Lego's 20g Emersed Cryptocoryne tank - C. minima spathe!

[legomaniac89]

***Complete Species List***
Cryptocoryne affinis "Brown" (?)
Cryptocoryne affinis "Tuebinsen BG Green"
Cryptocoryne bangkaensis "Bangka Giant"
Cryptocoryne beckettii "Brown"
Cryptocoryne beckettii "Green"
Cryptocoryne ciliata
Cryptocoryne cordata var. cordata "Blassii"
Cryptocoryne cordata "Rosanervig"
Cryptocoryne elliptica
Cryptocoryne hudoroi
Cryptocoryne longicauda "Brown"
Cryptocoryne minima "Bukit Merah"
Cryptocoryne minima "Gasseri"
Cryptocoryne minima "Sumatra Besitang"
Cryptocoryne moehlmannii
Cryptocoryne parva
Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia
Cryptocoryne spiralis var. spiralis (?)
Cryptocoryne undulata
Cryptocoryne usteriana x walkeri
Cryptocoryne walkeri "Lutea"
Cryptocoryne wendtii "Bronze"
Cryptocoryne wendtii "Florida Sunset"
Cryptocoryne wendtii "Green"
Cryptocoryne wendtii "Mi Oya"
Cryptocoryne wendtii x "Hybrid"
Cryptocoryne x timahensis
Cryptocoryne x purpurea
Cryptocoryne x willissii "Lucens"

Non-Crypts
Lagenandra meeboldii sp. pink
Echinodorus "Red Flame"
Limnophila sp. "Guinea Broad Leaf"
Staurogyne sp. (Tropica variety?)
Syngonanthus sp. "Madiera" (?)
Lindernia rotundifolia "Variegated"



This is what happens when you have empty tanks and lights laying around, along with lots of plants that you have no room for. I already grow 'em underwater, why not out of the water too?









More detailed pics to come!

[legomaniac89]

Mods - If this should be in a different forum, please go ahead and move it

Ludwigia repens x arcuata


Cryptocoryne wendtii "Mi Oya?"


Rotala indica (ex-Ammannia sp. "Bonsai")


Limnophila sp. "Mini"


Hygrophila sp. "Araguaia"


Ludiwiga repens


Cryptocoryne wendtii "Green x Hybrid"


Staurogyne sp. "Low Grow" and Staurogyne from AFA


Most of these are just experimental to see how they grow emersed. If a certain one does well and I like how it looks, I'll probably transplant it to its own pot to give it more growing room.

Almost every single one of these plants are converted (or are still converting) from submersed growth.

[CL]

Awesome! You've got some really cool plants in there. What is the plant that is 2nd from the right, back row?

[legomaniac89]

Originally Posted by clwatkins10

Awesome! You've got some really cool plants in there. What is the plant that is 2nd from the right, back row?

Thanks! I have no idea what that one is. It came as a freebie in a package I got a while back. I think it's Hygro balsamica, but your guess is as good as mine

[Cmeister]

How do you convert a plant from submersed to emersed?

[legomaniac89]

Originally Posted by Cmeister

How do you convert a plant from submersed to emersed?

High humidity's the key. I just take a plant I trimmed from one of my aquariums and stick it in the dirt in this thing and it grows. It may take a couple of weeks before you notice any new growth, but as long as the humidity stays fairly high, most aquatic plants convert without much problem.

[wkndracer]

Very cool twist on a planted tank string!

[legomaniac89]

When plants aren't limited by CO2 or light deflection from water, man do they grow fast. I have 3 100W spiral CF's running over these guys for 14 hours a day, and they just don't seem to slow down.

Ranunculus inundatus


Limnophila sp. "Guinea Broadleaf" - according to APC's Plantfinder, emersed growth hasn't succeeded with this plant yet. So far, so good! New growth looks fine.


I have no idea what this one is. Maybe a Pogostemon of some kind.


And those Ludwigias continue to grow exponentially. These two are the fastest growers in the tank by far.

[hydrophyte]

That's awesome. You got good color with these photos. I should try my Ammania as an emersed plant.

I have some R. inundatus growing like this too, but it isn't really thriving. I don't know what it might be missing.

I recently got some Staurogyne--maybe in box from clwatkins10(?)--and it is doing great too. I saw some biotope pictures of that one growing right on some rocks in Brazil.

Is that just regular topsoil or potting media in there?

[legomaniac89]

Originally Posted by hydrophyte

That's awesome. You got good color with these photos. I should try my Ammania as an emersed plant.

I have some R. inundatus growing like this too, but it isn't really thriving. I don't know what it might be missing.

I recently got some Staurogyne--maybe in box from clwatkins10(?)--and it is doing great too. I saw some biotope pictures of that one growing right on some rocks in Brazil.

Is that just regular topsoil or potting media in there?

Thanks man! That Ranunculus has put up 3 leaves in 3 days for me, so it's definitely happy. I used about 60% spaghnum peat, 20% generic potting soil, 10% coarse sand and 10% perlite. Nothing really scientific, I just threw it together until it looked good. It seems to work well so far.

The only plant that's not doing too well for me is a bronze Crypt undulata. I converted it a couple months back and it put up 4 tiny leaves and has done nothing since then. It's got healthy roots, but it doesn't want to grow for some reason.

[demosthenes]

very cool tank!

to get rid of the condensation on the glass, take one of those algae-scrubbing magnets and cut out a small piece of cloth to fit between the inside of the glass and the 'scrub' magnet, so instead of scrubbing of the algae, you can wipe off the condensation. its pretty handy. just use a dull colored cloth, i used a hot pink one and it really started to annoy me.

[legomaniac89]

Here's a couple new ones that seem to be doing pretty well emersed

Cryptocoryne wendtii "Florida Sunset"


Rotala sp. "Singapore"


Lindernia parviflora "Variegated" - this'll be the first flower in the tank

[CL]

Hey, Coll stuff! I love almost every plant in there!

[jfrank85]

This tank is soo dope. Nice enough to make me want to try it at the house. did you get the laptop going again, i forgot to ask you at work.

[legomaniac89]

Originally Posted by clwatkins10

Hey, Coll stuff! I love almost every plant in there!

Thanks Chris!

Originally Posted by jfrank85

This tank is soo dope. Nice enough to make me want to try it at the house. did you get the laptop going again, i forgot to ask you at work.

Gracias. Yeah, the 'puter's up and running again, but he had to format the hard drive, so I'm basically starting over from scratch