# Coming out of the Closet



## dean (22 Jan 2013)

after 35 years of fish keeping i finally admit im a closet plat fancier 
so heres my first journal, and my first attempt at emmersed growing.

I have been ill for some time now and have totally neglected my 3 tanks to the point where I hardly have any plants left, now im ready to start slow, so i have simply removed all the substrate from my trigon 350, thinking of going with ferns, moss etc on wood. My 35 litres is just a quarantine tank at moment with new plants just chucked in and my 20 litres has  been moved to a shelf by my pillow, this needs some tlc and lots of work, but my first project is to try emmersed so heres what i have done so far.

There is a built in cupboard at the bottom of the bed, you know the type with the slop bottom due to it being over the stairs, well ive had some shelves put in it and cleared out all the rubbish 

I dug out 2x9w CFL frm the fish house and installed them after painting the area white





next adding polystyrens to all three shelves and put on the heat mats












Wired all 4 mats to the stat
Tidied up the wires and to fill up shelves



no lights on two small ones at moment as there are only mosses on them and budget would strecth to anything else
thinking of putting the existing CFL above the lower shelves and installing either t5's or led over the main area,
Whats your thoughts on lighting?


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## Arana (22 Jan 2013)

Now that's a closet, nice 1


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## dean (22 Jan 2013)

Thanks Mark


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## Lindy (22 Jan 2013)

Really nice


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## tim (22 Jan 2013)

Now that is going for it mate nice set up dean


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## dean (22 Jan 2013)

Been shopping today and bought a few plants to try either emersed or attached to wood in trigon 350 

Anubias Nana Bonzai
Hemianthus Callitrichoides
Anubias Congensi
Anubias Nana
Lilaeopsis Brasillensis
Hydrophilia Pinnatifida
Eleocharis Acicularis
Anubias Heterophylia
Echinodorus Magdalenensis

plus received well package in the post 

Staurogyne Repens 
Hydrophilia Corymbosa Siamensis 53B
Rotala Wallichii
Hydrophilia sp Araguaia
these will go into the 20l

ANY TIPS ON ANY OF THE ABOVE GREATLY APPRECIATED


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## dean (22 Jan 2013)

oh I forgot about the half coconut shell covered in java moss, looked so healthy just couldnt leave it behind


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## dean (22 Jan 2013)

plus some sparkling gouramis


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## dw1305 (23 Jan 2013)

dean said:


> sparkling gouramis


Quality fish, quality closet, but I think you might need a bit more light.

cheers Darrel


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## dean (24 Jan 2013)

Was going to move existing ones to the small shelves below at some point and get better for the big shelf
Darrel what sort of light would you go with?


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## jack-rythm (24 Jan 2013)

Dean what's your plan for all these bowls? What do u intend to do with them?

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## dean (24 Jan 2013)

There just mini projects easy to handle at moment and some plant propagation as we may be moving soon so couldn't see the point of going to the trouble of a full scape in my trigon 350 just to tear it down a month later, plus I'm not well enough to do it. So these mini bowls keep me busy and allow me to try something new


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## dw1305 (24 Jan 2013)

Hi all,


dean said:


> Darrel what sort of light would you go with?


Probably T5 under cabinet link lights, 14W should be ample, they are 60cm. <T5 Slimline Fluorescent Fittings (Link Lights) - QVS Electrical Supplies | Electrical Wholesaler>.


dean said:


> thinking of putting the existing CFL above the lower shelves and installing either t5's or led over the main area, Whats your thoughts on lighting?


You need a light for the shelf, the light levels will be too low even for mosses. I'd definitely put the CFL's on the shelf and 2 x T5 for the plants above.

cheers Darrel


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## dean (24 Jan 2013)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Probably T5 under cabinet link lights, 14W should be ample, they are 60cm. <T5 Slimline Fluorescent Fittings (Link Lights) - QVS Electrical Supplies | Electrical Wholesaler>.
> I'm sure I have a couple of these leftover from when I did the kitchen
> ...


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## dean (28 Jan 2013)

Darrel
do you think 2 of these would be better than the existing  9 watt waterhome bulbs for the main are?

	F8W/T5/35 12" 8W fluorescent white - T5 Standard Fluorescent - Fluorescent — (UK) Light bulbs, LED bulbs, halogen lamps, spot lights and tubes by mail order in the UK


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## dw1305 (28 Jan 2013)

Hi all


dean said:


> do you think 2 of these would be better than the existing 9 watt waterhome bulbs for the main are?


I doubt there is much in it. The straight T5 emit slightly more light than a CFL, so I think 8W T5 or 9W CFL will be much the the same. The 8W electronic ballast runs T5 lamps up to 13W, but the 14W lamp runs off the ballast that runs up to 24W and they are much brighter.

The 3 x 8W Boyu light units are quite good, but they still don't chuck out a huge amount of light.

cheers Darrel


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## Greenfinger2 (4 Apr 2015)

Hi Dean, I know this thread was way back  How did things go ??? That's one fantastic set up you have there


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## dean (4 Apr 2015)

Unfortunately I moved so it all went 
It worked really well though
I have one setup left that has been totally ignored for two years it's under the stairs since I moved with only a 3watt ikea led lamp on it and I'm amazed that's it's not only survived but plants have grown 
I'll try get some pics


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## Greenfinger2 (4 Apr 2015)

Ho Sorry to hear that  Looking forward to seeing some photos though


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## dean (4 Apr 2015)

This has not been touched for 2 years
Not been sprayed or had any heat 
I mean it's actually been neglected totally forgotten 
It is covered with the same cling film as the day I started it
Just shows how resilient  plants are


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## Greenfinger2 (4 Apr 2015)

Hi Dean, 2 years that is amazing  Will you be setting up you emmersed set up again ?? Only the last one did look amazing


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## dean (4 Apr 2015)

I think I will 
I'm playing about with a high tec trigon 350 at moment 
Not really a scape just more an experiment to see if it's worth the work


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## Greenfinger2 (4 Apr 2015)

Hi Dean, Coming out of the closet for the second time  Go for it


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## dean (4 Apr 2015)

Not many people can claim that


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## Greenfinger2 (4 Apr 2015)

dean said:


> Not many people can claim that


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## Greenfinger2 (25 Apr 2015)

Hi Dean,Any updates


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