# my first go at emmersed



## wearsbunnyslippers (Feb 18, 2008)

who remembers this tank?

hydrophyte has been inpsiring me...

i siliconed over all the seals, left it to dry overnight and filled it up today to about 20cm, that is more than i will be using, and so far so good, no more leak...

i had a spare 39w dual ballast and i found two old arcadia plant pro's, i thought i had given those all away, but apparently not... i also had a spare heater and a few powerheads so i was all set, the only things i had to buy was a breeding net to put the powerhead in to protect it from any junk that gets into the water, some plastic pots, and some lawn dressing.

this is what i came up with:










there are 19 pots filled with 1 part lawn dressing 1 part compost. the lawn dressing was pretty sandy, it didnt feel rich enough so i added compost.










i put a small powerhead facing up inside the breeder net, it makes like a little fountain, should add to the humidity. it also makes a little wave action, so this should help with gaseous exchange, the bubble wrap i used on the top isnt tight fitting so some air should be able to move in and out.










this is what it looks like filled and with the lights on, i might fill it up some more when i add the plants and then let it go down slowly so the plants emmerge.










this is the level i have filled it up to, to give the soil a good soaking, and to let the heater warm it up before i start adding plants, when the plants have adapted it will probably only need to be half this full, just to keep the plants feet wet.

i am going to start out small, i took out most of the pots, they are for if this works. i am going to try growing some hc, hm, hairgrass, stellata, rotala and some of the other stems i have and see how the go, should be fun!

let me know what you think!


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

The lights are OK in there?

As you adapt things to emersed life, it is indeed good to have really high humidity. But as they get going, excess humidity - especially when combined with low air movement - can lead to issues with mold.


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## wearsbunnyslippers (Feb 18, 2008)

@Cavan Allen - they have nice tight almost water proof rubber endcaps...

once it gets going i can take off the bubble wrap to lessen the humidity.

should the lights not be in the tank?


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Well, if they're sealed, I suppose it might be OK. That's probably more a question for one of our equipment guys.


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