My desktop 40cm emerged set-up

[gid]

Ok so the poison continues...
In addition the my two 1 foot tank on my desk, I have decided to add a 3rd tank, and this time it is an emersed set-up.

Flora:
(can't remember the full names for all)
*MM
*HC
*Singapore Moss
*Java Moss
*Various other random mosses
*2 types of crypts (green leaf and red leaf)
*Red stem plant
*Cyprus Plant
*Eriocaulon sp Vietnam
*Anubias Nana
*Pitcher Plant
*Hydrocotyle
*Bromeliad Pink Star
*2 types of Air Plants

Fauna:
*Guppies

Set-up:
* As per my earlier tanks, this is all low-tech
* Custom made 40cm x 30cm x 9cm tank
* Cheap LED clip-on lamp from my older tank, plus my LED desk reading lamp
* The smallest HOF I could find, and the intake tube has a small plastic cup at the base to prevent uptake of substrate
* The area in front of the HOF has only a thin 0.5cm layer of substrate, the plants in this area is planted in pots so as to not obstruct the HOF's outflow.
* The substrate slopes are reinforced with plastic rings made from cut-up plastic bottles of various sizes, with holes punched in them to allow water flow.

[gid]

I will name this 3rd tank 'Mangrove'




Front




Top




Left




Right

[gid]

MM in between 2 rocks with Singapore Moss. There is a red plantlet at the bottom left, the red stem plants are spreading its seeds all over.




Hydrocotyle flower




Some unknown plant that started sprouting




HC

[SwordZ]

Awesome looking tank! Do you intend to add cherry shrimps in?

[gid]

Sectional view




Java Moss on DW, both immersed and emerged




HC growing on a rock with no substrate




Singapore Moss, and some unknown leafy looking dark green moss at the bottom right that I can't ID




Pitcher Plant




Some moss I picked from the carpark, and HC

[Goalkeeper]

Very nice....

[gid]

Hey swordz, I did try to put some cherries in, but they all died.

I think the water parameters not stable yet, will try again in 2 months. So just guppies and maybe a SAE for now.

[SwordZ]

Sorry for your loss, yup cherries are quite sensitive to parameters but since you have so many plants I thought that it would have stablised. Really liked the pitcher plant Is it the dwarf version?

[meowink]

Very nice!!!

[furyprix]

Some serious poison..

[jiajuen900]

Very cool!

[markus92]

woah! superb man! how long did it take to set this 3rd tank up?

[absb]

Fantastic setup !


As Above So Below

[AQMS]

Awesome!

I keep scrolling up to see the pics again and again.... wonderful job...
You have space for one more tank beside it.....

[reeshee]

Wow.. you guys really make my tank look crappy! Love all your close up shots.. beautiful scape(s)!

[tureblue82]

very nice and inspirational??.. are you using air con in your room?
looks sealed up.

[whitedash]

Very nice. I want to do something like that too. Any material for me to read?

[boonware]

Wow very nice.

[Shadow]

Nice emerge tank. Just wondering, do you spray the plant regularly. My emerge setup always end up dry

[gid]

woah! superb man! how long did it take to set this 3rd tank up?

It is now about 6 months old. It took a lot of experimentation to find the right plants that work. Some just died off, some too high maintenance and took too much trimming and many just didn't look lush enough. What you see now is about a third of the actual number of plants I have tried.

Sorry for your loss, yup cherries are quite sensitive to parameters but since you have so many plants I thought that it would have stablised. Really liked the pitcher plant Is it the dwarf version?

I'm not sure, I bought the plantlet from Seaview. I will know in few more months if this is indeed dwarf!

Awesome!

I keep scrolling up to see the pics again and again.... wonderful job...
You have space for one more tank beside it.....

LOL yeah, still more space, my desk is actually a full-sized dining table. When I started 3 years back, I was sure I was gonna stop at one...

very nice and inspirational??.. are you using air con in your room?
looks sealed up.

Yes air con, but water temp does not really matter in an emerged set up

Very nice. I want to do something like that too. Any material for me to read?

Bro, no need to read any material...this is actually a very very simple low tech set up. It's not one of those vivarium with all the complex false bottoms and pipes and grates etc. I kept this all fuss-free. Look at the diagram I drew, it's as simple as that

Nice emerge tank. Just wondering, do you spray the plant regularly. My emerge setup always end up dry

Hello Shadow! Not much misting needed, these are all real emerged plants that don't need a humid environment to thrive. My room is air-conditioned half the time, and even so, I only mist at most once a day. The mosses are growing on lava rocks that absorbs water very well, so the moss is always wet anyway. I have travelled for more than week and left them without misting, still did just fine.

But I do make it a point to give the whole set up a good drench once a week, because I realise that some minerals do end up crystallizing at portions the rocks.