Lighting question for emersed planting in nano

[roynair88]

hi all Roy here from Malaysia,

im relatively new to the emerse method of growing hemianthus callitrichoides ...

im planning a new nano tank 31cm x 18cm x 24cm (same like the "ADA cube garden mini S" but not ADA tank lol) which would make it a 3.54 US gallon tank

im keen on trying Tom Barr's emersed method to planting hc, im planning it to be a iwagumi-ish style scape with carpet hc

my question is what lighting in watts would be suitable to do this?
during the dry growth period and also the submersed period

and also i was wondering if temperature is a factor here? with the emersed method,
in my other tank tempterature is normall 26C-28C with the help of a AC Fan
would temperature like this effect the growth of the emersed hc?

and lastly, being a rather small tank and all, is C02 a must or can i substitute with excel instead?

thanks alot guys, awesome forum

 

[roynair88]

any idea anyone ??

 

[cggorman]

I have similar questions about emersed growth...

Im also curious about the photo period. Is 20 hours too much?

 

[wilsar]

i'll answer the question of light and temperature.
HC comes from cuba and is located very close to the tropical zone, an average temp of around thirty degrees, but i would guess it would grow in the 26 degree zone. you could grow this plant outside in Malaysia as long as you keep the "substrate" underwater. HC needs high light, 2 watt or more per gallon,sunlight would be perfect for the job in your location! because HC is a seasonal emersed/submersed aquatic, it needs CO2 fertilization to grow underwater. excell would work but at a lower growth rate than gas.

 

[Philosophos]

26-28C is just fine; this stuff comes from cuba. It's growing well in soil and humid conditions for me.

HC can be grown low light (50mmol PAR if you've got/can borrow a meter) but go high if you want to fill in the growth fast. It's not as if algae is going to be a big problem when emersed.

CO2 is important for when immersed, but for emersed growth it's comparatively excessive. 30-50ppm vs. ~450ppm.

Now if you mean immersed, that's a little different. Low light can work just fine, but the CO2 should be cranked right up; I'd advocate injected. HC is CO2 demanding enough that I can just about use it like a drop checker. 26-28C is still just fine.

-Philosophos