# 55 gallon riparium.(update)



## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Upper view:


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hey that's pretty sweet. You could put together a real nice collection of plants in there. I finally got my 55 back into better shape. I was getting to be frustrated with the shape--just 12" front-to-back--but I was able to fix it up by yanking the really big plants, especially the Java fern. Here's a shot from last week.










You might find it desirable to apply a dark background to that tank. If you use riparium planters then the shadow will help to obscure the planter cups, while also better showcasing the plants. 

It looks like you already have some pretty nice animals in there.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

hydrophyte said:


> You might find it desirable to apply a dark background to that tank. If you use riparium planters then the shadow will help to obscure the planter cups, while also better showcasing the plants.
> 
> It looks like you already have some pretty nice animals in there.


 I am thinking to use light blue as background, but like you said dark color might work better, i can't wait to get the plants and planters that i bought from you.
I like the way you arranged the plants in your riparium..great job.


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

I like how you incorperated the rock work with the emersed scape. Good Job!


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

JakeJ said:


> I like how you incorperated the rock work with the emersed scape. Good Job!


Thanks...i put the rock on the left side to hide the filter, heater and thermometer. the water runs from the top of the rock then down to the water sarface.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Now that one is going to be a very interesting and unique riparium. Nice job of busting out of the box! I have wondered if I wanted to try the Heavenly Bamboo in mine, but I haven't decided to try it yet. It looks promising there.


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## SearunSimpson (Jun 5, 2007)

I was just wondering where all the equipment was hiding, then saw you said you had it hidden behind the rock. With the canopies on, I could see you getting some good immersed growth with crypts and anubias (possibly some flowering action too).


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Hoppy said:


> Now that one is going to be a very interesting and unique riparium. Nice job of busting out of the box! I have wondered if I wanted to try the Heavenly Bamboo in mine, but I haven't decided to try it yet. It looks promising there.


I never had riparium before, this is my first time..i am kind of newbie in here, but i always wanted to have emersed plants in my tank.
i hope the bamboo will make it in there, if not i'll put some rice :tongue:.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I bet that the the lucky bamboo will make it in there. Can you find any more of it? It would look cool if you could get a little stand of it going with a number of stems.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

hydrophyte said:


> I bet that the the lucky bamboo will make it in there. Can you find any more of it? It would look cool if you could get a little stand of it going with a number of stems.


Yes i do have some more, i'll post another picture later with more bamboo and your plants when they get here.


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## justin182 (Aug 19, 2009)

ready to put the plants in yet?


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

justin182 said:


> ready to put the plants in yet?


I did, those are great plants..thanks a lot.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

shrimpo said:


> I never had riparium before, this is my first time..i am kind of newbie in here, but i always wanted to have emersed plants in my tank.
> i hope the bamboo will make it in there, if not i'll put some rice :tongue:.


Then, you could call this the "Sushi Tank":redface: (Too much coffee this morning, I think.)


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hey shrimpo I sent that box of plants off this morning. I hope that they will find their way OK. I'll be interested to see them in your setup so please post some more pictures if you can.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Thanks Hydrophyte...i added some more lucky bamboo, and instead of light blue, i tried dark blue just to see how its going to look like..here is some more pics.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

As Hydrophyte suggested i added black background, here is some more pictures.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

2 full snails :


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

One of them became extra full, and the other...:icon_sad:


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

I got more supplies and plants from Hydrophyte, they came in great shape, i 'll try to take better pictures next time...
thanks a lot :thumbsup:


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## isais (Nov 28, 2009)

looks good, I like that its aquascaped below the water line instead of left open


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hey I had a couple more specific recommendations for planting those new plants. the best way to plant the _Bacopa_ is to plant the bases of the stems (at leat 1" deep) int he hanging planter, and then train to grow across the trellis raft. That is how I planted the _Ludwigia_ shown here.










This will grow into a real nice floating carpet. If you trim the growing stem tips as the extend beyond the raft the plant will grow bushy and cover the raft form view.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

That looks a lot better :thumbsup: 
Does reptisand contain a ton of calcium?


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

hydrophyte said:


> Hey I had a couple more specific recommendations for planting those new plants. the best way to plant the _Bacopa_ is to plant the bases of the stems (at leat 1" deep) int he hanging planter, and then train to grow across the trellis raft.
> This will grow into a real nice floating carpet. If you trim the growing stem tips as the extend beyond the raft the plant will grow bushy and cover the raft form view.


I see, thanks for the tip.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

CL said:


> That looks a lot better :thumbsup:
> Does reptisand contain a ton of calcium?


I don't know exactly, i just want to try it anyway.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/prod_display.cfm?c=6016+6040+15454&pcatid=15454 From that it appears that there would be no calcium to speak of in it, but it would be too fine for an aquarium. I would be afraid of compaction and the problems that causes. Are you looking just for a white sand? If so, some pool filter sands are pretty white.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That Repti Sand would probably be alright so long as you could stir it up form time to time to reduce compaction. It might also be helpful to remove some of it. It looks like it's pretty deep on each end.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Another very light colored substrate is dolomite, which is sold at landscape rock yards. Last week at our local aquatic plant club meeting Tom Barr talked about his use of it. Although it is a carbonate rock, calcium magnesium carbonate, it is much slower to dissolve and add KH than calcium carbonate is. If you are doing regular water changes, any KH increase would be very slow. I haven't looked for it yet, nor have I used it, but I've seen it in his tanks and it looks very good.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Well it's too late now to try another substrate ...let's wait and hope all the plants grow nicely...
here is some updates:
i added more plants, 5 micro crabs and 20 tiger shrimp, i also removed oto fish from there to another 6 gallon aquarium..so far so good, but i am not sure if the lights are enough( 2 x 15 watt tubes) that came with the tank when i bought it.. any ideas?


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## isais (Nov 28, 2009)

wow!!! that looks great. well done!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

What is the purple leaf plant shown in this pic? It makes a very nice addition to the greens of other plants.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

What is the purple leaf plant shown in this pic? It makes a very nice addition to the greens of other plants.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I wondered about the fine grassy thing right in the center of that picture(?). Is that something that I sent?

Maybe the purple thing is some kind of _Draceana_(?).


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

The purple plant is Cordyline Terminalis i think, and fine grass..i don't know the name of it and it's not something that you sent me...actualy i am just testing to see if they are going to grow in there, if not i 'll move them back to their original pot with soil...beside those couple plants i added also dwarf baby tears(house plant) on top of the right side filter to see if it can grow down and cover the sides of the filter.
The grass in that picture has a root similar to onion, and i got it from indoor plant shop, they didn't put any name on it so i don't know what it is...can anyone tell me that plant id?
Here is a picture:


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

I dont know what the grassy plant is, but I like it!


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I don't know what that is either. It doesn't look familiar at all to me(?). 

Cordylines might be good choices for this. They include some of those plants sold as faux aquatics which eventually die underwater, but might be grown in the same boggy conditions as true aquatics, so they should do well with their roots in the water.


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## Rob in Puyallup (Jul 2, 2009)

Hoppy said:


> What is the purple leaf plant shown in this pic? It makes a very nice addition to the greens of other plants.


Looks like a Ti plant to me.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

If Cordyline terminalis (Ti Plant) is the correct ID, I'm not sure how long you could keep this in a riparium. These plants get very tall. This is a pic from last semester of a Ti plant in the conservatory at UF.









Regardless of the eventual size, it does look good in there for now.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

cah925 said:


> If Cordyline terminalis (Ti Plant) is the correct ID, I'm not sure how long you could keep this in a riparium.


I removed that plant to a pot, there was no problem at all, it actually started to grow a new leaf..
i added new plants: 
Nephthytis(syngonium podophyllum).
Dracaena Sanderiana.
and Dieffenbachia maculata.
For the live stock i added 1 rainbow shark and two dwarf orange crayfish.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Updated pics.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

That's looking good! One of the plants I wanted to try sometime is the syngonium podophyllum. It looks like it will be a good one for adding an interesting leaf shape and color combination.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That's looking great. It has turned into a real wild jungle in there. It will be interesting to see what that _Diffenbachia_ does, and the _Syngonium_ too. Did you plant the aluminum plant (_Pilea carderei_) in a planter cup? Those grow well too on the Nano Trellis Raft. You might try that as the aluminum plant grows tall enough to take cuttings from the top. You just have to enlarge the notches in the raft insert to accommodate the fatter stem of that plant. 

I like the effect of the duckweed and the floating _Aponogeton_ leaves.

Is that one on of those little _Cambarellus_ crayfish? Those are super cute.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hey that was my 2,000th post!


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Hoppy said:


> One of the plants I wanted to try sometime is the syngonium podophyllum.


I just got that one today, according to the label: easy to grow, temp 65F-80F, low light, growth rate medium.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

hydrophyte said:


> Did you plant the aluminum plant (_Pilea carderei_) in a planter cup? Those grow well too on the Nano Trellis Raft.
> Is that one on of those little _Cambarellus_ crayfish? Those are super cute.


No i didn't, i used the nano trellis raft...yes its _Cambarellus_ crayfish..they are funny to watch when chasing the shrimp.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

hydrophyte said:


> Hey that was my 2,000th post!


Easy on the key board:tongue:


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## isais (Nov 28, 2009)

Wow this tank is cool. I love the jungle look to it and the orange crayfish are a cool contrast


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

isais said:


> Wow this tank is cool. I love the jungle look to it and the orange crayfish are a cool contrast


Thanks, i am going to try breeding them in there...the rainbow shark also looks great on the white sand, it is all black with red fins..i couldn't take picture of it at this time.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Nay updates on this baby? How are those crays doing?


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

hydrophyte said:


> Nay updates on this baby? How are those crays doing?


Everything was doing great, then i decided to turn it to an aquarium..but in the near future i am thinking to make a wider and rimless riparium, probably a 75 gallon.
i lost 2 crayfish, i think due to molting stress, but i still have 1 female that had eggs ander the swimers legs, i don't know if they hatched or not, maybe the black ghost knife fish took care of them at night :icon_frow.


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