# My Emersed Pond Setup (warning 56k!)



## AaronT

Here are some pics of my pond that I setup every summer. It's a whiskey barrel that is lined with thick black plastic. There are bricks underneath the pots to elevate them to the correct height. The pots are filled with 3M T-grade black colorquartz sand. I don't do any fertilizing because there are tons of endler's and diamond tetras in there. I estimate the pond holds about 30 gallons of water.

Whole Setup:








Hygrophila sp. 'red'








Pogostemon stellatus 'broad leaf'








Ludwigia repens 'rubin'








Ludwigia repens 'green'








Polygonum sp. 'Kwaegonum'








Rotala indica 









The Rotala indica was of particular interest to me to grow emersed. This is the same plant also being traded as Ammania sp. 'bonsai'. From the emersed pictures it does appear to actually be Rotala indica. I hope to follow up on this thread when the plants get flowers in early September or so.

Cavan and the rest of the APC staff - you have my permission to use any of these pictures for the Plant Finder.


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## dstephens

Wow, you have been holding out on that one my friend. Just awesome. I love that pogostemon stellatus "broad" leaf. I bought some form lowcoaster months ago and showed up looking like broken, used stems in the bottom of the container. I don't know that it travels well. Anyway, it has now grown into a big, beautiful plant, one of my absolute favorites. Thanks for posting those photos. I wish my emmersed tank had more favorable circumstances for day to day growth. The Dallas summer has been brutal so far. I need to update my photos. I have some kind of moss that has spontaneously started growing, about when the outside temps hit 95 plus daily. Anyway, beautiful water garden. Wish we saw more of these on this forum. Darrell


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## chadly

very nice, you've stimulated my interest in doing the same. It doesn't look it, but do you have any aeration for the fish?


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## AaronT

Darrell - thanks for the many compliments. The Pogostemon stellatus 'broadleaf' is an awesome plant for sure. It's also one of the easier verticillate plants out there in my experience. We had a couple days where the weather was in the high 90s this week, but they made it through.

Chadly - I'm glad I could peak your interest. I don't use any filtration of any sort. The plants do all the filtering and it gets aerated by the fish jumping for bugs and rain drops hitting the surface.


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## chadly

AaronT said:


> it gets aerated by the fish jumping for bugs and rain drops hitting the surface.


nice


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## Jdinh04

Nice setup Aaron, my rotala indica looks exactly like yours! The water depth for my emeresed setup is only about 1-2", I may upgrade to a bigger container and see how things go.


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## DelawareJim

Aaron;

How's you tub coming in the heat? I lost my Riccia and Phyllanthus fluitans in the heat.

Out of curiosity, is your Polygonum 'kwaegonum', P. minus? It looks an awful lot like Polygonum persicaria but with a much narrower leaf which is typical of P. minus.

Cheers.
Jim


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## AaronT

Jim,

I've had a few leaves crisp off here and there, but it's still going strong. I lost some P. fluitans to the heat, but it bounced back again. The tub isn't in full sun all day long. It only gets full sun from about 11:00 am - 5:00 pm or so. I'm starting to see some flowers appear now as well. 

I'll have to look into the P. minus. I've never heard of that one. Is it native?


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## AaronT

Jim,

I did a google search for images of Polygonum minus. It does look similar, but I'm not sure they are the same. If you look at the leaves the Polygonum minus does not have the dark purple 'spot' on the top of the leaves. It also appears to be slightly larger, though time will tell if the one in my pond will get any larger. 

Even so, Polygonum minus is now on my list of plants to try to find.


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## DelawareJim

Habit: herb

Description: (var. subcontinuum (Meisn.) Fern.) "Weak annual...; leaves dull green, linear-lanceolate, attenuate to base and apex, mostly 3-10 mm wide, divergent; ocreae with few short cilia; spikes slender-peduncled, 1-5 cm long, linear-cylindric, loosely but almost continuously flowered, 3-5 mm thick; ocreolae very short-ciliate; calyx claret-purple, in fruit 2-2.5 mm long; achene biconvex or trigonous, lustrous, 2-2.4 mm long." (Fernald, 1970)

Habitat/ecology: "Roadsides, swamps, ditches, etc." (Fernald, 1970). In Guam, "occasional, locally abundant, along freshwater streams" (Stone, 1970).

Propagation: Seed

Native range: Europe. Fosberg et al. (1979) and Stone (1970) list var. procerum (Danser) Steward as native to Micronesia.

Presence: Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, New Caledonia, Palau, Solomon Islands.

Cheers.
Jim


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## DelawareJim

Aaron;

Saw some at a botanic garden a couple of years ago and it looked like a thinner leaved variety of P. persicaria. If I recall, plants lost the spot as they got older/larger.

I'm sure one of your Asian contacts can probably yank some out of a nearby ditch and box it up for you. (And then joke with his mates at work that he sent an American a box of weeds from along the road). If you find some, I think I might take a bit as well. (grin)

Cheers.
Jim

If polygomuns really catch your fancy (the genus is highly variable in it habitat and not all are small or semi/aquatic);

Between 150-300 species are recognised depending on the circumscription of the genus; some botanists divide the genus up into several smaller genera. Selected species include:

Polygonum achoreum 
Polygonum acuminata 
Polygonum acuminatum 
Polygonum affine (Persicaria affinis) 
Polygonum alatum (Persicaria alata) 
Polygonum alpinum - Alpine Knotweed 
Polygonum amphibium - Amphibious Bistort (Persicaria amphibia) 
Polygonum amplexicaule (Persicaria amplexicaulis) 
Polygonum arenarium 
Polygonum arenastrum - Small-leaved Knotgrass 
Polygonum argyrocoleon 
Polygonum arifolium 
Polygonum aubertii - Russian Vine (Fallopia aubertii) 
Polygonum aviculare - Common Knotgrass 
Polygonum baldschuanicum (Fallopia baldschuanica) 
Polygonum bellardii 
Polygonum bidwelliae 
Polygonum bistorta - Bistort (Persicaria bistorta) 
Polygonum bistortoides 
Polygonum bolanderi 
Polygonum boreale 
Polygonum brasiliensis 
Polygonum bungeanum 
Polygonum buxiforme 
Polygonum caespitosum 
Polygonum californicum - California Knotweed 
Polygonum campanulatum - Lesser Knotweed (Persicaria campanulata) 
Polygonum capitatum (Persicaria capitata) 
Polygonum careyi 
Polygonum cascadense 
Polygonum caurianum 
Polygonum chinense 
Polygonum cilinode 
Polygonum coccineum 
Polygonum cognatum 
Polygonum convolvulus - Wild Buckwheat or Black Bindweed (Fallopia convolvulus) 
Polygonum davisiae 
Polygonum densiflorum 
Polygonum dibotrys 
Polygonum douglasii - Douglas' Knotweed 
Polygonum dumetorum - Copse Bindweed (Fallopia dumetorum) 
Polygonum emodi 
Polygonum erectum 
Polygonum fagopyrum - Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) 
Polygonum flaccidum - (Meissn.) 
Polygonum foliosum 
Polygonum fowleri 
Polygonum franktonii 
Polygonum glaucum 
Polygonum griffithii 
Polygonum herniarioides 
Polygonum heterosepalum - Dwarf Desert Knotweed 
Polygonum hickmanii 
Polygonum hirsutum 
Polygonum hudsonianum 
Polygonum hydropiper - Water-pepper 
Polygonum hydropiperoides 
Polygonum japonicum - Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) 
Polygonum lacerum 
Polygonum lanigerum 
Polygonum lapathifolium - Pale Persicaria or Nodding Smartweed 
Polygonum leptocarpum 
Polygonum macrophyllum 
Polygonum marinense 
Polygonum maritimum - Sea Knotgrass 
Polygonum meisneranum 
Polygonum meisnerianum 
Polygonum milletii 
Polygonum minimum - Broadleaf Knotweed 
Polygonum minus - Small Water-pepper 
Polygonum mite - Tasteless Water-pepper 
Polygonum molle 
Polygonum multiflorum 
Polygonum nepalense 
Polygonum odoratum - Vietnamese Coriander (Persicaria odorata) 
Polygonum orientale (Persicaria orientalis) 
Polygonum oxyspermum - Ray's Knotgrass 
Polygonum paronychia 
Polygonum paronychioides 
Polygonum parryi 
Polygonum patulum 
Polygonum pensylvanicum Pennsylania Smartweed or Pink Knotweed or Pinkweed 
Polygonum perfoliatum - Mile-a-minute weed 
Polygonum persicaria - Redshank or Persicaria or Lady's Thumb 
Polygonum phytolaccifolium 
Polygonum plebeium 
Polygonum polycnemoides 
Polygonum polycnenoides 
Polygonum polygaloides 
Polygonum polystachyum - Himalayan knotweed (Persicaria polystachya) 
Polygonum punctatum 
Polygonum raii 
Polygonum ramosissimum 
Polygonum robustius 
Polygonum rurivagum 
Polygonum sachalinense - Giant knotweed (Reynoutria sachalinensis) 
Polygonum sagittatum - Arrowleaf tearthumb or Scratchgrass 
Polygonum salicifolium 
Polygonum scandens 
Polygonum scoparium 
Polygonum segetum 
Polygonum setaceum 
Polygonum shastense 
Polygonum striatulum 
Polygonum tenue 
Polygonum tenuicaule 
Polygonum tinctorum 
Polygonum vaccinifolium (Persicaria vaccinifolia) 
Polygonum virginianum (Persicaria virginiana) 
Polygonum viviparum - Alpine Bistort 
Polygonum weyrichii (Persicaria weyrichii)


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## AaronT

That's quite a list Jim. Cavan and I have found about a dozen of those and tried them all in the aquarium. Of them hidropiperoides and cocciuneum have turned out to be quite nice. There's one species of Polygonum growing in the resevoir down the street that is easily 5 feet tall. We walked through it as though it were a corn field. Needless to say I wasn't interested in trying that one. 

Sagittatum is one of the cooler ones, but unfortunately does not grow aquatically.


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## oceanaqua

Hey Aaron, have you tried Polygonum odoratum? I can easily find this plant in any Asian nursery for sell as a herb.


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## AaronT

No, I haven't tried that one. Have you tried it yet? I'm guessing by the species name that it has a strong smell. 

I know Limnophila aromatica is another one that can be found in the market.

NOTE: I edited your thread by accident...it's back to the original post.


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## Cavan Allen

We tried _P. caespitosum_ too, but although it does grow, it's definitely nothing to write home about. Really leggy and not so nice looking.

I really want to try _P. arifolium_ but have not been able to find any yet.


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## DelawareJim

Ocean;

Any chance you can find Polygonum minus at one of your asian nursery or markets? I think we have a few takers if you can find some. (I'm assuming from your post you live in Asia?)

Cheers.
Jim


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## AaronT

No, he lives in the US if I'm not mistaken. There are Asian markets in the US that have these plants. I know there is one in Washington D.C. somewhere.


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## bigstick120

Aaron, Jim, there is a large Asian market in Ellicott city, just off Rt 40. I would bet they have some there


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## AaronT

Yeah, I thought of that place. I'm not sure if they have it or not. It's worth a shot.


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## Cavan Allen

You never know, but I really don't think _P. odoratum_ would work. Most references to it say that it doesn't like wet areas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_Coriander


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## oceanaqua

I also have a unidentified polygonum I never get ahold of its proper name...I bought it from aquabid under the name Polygonum sp 'silver' any body knows anything about this plant? But seriously it looks like mercury underwater. Pretty shiny.


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## Cavan Allen

You're probably talking about the plant known as 'purple bamboo'. That plant is not a _Polygonum_. People say it is, but it has no ocrea (the sheath around the node) and the veination of the leaves is totally different. _Arthraxon_ might be a better guess, but it's hard to say for sure.


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## AaronT

I agree with Cavan that it is likely not a Polygonum. It is similar in the way the leaves are arranged, but that's about it. I got a stem of this recently and when submerged it shines silvery like many emersed plants do. That tells me that it is probably going to be difficult to keep submersed and happy.


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## Cavan Allen

AaronT said:


> There's one species of Polygonum growing in the resevoir down the street that is easily 5 feet tall. We walked through it as though it were a corn field. Needless to say I wasn't interested in trying that one. (


_Polygonum sp._ 'Giant' 

I think it was taller than that. I'm 6'2" and some of it was over my head.


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## fish_4_all

Updates, Updates! Just want to see how it is coming along and how much new growth you have. Will inspire me to get my sunset hygro going emersed!


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## AaronT

I'll see if I can get time to get a picture up sometime this week. I'm seeing lots of flowers now that it's late in the summer.


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## Aquadise

Well, I have been submersing my P. odoratum for almost two weeks now, I think it is growing its submerse form, smaller leaves compare to the larger emersed leaves. Very nice green color, looks like Hygrophila Corymbosa from far away.


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