Yet another question about emersed HC. I am about to try this method on a 20 gal long with 100% flourite. I have a 65 wat light but since I am about to grow this emersed, can I use a 30 wat light? What is the light requriment on growing HC emersed? It seems kinda werid trying to wats per gallon when theres no water.

Hi Guys,

This is the first photo of my new planted setup. The tank was flooded yesterday after about a 4 week dry run with HC, Anubias ssp, hairgrass and E.tenellus.

Yesterday Vallis natans and limnophila sessiflora were added prior to flooding.

Tank parameters are the following:

Dimensions: 100cm x 45cm x 50cm
Substrate: Seachem flourite black
Light: 3 t8 tubes 30 w each ( to be fitted with reflectors)
Lights on for 10 hrs a day.
Co2: 2 bubbles per second. switched off at night.
Fertiliser: Mon, wed, sat: 5ml PMdd
tue thurs sun: Trace elements and seachem flourish

Would appreciate all your comments.

Thanks a lot

Chris

thanks sir tom.. only problem now is the source of excel but thanks anyway.. i will observe my carpet if it will at least grow for now..

nice healthy color on your HC.. with a little trimming and time, i think your on your way to a splendid carpet!

Nice looking tank Chris. I think it will look great once things start to fill out. My only comment would be that the driftwood seems a little too naked. It is a huge piece which takes up a chunk of real estate in your tank, and I think it needs some green on it. Be it with mosses, or by having something taller like java fern growing around it.

Btw do you have a journal for this tank posted anywhere? I'd love to follow the progress of your tank. Good luck!

PS- How many pots of anubias did you need to buy to achieve the coverage you have?

Hi guys,

Thanks for the comments! Orion you are right, in fact java fern and mosses have been added to the wood. That photo was just after flooding. I am posting a journal of my tank on aquariummalta which is our local forum! This is the link to my tank

Chris's New Planted setup - AquariumMalta | Forums | Members' planted tanks

WIth regards to anubias: It didnt take a lot of pots it just took a lot of patience. WHat i did was to grow the anubias terrestially were the growth rate is faster than when they are grown submersed and than i divided the rhizone and planted in the tank when i was doing the dry run. That gave them time to establish themselves and they have now started to sprout new roots and shoots.

What i am worried is about my HC. How do you know whether it will survive the submersion. After 4 days its still looking healthy and its pearling yet u never know!

Thanks a lot for the comments.

CHris

If you give the Anubias some time, they will take off and grow faster emersed.

Regards,
Tom Barr

You have about a 60 gallon tank, with about 90 watts of T8 light and no reflectors, for now? That isn't a lot of light for HC, so I think getting reflectors for the lights should be a high priority now. If they are in a box-like fixture you could gain a lot by just painting the inside of the "box" with good bright white paint.

You seem to be depending on 2 bubbles per second being enough CO2, and it may be, since the HC is pearling, but a drop checker would give you better assurance of having enough, and they are cheap.

That is going to be a spectacular tank when it gets grown in a little! I really like the big piece of wood, even though it is probably bigger than most people would prefer.

Hi VaughnH,

Thanks for your comments. I know its really a high priority to get reflectors however i can only find the square ones locally and i would wish to have the parabolic reflectors. For the time being i think ill cover the box like fixture of the hood with aluminium foil to increase reflection until i find these reflectors!

With respect to co2 i am currently using a long term co2 indicator and its in the green range so co2 concetration seems to be ok at this rate however i am not switching the co2 off at night.

Guys i was considering to put riccia on slate and put in on the bog wood so as to soften the features of it. Do you think this is a good idea, read that some ppl had problems with riccia in their tanks in the sense that it just covered everything!

Thanks again,

Chris

Hi Chris,

Riccia will grow quickly given enough light and nutrients.

Biggest issue (for me) is that it is extremely bouyant and gets worse as the mass increases

I cutup one of those mesh laundry bags used for delicates and then used this to wrap OVER the riccia on the rock or wood.

This covers it completely and takes about a week for it to grow back through the mesh. Looks goofy at first, but grows out quick. Just like a chia pet lol

But, it stays on and doesn't float away either............

Stays on much better, and when trimming, you can just grab the Riccia on top of the mesh, remove the mesh, rinse mesh and rock, and re-cover.

Hope this helps.

Good luck!