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Road to Riparium

H

heliophyte

Member
Joined
15 Dec 2021
Messages
78
Location
Netherlands
This will be my journal as I'm working my way to creating my own Riparium after finding many very inspirational tanks on this forum,
such as these: celestial swamp
hydrophyte hydrophyte 2
chocolate puddle
Tom's Bucket of Mud
(maybe I have to think of an awesome name for my tank as well)

I know only that it will probably an 80 cm open tank.
At this stage I'm still in the middle of doing a lot of research. So unfortunately no pics yet.
Open questions:
  • Soil/Sand: finding conflicting stuff. What is best to plant the emergent plants in?
  • Which fish would be good to swim higher up in an open tank? no jumpers!
  • How will I scape my tank?
  • What kind of light will I use?
First question should probably be what kinda scape I want to go with, as that may determine some of my other questions/options.
 
Made this awesome drawing of 4 different scape layouts.
Number one uses showertrays in the back for emerging plants (P)
Number two creates a central island using a mix of rocks and stone
Number three is asymetrical with an island to the side and a large piece of driftwood. This could possible have a large above water branch for climbing plants/tillandsia.
Number four is my attempt at a riverbed design.. make banks on both sides, have a sandbed in the middle that can taper off towards the back to create some depth. Would have to use smaller stones/branches towards the back as well to add to the effect.
scapes.png


Number one seems to be the easiest, four the most ambitious to pull off well.
In all of these most of under water plants would most likely be mosses/ferns and maybe some cryptos. I suspect the light in the tank will probably not be great with overhanging plants getting in the way.
 
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I always love a scape with something going on above the waterline, so I'll be watching this thread with interest.
heliophyte said:
Soil/Sand: finding conflicting stuff. What is best to plant the emergent plants in?
Click to expand...
I have had plants growing on/in sand, hydroleca, fake xaxim, driftwood, each other, etc... The problem has generally been preventing them from getting to big, so I think you'll be fine with whatever you choose.
heliophyte said:
Number one seems to be the easiest, four the most ambitious to pull off well
Click to expand...
That would be my thoughts as well, number should be relativity easy to make something good-looking of, and you have some more freedom to change the scape later. Number four could look stunning though if you are looking for a challenge, and these are a couple of god examples I can think of: Rio Unini and junction to the basin of Rio Negro, Brazil, 240 L • Biotope Aquarium and Eubenangee Swamp National Park North Queensland Australia, 500 L • Biotope Aquarium
 
Tyko_N said:
That would be my thoughts as well, number should be relativity easy to make something good-looking of, and you have some more freedom to change the scape later. Number four could look stunning though if you are looking for a challenge, and these are a couple of god examples I can think of: Rio Unini and junction to the basin of Rio Negro, Brazil, 240 L • Biotope Aquarium and Eubenangee Swamp National Park North Queensland Australia, 500 L • Biotope Aquarium
Click to expand...
Funny, I had that second tank bookmarked for my moodboard. I don't think i'll be going for that exact biotope look though (way too much work, and looks kinda messy too). It's going to be more of an abstract riverbed ;)
 
Thought it over, it's gonna be design number one for now. Will give me a good opportunity to test out some emerging plants plus it gives me room to switch to a cooler scape (options 3 or 4) down the road.
I guess the now I can start hunting for lights. Will two nano lights suffice if I'm not going for CO2, but only want easy plants?
 
I have a tank! Just picked it up second hand.
tank1.jpg

Needs a little cleaning, but has only been used for a week if the seller is to be believed.

Also made decision on filtering: going with an undergravel filter. I'm not going with CO2 or difficult plants, so no problems on that front. Since I already know that this tank is not gonna be built to be unchanged for 10 years, I feel more comfortable to go with the slightly more controversial filtering option and see how it works for me. Only drawback is that I'll have to use gravel instead of sand.
Big snag in my plans is the new lockdown we have here, so I won't be able to go to the LFS to pick up some driftwood and stones.

Current plan to stock my tank: 10 otocinclus affinis, 10 Iriatherina werneri and a bunch of cherry shrimp.

Basically only still have to decide on lights and then buy a whole bunch of stuff
 
heliophyte said:
I have a tank! Just picked it up second hand.
Click to expand...
Looks like a good shape to me, nice find! Are you going to keep the black film on those sides? If so, then maybe a combination of layout 1 and 3 would work well, making it look like it was intentional :)
heliophyte said:
10 Iriatherina werneri
Click to expand...
From what I have read these are quite proficient jumpers, so you might want to go with extra floating plants and a slightly lower water level while they acclimatize.
 
Tyko_N said:
Looks like a good shape to me, nice find! Are you going to keep the black film on those sides? If so, then maybe a combination of layout 1 and 3 would work well, making it look like it was intentional :)

From what I have read these are quite proficient jumpers, so you might want to go with extra floating plants and a slightly lower water level while they acclimatize.
Click to expand...
I was already planning to put on black film, so this was a nice bonus for me!
Good to hear about the jumping, I will keep that in mind. The waterlevel is going to be a little lower than normal anyway, because I want to keep the top of the riparium planters a little above the water. Hopefully in combination with some floating plants that will do the trick.
 
Pinned the lighting down to three options:
Chihiros A801 mark ii
Nicrew Classic LED
Two Superfish Aqua LED Spot

The chihiros seems a little overkill for the plants I'm planning.
Nicrew is cheap, but seems to have some complaints about build-quality
The superfish spots I'm not really sure if they will cover enough area for the entire tank.

Any thoughts?
 
I like the way the celestial swamps lighting developed and it's something I'd think about. If you have lush plant growth above the water then you will get lots of shading below that will make it difficult to grow anything in the water, so by having the option of many point source lights you can adjust them over time, add or reduce the amount and just basically build the lighting with the scape. It isn't the cheapest option but you might find that with a more conventional aquarium light you are more limited to what you can achive.
 
Yeah, that kind of lighting is very nice, but I don't think my budget/goodwill with my girlfriend allows for it :D
 
Ordered an undergravel filter and some akadama soil to put in the planters. Today going to the LFS to pick up rocks/wood. Found a great LFS that has basically converted their pond section to just aquarium wood for the winter. SO MUCH CHOICE
 
Finally time for an update again. I moved into my new place and yesterday I bought some materials to build a stand for the aquarium.
At the shop they also had some plants and I bought the first plants. A Fittonia and a small Nephrolepis fern for in the emerges section. I have put the wood to soak and this weekend I can start building!
 
Hurrah, the tank is full!
I'm not sure I like the look of the hanging planters all that much. I might transfer those plants to a balcony planter behind the tank. Interested to have your thoughts on that.
Overall I'm very happy with how my first scape attempt turned out though. Can't wait for stuff to start growing.
I have tried gluing moss to wood, but the white glue spots are quite obvious. So next time I'll probably do more work just tying it down. The yarn is less noticeable than the glue.

full.jpg
 
I’d have to agree that the planters IMO probably detract from the ‘scape rather than add to it tbf, and it’s a pretty ‘scape.

Quick tip, Just in case you find tying moss too fiddly in future. I’ve found the trick with glueing moss is to chop it into small pieces, put a thin layer of glue on to your surface (a small area at a time) and then get a nice fat pinch of moss and dab it on. (Use gloves unless you want literal green fingers!) Give it a gentle pat and then do the next patch. Once it has set for a few mins, rinse off with water to get rid of loose bits. You may still get a few slightly thinner patches where the glue shows a little (you can re-do these if it’s a real bother) but you’d be surprised at how quickly it covers over.

Its a helpful technique to attach to pieces you can’t remove from the aquarium (where tying might be a mare) and rocks, or wood with shapes that can make tying impractical, and I’ve found it works pretty well. You might just need to be a bit more careful at scooping up loose bits when doing it in-tank, to avoid moss gardens popping up all over the place. 😊
 
I had a basket arrangement but found that the plants don't need substrate so I made these clips. They hold the plants securely, aren't really visible once attached and make it easy to move plants around. Long term they might restrict the plant growth but a few of the plants are growing around them so time will tell.
Tank looks great and I'm following along.
 
KirstyF said:
I’d have to agree that the planters IMO probably detract from the ‘scape rather than add to it tbf, and it’s a pretty ‘scape.

Quick tip, Just in case you find tying moss too fiddly in future. I’ve found the trick with glueing moss is to chop it into small pieces, put a thin layer of glue on to your surface (a small area at a time) and then get a nice fat pinch of moss and dab it on. (Use gloves unless you want literal green fingers!) Give it a gentle pat and then do the next patch. Once it has set for a few mins, rinse off with water to get rid of loose bits. You may still get a few slightly thinner patches where the glue shows a little (you can re-do these if it’s a real bother) but you’d be surprised at how quickly it covers over.

Its a helpful technique to attach to pieces you can’t remove from the aquarium (where tying might be a mare) and rocks, or wood with shapes that can make tying impractical, and I’ve found it works pretty well. You might just need to be a bit more careful at scooping up loose bits when doing it in-tank, to avoid moss gardens popping up all over the place. 😊
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback and tips on the glue. I'll be sure to try that next time
 
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