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New Beginnings (Aaron's Riparium)

Yeah that barteri 'Broad Leaf' is a real nice plant. The leaves have this handsome waxy sheen.

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You can see that in Aaron's picture too.

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I have just done a water change to remove the surface scum and to top the tank back up aswell. The largest anubias has now been moved to my big tank, I am left with 2 smaller species left and the E.Radicans which is doing great.
The anubias is still holding up too, I have 1/3rd of the top covered which doesn't seem to be doing a great deal so hopefully it will adapt.
I am going to the LFS tomorrow for some fish and to look at the pond plants. I might also pick up some bacopa.

Thanks, Aaron
 
I recommend Bacopa as a real good one for planting with the Trellis Raft + Hanging Planter to make a nice floating carpet. There are other stems too that would be good to try out. They have several Ludwigia Hygrophila and a couple other good choices there in the PlantedBox.com store. This shot shows pretty well the carpeting plants that I have going in my 50-gallon.

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You could probably find some real nice selections among pond plants. I have tried a number of them, so let me know what you see and I might be able to comment on how they do. One thing to have in mind with pond plants is that such nursery stock often comes with a few insect pests. You definitely want to avoid getting anything like aphids, scale or spider mites into your tank. It is pretty easy to de-bug new plants by dunking them in water for at least 12 hours to drown any hitchhiking insects. I copy here a description of the procedure that I use for this water treatment.

  1. Pull plant from pot and shake potting media away from roots. Trim long roots and rinse off remaining potting media.
  2. Dunk plants in water in a deep container such as an unoccupied aquarium or 5-gallon pail. Sink plants all the way to bottom and keep down with small terra cotta pot or similar weight.
  3. Be mindful of bugs that might float to top alive. Remove any floating leaves or other bits of debris. Rinse or wipe down rim of container in order to wash away and squash bugs.
  4. Keep plants underwater for at least 12 hours. Plants with tougher, waxy leaves (e.g., Acorus) can handle being underwater for longer periods (up to 48 hours), which is preferable.
  5. Certain kinds of plants will soften underwater and become susceptible to drying with re-exposure to non-humid air. Keep treated plants in covered, high-humidity enclosure for a few days, while gradually exposing to increased air circulation.
  6. Some plants might also sustain some leaf damage while underwater. Trim away any dead or badly damaged leaves.
 
I have introduced 6 cardinal tetras. I thought about glowlights but they aretoo similar colour to the rocks and sand. The cardinals also show up well with the lighting setup.

Strangely there was no pond plants at all, maybe it's out of season or something but they have a massive section for them. Instead I picked up some ludwigia palustris red and fitonia Superba red. (no bacopa) so I may order that online, I poked at hygro aswell but I couldn't remember you listig it so I left it for now.
They are AF plants too but they have been submerged for approx 24hr so I have covered the ludwigia only, the fittonia has really tough leaves and is ok as it is.

As for planting them the fittonia has been poked through the trellis as they are short stumpy stems. With the ludwigia half is in then planted and half is poked through the trellis to see if any performs better. I have potted the anubias and planted it beneath the water as I didn't like it as it was too distracting.

Thanks Aaron
 
Sounds great Aaron. I haven't tried Fittonia, but there was somebody on another board who used some just as you describe and it grew well for him that way. If the stems are fatter than those notches in the Nano Trellis Raft then it is a good idea to enlarge them a bit. I use a sharp razor to cut out small pieces of the foam to accommodate plants like Pilea that have fatter stems.

I have found that most aquarium stem plants grow best if rooted in the hanging planter, preferably with a fertilizer root tab buried down inside the gravel. That Ludwigia might grow for you either way if you maintain good water column fertilization.

I suppose it's a bit early for pond plants. That shops around here don't begin to offer them until May.
 
Thanks, yeah the stems are a bit fat, I'll dnalrge them tommorow to make sure they aren't beig crushed.
I need to get some root tabs still but for now I keep adding some KNO3 and KH2PO4 to the water column. I worked it out to dose 1/2 EI at a weekly rate. Then I shall add the root tabs to all planters. How often do you replace them?

Also do you have any photgraphy tips? I am finding it hard to get the correct exposures on the 2 sections. I have thought about taking 2 pictures (1 of each part) then stitching the two together.
 
Looks really nice, the more I see these the more I want to give it a try... Are you happy with the lights? I've probably missed it but what are you doing for a filter? Edit - I see the fluval U, A question I could not find the answer too is what dimensions is the tank ? I 've recently purchased some Nano heaters that may be of interest to you, I'll post in the hardware section, one can even be buried undergravel.
 
TBRO said:
Looks really nice, the more I see these the more I want to give it a try... Are you happy with the lights? I've probably missed it but what are you doing for a filter? Edit - I see the fluval U, A question I could not find the answer too is what dimensions is the tank ? I 've recently purchased some Nano heaters that may be of interest to you, I'll post in the hardware section, one can even be buried undergravel.
I think the lights are great, hopefully they will last some time.
The filter is a U3.
Dimensions are 60 x 30 x 40(H)

I'll take a look at the heaters post, thanks. This tank probably hasn't got the correct equipment as it was originally going to be for turtles and the heater was just a spare I had lying around.
I would go for a deeper tank if possible next time thought as the 30cm front to back is taken up by the planter and raft by about halfway.
It's very easy to do, although I suppose it depends on the plant selection. The plants require almost mo maintenance as of yet. I like how you can feel the plants aswell as I feel I can interact with it more.
 
saintly said:
Aaron, I'm loving your commitment to this tank :thumbup:

Thanks, it a really interesting project, and one that can be taken much slower without the risk of algae :thumbup:

I have just had a look at micronanthemum umberosum, similar to bacopa in terms of looks, so i could try that depending on availability :thumbup:
 
The fittonia has started to release some roots in the water so I am happy that it is continuing to grow.
Some of the E.Radican roots are nearly at the susbtrate too!

I order some tropics capsules the other night too, however at the minute they don't look as though they need it as a new leaf is bein produced everyday,

I am also having to top up just short of 2l daily but I do it otherwise I will be kept await at night :lol:
 
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