# 2.5 gall emersed w/ mud substrate layer experiment



## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

light-27 watt home depot
substrate- mud with sand on top
flora-hc and a. nana so far
hardscape- oak twig and lava rock

i boiled the mud to sterilize it and i also boiled the twig
i want this to be mainly diy
i thought about making it rimless but i have cats! (they would drink the water)
hopefully the mud helps the plants grow better!


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## dirrtybirdy (May 22, 2007)

i think you might need more light. but im not expert. keep us updated. i want to see how this turns out


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## Jervis (Feb 22, 2008)

Interesting! I am planning to start an emerse nano too. Will follow this thread closely


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## oregon aqua (Jan 30, 2008)

I have the same light on my 4 gallon it works great.


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

oregon aqua said:


> I have the same light on my 4 gallon it works great.


cool, i have heard of many people using these 27 watt lights on their nanos and i have heard that they work great, plus it was only 20 bucks!
also, if it works on your 4 gall., it should work great on my 2.5, the dimensions are 12L X 6W X 8T


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

oh and i forgot to add, i added a small glass with water in it in the empty corner, i then put a diy co2 line into it with a bamboo diffuser, the bubbles in the glass will raise the humidity a lot , hopefully this will also help the plants grow


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

update:


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## oregon aqua (Jan 30, 2008)

looking good. lots of growth

i keep forgeting to update my post thanks for reminding me=0)


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## modster (Jun 16, 2007)

omg! that's only 15 days!?


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

yep, i too am surprised at how fast it i growing, the clay/mud must be workin! lol


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## Hubert (Feb 2, 2008)

I've been trying emersed HC recently too. I've documented it here on this thread http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/el-natural/48757-walstad-nano-iwagumi.html

We've used a I've used a different with a soil and gravel substrate. Looks like yours is growing a bit more quickly than mine though! I've just recently immersed mine.


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

update:
















i also built a small "stand" so I could put a 2.5 gallon terrarium that has hc in it and will get nana petite in it also


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

oh yeah, i put hm in the back left corner and bacopa monnieri in the back right corner


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

wow, i just realized how much the hc has grown, heres some pics for comparison:
first set up:








now:








i took out the twig because it started to get mold.


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

just playin around on ms paint, maybe it will look like this when it grows out im still not sure about the back right corner, maybe some hairgrass.... any ideas?


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

what can i say, im bored...


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

no ideas on the back right corner?


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## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

what about some crypts? just my opinion i think you should remove the rocks...


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

bratyboy2 said:


> what about some crypts? just my opinion i think you should remove the rocks...


I have the rocks in there to try to add depth, i might remove them eventually but the will stay for now, oh and what kind of crypts? some red ones? what is the crypt that has the best red color in your opinion?


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## oregon aqua (Jan 30, 2008)

id like to here what kinda crypt to put in that size nano..

id think a Eriocaulon cinereum would look cool. if you could get your hands on some.


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

oregon aqua said:


> id like to here what kinda crypt to put in that size nano..
> 
> id think a Eriocaulon cinereum would look cool. if you could get your hands on some.


if i wanted one, i would have to order it online, i doubt my lfs would ever get one


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## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

hey foo!!
okay well the red one i think your thinking about would be the crypt wendtii red...i dont think that would be a great plant in such a small tank so i would go with maybe some lutea varitey.
i really like your tank its just amazing looking!!! now are you going to flood the tank once everything is filled in? if so or not have you read about that? im thinking of trying this out with the HC in a tank.


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

bratyboy2 said:


> hey foo!!
> okay well the red one i think your thinking about would be the crypt wendtii red...i dont think that would be a great plant in such a small tank so i would go with maybe some lutea varitey.
> i really like your tank its just amazing looking!!! now are you going to flood the tank once everything is filled in? if so or not have you read about that? im thinking of trying this out with the HC in a tank.


when i "flood" it, i will just fill it up, there might be some melting, but oh well, im not in any rush to fill this up because i still have to order me a red sea nano filter


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## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

hat do you think about adding the lutea crypt?


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

it could work, then i might add some red plant to the left with some other green plants


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## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

sounds like a plan but have you thought of a red plant? i mean...is there any really red plants to put in that stay red when grown emersed?


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

lol, not really, i will probably put it in when i fill it up


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## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

lol sounds good but what you got in mind?


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

i have no idea, before i fill it up, i will look around a lot more


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## peteski312 (Feb 15, 2008)

How do you not have an algae outbreak at first with the tank not having a lot of water and filtration?

I would love to try this with my new setup to grow HC


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

peteski312 said:


> How do you not have an algae outbreak at first with the tank not having a lot of water and filtration?
> 
> I would love to try this with my new setup to grow HC


huh? im not sure what you mean. i dont have algae because the plants are already established before i fill it up and the bacteria in the substrate has already started, the tank is basically cycled before i even add water, plus the plants grow very fast. i was also too impatient to wait for a filter when i got this tank, so i took some of my extra plants and sand that i had and set it up so that everything could get a good jump-start, the way its growing now, im not sure if i ever want to fill it up, lol. of course i would love to get some crystal red shrimp to put in it, i have been wanting those for 2 or 3 years now  i had to settle on cherries instead


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

just a thought, what would be the best stem plants for this tank, like, what kinds have small leaves?


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

well, it hasnt been very long yet, but i felt like posting a small update, i added a "pot" (bottom of a water bottle) with eco and hairgrass in it to see how it grows immersed (just realized how to spell this i think, oh well) i put in in the pot so it wouldnt invade anything and so i could take it out later
pics:


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

uuuuupppdatesss:








































sorry for all of the different angled pics....


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

i may be redoing this tank so i can put in a better hardscape with cool mosses (thanks to neonshrimp) and a much better layout, so, some of this stuff may go up for sale


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

probably the last pics before i rescape this, not much different than the las pics, just less blurry  :


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## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

redid the tank, check it here:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/aquascaping/52172-2-5-twig-scape.html#post390202
comments and recommendations are great.


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