# Building an emerged setup



## TorontoPlantMan (Aug 16, 2013)

Hey everyone, 

I have plans to take a 10 gallon tank and create an emerged setup so I can start growing out certain crypts & other harder to find/care for species. 

I was wondering if anyone here has a setup like this & if so how do you keep the temperature/humidity up ? also do you have any sort of air/fan in the tank?


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

I would cover it with glass to keep humidity up


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## crazymittens (Jul 26, 2012)

My reading into this (also looking at emerged setups) is that you want to keep humidity up, but you don't want them drowning, either.

People use glass lids, saran wrap, whatever creates a seal. Some use a small hole to help with circulation, others pull the top off for a few minutes every day.

Check out aquaticplantcentral.com - they have a sub-forum for emersed stuff, has some how-to's.


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## TorontoPlantMan (Aug 16, 2013)

I actually got this started up and it's been going quite nicely. I ended up covering it with saran wrap and using tape all along the edges to make it tight. It builds up moisture really nice & seems to be working properly. I also have an air pump going with a bubble wand throughout the bottom of the tub to provide some airation in the water. Egg crate hold's up all the plants and I'm just using a T8 fixture and a LED fixture. I'll post a picture later,thanks!


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

Any updates?


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## TorontoPlantMan (Aug 16, 2013)

Yeah I have a video showing a quick look into my set up. I'm finding it rather hard to find information from people about this subject...I mean I've googled my fair share of stuff but when it comes to finding out specific things..It's just been a nightmare.

Everything is currently melting and I'm not sure if this is due to the transition from being submersed to emersed or if I'm doing it wrong? But so far I've just used saran wrap to cover the top and it's been doing a good job at keeping a high humidity. I also have some egg crate and a bubble wand in there so that I can have some aeration and not have the plants in such deep water.

Here's a link to the video, it's at the end though so if you want to see the setup just skip the first minute or so.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

TorontoPlantMan said:


> Yeah I have a video showing a quick look into my set up. I'm finding it rather hard to find information from people about this subject...I mean I've googled my fair share of stuff but when it comes to finding out specific things..It's just been a nightmare.
> 
> Everything is currently melting and I'm not sure if this is due to the transition from being submersed to emersed or if I'm doing it wrong? But so far I've just used saran wrap to cover the top and it's been doing a good job at keeping a high humidity. I also have some egg crate and a bubble wand in there so that I can have some aeration and not have the plants in such deep water.
> 
> Here's a link to the video, it's at the end though so if you want to see the setup just skip the first minute or so.


As far as I know, emerged set ups are not compatible with all plants. So perhaps there is a compatibility issue? Also the water level shouldn't really be anymore than the substrate level. I did an emerged set up with miracle grow soil and simply kept that sucker moist. Of course, the HC Cuba that I grew on it all melted and died off when I placed it underwater but it did work.


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## TorontoPlantMan (Aug 16, 2013)

Kimchi24 said:


> As far as I know, emerged set ups are not compatible with all plants. So perhaps there is a compatibility issue? Also the water level shouldn't really be anymore than the substrate level. I did an emerged set up with miracle grow soil and simply kept that sucker moist. Of course, the HC Cuba that I grew on it all melted and died off when I placed it underwater but it did work.


All the plants I've been using are capable of being grown emerged. I only have crypts in there and then a tiny bit of HC Cuba. I'm testing with two different substrates right now, one is just miracle grow and then the other is a combination of 6 layers. So far the MGOPS has no competition which I was pretty surprised about, but I'm not sure If i can use the 6 layer method in an actual aquarium 

Did you mist your plants everyday when you had your setup ?


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## FlyingHellFish (Mar 7, 2011)

TorontoPlantMan said:


>


You got good taste in music, Angie. I click for the video, stayed for the song.


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## TorontoPlantMan (Aug 16, 2013)

FlyingHellFish said:


> You got good taste in music, Angie. I click for the video, stayed for the song.


Thanks, one of my favourite pieces ever, "Angie!!! You're beautiful, but ain't it time we said Gooddddbyeeeeeee"


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

I know a lot of plants grown emersed melt when submerged so its likely the same happens when you change plants the other way.


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## TorontoPlantMan (Aug 16, 2013)

Here's an update 

So far the Wendtii 'Mi Oya' is growing quite quickly. It's even managed to shoot a runner already !

The Affinis is much slower but I love the look of the leaves. So far only 1 new leaf and the existing single leaf has yet to die off, but it's looking tattered so eventually it will. 

Going to add a bunch more species within the next couple weeks.

One other thing I forgot to mention is I'm having a huge issue with baby flies and flies in general. No idea what type they are but they're a pain in the ass. I'm going to be moving this setup into a 10 gallon that I'm not using but I'm still not 100% yet on whether I should or shouldn't as I thought about using some bulks heads and a ball valve to make water changes much easier. Any thoughts would be great


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