not come with a worry about balance?

Much as some marine keepers experience similar problems, you'd want to provide an environment that is nutrient rich. While this isn't necessarily hard to do, it does sometimes come at the the expense of your livestock, or with algal concerns, or particularly affecting your water chemistry. I'm not sure about the specific nutrient requirements of Cypress, but with mangroves you needed to ensure there was sufficient "fertilizer" in the way of fish waste (and supplementation where necessary). One species needed less than others. In the end, we had greater success out of the tank, than in one.

My 2c.

 

not sure you can compare a low nutrient marine tank and planted freshwater. For one mangroves do prefer deep estuarine sand, which vey few reef tanks provide. The cypress I have in a tank are potted in coconut coir, tank is fish less, receive zero fertilizer, and they doing just as well as the ones I have potted in richer media.

 

Looks cool! Maybe more suitable for a pond than indoor tanks?

 

In my case, they were rooted in deep sand in a pretty nutrient rich brackish tank. But you're right, the marine guys might struggle to accommodate ideal mangrove conditions in their reefs.

Though it's tough to compare two plants from differing environments, despite the superficial similarities between them.