Emersed setups/experiments

Hey people, I recently started an emmersed tank--a little 2.5 gallon tank I got as a hand-me-down--and I am beginning to get more and more interested in emmersed growth of aquatic plants. I basically threw some dirt into the bottom to try to start mineralizing it, but then began throwing plant clippings and dying plants from my outdoor tank into it, and they started growing! it's amazing how adaptable and tough plants can be--mine went through quite the transition and many were almost dead but are now thriving. I also took a trimming of Ludwigia repens x arcuata and started growing that outside, and it's been doing amazingly well.

I would like to hear from any of you who have tried or currently have an emmersed tank or anything else (I know at least one person on here grows anubias and other things emmersed indoors under a light). specifically, does anyone use a half emmersed/half aquatic setup for any of their tanks? I guess this would be more fitting for an amphibian of some sort rather than fish, but it would be really cool to see a tank which could support both land creatures and fishes.

Below are some pics of my little emmersed grow

1 week ago
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today
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Here's the little tank
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and a closeup of emmersed stargrass--Angelo's stargrass will make its way around the world soon!
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More ludiwiga, just starting to sprout from the previously-immersed stem;
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Here's a little plant (cabomba) which is struggling, I don't think its leaves like emmersed growing
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I think my plan is that soon I will take the potted ludwigia out of its pot and just plop it inside the tank somewhere, and just let it take over the tank along with the stargrass. i might add an anubias at some point as well to see how it does.

Alright, now everyone else, share your emmersed aquarium plants. Best post wins... my undying love and admiration!


just kidding

I think what you have accomplished here is super neat. I kind of started something up but quickly lost interest as the plants died. I hope others chime in with photos and experiances.

Great job, emersed plant growth is a lot of fun and a great learning experience. Just a few comments to consider, you will experience similar die off when transitioning plants back in to an aquatic environment. If you want to do anubias emersed it will grows faster if you trim off all the leafs and lay the rhizome on the substrate and not bury it in substrate just like in the aquarium. You can also segment the rhizome into smaller portions if desired.

Hi LuminousAphid,

Emersed set-ups are great if you want to keep a lot of plants available for aquascapes but don't have enough tank space to keep them all. I keep a 'plant bank' of about 50 different species.

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fishNAbowl wrote:I think what you have accomplished here is super neat. I kind of started something up but quickly lost interest as the plants died. I hope others chime in with photos and experiances.

Haha thanks, I would just say that it's not really an 'accomplishment' as it was almost an accidental thing, but thanks just the same! The key might be that I am using soil which would be totally unsuitable for an aquarium in its current state... it's just miracle grow moisture control potting mix that I had put in to see if I could mineralize it after it dried out, but after I put cuttings in and they started growing, I think I am just going to go with a little terrarium-type thing until I figure out something better to do with it. I wonder if there are any micro amphibians that could be kept in something like this... on second thought, I will stick with the fish hobby for now

hobbyorobsession wrote:Great job, emersed plant growth is a lot of fun and a great learning experience.  Just a few comments to consider, you will experience similar die off when transitioning plants back in to an aquatic environment.  If you want to do anubias emersed it will grows faster if you trim off all the leafs and lay the rhizome on the substrate and not bury it in substrate just like in the aquarium.  You can also segment the rhizome into smaller portions if desired.

Wow, didn't expect this much response so fast! Thanks for the tip on the anubias, I actually have one that is going downhill fast due to being outside in too much light, so maybe I will try this with at least part of the rhizome. Would the roots do good being buried, or should I leave them laying on top as well?

Roy, that looks like a really neat little plant bank you have there. Does it take much maintenance or is it pretty trouble-free? Looks like it shouldn't need much watering since you have low-ish light and they are all well covered. Thanks for sharing! It's a neat idea to try for the future when I have that plant I can't really fit anywhere, but don't want to get rid of.

you can bury the roots yes

Whoa that's awesome!! I never saw star grass in it's emerged form before. Maybe you should start calling it Ryan's emerged star grass from now on and start spreading it like wild fire to other fish hobbyists that want to try emerged grown star grass hahaha!! I'm glad my star grass is making it's rounds though! :-)

Those are some great shots of your plants! Have you considered doing anubias or amazon sword in emersed form?

Actually put some anubias in there last night to see how that goes... like hobbyorobsession suggested, i cut off all the leaves of one that wasn't doing so hot because it was in full sun, and then plopped them in there with some of the roots covered but the rhizome uncovered. I wonder if they grow any faster out of water vs submerged. I would think so, since they have all the CO2, light and nutrients they need.

Update on this little terrarium

Everything is growing well, I put the big ludwigia in the tank and it's trailing all over the place. I have it in full sun for about half the day now, and all the plants seem to have adapted well, except I don't see any growth from the anubias that I put in there recently. They are slow growers anyway, though, so they might still sprout some leaves

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I'm amazed at the star grass!! :-) it looks so lush and bright green!

Yeah it is very bright, and also the leaves are slightly waxy and rounded on the ends, very different from the usual immersed form. It's really interesting to see the differences, and see how well both species are doing out of water. So far I keep a lid on the tank with a small hole, and just open it once or twice a day to give it fresh air. It's just outside in full sun for 6-7 hours now, and everything seems to love it

Bump and an update to this



anyone want some emmersed ludwigia? lol

 Now - can you grow the Ludwigia that thick and lush in your tank?

This is neat. Thanks for the update. I like the red stem green leaf combo of the Ludwigia emersed try to grow plants under water with the same features

Whoa, that looks awesome, Ryan! Man, that Ludwigia has some nice red stems!! Very cool

I've seen a guy turn a 140g into a paludarium for mudskippers. Could totally see something similar for frogs.

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You could do a lot of awesome stuff with what you've found there, LuminousAphid.

Very inspiring, I'm sure my wife will hate you soon.