Mr. Aqua 11.4G Riparium - Take 2

[hydrophyte]

what fish you thinking of going for?

It's going to be something simple and hardy like a small group of fancy platies or maybe some white cloud mountain minnows.

 

[jojouk]

Thoses rocks look great against the black

 

[hydrophyte]

Thoses rocks look great against the black

Yes I like those rocks a lot and I decided to use them again for this new setup.

Here's the tank with the new fish. The gold white cloud mountain minnows look really nice with the other colors.

 

[nayr88]

Good shout on the minnows, they suit the whole tank well.

This is one of those 'one day' tanks for me so ill be following closely for when I eventually have the balls to do it myself!

Looking good so far mate keep it up.

 

[hydrophyte]

Good shout on the minnows, they suit the whole tank well.

This is one of those 'one day' tanks for me so ill be following closely for when I eventually have the balls to do it myself!

Looking good so far mate keep it up.

Thanks again mate!

The riparium plants are starting to perk up some more and grow.

I added a few Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Green' to the udnerwater area.

 

[Mark Evans]

You've got such a distinct style hydrophyte.
I can always tell it's your tank just by the plant choice.
The colours of these plants are very attractive and make me want to attempt a tank in a similar vein.

 

[LondonDragon]

The colours of these plants are very attractive and make me want to attempt a tank in a similar vein

Agreed, shame I can never find any of the plants listed for sale anywhere!

 

[hydrophyte]

You've got such a distinct style hydrophyte.

I can always tell it's your tank just by the plant choice.

The colours of these plants are very attractive and make me want to attempt a tank in a similar vein.

Thanks so much Mark! I was trying to put together plants with bright colors for this layout.

Agreed, shame I can never find any of the plants listed for sale anywhere!

You should be able to find some good riparium plants there in the UK. There are a number of aquarium plants that work well in their emersed form. Several of the plants in this little tank are sold as pond plants and you might also find some of them for sale like that, especially in the springtime.

 

[hydrophyte]

I think that I figured out a pretty good lighting solution for this setup. It is difficult to find a fixture to light up the 18" width of this tank.

This is a pair of trouble lamp reflectors that I put together with a dual-socket ceiling fixture. It attached real secure to the metal shelf bracket with the threaded knob at the top of the socket assembly.

I will install two 16w 6500K daylight CFL bulbs and this should provide a real nice light for growing these plants. I also intend to cut the hooks at the top of each reflector off because they will just catch on my shirt sleeve. I just need to go to the hardware store to get a couple more items and then I can put this together and hang it up.

 

[hydrophyte]

Here it is with the new light fixture. The riparium planting will look good if those bamboo plants can reach up another 5" or so.

 

[sarahtermite]

Wow, that is some light - excellent! I think the crypts are a nice touch, too; pulls the whole look together nicely.

 

[hydrophyte]

Wow, that is some light - excellent! I think the crypts are a nice touch, too; pulls the whole look together nicely.

Thanks so much!

Here are a few more shots from the other night. I hope that the Pleioblastus bamboo will start growing up taller. I might have to think about replacing it with something else if it doesn't. The fish are still looking happy enough. One of the platies is dropping fry.

 

[hydrophyte]

Since the Pleioblastus bamboo isn't getting any taller I decided to try out some other plants as grassy background. Here I added a couple of planters with Cyperus umbrella sedge. The tops of the Cyperus are obscured by the lighting here, but you can get the general idea. The layout might look pretty good with this plant if I can get it to grow in more full and if I raise the lights up a bit higher.

 

[hydrophyte]

I switched up the planting a good deal! Here's a quick picture from last night.

 

[hydrophyte]

This is just a quick snapshot to show the whole deal with the new plant arrangement.

The green lanterns have been having babies. There are four new little fry in there.

 

[hydrophyte]

I got a quick picture tonight. I shuffled the plants around a bit more and I think I like it like this.

 

[hydrophyte]

Thanks for the likes!

Here's another quick shot.

 

[hydrophyte]

I made a quick movie tonight. The colors are a bit washed out, but I think that I can increase saturation in iMovie.



I have more clips and I want to make a longer version with some editing and music.

 

[hydrophyte]

Here are a few new quick update pictures.

 

[hydrophyte]

Another quick photo update from last night.