# Cracked Tank converted to Emersed culture



## FarCanal (Mar 12, 2008)

I had this cracked tank sitting under my house for years, I just couldn't bring myself to throw it out. After reading an article about emersed crypts in the Aquascaping online magazine I decided to dust of my old cracked tank. Here is a picture of the patched cracks;









I then installed some glass baffles to create water falls and increase humidity;









Filled it with water and turned a filter on as a proof of concept;









Since then I have been gather plants and filling this tank with plants, it early days and only been running for 6 weeks. Here are some pics;

































The various Anubias were one of the first plants added and is growing very well, here is a close up front shot;









I recently purchase a crypt that came with a spathe;









Another crypt that has adjusted to emersed growth;









I used this tank to germinate some Apontogen seeds;









I even have managed to get some HC to grow in here under a single T8 bulb, but it grows very slowly;









I'm so glad I kept this old tank, wish I had another one!


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

That's a great setup and a perfect use for a cracked tank. How much water movement do you have and what temp do you keep it at?


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## FarCanal (Mar 12, 2008)

cs_gardener said:


> That's a great setup and a perfect use for a cracked tank. How much water movement do you have and what temp do you keep it at?


 The pump used is an Eheim Compact 600 running on the max setting and I keep the temp at 25C. I also have a Eheim Compact 1000 that I was going to use to rig up a mister during summer (I'm in Central Queensland, Australia) but I may not need it as it seems to work fine as is.


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## Gilles (Oct 12, 2007)

Nice setup!


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

That's a nice little setup. It's fun to see the different morphology of the plants in their emsersed state.


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## FarCanal (Mar 12, 2008)

I'll have to go back and reload the earlier pics. Damn it.

An update from September last year;


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## FarCanal (Mar 12, 2008)

An update from the weekend;

Full Frontal;


3 more from the front;
  

4 from the top looking in;
   

The large green wendtii in the middle is gone now, it was shading out everything around it. I couldn't believe how many crypts were in that one 10cm pot and how big they got. I had to cut the pot up into pieces to get them out, truely a very big wendtii variety.

The anubias I had in here originally are now outside in a greenhouse and seem to be growing well. That made room for more crypts.

This is the start of the off season spruce up ... I want to go through the whole lot and make sure everything is ready and settled for the next flowering season.


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## FarCanal (Mar 12, 2008)

I take it that I can't edit the original post in this thread to update the photo's? Is it too old?


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## rjfurbank (Jan 21, 2008)

Thanks for posting this--a very beautiful setup! I recently set up a small tank for emersed crypts and would love to be able to get results like yours.

Also--would love to see the original pics if you have the time to reload them.


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## FarCanal (Mar 12, 2008)

rjfurbank said:


> Thanks for posting this--a very beautiful setup! I recently set up a small tank for emersed crypts and would love to be able to get results like yours.
> 
> Also--would love to see the original pics if you have the time to reload them.


I have the earlier posts on another forum, it's no hassle. I'll post them now ....


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## FarCanal (Mar 12, 2008)

Here's the original post from another forum from August '08

A month or 2 ago I set myself an emersed tank from an old broken tank I had. I'll be trying to get some crypts to grow / flower, grow out some plants from flowers and just generally free up some tank space which is at a premium. If your looking for your fix of planted aquarium photo's, this thread probably isn't for you. Nothing will ever look to "special" in any of these photo's. It's early days for this tank so only a few of the crypts have made the adjustment to emersed growth, a few have only been in here less than a week. Anyway, enough reading ... on with the photo's.

Here's the tank bare, I've patched up the cracks in the top left corner and put in some baffles to create little water falls ... helps keep humidity high.








Water running as a proof of concept.








Here's the initial planting photo from above, the only thing of note here is the Crypt Crispulata from Aquagreen in the pots that look bare nearest to the camera. The first crypts in and emersed growth is going well in later photo's

















Some photos from today, first off some front shots.

















Some shots from above. You can see the Crispulata is growing. It works It works!

















The Anubias in here are growing well, shot from the front.









I wish I could take credit for growing this but it's a Crypt Tonkenisis from aquagreen that showed up with a spathe on it. I bought 2, the other one is underwater in my "Less than 1 WPG" tank. It's rare and unusual according to the crypt books for a spathe to develop under water in all but a few species, but both of the one's I bought have these and the leaves suggest they've been grown under water;








I'm not expecting much to come from this, I'm thinking it'll melt off due to the shock of transport and replant. It only arrived this week.

Here's a photo of the first crypt in, the Crispulata. All that was planted was a small runner with a single leaf and any small bits off broken off roots that were in the bag.









Some Apontogen's growing from seed.









Oh and this thing, an aquagreen freebie. Is this HC? I didn't think this would survive in here under a single T8 bulb. It's survived and growing slowly ....









A special thank you to those who have traded crypts with me, Nchanted, Guppyshrink & Tuna. I haven't killed anything yet and if I get some flowers (fingers crossed) I'll let you know. The only thing now is I have 2 more crypt runners I want to put in here from another tank, a Balansae & Rosenervous but the tank is pretty full. Out of real estate again! Oh well, I'll take some Ozelot's out and to the LFS ....


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## FarCanal (Mar 12, 2008)

Another old post from October '08

Some update shots taken this afternoon.
1. 4 types of Anubias and Bolbitis Heteroclita adult plant. I've thinned out the Anubias once since the last photo for trades. It has grown back very well.









2. Back - Crypt Wendtii Green (new addition from Shake), Bolbitis Heteroclita pups
Middle - Crypt Crispulata from Aquagreen
Front - Mystery crypts, left from Guppyshrink, right from Tuna. 









3. Back - Mystery crypt and Echinodorus
Middle - Bolbitis Heteroclita pup, Crypt Tonkenisis (the one that flowered and got a few different ID's)
Front - Crypt Willisii from Dumpy (stays small), Mystery crypt from Nchanted (labeled parva but more likely willisii) 









4. Back - Crypt Rosenervis (I pulled this as a small runner out of my 4' lounge room tank, could be something else, has grown quickly and planted in Earthworm castings), HC (I had a small amount of this as a Aquagreen bonus, planted it submersed and didn't think it would survive under a single T8. I've used some else where and spread the remainder out and am now trying it fully emersed)
Middle - Crypts Tonkenisis, Wendtii Red and Parva (obscured by reflection)
Front - Crypts Wendtii Tropica?, and mystery's ???









5. Crypt Rosenervis?









6. Crypt Wendtii Tropica? (TasV same plant I sent you recently)









7. Crypt Wendtii Red









8. Nchanted crypt (Willisii?)









9. Crypt Willisii from Dumpy









10. Mystery Crypt from guppyshrink. This plant grows brown in my Less than 1 WPG tank. It also shows multicoloured leaves in the 3 tanks I have it.









11. Mystery Crypt from Tuna. It's growing very well and getting quite tall.









12. Crypt Crispulata have grown well. The one on the right has grown from just some bare root with no leaves.









13. The tonkenisis that flowered and was ID as Crypt Crispulata var. Balansae by Jan D. Bastmeijer and as Retrospiralis by the Australian plant society.









14. Anubias









15. Bolbitis Heteroclita pup forming on leaf


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## rjfurbank (Jan 21, 2008)

Very cool! Thanks for sharing. Like the baffle idea--in hindsight has this been beneficial or just taking up space?

Also--what substrate are you using? Looks like a variety of different ones. What's the white-colored material?

Again--thanks for posting; great pics.

-Roy


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## FarCanal (Mar 12, 2008)

rjfurbank said:


> Very cool! Thanks for sharing. Like the baffle idea--in hindsight has this been beneficial or just taking up space?
> 
> Also--what substrate are you using? Looks like a variety of different ones. What's the white-colored material?
> 
> ...


The baffle idea maybe a bit over the top, this is my first emersed tank so I haven't tried one without it. In hindsight I would measure up my pots to make the spaces a better fit even though I've had few problems cramming it full. "Where there's a will ...." The baffles work for keeping the humidity up, I'd do it again but I will try one without first.

Substrate ... I've been experimenting with lots of stuff. The white stuff is marble chip and only used on the top of some and in the bottom of others. It's surprisingly good. But there is always other stuff used with it. My favorite substrate would be "JBL Aquabasis plus" mixed in as the bottom layer of an all gravel/sand substrate with a marble chip cap. It's magic stuff, ADA aquasoils and eco-complete are great also. I add ferts to the substrates too fairly regularly but I use a Australian made product from aquagreen you wouldn't be able to get outside Australia.


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## wet (Nov 24, 2008)

Thanks for updating this and the broken pictures, FarCanal! The Crypt crispulata var. balansae or whatever it is is beautiful. I am unsure if I am more inspired by the physical design or things like planting the Hydrocotyle (?) sp in multiple pots to tie it together as an aquascape.


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## FarCanal (Mar 12, 2008)

Now everything is out of order this thread will read in a strange way if you just look at the photos'.

Just been busy re-potting plants and moving stuff around, wanted to posts some photo's for future reference. The new plants and re-potted ones look a bit sad at the moment but I'm hoping to have everything firing for the next crypt flowering season (september-december in my part of the world)
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Far Left hand side, lowest level. I've either repotted these plants or added some substrate ferts. I've fertilized with a teaspoon of "osmocote" & "blood and bone" wrapped in newpaper and buried it deep in the pot. Late last year I tried a teaspoon of "osmocote" & "dynamic lifter" and that seemed to work well.

Front Row left to right; 
1. Mystery Crypt I found floating in a tank, newpaper fert.
2. C. Cordata "Blassii" repotted and split into 2 pots. Potted in ADA Powersand S, ADA Amazonia with a cm of sand on top.
3. Same as 2 above but I will fert this one differently around late July.
4. C. Crispulata. Added newpaper fert.

Middle row; 
1. C. Cordata "Rosenervis" repotted in ADA Powersand S, ADA Iron Bottom, ADA Amazonia or Malaya with a cm of sand on top.
2. Baffle Creek Hydrocotyle, just trimmed
3. C. Crispulata "Balansae" (former tonkensis) added newspaper fert.

Back Row;
1. C. Cordata "siamensis". New plant arrived yesterday. Potted in ADA Powersand S, ADA Amazonia with a cm of sand on top.
2. C. pontederiifolia had this one around 6 months, added newspaper fert.

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Center/Left hand side, 2nd lowest level. I've just moved things around here. I'll be adding dino dung (an Australian made substrate fertiliser) to most of the pots on this level on the weekend.
Front Row;
1. Mystery crypt that was found floating in a tank. It did show some veining early on which seems to be fading out. Will get Dino Dung
2. C. Willissii from NChanted that flowered. Will get Dino Dung

Middle Row;
1. C. Crispulata "Balansae" (former tonkensis) that was sent to me with a spathe on it. I should repot it as there are now 4 plants in there. I've got that plant everywhere now even in a tub outdoors. It has grown to 87cm in my Less than 1 wpg tank. I'll just add dung to it, thinking about doing an emersed/submersed crispulata tank.
2. C. Parva. Had this one around 6 months, I'll add dung.

Back Row;
1. Another C. pontederiifolia, will add dung to this one. It has a small runner popping up.
2. Some tiny hairgrass I found in a tub with a crypt I got from MEJ. Must have got it by accident. It's potted in ADA Malaya and not doing much. I might leave it alone.
3. Not sure on this one. I think it's either a C. beckettii ''Petchii'' or C. beckettii that I bought from Aquarium Products Wholesale when i first set up my 4' lounge room tank, it's planted in the front left of that tank what ever it is. Might leave it be as it's a relatively new addition.

Center/Right hand side, 3rd lowest level. Shown in the photo above and below. All the crypts here are fairly new, around 2 months. I'll leave most of them alone for awhile. I think I potted most of these in ADA Amazonia or Malaya.
Front Row;
1. C. Albida "Costata". Growing lots of roots but not much foliage. I'll give it some dung.
2. C. Albida.

I got rid of all the bolbitis heteroclita pups I had on this level, there were 7 or 8 of them, but when I was cleaning up the mother plants I found a few more that were fairly well developed, 3 I think. They are between the front and middle rows. The mother plant has a few more tiny pups showing on the leaf margins which I will leave be for a few months.

Middle Row;
1. A hydrocotyle that I had out in a tub, it was growing very slowly. I've potted it yesterday in mainly sand with an inch of ADA Amazonia on top, I think there is a bit of JBL Florabasis between the sand and the ADA.
2. C. nevellii, it's growing very well. I think I may have some of this out in my mini shadehouse.

Back Row;
1. C. Albida "korthause" the best growing of the Albida's so far but it's early days.
2. C. beckettii from Aquagreen. It's growing ballistically. Only had it a few months and it has several plants in the pot already.

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Right hand side, 4th level. All Wendtii's on this level. All bar one have been repotted. I've got duplicates of most of these I think so i may have to thin them back to one each. They tend to get fairly large and block out light to the smaller plants.

Front Row;
1. C. Wendtii "Tropica". I've flowered this one out side only. Keen to get this one to flower in this setup.
2. C. Wendtii "Green" I got from Shake ages ago. It didn't grow really well. When i repotted it, it was in Aquaclay mostly with some shell grit and coconut husk. Not using aquaclay again unless I want to fill a space with something fairly inert. It's been potted in ADA Amazonia and has grown more in the last few months then it did before. Hoping it flowers

There's a Crypt I got from Nchanted between the front and middle row, looks very similar to the one I got from Shake. Also hoping this one flowers.

Middle Row;
1. The Large Wendtii variety that I got from MEJ. Flowered like mad last year and got huge. 
2. C. wendtii Red, I think this was the pot that flowered last year, it was down the other end of the tank. A yellow flower for a wendtii, I like this one. It's growing into a real monster in my Less than 1 WPG tank.

Back Row;
1. Another wendtii red.
2. Another Large Wendtii, from MEJ.

Far Right Hand, in the pump outlet/heater area.
Front, another C. Wendtii "Tropica". The only Wendtii to have ADA powersand as well as ADA Amazonia/Malaya like the rest have.
Back, bolbitis heteroclita mother plants

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Had to take a photo of the emersed flame moss, haven't trimmed it yet but will need to the way it's growing.

Hopefully come September everything will be growing like weeds and wanting to flower. I'll keep my maintenance the same until August where I will back off the misting from daily to every second or third day. I'll be adding more substrate ferts this weekend to finish what I did on the weekend and again in July. I might add some substrate ferts in May, I'll wait and see how it's going.


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## FarCanal (Mar 12, 2008)

wet said:


> Thanks for updating this and the broken pictures, FarCanal! The Crypt crispulata var. balansae or whatever it is is beautiful. I am unsure if I am more inspired by the physical design or things like planting the Hydrocotyle (?) sp in multiple pots to tie it together as an aquascape.


There was never any intent to aquascape things. It's been setup to flower crypts and have a few other plants in there for the company and let grow wild. The Hydrocotyle that I collected from nearby Baffle Creek was in one pot and escaped to several.

Yes there is a C. Crispulata var. Balansae that grows a nice green with a red tinge. I have a green one in a fish tank that I haven't tried emersed yet. I'll have to get them growing side by side. There is also a C. Crispulata that grows brown in there in 2 pots.


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## 954baby (Feb 8, 2008)

Nice variety! you've got a cool little collection going there. good luck flowering them.


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