# what to expect? emersed npt?



## oregon aqua (Jan 30, 2008)

i have had my nano emersed for a couple of months its about 1/2" potting soil and caped with black sand.

question is when i flood my tank soon what should i expect? at first i was thinking a spike but now im wondering if i will get that? the bacteria should be full bore by now? im hopeing to put shrimp in this tank but im scared. anyone have experience doing a emersed start with potting soil? with shrimp? 

plants" 
downoi, HC, anubis petite, erio sp, dwarf hair grass and pellia. 

light:
27watt 8 hours plus inderect sun light

filtration
none

substrate:
1/2" composted potting soil
1/2" tahition moon sand

planed fish
celestial danio
shrimp(undecided)


is this gonna work? the closer i get to my designated "flood" date the more im doubting myself. would love some feed back. this nano kinda ended up being a mix of all the types of tanks i like and im so happy with the way it looks now its really kinda got me biting my nails


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## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

well you said it is all emersed growth and im taking it as you have done this to get quicker growth in a shorther time.(much like what i need to do)
i have not heard of anyone flooding there tanks yet but then again i dont doubt that someone hasn't done it yet either. 
i would say just do it, croww your fingers and if you can manage bit your nails down to the quitickles lol.

i think everything should go well for you. the shrimp....i think someone here does have them in a soil tank so they should work. you could always just get some cheap cherry shrimp and try them out. i would wait till a couple of weeks to get them though to make sure the ammonia is in check. 

good luck show us a pic.


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## david f (Mar 24, 2006)

To oregon aqua,

I have done what you are just about to do, I also have a few plants growing emersd so ready on stand by as stock plants for future use,that way they get healthy root systems. the only problem is the algae that may start at any new tank,but get around that and they can look beautiful.I would try not to completely submerse your plants ,allow them some air carbon dioxide to use ,that way algae may smother the submersed part of the plant but the plants tip out of the water will remain strong and possibly take over which would be good.

Cheers David f.


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## yum (Feb 11, 2008)

I don't have experience with the emersed technique but I have a soil tank with cherry shrimp and they are spawning like mad (at least 3 hatchings since 2/28/08 and about 3 berried and more developing saddles). So, I found that cherry shrimp are extremely hearty and don't really have the same "scrubbed clean" water requirements that other shrimp seem to need. I don't do many water changes and don't run a filter. They are all growing large, have nice color and are very active. I've lost 3 guppies so far and no shrimp that I can tell so my lil guys are pretty tough.

The only real supplement I add to the water occassionally is "Snail Milk" to help provide nutrients for my apple snail and shrimp shells.

So, if you decide to do shrimp start with the Cherries (or something from that family: snowball, yellow, orange) as they have been really easy in my experience in a low tech soil tank.


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## oregon aqua (Jan 30, 2008)

thanks for all the replies. the cherries sound like the ones im gonna go with. 

i think my eriocaulon sp. is starting to split so im going to wait until i figure out what it is doing.


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## oregon aqua (Jan 30, 2008)

here are some pics. i tried really hard to get some nice pics. the pics looked good on the camera but not on the computer.


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## yum (Feb 11, 2008)

That looks nice and clean. Good layout!


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## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

well i can say the last pic is the best lol and the layout is good not over beaing and easy enough to look at! good luck


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

I can't tell if you've added water to this tank? I'm hoping not.

If you did, I predict many problems (algae, lots of dying plants, etc). If you haven't added water yet, you were wise to wait.

Glad you posted pictures. It gives us a better idea of what's really going on. I would have been more optimistic if I had seen a tank filled with strong emergent growth (e.g., several nice big fat swordplants and Cryptocorynes signifying strong root systems so that they could better adapt to being suberged). But what I see is minimal overall growth, lots of "dead space", and small plants.

If it were my tank, I would immediately remove most of the water leaving maybe 1/2 inch above the black sand. Hopefully, the submersion won't have yet killed the plants. If you want to go submerged, do it gradually leaving plant tops above water. This allows plants to adjust to a submerged environment, which is a tough one--- if you are a plant.  Your plants will have to grow new leaves, deal with an anaerobic soil, less CO2, more algae, etc, etc. Therefore, I'd do it inch by inch. I'd also add more plants to this tank, including floating plants. Plant species that might thrive growing emersed may end up collapsing in a submerged environment.


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## oregon aqua (Jan 30, 2008)

> dwalstad
> Re: what to expect? emersed npt?
> I can't tell if you've added water to this tank? I'm hoping not.
> 
> ...


I am so honord to have your reply!!!!:hail:
After i started this project I purchased your book so i could better understand what im doing but im a slow reader because i want to fully understand it.

I just realized now that i only said its a nano in my original post and never mentioned that the tank size is a little less then 4gal. that is why their is no swords or crypts. i have been considering putting a crypt sp. tropica in their but have yet to decide.

in defense of my dead spots this tank has been rearranged many many times and the back middle used to have the rock their. and the temp. locally has been pretty cold (i know its may but Oregon weather apparently forgot what month it is) and i believe this has slowed some growth as well.

no i have not flooded the tank yet........im scared lol. i had been thinking to add floating plants in the tank, i saw some red ones that Mr. Hudson has on Aquabotanic i was considering. now i will for sure get them before i flood tank.

as for my plant choice with the exception of the "downoi" i picked plants that i have read have gone threw this process of startup very well. they tend to keep their emersed leaves after flooding as long as they where not uprooted and thier roots had a firm hold (the H.c. has a very firm hold!) i havn't herd anything about downoi with this method and just recently found out that its emersed growt h is very different then submerged. 
off to work now so sad ! :sad: thanks for the reply
Thank you.


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

nice, i like your erio, your hardscape looks a lot better than my hardscape in my immersed (or is it emersed?) 2.5 tank, im glad to see someone else is documenting this, i have seen them after they have been filled, and they have some algae, but not as much as it would, good luck


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

oregon aqua said:


> I
> I just realized now that i only said its a nano in my original post and never mentioned that the tank size is a little less then 4gal. that is why their is no swords or crypts.
> 
> no i have not flooded the tank yet


It sounds like you are proceeding thoughtfully. Yes, it is a shame that emergent leaves don't automatically convert to submerged leaves when you flood the tank.

There are chain swords (e.g., _E. tenellus_) and small Crypts (_C. parva_) that would probably fit in a 4 gal. However, you probably don't need them.

When all is said and done, you have a very nice emergent tank. And one with no problems (algae, fish diseases, poor plant growth, etc, etc).


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## oregon aqua (Jan 30, 2008)

> foofooree
> Re: what to expect? emersed npt?
> nice, i like your erio, your hardscape looks a lot better than my hardscape in my immersed (or is it emersed?)


your sentence had me doubting my self for so long i finnally broke down LOL i had to look it up.

emersed Definition

emersed (ē mʉrst′)

adjective

having emerged above the surface; specif., standing out above the water, as the leaves of certain aquatic plants

Etymology: < L emersus (pp. of emergere, emerge) + -ed

immerse

Main Entry:
im·merse Listen to the pronunciation of immerse
Pronunciation:
\i-ˈmərs\ 
Function:
transitive verb 
Inflected Form(s):
im·mersed; im·mers·ing
Etymology:
Middle English, from Latin immersus, past participle of immergere, from in- + mergere to merge
Date:
15th century

1: to plunge into something that surrounds or covers; especially : to plunge or dip into a fluid2: engross, absorb <completely immersed in his work>3: to baptize by immersion


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

oregon aqua said:


> your sentence had me doubting my self for so long i finnally broke down LOL i had to look it up.
> 
> emersed Definition
> 
> ...


lol, so now i know, immersed is below water and emersed is above water, the thing is the firefox spell-checker doesn't know the word emersed, so it always underlines it in red when i type it, ,lol
thanks for looking that up


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## Minsc (May 7, 2006)

oregon aqua said:


> as for my plant choice with the exception of the "downoi" i picked plants that i have read have gone threw this process of startup very well. they tend to keep their emersed leaves after flooding as long as they where not uprooted and thier roots had a firm hold (the H.c. has a very firm hold!) i havn't herd anything about downoi with this method and just recently found out that its emersed growt h is very different then submerged.
> off to work now so sad ! :sad: thanks for the reply
> Thank you.


My recent experience is that downoi adapts from emersed to immersed very quickly and readily, so I doubt that will be an issue. I am worried how well the plants you have chosen will do without CO2 added to the water. Hopefully they will adapt just fine. At any rate, it will be interesting to watch.

Definitely go for the red root floater. It is a great looking plant that gets tiny flowers all the time.


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