yes you need to keep the leaves clean so it can expell the salt from the roots taking out the nutrients in the water. and make sure that the leaves are dead to take them and not let the leaves go back into the water. I took a dead leave and put it in a container of water and left it for a few days and measured the nitrates and phoshates and it was a freakin lot. so it does work.....

I know I will be acclimating for a while. But I'm only going to put them in brackish water for now SG~1.010. I'm just worried that the attempt to acclimate them is killing them.

ugh - Maybe the deal at Superstore for $12/4 wasn't that great of a deal. The 2nd that haven't been acclimated and are still in the original pot have dropped all leaves, and I've kept them moist and under a fairly high light.

I may just buy them from J&L if I'm going to do it... meh, more expensive but..

yeah mine aren't doing so hot either. Ive acclimated mine (maybe a bit too fast) and now they're sitting in my display, but they don't look good. not dead, but not good. meh.

We tried to acclimate 3 way to fast but they were near dead and we got them for free. They have survived, but they havent shown any signs of top growth and are just starting to show some new root. And I would say they are near 4 months in our system. The ones that were healthy and acclimated slowly are having to be topped every month to keep them below the lights. I dont want to raise the lights anymore. But this is good because it forces development of new branches. What can help is to get a basic book on Bonsai's. Or do some searching on the net. What we are really doing here is creating a small bonsai forest in our tanks. You might find the info on bonsai to be more informative than reading what other reef people are doing.

Scott