7.5G stream bed

[Alastair]

I have too many odd little tanks lying around the house.. and despite a terrible shortage of storage space in my home office there's always room to set-up one more.

This is an 18"x10"x10" glass tank (roughly 7.5 USG, just under 30 litres) that has done a few years of service as the sump to my recently dismantled reef set-up. Cleaned up last week and given a few coats of background emulsion on the back of left-hand side it's been set-up to replace the tiny pico-cube that I never really got going.



I've never tried emersed before, so I'm giving this a go.

Equipment and set-up from what I had available.

Substrate is aquatic soil, with some round gravel for the stream.

Planting is HC that I culled from the larger tank, we'll see how it gets along growing emersed.

I didn't have any rocks or driftwood to hand that I liked, but I'll be keeping an eye out over the next few weeks. I think there should really be a turning stone on the bend in the stream.

Lighting is an 11W arcpod that was previously used to light Chaeto when this was running as a sump. I've got a variety of PC starter/ballast units available (but I think the twin 55W would be overkill..).


Plans.. well.. not sure yet.. grow out the HC, maybe add some red-tinged stems as risers (I'll know it when I see it, but I can't think of the species at the moment - red Cabomba maybe?).. I'm currently thinking Hero as inspiration.. or I could just go all chavtastic and go for the tacky bridge over the stream.. (although the full chav effect requires a much larger tank and some pirhanas.. and a pitbull).

[chicago_animal]

This is going to look damn cool when the HC grows in.

[Wasserpest]

Very neat. How will you keep the glass from fogging up?

[Phoenix-cry]

Neat!!

[moogoo]

Originally Posted by Wasserpest

Very neat. How will you keep the glass from fogging up?

in emersed, i think that's part of the drawbacks. can't really enjoy it but the fogged up glass means humidity is staying in the tank, which is what we want.

[Alastair]

Yup.. fog will be good.. as a sign of humidity.. and that problem will eventually disapear anyway. Unless someone wants to make any suggestions about a permanently emersed tank?

[hydrophyte]

if you can keep your tank with no additional heat (i.e., at room temperature) glass fogging will be minimal.

[cah925]

You could use wood as a natural bridge. Kind of like this-


I know it's a little harder in smaller tanks, but it could look very nice with just the right piece.

[Alastair]

If I can find the piece that might work well. Thanks.

[Alastair]

It struck me this morning.. am I doing immersed the hard way to get HC established as a carpet? Wouldn't it be easier to grow the HC emersed in a seed tray(s) on the windowsill and then cut and lay it like turf?

And if I did that.. couldn't I carve the contours from an inert media such as HD insulation board to avoid anaerobic conditions and have really deep and steep contours? and then embed the rockwork and lay the HC turf on top? Or have I missed something in my thoughts?