My Emersed Aquarium Plant Rack

Hi all

 


My last setup was going great with daily routines of misting and daily maintenance but due to more important personal things and being away from home i lost a few plants.

 


Lack of these daily chores has made me setup a more advanced system that will allow me to leave my setup to run itself for a while without losing my plants.

 


Ok so my setup is in my garage this will also allow me to go bigger allowing me to keep a lot more than one tank.

 


As multiple tanks will cost me a lot I've decided to use RUBS (really useful boxes)

 


A list of my setup plans:

 


4x Shelf Rack 1800W × 1800H x 600D


12 x RUBS - 3 shelves of 4 RUBS all plumbed as one system.


1 X Pond Filter that has a built in uv light.


1 X Sump and Pump to the filter on a higher location.


3 x t5 lighting, 1 for each shelf 9 some now have 2 per shelf)


2 x aquarium heaters in sump to raise water temp for humidity, this will also prevent freezing water in the winter as the setup is in the colder garage.


1 x Air stone in sump

 


Based on the rub sizes each rub will allow me to have 15+ x 3" pots of plants x 12 rubs = 180 pots

 


A bit over the top maybe but that was my plan.

 

 




 


The plant list is just for reference and has changed slightly.

 


also i probably did not need the pond filter and its maybe over the top? but i already had it doing nothing so i integrated it into the system as ill be adding some shrimp to the setup and the uv will help with green water?

 


some images to give you an idea of the setup

 


some random pictures to give you an ideas of equipment i used

 


Industrial Shelving With 5 Shelves, 1780h x 1800w x 600d mm 265kg UDL

 




 


The Filter

 




 




 


Floplast 21.5mm over flow fitting as these are cheaper than 22mm and its easier to fine 40mm(filter & pump) to 21.5mm reducers etc

 




 


The pump

 




 


Features:

 


Dimensions: 153 x 105 x 135mm / 6" x 4.1" x 5.3"


Height Max: 350cm / 137.8" - Cable Length 5M


Flow rate: 3000L/h

 


before the plumbing




 


12 RUBS, 24 tank connectors Later




 


Plumbed

 




 


The sump,pump and overflow(just in case )




 


Flow from rub to rub.




 


Shallow rub on the next level.




 


an idea of some 80mm high pots in place.




 


Here are some random pictures of the plants etc.




 




 


Some of my Crypts




 

 

 


The plants




 


Anubias




 


Some of my Stems




 


Crypts




 


random shots




 


PEARL MOSS / PLAGMONIUM SP. (this has grown a lot more since this picture was taken a week after i tied it to my home made moss pads)




 


here you can see how slow/fast the water trickle is that circulates from rub to rub then onto the sump and filter




 


New growth from Anubias heterophylla that is using 50/50 clay balls/rockwool substrate




 


And the easy to grow Hygrophila polysperma

 




 


some of my plant labels




 

 


plants that are currently in the setup are:

 


Amblystegium serpens 'Nano'


Anubias barteri angustifolia


Anubias barteri var. barteri


Anubias barteri var. caladiifolia


Anubias barteri var. nana


Anubias gracilis


Anubias hastifolia


Anubias heterophylla


Anubias nana


Anubias nana "Pinto"


Anubias nana Bonsai


Barclaya longifolia


Blepharostoma trichophyllum 'Mini Rose'


Blyxa japonica var. alternifolia


Bolbitis "spec" Baby


Cryptocoryne amicorum


Cryptocoryne beckettii


Cryptocoryne bullosa


Cryptocoryne costata


Cryptocoryne legroi


Cryptocoryne moehlmannii


Cryptocoryne nevellii


Cryptocoryne nurii "Rosen Maiden" Bt.Perah


Cryptocoryne parva


Cryptocoryne petchii


Cryptocoryne undulatus brown


Cryptocoryne undulatus kasselman


Cryptocoryne walkeri


Cryptocoryne wendtii "tropica"


Cryptocoryne wendtii brown


Cryptocoryne wendtii green


Diodia cf kuntzei


Drepanocladus 'Flat'


Eriocaulon cinereum


Fissidens fontanus 'Phoenix'


Fontinalis antiperytica var. Gigantea 'Giant Willow'


Fontinalis hypnoides 'Quell Willow'


Frontinalis antipyretica 'Willow'


Hygrophila araguaia


Hygrophila balsamica


Hygrophila corymbosa Siamensis 53B


Hygrophila corymbosa thailands


Hygrophila guanensis


Hygrophila Lancea


Hygrophila odora 'Guinea'


Hygrophila polysperma


Hygrophila polysperma 'Ceylon'


Hygrophila polysperma 'Tiger'


Hygrophila Purple


Hygrophila Roraima


Hygrophila rosae australis


Hygrophila 'Sarawak'


Hygrophila sp. 'Bold'


Isopterygium 'Mini Taiwan Moss'


Leptodictyum riparium 'Stringy'


Lilaeopsis brasiliensis


Lilaeopsis mauritiana


Lomariopsis 'Subwassertang'


Phoenix Moss 'Fissidens Fox'


Plagiochilaceae 'Cameroon'


Plagmonium 'Pearl'


Polygonum sp. 'Ruby'


Riccia fluitans


Staurogyne rubescens


Taxiphyllum alternans 'Taiwan'


Taxiphyllum barbieri 'Java'


Taxiphyllum barbieri 'Mini Java'


Taxiphyllum 'Flame'


Taxiphyllum 'Giant'


Taxiphyllum 'Peacock'


Taxiphyllum 'Spiky'


Trithuria Sp Erio Blood Vomit


Vesicularia 'Anchor'


Vesicularia 'Brazil'


Vesicularia 'China'


Vesicularia 'Creeping'


Vesicularia dubyana 'Singapore'


Vesicularia montagnei 'Christmas' (dubyana?)


Vesicularia reticulata 'Erect'


Poaceae sp. 'Purple Bamboo'


Staurogyne Low Grow

 


plus various rotala species

 

 


ill update this over the next month or so with photos of plants and blooms

Yes i have and I agree with most things you've said, but the thing is in the UK the tempurture is currently 0 degrees, the last two days we have had snow.


Last year my plants outside died due to this.


The reason for my setup is just that to keep the temp up and stop the plants from freezing.


If I was in say California or south Africa I would proberly of not gone for this setup.


The filter is proberly not needed but I had it in the garage doing nothing.


The pumps help stop the water going stagnant.


The reason I plumbed all the rubs together was because I only need 2 heaters in the sump and not 12 ( one for each rub)


Sure I would of liked to just place the setup out side without all the tech but in the UK winter this does not work, up north anyway.

No not at all


Just showing you the reasons