# First time emersed setup. Advice appreciated :)



## marty93aus (Aug 1, 2014)

Hey everyone 

This is my first attempt at the emersed set up. It is based on Zapins beginners guide in this section of the forum 

My mates have lent me some HC and some dwarf hair grass from their tanks, hopefully i can give it back to them 

-I have two 13W t5 fluros set for 12 hours a day. 
-I have used osmocote premium potting mix?
-My water level sits about an inch below soil level.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

The setup is looking good!

It will take some time for the plants to grow in, probably a few weeks even a month or two. Getting the tub started takes a while but once its up and running you'll be trimming it often!

If you've got more lights you can add them onto the setup. The brighter the lights the better for the plants. There is no algae to deal with with emersed tubs 

The potting mix you are using sounds good for emersed plants.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Looks like you're good to go.  Like Zapins said it takes a while to get started and you might get some melting at first. Give it some time and it will establish.


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## marty93aus (Aug 1, 2014)

Thanks Zap and Aaron!

Ive planted a bunch of Macaya Fluviatilis in my emersed setup today. 
























I haven't found much on growing Macaya in an emersed setup, I was wondering if this would even work?

-Should i trim them down a bit?
-They are planted about half an inch below soil level with most of the roots buried.
-Is my water level too high? It sits about an inch below soil level. The soil is very damp.

The HC and hair grass seems to be fine after planting them a few days earlier.

Also, if the mould starts to spread excessively over the soil, should i try to remove it the best i can?

Thanks

I also have a few other plants on their way:

-Hydrocotyle "mini"
-Ludwigia Arcuata 
-Ludwigia Gladulosa
-Hygrophila Polysperma Sunset
-Sao Paulo

I may have taken on a bit more than i could handle, but I'm going to give it a go (they are all relatively cheap)

Is there any advice or requirements that i might need? Is there any other plants that i could easily grow instead? I think i have all the basic requirements sorted, i could easily add more lights to any of the setups.

Thanks


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I would lower the water level a little bit. You don't want it so high that mold and fungus take over.


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## marty93aus (Aug 1, 2014)

Hey,

Ive just planted some submerged plants that i bought online and planted them into my emersed setup.

-Sao paulo
-Ludwigia Gladulosa
-Ludwigia acrcuata
-Hygrophila polysperma sunset









My water level sits about an inch and a half under the soil level.

What are my chances of survival?

Any kind of harsh criticism or advice will be very helpful.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I agree with Aaron, you don't want mold and fungus growing. 2 inches below the soil line should be ok, maybe 2.5. You do not have to remove soil. 

As odd as it may sound, I'd actually recommed that you plant the plants horizontally instead of vertically. Vertically you expose the entire stem to the air and prevent it from absorbing water. It will dry out like this. The roots have not formed yet and cannot supply the entire stem with water yet. This is why pushing the stems into the soil horizontally so they are lying on the surface of the soil for their entire length is better.


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## marty93aus (Aug 1, 2014)

Alright done. Thanks zap


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## marty93aus (Aug 1, 2014)

Hey everyone 

Im starting to see some new growth! I don't think i interpreted zaps advice correctly though. I've placed my plants about 1/2 an inch under soil level :S Should have read your advice more carefully! oh well.

So now I'm starting to see mould maybe due to the stems decaying, its not a lot of mould.

What do you guys think?

These photos don't point out the mould from what i can see. 
*The water level is an inch below the soil level.*
*Im using 4x 13W T5 Fluros for 12 hours a day*

























Thanks everyone


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Looking great so far! I see the HC over there hiding on the left side. Looks like you've got a good patch of it going so far. 

It is alright to plant the stems fairly deeply like you did. It prevents them from drying out. 

The mold issue can be eliminated/reduced by lowering the water level. 2 inches below the surface will prevent most mold growth, though as times goes on and the plants grow in mold doesn't usually tend to be an issue, probably due to competition between mold and plants (mold loses).

I think I'll probably set up an emersed tub and grow some out myself over the winter. There certainly is something about greenery that helps stave off the winter blues.


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## marty93aus (Aug 1, 2014)

Well thats good news zap, it would be nice to see what cool plants you can grow  You should do it.

And yes the HC has been my best plant so far! I plan on setting up a few more boxes with HC, I'm gonna need a lot!

Also, now that the plants are starting to show new growth, will that mean the old stem will slowly die off? How does this work? 

Thanks again Zap! Take it easy mate.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Usually submersed leaves will die off when emersed long term. If the plants were grown emersed orogiNall then they will not.

What do you plan on doing with all your HC?


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## marty93aus (Aug 1, 2014)

Oh ok, what about the stems though? will they die off as well?

The HC will be for a small carpet area for my tank, some of it will be for my neighbours tanks also


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

No, stems generally stay alive as long as they don't completely dry out.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Different plants convert more easily from one form to another. You just have to experiment to see. Anubias for example, won't lose any leaves when put from emersed to submersed.


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## marty93aus (Aug 1, 2014)

Thanks Zap and Aaron 

-2x 13W Daylight flouros on for 12 hours a day.
-Water level sits about an inch an a half under soil level.

The Glandulosa seems to have some leaves turning black and dying, also the very new growth isn't surviving, its like its melting? Other than that its growing ok i suppose.








The Sao paulo has grown quite a bit with new growth coming up, I'm not too sure if its growing healthy or not.








Acruata Ludwigia grew for about and inch or two and then fell over and then melted? 








So far has been my best plant.








The HC grew so well that i gave it back to my neighbour! 

Now the temps have been around 30degrees for the past week outside and it has been ridiculously humid.

Any advice appreciated


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

marty93aus said:


> Thanks Zap and Aaron
> 
> -2x 13W Daylight flouros on for 12 hours a day.
> -Water level sits about an inch an a half under soil level.
> ...


30 degrees Celcius? If so, then the temp inside those boxes is probably way too high and would account for the melting you have going on. If it's that humid and hot outside you can probably do a setup without a lid.

I'm not too familiar with your climate though. Do the temps drop significantly at night?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

The photos you posted look normal for transitioning to emersed growth. 

30C shouldn't be a problem for emersed growth. I am not sure what the upper limit is for emersed growth, probably well over 100F, maybe 120F or so before the plants start dying from heat.

On the other hand, in submersed form temperatures above 83F will harm most species. This is because underwater plants cannot use evaporative cooling, while in emersed form they can cool themselves using water evaporating from their leaves. Of course if the humidity is 100% then they cannot cool themselves this way and they die at a lower temperature somewhere between the emersed max and the submersed max temp (83-120F)


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## Adam C (Feb 7, 2013)

Yep my emersed plants outdoors easily endure central texas summers. 

Even indoors with decent humidity they can withstand some high temps.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I won't disagree that they can survive high heat like that once transitioned to full emergent state. However, my concern is the high humidity coupled with the high heat does not allow the plant to cool themselves. I would at least try cracking the lid some on the setup to see if that helps a bit.


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## Adam C (Feb 7, 2013)

Aaron i agree. I usually mist a couple times a day for thefirst few days and as a result let in new air. 

I threw a humidity and temp gauge into a bin i set up last week using submerged clippings. I'll post with what temp and humidity in a bit. 

@marty if you can prop up the arcuata it will do better. When plants have fragile stems and leaves i like to keep then off the substrate.

Edit: i'm sitting at 82f and 83% humidity


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## marty93aus (Aug 1, 2014)

Thanks boys, I didn't realise that the plants were still transitioning to emersed form  Its been a month.

The temps are pretty ridiculous around here, yesterday it reached 35 degrees celcius and it was very humid! Today it reached 24 degrees celcius and humidity was around 22% 

Aaron, it really depends how the weather is, it was still 25-30 degrees celcius around 9pm last night! Today i reckon it will be around 20 degrees celcius? Ill keep an eye on the temps and humidity, make sure my plants can cope! Thanks mate!

Im thinking of buying some more acruata, i did bring it up off the soil a little, what was left of it  The healthy stems are showing new growth, i just hope that they don't melt again! Thanks adam! 

Thanks zap! Most of my plants are new branches of the old submersed plants, i didn't realise that new growth would still have to transition? Hope that made sense :s

Would buying a humidity gauge be worthwhile? 

Thanks again!! Very helpful.


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## sotiris (Feb 11, 2015)

Nice setup! I have made my own setup the last month and my results in sao paolo and polysperma (sunset) are the same with yours. I will upload some videos soon. i Keep humidity level 62% and the temperature is now 24o Celcius. We dont you give us an update of your emersed setup? 
Thanks,
Sotiris


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