• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

200-liter Riparium Setup for Synodontis Catfish

Thanks very much Mark. I shot a bunch of pictures the other night and I hope to have an updated full tank shot soon, just need to sort through this long list of files.

Backlighting is an interesting idea and wouldn't be so hard to set up. I will have to try that.

You're welcome for a visit anytime you like. We give free tours. You can sample our fine Wisconsin beers and cheeses.
 
Thought I had replies in here,.
This is amazing and Like how you are using the Papyrus sp?, I have them outdoors in one of my planted containers.
 
That is Cyperus alternifolius var. gracilis. It is a superb riparium plant.

32-xii-tank-i-m.jpg


Unlike the species it grows to only about 50cm tall. It grows really well under fluorescents.
 
Doh! Yep that is the plant I meant.
Yeah it is a great plant, Mine are Dormant at the moment. Waiting for the weather to improve before seperating and repotting mine.
 
Hi,

This looks great. I have one question for you. The planters that you use, how do you cover them up? i would love to attempt one of these but am worried the planters would look unsightly.

Many thanks
Steve
 
Yes that C. alternifolius var. gracilis is a good one.

Steve, the idea with those planters is that they become covered with foliage as the plants grow in. You generally can see them while the plants are just starting, but if the plants grow well later on they won't be noticed unless you look very closely.

I have gotten a bunch of new pictures that last couple of days and now I am trying to wade through them. Here is a quick in situ shot.

10-ii-10-tank-iii-m.jpg


I'll have more on the way. It generally takes me all night to sort and format a new folder of image files.
 
I finally got some video of this tank--I have been meaning to do so for some time. Here's the YouTube link to the first file that I uploaded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7E5UpvP-aY

15-ii-10-fish-grab-s.jpg


I need to work on this some more. These first videos that I got are all very grainy and I don't know why. This one gives you an idea of how crazy the fish get anyway when I throw some food in the tank.

The display is currently stocked with one Cryptoheros cutteri, five Ilyodon furcidens and seven Synodontis lucipinnis.
 
I got another video loaded. This one shows the whole tank with a couple of close-ups. Here's the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q8V8iXING

It seems that video has even more of that bright glare washing out the foliage in the emersed area. I need to look into fixes for that.
 
They are great little fish. Be aware, however, that they might hide for most of the day. Mine do make a good display at feeding time. It is good to keep them in a group of at least six or more if possible.

Oh now the thread is on another new page. Here again is the link to that video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q8V8iXING
 
I have a fun new update. I got a surprise a few mornings ago. Look for the little lavender spot in this picture.

18-ii-10-limnophila-aromatica-ii-m.jpg


The Limnophila aromatica had a single bloom on it. The delicate little flower goes really well with this plant's fine foliage.

18-ii-10-limnophila-aromatica-i-m.jpg


It has been several days now and the flower is still open and fresh. Here is a cozier macro shot.

18-ii-10-limnophila-aromatica-iii-m.jpg
 
Beautiful flower there! What plant is that?

Do you have to do much maintenance of the plants, such as pruning/misting/wiping down the leaves? One of the issues I think I would have is dust. My house is generally quite dusty, and my houseplants accumulate it quite quick.
 
SteveUK said:
Beautiful flower there! What plant is that?

Do you have to do much maintenance of the plants, such as pruning/misting/wiping down the leaves? One of the issues I think I would have is dust. My house is generally quite dusty, and my houseplants accumulate it quite quick.
Click to expand...

That is Limnophila aromatica. These plants haven't required so much extra work, although I did do some pruning and other training to get them to cover the trellis rafts as they started to grow. I don't see much dust on them really. I have misted them a few times for the sake of photography because the colors show brighter on the wet leaves.

Here is another view stepping back a bit. You can see that L. aromatica bloom there at the lower left.

18-ii-10-tank-i-m.jpg
 
Simply stunning :clap: I'm wondering if I should attempt something with an old 90cm x 30cm x 35cm (LxDxH). Would you say that 2x24w T5 lighting over a 90cm (with a reasonable indirect natural light) might be enough for a riparium?
 
LondonDragon said:
Amazing setup!! Would love to try this one day, but it does look like a lot of work!!
Click to expand...

Thanks LondonDragon! I wouldn't say that these riaprium setups require any more work than a regular planted tank. For one, the emersed aquatic plants seem to be less demanding of rigorous fertilization than underwater plants. So long as one uses low-tech plants underwater, or keeps it bare with just hardscape + sand/gravel, a riparium setup does not require CO2 injection because the plants get all of their carbon dioxide from the air.

SteveUK said:
Simply stunning :clap: I'm wondering if I should attempt something with an old 90cm x 30cm x 35cm (LxDxH). Would you say that 2x24w T5 lighting over a 90cm (with a reasonable indirect natural light) might be enough for a riparium?
Click to expand...

That would be plenty of light for some of the houseplant-type tropicals that are good riparium selections. Here is a shot of my 20-gallon from a while ago when I had Dieffenbachia, Spathiphyllum and Pilea going in there.

23-xii-09-tank-ii-m.jpg
 
Hi Devin, tanks looking good, nice videos too. Can you explain how you "train" your stems o grow across the rafts please?
My ludwigia stems have gone very rigid which I expected but I'm not sure how to get them to spread. Do you just trim the tops to promote side shoots?
By the way the stems that were planted through the trellis holes failed and dried up very quickly, and yes the stems were in the water, so I probably won't be tying that again!
 
Aaron, Yes, the primary method that I use to train the stem plants to cover the trellis rafts is to prune them as they grow beyond the edge of the raft. This encourages back budding, so the raft area gets many new stem leads. After repeating this a few times you will eventually see many new branches covering up the foam raft.

I have found that most of those sprawling stems do best if rooted in the hanging planter, preferably with a root fertilizer tab, then positioned to trail forward onto the raft. There are a number of intriguing selections there among the AquaFleur plants in the PlantedBox.com sotre. Have you looked at any more of those? Stems with smaller leaves will scale well with your 60cm tank.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top