# My shallow, deep, riparium style chocolate Puddle



## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

Hi everyone, 
After having been Taken in by the whole immersed planting and riparium style tanks on here and one awesome one on a forum over here in the uk, I thought I'd hang up my high tech gear, sell off my equipment and go for this. 

Tank is lxdxh 120x70x30cm on a homemade stand. 

Here is the tank on day of delivery 










And sat on the cabinet 









I have purchased shower/bath suction caddies to use as hang on planters which I'm only planning on using in the rear right corner. I'd like that part full of immersed plants. 
I've currently got some cyperus alternifolius going in the planters, and will possibly try to squeeze in a peace Lilly but will be having a large echinodorus growing right out of the water in that same corner. 
Hardscape is redmoor wood and as a substrate I'll be using John innes top soil capped with columbo flora base. 

Lighting is an ati sunpower 4x54 w but am only using two tubes and having it suspended 3 feet above water level. 
Filtration will just be a small eheim 2213 but I don't want fast flow, I'm aiming for little if any water changes. 

Below water will be crypts, mainly wendtii, rotala rotundafolia,,juncus repens, some smaller echinodorous species and various mosses. 

In their ill be keeping chocolate gouramis ( hence the name chocolate Puddle) shrimp and some corys. 










Cabinet varnished and tank filled but very muddy as the hosepipe went on a dance spree 









Will pop up some more pics tomorrow of how it's progressing as its been filled and running two weeks. The cyperus has gone mental already and I've had to raise the light unit. 


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## duff (Feb 26, 2006)

What a beautiful tank you have! And those shower caddy's are perfect. Looking forward to seeing your updates.


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## AirstoND (Jun 17, 2011)

duff said:


> What a beautiful tank you have! And those shower caddy's are perfect. Looking forward to seeing your updates.


 
Never thought of the shower caddy, thanks!


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## sockfish (Jul 11, 2007)

Love that tank--did you build the stand for it?

sox


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## Shimagoma (May 15, 2012)

ah so cool! cant wait for an update


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## schoolzoo (Mar 23, 2012)

Great idea for the shower cadies  I think I'll try that too.


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## PaulG (Oct 10, 2010)

Hi Alistair,

Tom's tank is on here too, which I assume is the one you're talking about!

I'm Morgan Freeman over on UKAPS.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That tank is a great shape for a riparium. It will look a lot like a pond all set up.


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## AirstoND (Jun 17, 2011)

hydrophyte said:


> That tank is a great shape for a riparium. It will look a lot like a pond all set up.


Yeah, when are u going to add the banjo playing, talking frog.


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

Thanks everyone for the positive comments so far. I was looking for hanging planters but just doesn't seem to be anything so with a bit of searching online I found the shower caddies and they are perfect. Would have preferred deeper ones but were out of stock. 

The cabinet was handmade yes and hi paulg. Good to see you on here too. 

@ hydrophyte that's great coming from you as its your blogs and posts that clued me up on suitable riparium style plants and how to go about planting etc thank you. 

The tank is coming along great, much of the planting has been delayed due to lots of cory fry. A plant I transferred over was covered in eggs and I genuinely didn't think they'd survive with the tank being recently set up but they're all doing great. 
I have some rotala rotundafolia, juncus repens, mosses, needle leaf java fern and java fern trident with a couple of crypts currently planted underwater. Not much yet but my order of tropica plants arrives tomorrow so it will hopefully all be filled in. 
I have an E.cordifolius just infront of the cyperus Alternifolius in the corner which is just breaking water so will hopefully blend into the cyperus. I never realised how quick this stuff grows though. It's already a good 60cm plus in height. 

Here's a couple of pics of how the tanks looking at present 







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Hopefully the crypts etc will arrive tomorrow to cover most of the substrate, and need to get looking for other plants to add in with the cyperus. 

Thanks for looking so far


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## duff (Feb 26, 2006)

Beautiful Alastair-T! Maybe trimming some of the taller cyperus would help or switching it out for the Dwarf variety? What type of crypts are you adding? (sounds like you have a lot coming tomorrow!)


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

duff said:


> Beautiful Alastair-T! Maybe trimming some of the taller cyperus would help or switching it out for the Dwarf variety? What type of crypts are you adding? (sounds like you have a lot coming tomorrow!)


Thanks Duff, I do actually trim the cyperus but it's sending out new stems constantly. I've looked for the dwarf variety but had no luck so far. 

I'm adding lots of cryptocoryne wendti green, the wendtii tropica, marsilea hursulata, the very tall eleocharis, so it will flow along the route of the filter. I've also had a bag of the new ada Amazonia arrive to add as some of my current substrate wasn't deep enough too keep my topsoil under but must say I'm really not impressed as it contained lots of bits of glass and what looks like quartz too. 
This is what I pulled from just a litre of it 



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## mcqueenesq (Aug 29, 2011)

Fantastic!


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## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

Awesome!


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

Just a quick update on hoe things are progressing, would like some ideas on smaller riparium/marginal plants as the cyperus is just growing way too tall no matter how much i trim the stuff. Anyone help at all??

i have finally added my first lot of my chocolate gouramis and they love it, they seem much more at home in this set up than my high tech tank, and have really coloured up well 


Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr

and two shots of the tank now as its currently looking. i still need to add in some more crypt varieties but my echinodorous cordifolius is sendind some lovely leaves above the water. Havent taken any shots of these yet though 

Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr

and my favourite shot 


Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr

will be adding to the chocco collection shortly by another 5 and hopefully will be having a total of 15 in.

Any ideas on smaller riparium plants would be great. Thanks everyone


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## Warlock (Feb 28, 2012)

really cool!!


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

Warlock said:


> really cool!!


Thanks warlock, I love the shallower tanks, and getting quite tempted to stick in co2 on this but holding back as its doing well with no water changes so far 


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## Andrew H (Nov 17, 2011)

Awesome


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## Warlock (Feb 28, 2012)

ps.. where did ya get the tank from?


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## schoolzoo (Mar 23, 2012)

Very pretty tank  I love how natural it looks.


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## xenxes (Dec 22, 2011)

Wow this is beautiful 

Lol @ "chocolate puddle"


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## sso (Jun 2, 2012)

now i want a tank like that. 

looks really nice, should be great later,2-6 months later particularily.


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

Thanks Andrew, and warlock I had it made by a guy local ish to me. I'm actually having a 130cmx130cm made soon to replace this. 

Cheers xenxes, I thought the name fitted quite well with it's inhabitants ha ha. 

Sso I'm not used to the non co2 slower growth, although it is doing well with the ada soil and the occasional dry ferts popped in. Not sure if I should have put this in the low tech section 

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## crazydaz (Mar 18, 2007)

Bro! Nice job, and I love the dimensions! You really need to put this on the "Journal" forum, man!  You've done a heck of a job, especially for being a non-CO2.

Subscribed, buddy! Looking forward to watching this fill in!!


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## vincenz (Jan 29, 2012)

This will look great once it's filled in, great job on it. Those riparium plants are really going nuts.


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## IWANNAGOFAST (Jan 14, 2008)

this is awesome!


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Alastair-T said:


> Just a quick update on hoe things are progressing, would like some ideas on smaller riparium/marginal plants as the cyperus is just growing way too tall no matter how much i trim the stuff. Anyone help at all??
> 
> i have finally added my first lot of my chocolate gouramis and they love it, they seem much more at home in this set up than my high tech tank, and have really coloured up well
> 
> ...


Really nice!


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

crazydaz said:


> Bro! Nice job, and I love the dimensions! You really need to put this on the "Journal" forum, man!  You've done a heck of a job, especially for being a non-CO2.
> 
> Subscribed, buddy! Looking forward to watching this fill in!!



Thanks mate. Just had Kyle switch it to the journals section now. 
I'm really impressed with how it's going considering I've never done a non co2 tank before and your comments give me even more encouragement to keep at it. 
Will be hopefully upgrading it to a bigger size, still just 30cm high though  



vincenz said:


> This will look great once it's filled in, great job on it. Those riparium plants are really going nuts.


I'm really hoping so thanks, and two the riparium plants are going a little too mental for my liking now. They are a good 100cm tall do looking for alternatives. Everything's fine underwater wise I'm hsooy with it all 



IWANNAGOFAST said:


> this is awesome!


Wow thanks mate. I'll try to keep it up then ha ha. 

And thanks Hydrophyte. It was your tanks that helped me decide to add some planters as a bit of a change to the norm. 

Everything's growing in really nicely now, the mosses are looking great, various crypts are really taking shape and growing at a much quicker rate than I thought too. The rotala rotundafolia looks amazing. 
Here's a runner from my echinodorous schlueteri leopard that I let grow out if the water which has grown off into the emerged part and has started flowering 









Pitty they only last a day or two 

Have added another 8 chocolate gouramis and these are very tiny at the moment. I'd say 1.5cm at present and are doing great, their behaviour in numbers is great to watch. Will try to snap some pics of them all together.

I've also got 20 crystal black shrimp coming tonight too which I'm really looking forward too. Any idea which is less restrictive flow wise in the intake, course sponge or the meshed shrimp guards?? 


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Tank is super awesome sir. I love how you didn't neglect the water section but didn't do a whole lot either. Most only have minimal planting on bottom, or its a mess of a scape. This is the prefect balance.


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## vincenz (Jan 29, 2012)

You're going to put shrimp in that tank? I would be wary of the gouramis making quick work of them, to be honest. Unless you have the funds to reboot the population every week-- in that case, nevermind what I said.


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## bitFUUL (May 14, 2010)

Stunning rip!


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## FooDog (Jun 28, 2010)

Man I would love to sit down and eat dinner right next to that!


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

vincenz said:


> You're going to put shrimp in that tank? I would be wary of the gouramis making quick work of them, to be honest. Unless you have the funds to reboot the population every week-- in that case, nevermind what I said.


 ha ha the chocolate gouramis leave the shrimp alone, their mouths are a bit too small, although i think theyll have a good go at any newborns they may come across but theres lots of moss and hdinig places for any young shrimp that ill hopefully get



talontsiawd said:


> Tank is super awesome sir. I love how you didn't neglect the water section but didn't do a whole lot either. Most only have minimal planting on bottom, or its a mess of a scape. This is the prefect balance.


Thanks mate, i didnt want to add too much below as it would look out of place i think, but it is growing in much thicker now. ive used minimal plant species, mainly crypts and mosses and the rotala




bitFUUL said:


> Stunning rip!


Thanks mate 



FooDog said:


> Man I would love to sit down and eat dinner right next to that!


FooDog its a joy to have people round and pull the table out so the tank is at the end, i neglect my sofas as i find myself sat on a dining room chair staring at it all evening. I love it.


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

Heres just a bit of an update, pics of the inhabitants, and how the tanks looking now.

Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr


Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr

have just added 10 licorice gouramis, unsure of which species until they colour up and mature a bit more but there cool to watch and fit in perfectly 

Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr

king shrimp telling his co workers which bits to clean today :hihi::hihi:

Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr

and just a couple of the tank as it looks at the moment.

Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr


Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr

Thanks for looking :icon_mrgr


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## ophiophagus (Mar 5, 2012)

Wow great job on this tank! Looks fantastic. I've been considering switching my 20long over to something similar to this. I wish I could afford a tank like your though. It might not fit with the theme of your plants but I really like Fittonia verschaffelti in riparium planters it a really neat looking plant


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## Heartnet (Sep 13, 2009)

Sorry if I missed it, how tall does the cyperus get? Any insects settle in yet? (Springtails etc.) 

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## BoxxerBoyDrew (Oct 16, 2005)

This is a TOTALLY AWESOME Rip!!!!! Dimensions are GREAT!!! I LOVE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE and the FISH are GREAT TOO!!!! I would LOVE to see it in person, but you are a bit far to drive to! lol Subscribed 4sure!!!

Keep up the AWESOME WORK!!!
Drew


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

Thanks for the great comments so far, and boxxerboy yes just a bit too far ha ha. 
Well about time I updated this thread, have been in hospital for a while so when I finally got back, the cyperus was just totally overgrown so out it came to become a potted houseplant. 

This is how it looked before hand 









I have lost two chocolate gouramis unfortunately, one was a jumper which I've never ever had with them before, and one who never grew more than about 1n half cm and was getting thinner by the day and eventually laying on the bottom so I put him to sleep. 

Here's part of my school of them happily swimming around 









I love their behaviour, full of character when in a bigger group. 
The licorice gouramis have settled in brilliantly too although they are near impossible to take a shot with my phone but got a pic of one of the lesser coloured females 








Definitely not an easy fish to keep as will only take live foods but all my others are very happy chomping on banana worms too. 

So with the cyperus being taken out of the planters, they were replaced but with plants on both sides of the tank. 
The new plants are 
Calathea-prayer plants 
Peace lilys
A beautiful antherium lily with purple spathes and some pothos that is placed on the glass at the back with just it's roots in the water so it will trail across the back. 

Heres how it's all looking now. 









I'm really happy with it now and the growth underwater I'm really happy with. 

My various shrimp have also taken to making their homes inside the planters amongst the large roots so hopefully I'll have lots of babies soon. I always saw buried shrimp but think the chocco's ate the new borns.

Inhabitants are now: 
35 red cherry shrimp 
10 or so CBS/bee shrimp 
11 chocolate gouramis 
10 licorice gouramis 
1 otto 
And 4 baby albino corys. 

I'm possibly going to add in a large E.radicans to the left to balance it out but thinking on that one just yet. 

Thanks again for looking and the positive comments so far 


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## ps3steveo (Apr 22, 2011)

Looking good dude, are you talking about Toms Bucket O Mud in the UK?


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

ps3steveo said:


> Looking good dude, are you talking about Toms Bucket O Mud in the UK?



That's the one mate. That's some of his emmersed plants in mine 


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## izabella87 (Apr 21, 2012)

u have a delightful chocolate puddle !


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## ps3steveo (Apr 22, 2011)

So you on TFF dude?


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## plantedpufferfreak (Feb 2, 2010)

LOVE this! I just started keeping chocolate gouramis and i am in love with them


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

This is looking great!

I like the way those _Calathea_ mimic the crypts underwater with their wavy leaf margins.


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

izabella87 said:


> u have a delightful chocolate puddle !


thank you Izabella, think that sums it up



ps3steveo said:


> So you on TFF dude?


hey bud, no im sure i registered on there but tried all my emails etc and not so need to. i gather you are then? should i register. i recognize the username off ukaps though????



plantedpufferfreak said:


> LOVE this! I just started keeping chocolate gouramis and i am in love with them


thanks dude, they truly are amazing fish, and if kept in conditions similar to their natural habitat they colour up beautifully and display some great behaviour, true gems IMO



hydrophyte said:


> This is looking great!
> 
> I like the way those _Calathea_ mimic the crypts underwater with their wavy leaf margins.


Hey thanks mate, i read up tons on all your blogs before i ventured into the riparium side of the hobby, still do now looking for other plants to add in, currently in the process of making some trellis raft for along the back of the tank for emmersed glosso and java fern :wink:. Nothing like that available ready made over here


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Alastair-T said:


> Hey thanks mate, i read up tons on all your blogs before i ventured into the riparium side of the hobby, still do now looking for other plants to add in, currently in the process of making some trellis raft for along the back of the tank for emmersed glosso and java fern :wink:. Nothing like that available ready made over here


That would look real good with some aluminum plant or _Pilea_ 'Moon Valley' on trellis rafts. I think you have those plants available over there. They are common here as houseplants.


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Great looking tank. I love the dimensions


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

GMYukonon24s said:


> Great looking tank. I love the dimensions


Thanks mate, i like them too, i was actually contemplating going all out and swapping to a 5ft by 4ft but will keep wit this as its settling in brilliantly, plus i think id have to get shot of my dining table if i did. its much bigger in person 





hydrophyte said:


> That would look real good with some aluminum plant or _Pilea_ 'Moon Valley' on trellis rafts. I think you have those plants available over there. They are common here as houseplants.


funny you should mention that, two plants i was thinking of using on rafts are _Pilea cardierei which i saw you post a shot of on ukap many moons ago and creeping jenny. Maybe these in place of emmersed java ferns as i have the pothos which is growing well along the rim at the back.
its a shame i cant finf that shpagnum moss bedding that you use too. would be great to help emmersed mosses on the rafts 
_


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Actually I didn't have such good results with the sphagnum moss; it started to rot in the tank. Live emersed aquatic moss can be good on the trellis rafts, but I think it is better for riparium setups that are all closed up and with high-humidity.

If you are looking to add any other additional plants I think a couple of planters with _Spathiphyllum_ peace lily would be good. I like to use peace lily with other tropical-looking plants because the plain green foliage works nicely as a foil for plants with patterned or brightly-colored leaves, such as that _Calathea_. 

Creeping Jenny is another good one. That plant is best planted in a hanging planter, then trained to grow forward across the trellis raft. It makes a real nice dense low carpet of foliage that way. There was a guy from the UK named Luke who had a little setup with real nice_ Lysimachia_ creeping Jenny in it.


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## crazydaz (Mar 18, 2007)

Friggin fantastic, Alastair!!! You have inspired me to allow for some emergent growth in my future tank! It is just so perfect!


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## Obakemono (Dec 23, 2011)

Simply an amazing tank dude! Keep the pics coming!


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

This kind of low and broad tank is perfect for a riparium. With the extra front-to-back depth you can still get light into the underwater portion and the proportions make a really pleasing mini pond effect.


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## shrimpNewbie (May 6, 2011)

Beautiful tank


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## mayphly (Jul 20, 2010)

I just gotta say your tank is Freakin' amazing!!! :thumbsup:


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## globali (May 29, 2010)

That is huge wow, very very nice & interesting for view.


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## ps3steveo (Apr 22, 2011)

Its not a bad site mate, seeing as your in the UK its worth it tho, I'm currently undergoing negotiations to build Tom a custom lighting unit for his Bucket O Mud.


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## dannylill1981 (Apr 11, 2012)

awesome tank mate, always nice to see a fellow brit with a stunning tank.


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## fusiongt (Nov 7, 2011)

Really great work! I want to ask, do you know of any good flowering plants that would grow emersed in a tank like you have? Preferably ones that grow very tall but instead flower nicely. I don't know anything about real garden plants but have a new setup where I think something like what you've done would work with


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

hydrophyte said:


> Actually I didn't have such good results with the sphagnum moss; it started to rot in the tank. Live emersed aquatic moss can be good on the trellis rafts, but I think it is better for riparium setups that are all closed up and with high-humidity.
> 
> If you are looking to add any other additional plants I think a couple of planters with _Spathiphyllum_ peace lily would be good. I like to use peace lily with other tropical-looking plants because the plain green foliage works nicely as a foil for plants with patterned or brightly-colored leaves, such as that _Calathea_.
> 
> Creeping Jenny is another good one. That plant is best planted in a hanging planter, then trained to grow forward across the trellis raft. It makes a real nice dense low carpet of foliage that way. There was a guy from the UK named Luke who had a little setup with real nice_ Lysimachia_ creeping Jenny in it.


Im just testing out some emmersed aquatic moss out on a raft along the back to see how it does, ive grown moss emmesresed before and it did well but this is a different species so only time will tell. Ive actually got some peace lilly plants in there now, one amongst the calathea and a small one next to the antherium lily.



crazydaz said:


> Friggin fantastic, Alastair!!! You have inspired me to allow for some emergent growth in my future tank! It is just so perfect!


Hey Daz hope ur good dude, go for it mate, nothing quite beats the transition of above and below foliage it really does look great. Ill be watching for your future journal then ha ha.



Obakemono said:


> Simply an amazing tank dude! Keep the pics coming!


Thanks mate, will keep them coming and will pop some up at the end of this.



hydrophyte said:


> This kind of low and broad tank is perfect for a riparium. With the extra front-to-back depth you can still get light into the underwater portion and the proportions make a really pleasing mini pond effect.


Exactly my saying, a mini pond!! Im going bigger though roud:



shrimpNewbie said:


> Beautiful tank


Thanks mate


mayphly said:


> I just gotta say your tank is Freakin' amazing!!! :thumbsup:


Thank you mayphly :icon_bigg


globali said:


> That is huge wow, very very nice & interesting for view.


tis pretty big, much larger in person the iphone doesnt give a true view of its size.



dannylill1981 said:


> awesome tank mate, always nice to see a fellow brit with a stunning tank.


cheers Danny 


fusiongt said:


> Really great work! I want to ask, do you know of any good flowering plants that would grow emersed in a tank like you have? Preferably ones that grow very tall but instead flower nicely. I don't know anything about real garden plants but have a new setup where I think something like what you've done would work with


Hi Fusion, yes, aquatic plants such as hygrophila corymbosa produce lovely small purple flowers, echinodorus species ive had flower a few times, house plants such as peace lillys, antherium lilys, just make sure you dont submerge them too much, and bacopa also flowers well. 

heres a spathe from the antherium plant on the left 







[/url]
and it flowers quite a bit now its settled in, im just waiting on the peace lilys to throw some more leaves out and flower.

Will pop up some updated shots of the tank today :icon_bigg Thanks for all the kind comments


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

Heres just a couple of updated pics ive taken, and also a quick iphone video at feeding time, excuse the food bits in the water.

emmersed Echinodorus Schlueteri Leopard 




































not too much change really other than the cypts filling out much thicker, and most of the female shrimp are buried with eggs. i wish the fish would show when im taking pics though.

and heres a quick video clip 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saNU-ey-pOs&hd=1





Thanks


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## izabella87 (Apr 21, 2012)

Don't be surprised if one day u see a iguana in there, you close to havin a jungle!


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## Ashok (Dec 11, 2006)

That's a stunning tank!


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

izabella87 said:


> Don't be surprised if one day u see a iguana in there, you close to havin a jungle!


Ha yeah that would look great. I like the jungle effect above. 



Ashok said:


> That's a stunning tank!


Thanks Ashok  

Will get some close up pics and angles at some point over the weekend but not planning on adding to it now as I'm going bigger. 



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## micr0 (Aug 27, 2011)

just gorgeous. Very well done!


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## zoo minsi (Jan 1, 2006)

absolutely love this tank, this is motivating me to do something similar. I was curious though are you still only using two bulbs or are you running all 4 now? I bought a similar lighting fixture and was curious how much light it pushes into the water portion seeing as its a few feet above the tank.


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

micr0 said:


> just gorgeous. Very well done!


Thank you  



zoo minsi said:


> absolutely love this tank, this is motivating me to do something similar. I was curious though are you still only using two bulbs or are you running all 4 now? I bought a similar lighting fixture and was curious how much light it pushes into the water portion seeing as its a few feet above the tank.


Thanks zoominsi, it's getting some great feedback. 
As for the lighting, I have had all 4 on but back down to 2 as there is a lot of sunlight coming through the patio door onto the tank at present. It's raised about 3 and a half foot from the water surface. all 4 wouldbt be a problem if there is a fair bit of above water foliage as they create lots of shade. I just have to be a little careful with how shallow it is. 
They push ALOT of light into the water mainly down to how the reflectors are designed. I don't get much light spread outside of the tank really compared to other t5 units. 
hope that helps a bit 

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## zzrguy (Jul 11, 2012)

Really nice set up


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

Thanks zzrguy I love the zero maintenance aspect of this tank 


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## Elppan (Aug 21, 2012)

Oh wow I LOVE this, especially the plants in the shower caddies! Oh all the fun ideas I have now haha. It looks like a mini pond and it is fantastic.


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## NQuaday (Jul 14, 2011)

Beautiful tank!


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

Thank you both of you, I'm very happy with it, it's come a long way in a really short time, and will be updating with some photos and videos this week. 
Just preparing to order a bigger one  


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## NWA-Planted (Aug 27, 2011)

This tank is sweet looking, I absolutely love these low height tanks!


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## CryptKeeper54 (Apr 14, 2012)

Love your tank. Keep up the good work. Your crypts look awesome. Very nice growth.


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## bitFUUL (May 14, 2010)

Very nice looking tank! I just got something with similar dimensions, but smaller.
Are you still using the Eheim 2213? Is it enough filter for all that tank?


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

NWA-Planted said:


> This tank is sweet looking, I absolutely love these low height tanks!


Thanks mate, is a big change from my big high tech tanks I've been used to keeping. Even if I go back to co2 I'll still stay shallow


CryptKeeper54 said:


> Love your tank. Keep up the good work. Your crypts look awesome. Very nice growth.


thanks dude, for a low tech the crypts are fantastic. I've just gotten some new camera gear so will take lots of shots and close ups with the macro lens etc too. Should give off a better view than the iPhone lol 


bitFUUL said:


> Very nice looking tank! I just got something with similar dimensions, but smaller.
> Are you still using the Eheim 2213? Is it enough filter for all that tank?


Sweet!! You doing a journal?? 

The eheim 2213 was fine, especially with the duck bill end which gave a greater velocity. I use the filter mainly for flow more than anything and mechanical, as the huge roots from the rip plants help to take in any excess nitrates ammonia etc but as the plants have grown in so thick I changed to a fluval 306 but it's set on half flow. Mainly full of filter floss. The wide outlet helps given the front to back depth of the tank.

Just a quick snap taken this afternoon when I had a spare minute


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

Just thought I'd throw up a few pics of how the tanks looking as of last night 

































I've got breeding chocolate gouramis, which I'm really happy with and am hoping the female doesn't spit the young too early.
Just got a little hydra problem but that'll soon be sorted. 
Will be uploading a full hd video this week when I have time showing all the inhabitants etc. 
thanks for looking 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Elppan (Aug 21, 2012)

I love this so much. Wish I had room for something like this. Someday!


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## EnigmaticGuppy92 (Jan 31, 2012)

inspiring very nice


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## sessionthree (Aug 24, 2012)

Truly outstanding! Nice job!


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

This is just an incredible tank. You have a lot to be proud of there.

Do you have a lot of the baby cories still?

How do you do filtration? (Sorry if this was already asked) 

What a beautiful setup. If you ever can enter this in a contest, please do. The only thing I would ever add to this would be froggies (one of my favorite animals).


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That looks awesome!


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

Very nice. Extremely creative and original. Good work.


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

Such a beautiful and imaginative tank!


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## zzrguy (Jul 11, 2012)

I can't stop coming back to look at it.


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

heres a pic update of the tank currently.....

antherium lily flowering 


Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr


Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr


Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr

some emmersed marsilia and hydrocotyle 


Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr

a few inhabitants 


Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr


Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr


Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr

and the tank as of tonight 


Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr


Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr


Untitled by Mr-T-, on Flickr

im really pleased with how this tank has grown in so fast and looking forward to building my 5ftx4ft soon to create an even bigger versin of this. Thanks everyone for your nice comments


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Great Job! That's beautiful


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## NWA-Planted (Aug 27, 2011)

This tank is just to cool!! Awesome work!

Sent from a dark corner in my happy place


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

Stunning! This is such inspiration for what I want to do with my 40B...and your photos of the tank inhabitants are spectacular!


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That's looking great. I love that grape purple spathe on that _Anthurium_.


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## crazydaz (Mar 18, 2007)

Excellent work buddy! It is pretty amazing how natural it looks....just let Nature do the work! Very well done, and I second Devin's comment regarding the purple spathe....too cool!!

Can hardly wait to see what you do with the 4'x5'!!


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## Obakemono (Dec 23, 2011)

OMG a 4x5 version of this? W O W...... 
Cannot wait and see how it turns out!


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## kingfisherfleshy (Jun 4, 2010)

I think you could use a tad more driftwood. 

Other than that - this is absolutely stunning. 

Correction, it is absolutely stunning, but that is what I would do with it.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

It seems this idea of a really big and broad riparium setup is popular. You guys should consider some of the big and robust and unusual plants, such as _Lasia spinosa_. for this kind of planting and a really dramatic effect.


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## andrewss (Oct 17, 2012)

outstanding work!


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

here are probably some of the final photos of this tank before I get the monster puddle in motion in January. 
It's astounded me the growth I've had from this tank having gone from high tech tanks to this. I've always had crystal clear water, rarely any plant deficiencies at all and the inhabitants really seem at home in this set up. 
As my friend said the other day when over, it's like a true piece of nature in my house which has given me the kick to try as well with the bigger one. ( which is even bigger than I originally was going to go  now 5ftx5ft ;-) 

Here's a few tank shots from today 





































And a few of its inhabitants.... Peculiar though that I've some reason ended up with two small yellow shrimp in here....excuse the brown moss which has now gone ( it was over shadowed by emerged plants) 

Mysteriously appearing yellows 



















There's also a black shrimp in here too but is near impossible to take a picture of. 










My fave bee shrimp which sadly passed away for some unknown reason the other day.... All tank stats were fine :-( 










I think it was partially due to a much bigger water change in prep for some crs that were being put in. Any thoughts??? 









Another peculiar patterned shrimp 









One of the male paro's 









And my favourite pic at the moment is of my male choccos in breeding season the colours are fantastic 











I've seen some amazing breeding behaviour over the weekend and even spotted a female with what appears to be a mouthful of fry so fingers crossed she survives with her babies. I've got no chance of catching her and putting her in a small tank with the amount of growth in it. 

Just like to say a big thank you to all the feedback everyone's given me on this tank so far. I will continue to give little updates until I begin the big one soon. 

Thanks  





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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

Make sure you link to it. As this was my favorite tank on TPT! Amazing job. 


MABJ's iDevice used for this message


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

MABJ said:


> Make sure you link to it. As this was my favorite tank on TPT! Amazing job.
> 
> 
> MABJ's iDevice used for this message


Thank you MABJ, it's my fave tank out of all my previous high techs.
Definitely will link to my new journal when it's started too. Just in the process of building a lighting rig for the new one. 


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

Trying to conceive where I would fit a tank like this lmao. It would be a terrific centerpiece to a modern living room/office. You'd just have to change the riparium plants a little. This really gives a natural feel to the inhabitants. 


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

MABJ said:


> Trying to conceive where I would fit a tank like this lmao. It would be a terrific centerpiece to a modern living room/office. You'd just have to change the riparium plants a little. This really gives a natural feel to the inhabitants.
> 
> 
> MABJ's iDevice used for this message


Lol I didn't think about space when I originally did this one, which sadly now has been stripped and taken down and is now on show in a local fish shop. 

The new build has started on the bigger one which ill link to very soon when I start up the thread . 

Just like to say thanks to everyone who contributed to this journal. I hope the next one can be as good. Settled for a 4ftx4ftx40cm high...


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

It'll be great . I'll be following. Be sure to link it.


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## AdamF (Jul 30, 2012)

Wasn't going to post, but came back after I realised just how awesome I thought this was.
Sweet look mate !


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## crazydaz (Mar 18, 2007)

Incredible tank, my friend!! Simply brilliant!

I look forward to following the new set up, eagerly! It sounds almost exactly like the dimensions on my tank, give or take a few inches on the height! Very cool! I'm interested to see how you will use the space.


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## izabella87 (Apr 21, 2012)

Can't wait to see new one!!


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## scapegoat (Jun 3, 2010)

incredible


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I look forward to seeing the new setup!


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## tomfromstlouis (Apr 2, 2012)

The best thing to do is thank you Alastair for taking us along this journey. We enjoyed your sharing the best.


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## LonghornGardens (Jul 26, 2013)

I wonder what happened to this guy and his tanks.


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