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BWG's emersed ambitions

36K views 245 replies 14 participants last post by  peachii 
#1 ·
New project time! My aquariums are all doing well and I ran out of room for more. Well there is room in the house, but only in places that I'm seldom in. Not a place I want fish. So what does that leave? Plants. I like plants. I like getting a whole bunch to try out. One thing I've never done (well two) is emersed plants and terrariums.

With that in mind I started looking into terrariums a few months ago. Some really nice plants out there for them. Some really artistic people. That those is not me. I can plan and research like a crazy man. I can find lots of interesting plants and fish for good prices. Making a scape look pretty? Soooooo not me. Hate doing it, get frustrated, redo it, get really annoyed, redo it, give up and let it go. It's how all my tanks came about and usually shows. So making a terrarium might not work well for me.

I still kept looking up the plants though since they were interesting and I'm nerdy like that. That's when I stumbled onto the journal that made me not care if I could do it, I wanted to do something similar. Want to see? Borneo Stream Biotope Go ahead and look, I'll wait.















Back again? Most of my fish and plants are Southeast Asian. I'm obviously in love with the floral and fauna of that region, so a terrarium like that really inspired me. Thing is I can grow aquarium plants. I've never tried to go anything else though, let alone all those. Plus the artistic touch.

A plan started to form though as I researched. Start off slowly and just try emersed plants for now. This won't be a nice looking emersed setup like aokashi has. Nope! This will be plants in pot in an aquarium! If this goes well then look out!

I could do stems plants. I have lots from that area of the world. Not feeling it though. I'm anal I guess, just like restricting myself to one geographical region. The plants I have in mind are aroids, carnivorous plants, mosses, ferns, and orchids. The rarer the better, within reason since some costs hundreds of dollars or are poached. No way am I going to do either of those options. I do have a wishlist though that I'm working on if anyone wants to see.

First step after plenty of hardcore research was to pull the empty 55 gallon out of the cellar and clean it up. Yeah you read that right. 55 gallon, I'm going hardcore from the start. I'm laying 50/50 odds on this either being an epic failure of epic proportions or epically epic.

So now the 55 is clean and sitting on a dresser. I was making a long shopping list of things I thought I'd need. A fan, light, heater, eggcrate, pots. Research going like crazy. I even had the order of plants I wanted to try. Crypts, moss, and ferns first. Then jewel orchids and Nepenthes. Last Buces and Phals (if I made it that far).

It was a decent plan. Then I found a good deal on some plants and the whole plan went out the window. I couldn't resist the hard to find plants at a good price. I ordered some, quick threw together a ghetto tank in a 10 gallon. Those plants arrived today, but more on them later. For right now go look at some pictures of some Southeast Asian streams in nature. Corymad and Jungle Mike

I'll post some pictures and info on the new plants tonight. I would do it right now, I'm I'm frustrating a certian mod by not posting them. Something I think is massively fun.

PS-Follow along while I kill plants. No lurking. I will name names and place the blame.
 
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#66 ·
No one did say buces are hard. I've never tried them, never tried emersed period, and frankly never have the slightest confidence in my ability to do anything. Going to have to get more now though. ;)

New light arrived yesterday. It's an Odyssea 4' dual T5HO. I also got a powerhead to try and the glass lids, which are slightly too wide. No days off this week, but I have a bunch of short ones after tomorrow. Hopefully I can make some headway. I'm not sure if I will move the plants yet though. Debating on if I want to buy a mist system. The longer I have this set up, the more willing I am to go all out. I haven't even had it long yet! I am excited to see how much growth increases under the new light. A single T8 isn't much at all. The buces seem to have slowed and I don't know if it's because they aren't directly under the light anymore. Either that or the sand cap. When I move them i might switch them to straight peat moss.

One pot of crypts melted. Total mush. I might let it go until I need the pot. The other four pots are growing slowly. One of them has two plants in. So it seems like 5 of 6 C. nurii converted with no problems. Well started to convert anyway. The Java fern...well it's not dead! It's Java fern so it's hard to tell if it's growing. I see older fronds unfurling, but no new rhizome.

My plants are green due to being emersed and low light. That's not always the case though for buces. Grab a bib and go take a look at this Flickr: Vasteq's Photostream Some really pricey plants there, but all super well taken care of. That Anubias barteri 'nana white' alone is $80. Hope you noticed the white dots on the Buces, they are apparently always present in submerged growth.

I should have shown my pics before linking to the great ones. Oh well. I played around and think I found a setting that works. Tell me what you think.



Bucephalandra 'green chile' where you can hopefully see the two new leaves.



Bucephalandra 'gunung sumpit' also showing a new leaf forming. You can also see one of the Cryptocoryne nurii.

I'll have to try this setting again and get more pictures.
 
#70 · (Edited)
No one did say buces are hard. I've never tried them, never tried emersed period, and frankly never have the slightest confidence in my ability to do anything. Going to have to get more now though. ;)
YOU DOOO!!!
More buces and more confidence - both! ^.^

I might be looking in all the wrong places, but I've seen lots of plant heads on several forums post about their difficulty with growing buces. Granted, there are a lot who say they're cake - but enough nay sayers out there to make me too nervous to buy one. . . yet. I'm thrilled to see you landed in the 'cake' category. Reading your experiences here might get me more confidence, too! Maybe someday I'll be brave enough to try. . .

*luffs cute greenish things*

The pictures, the plants. . . I'm cheering on each new leaf, and it is so good to see all that pretty green so clearly - great shots! The crypts look good, too - and I have to say, for the Crypt (melt) King minus one in six isn't bad! Hopefully it comes back, Nurii is so pretty. . .I can't wait until the day comes when you get a spathe! I'll be so jealous. . . I already am! The buces make me drool, they're gorgeous! Giggling at the bib warning, I was traipsing through that photo gallery a night or three ago, and yes - the pictures, the plants. . . they make me melt into a puddle of starry-eyed goo! But that said? I am WAY more excited about your pics, and the tiny treasures they show!

Gratz on the new light! (also planning to join the Odyssea club soon) BUMMER for no days off this week :/ It's okay, we fishkeepers are good at being patient. *nods* You are pulling things together more quickly than I ever would have expected, but its good! Means I don't have to wait so long to find out what happens next, cuz' I'm excited, too! Definitely looking forward to hearing how the move into the big tank and the brighter lights (WAY BRIGHTER!!!) affects things. Do you think the dry crypts will care about a change in lighting like wet ones do?

A mister is a super fun toy, high tech boy! ^.^ How often do you mist the plants now - or do you even have to?

I'll have to try this setting again and get more pictures.


Super stoked to watch this tank - and the plants who live there - grow!
 
#74 ·
I know I promised some last night. Got sick though and just ended up going to bed. I took some though tonight and they appear to have come out well. I have to catch up with some of the questions on here first. I'm behind on that, and really behind the forum as a whole.

Ah ha! Sounds like it will be perfect for a handful of 'dews! One last question... does it have rings to be hung?
We already talked about this, but I don't want anyone hating on me because they think I ignored the CP Queen. They do not come with a hanging kit. I looked on Aquatraders and didn't even see a kit for a dual light.

It looks great! you're far better at photography than me. and they're all so greeeen so PURTY!
You must be looking at someone else's pictures. That's artistic and I'm not capable of any of that.

YOU DOOO!!!
More buces and more confidence - both! ^.^

I might be looking in all the wrong places, but I've seen lots of plant heads on several forums post about their difficulty with growing buces. Granted, there are a lot who say they're cake - but enough nay sayers out there to make me too nervous to buy one. . . yet. I'm thrilled to see you landed in the 'cake' category. Reading your experiences here might get me more confidence, too! Maybe someday I'll be brave enough to try. . .

*luffs cute greenish things*

The pictures, the plants. . . I'm cheering on each new leaf, and it is so good to see all that pretty green so clearly - great shots! The crypts look good, too - and I have to say, for the Crypt (melt) King minus one in six isn't bad! Hopefully it comes back, Nurii is so pretty. . .I can't wait until the day comes when you get a spathe! I'll be so jealous. . . I already am! The buces make me drool, they're gorgeous! Giggling at the bib warning, I was traipsing through that photo gallery a night or three ago, and yes - the pictures, the plants. . . they make me melt into a puddle of starry-eyed goo! But that said? I am WAY more excited about your pics, and the tiny treasures they show!

Gratz on the new light! (also planning to join the Odyssea club soon) BUMMER for no days off this week :/ It's okay, we fishkeepers are good at being patient. *nods* You are pulling things together more quickly than I ever would have expected, but its good! Means I don't have to wait so long to find out what happens next, cuz' I'm excited, too! Definitely looking forward to hearing how the move into the big tank and the brighter lights (WAY BRIGHTER!!!) affects things. Do you think the dry crypts will care about a change in lighting like wet ones do?

A mister is a super fun toy, high tech boy! ^.^ How often do you mist the plants now - or do you even have to?





Super stoked to watch this tank - and the plants who live there - grow!
More buces for sure, more confidence is never gonna happen, at least not for long. Just not me.

I've read all the same things as you. Buces are easy for some people. Buces have to be submerged if you want them to grow or need to be in and out of the water from others. I'm getting new leaves, albeit fairly slowly, but for the current light and nutrients that's what I'd expect. I'm still happy.

Again haven't felt the greatest thing week so I haven't had a chance to do anything with the 55. I'll get there someday though. Really no need to rush. The mist system is more than just a low for high tech systems. I mist two or three times a day now. My thinking is that with the system and the frequent watering from the top I can keep high humidity (hasn't been a problem so far in the same tank) and it will also lessen the chance of fungus. No idea if the fungus idea is true or not. That is the thing I am most worried about though at this point.

I'm absolutely clueless if the crypts will care about the change in lighting. Submerged would obviously, but these are surprising me. Taking the crypts from submerged to emerged I lost a plant and maybe two or three other leaves. That's it. The rest of the leaves sag, but are still there. I halfway expected a total melt followed by regrowth. I am pretty good at getting new crypts to melt after all. Grrr That free C. affinis 'metallic red' could have gone in here if I had this set up months ago instead of dying that quick death.
 
#76 ·


Topdown view without me taking the full lid and light off. Same plants everyone has seen before. The Bucephalandra 'gunung sumpit' finally finished opening today. It grows that slow.



You never see this from the usual topdown view because I don't remove the lid. There's the Java fern 'threadleaf'. Some blackening, but that seems to happen when I get Java fern. It's alive and that's all I care about. One baby plant forming that you can see on the top left of the second picture. These pictures are taken with flash, which I should have left off.




Cryptocoryne nurii pics. The gunung sumpit is hiding a pot of mush in the second pic. All the new leaves can be seen. In the first pic, third pot a second new leaf is forming to the lower left of the new leaf. Hard to see though.



Kir royale and artemis in that order. Look close inbetween the leaves and you might be able to see where a new leaf on each is just starting to form. Maybe not though unless you know where to look. Try anyway, you've obviously got time to waste if you're reading this thread.



Part of the gunung sumpit and the mentarang kal-timur. The light green new formed (and cut off in the pic) leaf on the gunung sumpit is much easier to see. So is the leaf forming on the mentarang kal-timur.

One buce missing, the green chile. It was in my last pictures. I'm saving it last for a reason.




Barely visible and not pointed out by me on the picture the other day was a spathe. It is still unopened, but I'm hoping with the bit of growing it did and these new pictures that you'll be able to see it. First flower!
 
#82 ·
This thread has over 1,200 views. Not that many in the grand scheme of things, but still this is a whole thread of me rambling and not a fish to be seen! No fish! So now I have to either wonder why people are checking it out or go on another lurker hunt. Hmm have to think about that one.

Bekah-Several really good photographers have posted in this thread, I'm not one. I managed to learn how to take halfway decent pics of plants out of water. lol You don't want to see the attempts at tiny fish pictures.

Aokashi-If it ever opens up (I've been watching it for over a week), then see above.

John and Chesh-You guys might have to be more envious soon. Hey I guess I decided on the lurker hunt since I'm trolling with secrets again!

Izzy-You have to do it like this: MINIONS! YOUR QUEEN REQUIRES A DRAWING! NOW SEE TO IT AT ONCE!
 
#87 ·
Keleborn-You're going to do an aquascape though. I said meh to that. Plus you're just encouraging my poor behavior. Every time I rant about lurkers someone new posts!

Agent13-You want the cheapest and slowest grower? Is it because of the name? I'm alredy working on my alibi if your new fish go missing.

Rest of you figure out what it will take to get that picture drawn! I'd do it, but that's art and I suck at it, plus I need to set the 55 up tonight. Or should anyway. I have buces arriving tomorrow.
 
#91 ·
Agent13-You want the cheapest and slowest grower? Is it because of the name? I'm alredy working on my alibi if your new fish go missing.
.
I find that price doesn't always match up with better or worse. Slow growers don't bother me. I hve SOOOO many plants both aquatic and non aquatic(and one non aquatic doing very well in my aquarium lol)
Oh yea... fishy theft for plant theft eh? OK then...my new pet the frilled dragon will get set up on my dinning room table for a while right in the middle of most of my larger aquariums. When a Jurassic park looking creature hisses and frills at you then you may forget what fish you were there to snatch ..mwahahaha.

Between you and Izzy I'm really starting to want some new plants!
 
#90 ·
A guy was selling off part of his collection to raise some cash. I felt obligated to help him out. I consider it a good deed. That was yesterday and he sent them out then too. Good thing it was yesterday and not today or I might have bought more than 5. I only have 4 net pots (and 3 liners...don't ask how I don't know).

No dremel. I'm going to have to cut it manually with some sort of pliers/cutter/man tool type thing.
 
#93 ·
I got new plant markers this week that Chesh found me. So far I've only put them on the newest plants. BTW, I should have bought them when she showed me. I dawdled and it ended up costing me $5.







That is semuntai 2, theia brown, centipede 2, bukit biru, and sanggau 2. The theia brown has some leaf damage you can see on the top of the picture. I might lose that leaf, but hoping the plant is ok. Hope the pictures were worth any wait.

To make room I had to condense the Java fern down to three pots (need to get rid of some of it), got rid of the dead Crypt, and added two pots. The 10 gallon is completely full!
 
#99 ·
Not totally sunshine and rainbows with the new plants. Little more damage to leaves than I had originally thought. As long as the plant doesn't die that's fine. New leaves will regrow. The bukit biru has been the worst losing several leaves along the middle. I'm hoping tht's not something I caused.


Compare that to the pictures from four days ago and you can see what I'm talking about.

My second day off, so I'm going to get the 55 gallon set up even if it kills me. I'm not feeling good though so this very well might end up taking the whole day. This whole post was just an excuse to take a break anyway!
 
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