Kolkata Aquarium Club - Introduction To Emersed Setups

Kolkata Aquarium ClubFishkeeping Simplified

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AN INTRODUCTION TO EMERSED SETUPS

- Enough to get you started

Brought to you by

Rahul MukherjeeKolkata Aquarium Club

June 2013 meet



Where Do The Majority Of Our Aquatic Plants Come From?

The term “aquatic plants” could be easily put to a controversy if we take a look at how they are commercially grown.

However its for commercial purposes only and without that, perhaps we wouldn’t get plants as healthy as we expect or at the price we can afford.

Let’s take a tour of some common places of interest.



This is exactly how anubius sp and bolbitis sp thrive.These two plants share the habitat with each other.And photographs reveal that they are found in air. Conditions are: humidity 100 % with frequent rainfall,temp exceeded 40 deg Centigrade. Photo courtesy aqua journal 102012



A picture of java fern naturally growing



This is how it is done in farms.How about walking across thousands of pots of anubiusPhotos from oriental aquatics in singaporeWith courtesy of http://www.aquarticles.com/



Spraying at intervals with sprinklersIts a controlled environment nevertheless.

Courtesy of www.aquarticles.net



And from my garden too

Ceratopteris sp completely in land during rainy season. It dries up completely in summer



The Aerial Advantage In Aquatic Plants1.Faster growth as compared to submerged ones.2.Better utilisation of CO2 and light3.Efficient oxygenation of the root area4.Better biological activity in root clusters.

Out of these the first two points are the most important and it is these two that are apparent.



A SIMPLE WAY OF DOING ITThere are however many ways to do it.Opinions differ from place to place and person to person.But the basic thing behind it is the same.But I generally prefer a simpler technique which is easy and less time consuming.

Here are the steps.



ALL YOU NEED are as follows A container or tray Substrate Sprayer Glass lid Light source Lastly culture starters of course



Advantages Of This Kind Of Setup• Growth is way faster than submerged.• No chance of algae infestation• Provides a means of back-up stock of rare species• Less space and equipments required• Simplicity and less maintenance• Plants can also be induced to flower and produce seeds.• Emersed plants are easy to ship . Thus it is economically feasible.



DRAWBACKS1. Its very common for emersed plants to melt when introduced into main

tank.

2. Acclimatization to submerged could be very slow in some species.

3. Plants grown on pesticides could possess hazards to aquatic fauna when introduced into main tank.

4. Flowering may be useful but at the same time it indicates the end is near for some annual plants. In that case continuous culture through cuttings or other means is required.

5. Fungal attack may be inevitable at some point of time.

6. Contrary to what most expect , not all plants are suitable for emersed culture.



Plants Which Are Deemed To Fail In Emersed Culture

There are truly aquatic plants too or in other words some species which have no emersed forms in nature. They are not capable of surviving above water in any circumstances. Lets take a look at these:

1. Hornwort or ceratophyllum sp.2. Vallisneria sp.3. Anacharis or elodea4. Blyxa japonica , aubertii,etc 5. Najas sp.

And just to name few. There are thousands more.



My personal views

Inspite of the numerous disadvantages, emersed culture on a large scale is indispensable both for the hobby and economy.

An aquascape prepared by DSM produces much better look and that lush effect is difficult to obtain in submerged state. Even DSM requires a lot of talent.

Most of breathtaking aquascapes of today are furnished by this method.

The golden method of gathering plants today in kolkata is however submerged grown hobbyist cuttings through give-away or saleand is here to stay because of its better results to beginners.

-- Rahul M.



Questions?

Thank you!Rahul Mukherjee

Kolkata Aquarium ClubKolkata Aquarium ClubJune 2013 meet

Kolkata Aquarium Club - Introduction To Emersed Setups

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