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Are there any interesting emersed echinodorus ?

anewbie

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Are any of the species of echinodorus esp nice when grown emersed and stay manageable (18 inches or smaller?) Does purple aflame keep its rich colour when grown emersed ?
Are there orchids (ok not related to topic) that stay below 18 inches?
 
Are any of the species of echinodorus esp nice when grown emersed and stay manageable
Here are some of the Echno that I’ve experienced that stay small;

E. horizontalis
E. major
E. grisebachii ‘Amazonicus’
E. ‘Tropica Marble Queen’
E. maculatus
E. xschlueteri
E. grisebachii
E. uruguayensis/horemanii and its cultivar; Rosé, Barthii, Red Diamond.

Actually you can use any Echinodorus, my cordifolius doesn’t grow over 30cm, just prevent growing too large by pulling the outer leaves out and don’t use humidity sensitive one like E. grisebachii ‘Bleherae’
 
Are any of the species of echinodorus esp nice when grown emersed and stay manageable (18 inches or smaller?

Probably not at all what you had in mind but your question reminded me of this ;)

tumblr_oaqis7u7u51s3c1oao1_1280.jpg
 
Here are some of the Echno that I’ve experienced that stay small;

E. horizontalis
E. major
E. grisebachii ‘Amazonicus’
E. ‘Tropica Marble Queen’
E. maculatus
E. xschlueteri
E. grisebachii
E. uruguayensis/horemanii and its cultivar; Rosé, Barthii, Red Diamond.

Actually you can use any Echinodorus, my cordifolius doesn’t grow over 30cm, just prevent growing too large by pulling the outer leaves out and don’t use humidity sensitive one like E. grisebachii ‘Bleherae’
Do you particularly recommend any of these as esp nice in emersed form ?

For context I'm setting up a 4ftx4ft 'blackwater' aquarium in which the back 18 inches will be emersed. The front 30 inches will have water parameters around the range of 5.5 ph tds 30 kh 0 gh 0-1. The water level will be around 16 inches - this is in the planning stage as in the box has not yet been ordered. Unfortunately the vendor providing it has to locked in the emersed portion at order time. I'm figuring these plants can't grow well in the submersed portion so to get heavy plant life i hope to grow them in the emersed portion which will have richer environment for them. The tank population will be a. bitaeniata (3 m 5 f); nannacara aureocephalus pair, pygmy cory and some pencil fishes (around 15 or 20).
 
Probably not at all what you had in mind but your question reminded me of this ;)

tumblr_oaqis7u7u51s3c1oao1_1280.jpg
I would do something like that if I thought I could get the plants to grow in blackwater condition and not have an emersed portion in the back. I suspect the plants would not be able to get above the water level in black water condition - but maybe if i grew them until they were 20 inches high (the water level would be 17 inches); i could then plant them in the black-water aquarium? The concern is that there is very little mineral in the water and substrate and I don't want to use much in the way of plant fertilizer for 'fear' it would make these difficult for the fishes by raising the tds.
 
The concern is that there is very little mineral in the water and substrate and I don't want to use much in the way of plant fertilizer for 'fear' it would make these difficult for the fishes by raising the tds.
What fish species are you aiming to keep?
 
Hi all,
The tank population will be a. bitaeniata (3 m 5 f); nannacara aureocephalus pair,
I'd have a look at this post on <"Apistogramma forums">. Personally I'd either go with the Apistogramma or the Nannacara pair, but not both, even in a tank that large. Was this your tank <"100 gallon apisto plans">? and how did you get on?

cheers Darrel
 
Hi all,

I'd have a look at this post on <"Apistogramma forums">. Personally I'd either go with the Apistogramma or the Nannacara pair, but not both, even in a tank that large. Was this your tank <"100 gallon apisto plans">? and how did you get on?

cheers Darrel
That is my 40B - they got along for about 18 months (that is how long i had him not his age as he was a young adult when purchased) until the male borelli suddenly died - i do not nkow his cause of death but as domestic it could have been natural or due to conflict. Currently what is left (cichild) in the tank is the 4 year old nannacara male and a 3 year old female nijjensi and perhaps a female borelli. There are a bunch of other stuff. I'm not adding anything till i move in may when the tank will be torn down and move into a 72x30x18 (inch,inch,inch); at that time i will add some keyholes and have to decide what to do with the nanncara and female nijjensi - i really like that fellow but he is showing a few old fish signals - still he might live another few years - maybe i'll keep him in the new tank - the female nijjensi is another issue and unsure what to do with her.

This is a sep tank two options I'm considering is to make it 4x4x18 (ft,ft,inch) or 4x4x16 with x inches in the back for emersed area (i'm thinking about 18 inches). My plan is to start with the bitaeniata and then add the nannacara - but if they cause an issue remove them. My experience in the 40b that you pictured above is that multiple dwarf cichild could co-exist without obvious conflict and raise youngs. Of course the 40b is a lot smaller (about 1/4 the area or 2 1/2 times if i make the 18 inch strip in the back emersed) but the plant density will be a lot lower. The reason for this post is i need to get the order in on this tank by early next week to receive by may and I'm unsure if i should make the 18 inches emersed (again 18 isn't a fix number) because they will install a divider and drain in the 18 inch portion if i go that route. I don't have a lot of experience here and i'm trying to picture how the tank would look. For a long time i envisoned growing crypts and anubia in the emersed portion and it would be artificially raised with rocks/driftwood but then the option came up that they could do this since they make these type of boxes all the time - they are actually designed for amphibians but they do combos. In theory if i do the x inch (18 is my thought) emersed I could actually add frogs or similar.
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The picture above by @Tim Harrison is also an alternative approach or i could do both with an aquarium of this size - i'm assuming that aquarium is 6ft long and 18 inches or 2 ft wide but scale is difficult to guess accurately.
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Anyway I hope this answers your questions and perhaps you have thoughts if it i worth taking some aquarium space to make emersed (there is more complexity not being included here but if i have them add the divider i can keep the sump connections in the back by tunneling them under the emersed portion. If I were to add a remove-able emersed portion i could go 4ftx4ftx18 aquarium and just build up a portion emersed; but then i would nto have the glass cage around it to hold in the humidity. This is a picture of one of their combo boxes:
combo.jpeg


In my case i would not have the mountain this fellow did but just a flat area next to the water initially as i lack the skills to make such a formed background but i would have larger plants. Also the door would be on the side so the front would be all glass with no 'frame' lines blocking the image. The extra height is needed to keep the humidity in for the plants.
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If i went with a 4x4x18 i would not have the 'glass cage' that is 3 feet high so taller plants would not be an option but i could still do anubia and crypts just nothign taller than a few inches - does all this make sense?
 
Those backgrounds are easier to make than they look! Why not buy an exo-terra paludarium as a practice piece? This is mine, not as much water as you're planning though:
View attachment 200054
I guess because i didn't know what they were called. Are they fish safe? Also how deep are they - i.e, is 18 inches enough? Last but least what do you use to mist and what critters do you have ? I will search for them now that i know what they are called.
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You mean something like this


Yours look nicer but it is hard to tell what is artificial and what is plants - how deep is the front of your box ?
 
I only have shrimp in mine as it's not as big as the one you're planning and 2/3 of the footprint is land. If you look at the thread in my signature you can see some of the build plus my other one which is similar but open fronted.
I can highly recommend Dendroboard forum for information regarding the top part and how to build the backgrounds. There are various ways, the one in the photo I posted is cork bark siliconed to the glass with sphagnum moss in the gaps and the other one in my thread is built the same way as the one in your image - with expanding foam, silicone, bark and coir. The misting is automated with a MistKing misting system and ventilation with some small computer fans to prevent the air becoming stale and keep the glass from fogging up. Dendroboard focuses on keeping dart frog species and all the builds are therefore fish safe too. Many of the members are also very knowledgeable on the plants which will do well.
If I'd built mine to house fish in the lower part, the aquarium part would be the equivalent of 60cmX45cmX20cm, so around 55 litres.
 
I only have shrimp in mine as it's not as big as the one you're planning and 2/3 of the footprint is land. If you look at the thread in my signature you can see some of the build plus my other one which is similar but open fronted.
I can highly recommend Dendroboard forum for information regarding the top part and how to build the backgrounds. There are various ways, the one in the photo I posted is cork bark siliconed to the glass with sphagnum moss in the gaps and the other one in my thread is built the same way as the one in your image - with expanding foam, silicone, bark and coir. The misting is automated with a MistKing misting system and ventilation with some small computer fans to prevent the air becoming stale and keep the glass from fogging up. Dendroboard focuses on keeping dart frog species and all the builds are therefore fish safe too. Many of the members are also very knowledgeable on the plants which will do well.
If I'd built mine to house fish in the lower part, the aquarium part would be the equivalent of 60cmX45cmX20cm, so around 55 litres.
Can you give me the dimension of the ones in the photo - that is the amount of land space; the total height and such - so i can put into perspective the actual scale of things. Thanks!
 
My swords grow emersed from the substrate - it's only a 12" deep tank but I imagine they'd grow taller if they need too. A lot of the plant photos are taken emersed (if they have a stalk with a leaf on the end it's emersed) so it's actually easier to select plants for for how they look emersed than underwater! If you look at the tropica website and search Echinodorus there are pictures: plant details - Tropica Aquarium Plants

Have a research of critters before you get excited about having something living above. I thought about it before but from reading it seems a lot will either go in the water and eat anything you keep there fish/shrimp wise or risk drowning if they fall into the water as they can't swim - which includes all the cool looking tree frogs!
 

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The lower part (under the ventilation bar) is as above , 60X45X20cm, the whole thing is 60X45X90cm
So front to back is 17 inches (45cm) and side to side is 23 inches (60cm) and total height is 35 inches. Hum. Or did i get front/back and side to side backwards ?
 
My swords grow emersed from the substrate - it's only a 12" deep tank but I imagine they'd grow taller if they need too. A lot of the plant photos are taken emersed (if they have a stalk with a leaf on the end it's emersed) so it's actually easier to select plants for for how they look emersed than underwater! If you look at the tropica website and search Echinodorus there are pictures: plant details - Tropica Aquarium Plants

Have a research of critters before you get excited about having something living above. I thought about it before but from reading it seems a lot will either go in the water and eat anything you keep there fish/shrimp wise or risk drowning if they fall into the water as they can't swim - which includes all the cool looking tree frogs!
So maybe red diamond and reni; pity they don't have purple aflame. Yea having above water critter is something i'll have to research. Thought maybe those little frogs could swim but would be too small to harm the fishes. The fishes in this thing will definitely come first. Maybe i could grow some worms or something for them to eat. Anyway those things can be looked into down the road - i just have to decide by early next week if i'm buying this hybrid thing or a regular aquarium.
 
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