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Planted Ripariums

hydrophyte

hydrophyte

Member
Joined
22 Aug 2009
Messages
1,073
I am a new member from the United States.

I post here a few pictures of my riparium tanks, one by one.

Here is a recent shot of my 245 liter South America themed setup.

16-viii-09-tank-i-s.jpg

That one needs some tidying and more careful photography. I should be able to turn up a better shot maybe this weekend.
 
hey Devin! 😀 good to see over the other side of the water.

and great to see you growing plants above it 😉 better than most may i say. I'm pretty certain many will learn from you here.

mark
 
I love these tanks. I think Ripariums could take off in the UK in a big way. Love to see more if you have any.

AC
 
That`s me one step closer to a riparium. :thumbup:

Dave.
 
So what's the difference between a Riparium and a paludarium ?

Looks superb hydrophyte :thumbup:

It's always been my ambition to set up a large paludarium.....6 feet high with lots of epiphytes and orchids and little beasties running around.

Here's a small effort i set up a few years ago

palad1-4.jpg
 
What's a riparium then? :?

I love jungle aquascapes because they look natural and stuff, but this takes it to a new level! I love the way it looks so natural, like a river side or something. Nice one!

If I ever have the time, money and know-how I would set up a massive one of these with fish and all sorts of insects and stuff inhabiting above the water.
 
can we have a plant list and some specs on the tank and equipment please!

we all are curious and it would be good to know what you have used. 😀
 
Thanks everybody. Really the tank is sort of a mess in that picture. I hope to clean it up and get a better shot soon.

The principal difference between paludariums and ripariums is that while the former use built-up terrestrial areas formed with stones and other materials, the latter use floating and hanging plant support devices to hold the emersed plants up at the waterline: the terrestrial area is only implied in ripariums. Because all of the components are modular and easily moved about, most riparium setups are probably easier to set up and maintain than most paludariums.

I have gotten a lot of plants to bloom in this tank. Here is a flower and a little plantlet on the flower stalk of the large Echinodorus cordifolius there on the right...

16-viii-09-echinodorus-cordifolius-i-s.jpg

That's a nice tank of yours there andy. I have had real good luck growing those Spathiphyllum peace lilies: they like to have their feet wet. What kind of bromeliad is that?
 
andy said:
So what's the difference between a Riparium and a paludarium ?
Click to expand...

to add to what Hydrophyte says the thing that really interests me with Ripariums is that they are a little like Lego/Meccano in that in theory you could move the 'components' about very easily and get several 'scapes' photographed in a single day 🙂

With underwater scapes or paludriums its not quite that easy.

AC
 
Nick16 said:
can we have a plant list and some specs on the tank and equipment please!

we all are curious and it would be good to know what you have used. 😀
Click to expand...

Nick,

The equipment/materials for this display is quite simple. I wanted the whole think to be easy to set up and service. The tank is an Aqueon 245-liter "tall" glass aquarium, 90cm wide X 45cm deep X 60cm tall. The Sunlight Supply Teklight light fixture holds two 39-watt HO T5 lamps. This is just a little more than .25-watts/liter, but the HO lamps really are very bright and the fixture has high-efficiency polished refelctors. Filtration & water circulation is achieved with a Fluval 205 canister, a cheap filter that moves something like 300-liters/hour. I use a 75-watt submersible heater during the winter months when the room is cooler. The hanging and floating riparium plant supports were manufactured by Riparium Supply. The riparium planters contain baked clay gravel similar to Fluorite or Aquasoil. The bottom of the tank is covered with a coarse silica sand, but I bury fertilizer tabs there from time to time for the underwater plants.

And that's basically it.

This shot from a while ago shows the whole thing including most of the hardware.

3440766314_741f2e4a0b_o.jpg
 
Here is another riparium that I have set up now, a Cryptocoryne-themed tank. I did some gardening tonight and got a few shots.

22-viii-09-tank-i-b.jpg

I have some nice specimens in this display and I enjoy it very much. I need to plant some more crypts in the underwater area to brighten it up. There really are fish in there. A few of the barbs are visible there in the lower right.
 
Thanks very much chrisr01! These tanks have really all been pretty easy to set up. I think that it simplifies everything having the better part of the greenery above water.

Last night I got a few pictures of this really happy Anubias with my King of Pop glove because I transferred it from a culture tank into the crypts display. I had been growing it on an Epi-Trellis raft for about 5 months.

22-viii-09-anubias-i-m.jpg

The leaves have a beautiful luster which this picture fails to show. If you look at the latest full-tank shot you can see it there in the lower right of the emersed area. What a nice plant. It has great root development.
 
Fantastic, all of them! I hope to be setting up something similar very soon, thanks for even more inspiration.
 
Thanks again everyone.

I do hope to re-stock this tank with some less rambunctious animals. Those loaches and barbs don't get a long so well. I have another tank almost ready for the loaches. Pencilfish might be a good choice in there.

I don't have to mist this tank I just keep the canopy on tight to retain humidity.
 
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