Aquaticz

Thanks Zapins,
It is like furniture
I bought it after talking a LFS owner into selling it for a mere hundred dollars some 20 years ago. It was designed for reptiles and I waterproofed it as it leaked like a sieve originally. All the wiring (for the most part) was dadoed into the vertical stiles of the unit. Each tank has a 1/8 inch hardware cloth installed. Tonight I cut the plex to seal them off. As far as the soil goes I pushed some aside in each tank so that I will be able t drain when I get home. I may need to also add dry soil. I think I got one out of three right .....LOL
Quite moist but zero standing water. I can see this is a flaw in doing it this way but expect to overcome that small challenge with some 2.5 PVC cut to 3" lengths & placed near a front corner. This will be my indicator, I'll put a few saw kerfs on the bottom side to allow water to collect & drain from there.


That is a nice setup you have. Looks like furniture rather than my metal rack nice tank dimensions I have never seen tanks that size before. Are they custom made or for reptiles? Getting An Awesome ROAK from asukawashere thank you again)& another paid plant package from Gordon with extras . Should have them in a day or so. I also have my dividers ready but will post that when I get to it. This is fun project that will not take alot of effort.

Also the soil is definitely too wet. The plants would likely have trouble with fungus.
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Zapins

good to hear. I look forwards to updates !

There is definitely something about emersed tubs... I think its the smell of them, or maybe its being able to open a closed box and stick my head right in with the plants that makes them almost magical to me. It is like I'm peeking in on a little self-sufficient world and seeing what goes on in there.

asukawashere

According to the plantfinder... Eichornia diversifolia, Egleria fluctuans, Erio setaceum, Lagarosiphon spp., Barclaya...

The genus Nymphoides isn't represented in the plantfinder but I'm pretty sure its species don't grow emersed, either. Maybe also genus Nuphar? ...Oh! And the genus Najas.

Closed box? What about low-humidity setups, huh? Tons of plants grow emersed just fine open-top... so you can plant a swamp all over evry available surface of your house! XD

cableguy69846

I like the sound of that last statement.

Zapins

Haha just put soil all over the house and flood it! Be sure to cut large holes in the ceiling for natural sunlight, or remove entire roof for best results!

cableguy69846

YES!!!! Lol. I wonder how the in-laws would feel about this.......

Krystal907

Aquaticz, I tried to reply, but your inbox was full. Here was the gist of the message:
Your welcome!!!!!! !

asukawashere

Anybody ever read the children's picture book The Salamander Room?

I'm thinking something like that

nomad

Hope it's okay to go necromancer on this thread, but I am planning to try this out and had a couple minor questions.

1) How long are people setting their day-cycles for? I've read 12-14 hours of submerged, but submerged also use only a fraction of the light compared to emersed (15%?). I don't want to bake my first batch for this reason.

2) Does the soil rot being soaked the entire time? I will likely get kicked out of my place if I start a tub of rotting soil. Has anyone done this and noticed any funky smells? Would dropping a small power head in the large bin help (if stagnate water is a problem in the first place)?

Thanks

Nomad

nomad

I reread the tutorial and saw the part about 12 hr light cycle. Also guess that the author would have already learned of rotting soil after the months this has been in use. So I guess I had all the info I needed anyway...