# JG's 29G Riparium



## fish-aholic (Dec 23, 2007)

looks great. i dont really know much about ripariums but this really makes em want to start one


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Good job!
The riparium idea is finally catching on! Very cool.
Sewingalot is setting one up too.
I hope you weren't murdering fish with that knife in the last pic :hihi:


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## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

My favorite part of this post is the fact that your wife let you set this up in exchange for her getting dwarf gouramies. You are a lucky man! 

Tank looks great. Be sure to update once you get the emersed plants in there. What livestock are you going to put in there?


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Thanks! I'm sure its going to catch on more. 

CL: No fish murdering. Chopping up worms for a blue ram. 

Frosty: This IS the dwarf gourami tank. :O

Yea I got a little ways to go before I leave it alone to grow. Finishing the underwater section, background, heater, filter will be on my next hit list.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

That's a great start! I suggest trying for something to keep the water circulating around the tank. I have one of the tiny little Petco filters that people use for CO2 diffusers in my small riparium. I put the sponge back in the filter chamber to try to help keep the water clear. It works fine. In the other tank I ended up with a Boyu "koralia" copy powerhead, which also is working very well. Both of those are very black, so they become invisible due to my use of a black tank back.

If you have a Home Depot near you, it is fun to browse their house plant area for the 3-4 inch pots with nicely colored leaf plants, just to try them out. I'm convinced a lot of them will work well here.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Oh crap. Even yours looks a lot better than mine. I need to start over. I'll make you jealous, yet. ;P Looks really great, MrJG. The dracenas are a nice touch.


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## Phil Edwards (Jul 18, 2003)

Again, the Carolina Aquarists do a bang up job! That looks really nice JG.


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## pandapr (Nov 10, 2008)

Please stop!! LOL
my brother has a 29g in his garage, not using it. I have some lights here. Tropical climate year long in here... Ohh noo! 
wife is going to kill me! 
I'm starting research LMAO !!


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hey that's looking great. 

Those _Dracaena_ are nice. I haven't tried any of them and I am interested to hear how they do in those riparium planters. _Dracaena_ are among the plants sold as faux aquatics at pet stores and I get the impression that the aquatic plant nurseries might grow them in the same semi-hydroponic conditions as emersed aquatics, so they might do alright in there.

That will be good to get more stuff growing on those Trellis Rafts for some more visual depth and also to obscure the cup planters.

That dwarf mondo grass is another interesting find. I like how you used it around the bases of larger plants in the planter cups. I have tried to apply other carpeting plants like emersed _Marsilea_ and hairgrass in a similar manner without much luck. But _Ophiopogon_ is a much sturdier plant so it might work well that way. I need to watch out for some of the dwarf stuff. It looks like there are many divisions in full pot of mondo grass.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Hoppy: the hagen mini elite filters? The tank that you have one running in... how much water volume is in there? I'd considered one but wasn't sure if it would be enough filtration for keeping a gourami trio in there. I guess I could do 2 of the elites if they push enough water. 
I've been scoping some plants at the depot as well. I got the dracenaes and mondo grass from there and noticed they had a ton of sweet flag there too. I think thats a good part of the fun of these (even though I just got started) is the fact that there are lots of plants that will possibly do well in there that we wouldn't consider otherwise.
I'll definitely be going with the black background now which conveniently requires another home depot visit. It just does too great of a job at hiding the hardware and planting cups.

Phil/sewingalot: Thanks! I'm sure yours will look great soon. 

pandapr: Go for it! Its a whole new game with so many new plants to try out. 

hydrophyte: I'd like to hope they will survive in there (Dracaena), I do know from what I've read that they will eventually get too large if they do well but it adds an interesting bit of color for the moment. I think that is going to be one of the biggest challenges layout wise in using the smaller tank. Finding plants that will not quickly outgrow the tank and throw off the scale.
On the rafts I have some ideas for a few things that I'll work on soon and I'll be painting the background black which should help. 
The dwarf mondo grass came from home depot and yes there were tons of divisions once I got everything taken out, one of the nano rafts is stuffed with it right now although its a little hard to tell from my pics.


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## SearunSimpson (Jun 5, 2007)

Hey, defs looking good so far! I was just wondering though, what that other glowing goodness was in the tank the the right of it. 
Also, I've noticed that the light is very bright- do you think you'll have problems with algae on the white sand? Like, how sometimes white sand can get the green algal tinge to it.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

To the right is a 10G fern growout/breeding tank, then a 20 long, and a 2.5g. I'll have to try to get some pics of the whole room if I can frame it. 
And yea the light is ridiculously bright, I have no doubt that I'll probably encounter some algae problems. I can raise the light up another foot or so easy.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

MrJG said:


> Hoppy: the hagen mini elite filters? The tank that you have one running in... how much water volume is in there? I'd considered one but wasn't sure if it would be enough filtration for keeping a gourami trio in there. I guess I could do 2 of the elites if they push enough water.
> I've been scoping some plants at the depot as well. I got the dracenaes and mondo grass from there and noticed they had a ton of sweet flag there too. I think that's a good part of the fun of these (even though I just got started) is the fact that there are lots of plants that will possibly do well in there that we wouldn't consider otherwise.
> I'll definitely be going with the black background now which conveniently requires another home depot visit. It just does too great of a job at hiding the hardware and planting cups.


Yes, it's a Hagen mini elite, from Petco - I had a senior moment there when I couldn't remember the name. I use it in a 15H tank with about 6 gallons of water, and no fish. I doubt that it is sufficient filtration to keep fish healthy. My big riparium uses a reverse flow undergravel filter to keep the water clean, with a Catalina filter like a much bigger Hagen mini elite driving the water through the RFUG.

I agree that looking for new plants you would otherwise not give a second look at is half the fun of this. I'm spending quite a bit of time on google looking for plants too. Every time Hydrophyte drops another Latin plant name I google it, usually following links to lots of similar plants. This is definitely just what I wanted from my riparium - enjoyment all around.

If you don't have the tank back painted yet, consider getting http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=272& which is easy to apply and cheap.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

I was thinking the hagen deals would be a little small. I couldn't find a eheim aquaball 2206 at any of the normal places I order so I ended up getting a duetto 100 internal filter and a stealth 100w heater (was only 3 bucks more than the 50 so what the heck). I would have made a special order but I hate shipping charges and I needed bulbs, excel, and other stuff. I'm sure everyone does the same thing... a simple order grows into a massive beast very quickly. 

Hopefully I'll have time in the next couple of days to dig around in a few tanks for plants to populate the underwater area and paint the back of the tank... thanks for the link Hoppy but I'm going to stick with the roller.  

The hitchhiker stuff that came in the mondo grass is doing well in the raft and if it keeps it up I'll have to get some pics of it this weekend after the other stuff is done. Plants are settling in, starting to perk up, and turn their leaves to a more natural looking position. Can't wait to get back to work on it. :thumbsup:


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Do you plant to use a heater? I am thinking about doing a cool water tank to take on less thing out of the tank. I am not sure if the plants would respond to this as well, though. I can wait to see more pictures.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Yep heater + filter should be here on friday. I'm laying out of work today with the funk and I'm going to try to keep myself out of the fish room. I cleaned 4 tanks, 2 canisters, and trimmed the 40 breeder yesterday... so I just need to thin out the 10g hex a bit and find a few more crypt babies and I'm ready to plant this thing.

The BOD has approved the 30 breeder in the sun room. Its going to be nothing more than a holding/growout tank though so a journal is doubtful. This will let me thin out the planters and start working on some type of composition for the upper area as things grow out. I have some ideas on a few things I want to try out up there but I'll wait to see how it turns out before I share. 

So I'm here on the couch bundled up and trying not to put my arms in tanks today because I really need to rest... but its going to be hard.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I hope that you are feeling better. 

The 30 Breeder sounds like fun. It is handy to have all of that surface area to accommodate the emersed plants.


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## trackhazard (Aug 24, 2006)

How did I miss this?

Good start. Welcome to the club!

-Charlie


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

hydrophyte: Feeling a little better, actually came to work today... not getting much done though 

trackhazard: thanks man! You guys are setting the bar way up there so I'm trying to keep up. 

Just got a call that my package of goodies showed at our main office. Picking up more pebbles and paint on the way home from work. Can't wait to get crackin' on this thing tonight/tomorrow. 

If you guys have any techniques for replanting pots let me know, I think there are 1-2 that I'm not satisfied with that need it.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Glad you are better, too! I am having to start over with my riparium this weekend since I'll have to tear it down to move it. So I am interested in the re-potting techniques as well.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

I'd imagine there isn't really a graceful way to approach it. I'll try a few different ways and see what works out best...

And of course buying paint at home depot required a visit to the "outside" section and I bought more plants. Nothing special though just a small pot of Sweet flag and Creeping Jenny. 

In bigboxpetstore however I walked by the Top Fin "Live Plants" display and bought a small Peacock Fern (Selaginella wildenowii). Looks like its in good shape and I guess we'll see how it fares in the riparium.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I have repotted only a couple of my riparium plants, when I decided pool filter sand wasn't working well. All I did was gently loosen the soil, pour out most of it, then pour in new soil - Flourite. That seems to have worked well.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

If you have the Hydroton pellets and a gravel mixed together you can separate them again either by screening the material or by swirling around in a shallow container with water. The Hydroton is lighter and bigger so it will sort to the top with this treatment.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Yesterday I scooped some pool filter sand out of my bag, and found that I had dumped the removed sand from another tank into the bag after washing it. There were Hydroton pellets mixed in with it. When I put that mix into my tank and added water, the Hydroton pellets floated to the top! What is in those little things that makes them float? It sure makes separating them out very easy, but do they have balloons in them? And, I wonder if they have a value in a tank substrate.


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## trackhazard (Aug 24, 2006)

I cracked open one of the balls and it had a dark, coarse texture on the inside with a lot of void areas. The brown texture on the outside seems to be some kind of coating.

- Charlie


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Nice dig on the hydroton pellets they seemed pretty light to me but hadn't seen one float yet. 

So I've been hard at work today trying to shape this thing up a bit. Going to post a little update while I have a mid-day snack and take a break. In keeping with trying to make this as step-by-step as possible I'm trying to document everything. Apologies if the steps seem mundane to some. 

First things first I pulled the 30 breeder out of the garage and cleaned her up. Its drilled for a 1 inch bulkhead dead center of one side so I'll be keeping only enough water in it to keep the grow out planters wet. Also there is going to be only natural lighting for it since its sitting on the table in the sunroom anyway. 
Simple enough... I transfered all the planters to it before getting started to keep them out of my way. 

Got to planting and installing the new heater (stealth 100W) and filter (Duetto 100). I set the duetto to about medium to start with the adjustable dial. Seems to be more than adequate. I'd have preferred the power cable to be situated on the other side but what can ya do. The folder pads in it are bright blue and the canister is clear so I situated the return out to the front of the tank to help hide it more. I think with both installed it doesn't take away much from the daily viewing of the tank. The cool thing for a larger riparium is this filter can be placed horizontal or vertical. I would have preferred the later as well but just don't quite have enough water depth in the 29. 

Rescued all of the floating crypt, dwarf sag., and anubias 'petite' trimmings that I'd done earlier in the week and popped them in.

Planted:









Heater/filter detail:









Now thats done its time for paint. I left plenty of room behind the tank just for this case but if you are playing along at home paint the tank prior to setting anything up. Its just easier... trust me. 
I found a color sample (stealth black) and got one of those little $2.50 paint testers from home depot. Used a mini foam roller touchup kit (~$1.75) to apply. 
1st coat on:









Annnnnd while that dries a bit before the 2nd coat its time to do the thing I dread the most... a top layer of pebbles. I just generally don't like mixing/topping substrate because in the end they get all mixed in together but I think it turned out decent. It looks more like the bed of a stream now and of course this will help hide fallen leaves, aquasoil, planter substrate etc. 
I found this in the big box store:








Grain size:









I added this after planting with a plastic cup. I did rinse all of the pebbles well in a 5G bucket. I figured it would be less tedious to add it after than trying to plant around it. Added the layer slowly starting at the back and then used tweezers to gently uncover crypt leaves that had become covered. 

On a super positive note I've been running the 150W MH for ~5-6 hours a day (turn it on when I arrive home from work). Even without having filtration installed for the first week I see not even a speck of algae in the submersed area. The sand is just as clean as it was when I put it in. Maybe I have the fixture high enough that hopefully I will not have to worry about it. 

Thats it for now. Pic with pebbles in and 2nd coat of paint will be in the next update. Now its time to work on re-doing some planter cups and trying to come up with something nice looking for above water... while catching some college football. :thumbsup:


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I haven't tried to use pebbles yet, but if yours looks a lot better with them I may go to HD and buy a small bag of decorator pebbles. Are you convinced that they add enough in looks to compensate for the work?

My submersed plantings aren't really thriving either. It will be interesting to see how yours do. I think it is the low light, which is stopping algae growth, but also greatly reducing plant growth at the substrate level too. This doesn't really bother me yet, since I'm not really concentrating on that part yet - later.

Are you considering removing the rim? I really do like the appearance better rimless, but bigger tanks are really difficult to remove the rim on, in my opinion.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Hoppy I'll let you be the judge on how much the pebbles add to the composition. Thats kind of why it's been the most unnerving part of this so far for me. Once you dump those first couple of cups in its a ton of work to take it out. It looks more river bed like but at the same time it looks kinda like an old school natural planted aquarium (not that there is anything wrong with that!). 

It'll be a few weeks before I can make any determination on the submerged growth under the MH, lets just say I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 

As far as removing the rim honestly it scares me a bit. Not from the standpoint of degrading the structure but more like I might crack the tank. 

Another update will come later in the evening. Still working on the planters and trying to make it look good. I think with the plants I have mine is going to be more of a work in progress until things grow in a bit. 
I'm adding in a few things from my outside planters as an experiment...
Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’ - which might possibly not like the constant wet condition
"scottish moss" - I'm filling in a few planters with some cuttings to hide the planter base

Haven't even gotten to the creeping jenny or sweet flag pots yet! Wish I'd done a bigger tank.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

It looks to me like those pebbles might have a funny appearance in with that sand if you don't also add another gravel that is intermediate in size between the two.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

hydrophyte said:


> It looks to me like those pebbles might have a funny appearance in with that sand if you don't also add another gravel that is intermediate in size between the two.


I'm sure he won't mind picking them up, one pebble, two pebbles, three pebbles, etc.:hihi: I'm still picking up one Hydroton, two Hydroton, etc. from my accidental introduction of them. Why is it so easy to add things, and so hard to remove them? (Question for the Zen philosophers here.) Being a Physics major, I see it as an entropy problem.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Um yea there is no going back on that now. The ship has sailed so to speak. I'll let you guys decide when I post the final setup pics.... tomorrow. 

I generally have problems with motivational entropy.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Welp here we go. Yesterday we got a good start on finalizing the setup, I've now gone from 10 planters to only 5 being used in the tank and I think it cleaned things up nicely. 
A couple of things I didn't consider the first time I planted, do a better job obscuring the edges of the cups and pack the plants into the planter to help create some type of undergrowth under the larger leaved plants. I went back and studied everyone elses layouts to get a grasp on this. I think it made a big difference in beginning to get that sense that it truly looks like the bank of a stream. 
A few of the plants in the "final" setup are experimental stuff I grabbed from my summer planters just to see how they do. As well as the Peacock Fern (Selaginella wildenowii):








This one might require a higher humidity setup to get started, its already looking a little wilted. :O

Full on shot:


3/4 shot:









Closer in:









Farther out:









And a few detail shots starting with one of the pebbles. The crypts haven't quite settled back in yet from floating for 3 days. 




























Lots of pics I know. I've never been one to be able to just post a single shot. 

Now its time to just let things ride and grow in. A good number of the plants I have in there only have 2 leaves and are not nearly mature yet. I'll update as things change or if I have any news to report on the experimental plants. 

Cheers,
James


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

My wife was a bit undecided, to say the least, when I started my 65 gallon riparium. But, now she thinks I should try to get one in each of the senior citizen apartment main rooms, alongside the typical fish only tanks they have. She now admits that ripariums are absolutely beautiful and interesting. Looking at your more sparsely planted one reminds me that I want someday to try to simulate a fork in the river - big planted area in the middle, extending almost to the front glass, but open glass at each end of that area. I have been plotting how to best do that for several days now. I think that could be very interesting to look at. A bit like aquascapes with a central focus, and open all around it.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

So how do you think the pebbles topping the sand worked out? I'm kinda 50/50 on it right now. 
I think a riparium setup with a long shallow tank with generous flow from end to end would make an awesome hillstream loach biotope. Hmmm.... so many ideas.


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## FSM (Jan 13, 2009)

does the front glass get a lot of condensation that you have to clean off before taking pictures?


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## roybot73 (Dec 15, 2007)

Looking good! Do you have root tabs in the sand for the crypts?

That creeping Jenny is gonna take off like craaazy!


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

FSM: Open top = 0 condensation. Only drawback being that plants that require a higher humidity to grow aren't going to be on my list. 

roybot: Thanks man! No root tabs at the moment but I definitely need to get something under there, I should have either made small pockets of aquasoil or used some mineralized soil at the base of them... but I didn't.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

The small pebbles look very good in there. I may have to find some for at least one of my ripariums. I'm also torn about putting bigger rocks in there, and I haven't tried that yet.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Hoppy/Hydro: I know both you guys have mentioned dosing at or around EI levels in your rips. This is something I haven't even considered at this point with fresh aquasoil being my planter cup medium. Plants seem to be doing fine with the swords throwing new leaves but just wondering if I'm pushing what the aquasoil can provide as far as nutrients. 

I'm definitely going to be adding some root tabs this week for the crypts+sags but do you think water column dosing at this point (for me) is warranted?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Any plants that are growing hydroponically, those in the rafts for example, have to be fertilized somehow. I have several that fit that category, so that's the main reason for my dosing like it was a planted tank. Also, most of my planter cups are not fertilized, and they need to use the water for nutrients too. With the MTS in the cups, and no hydroponic growers I see no reason for water fertilizing. But, it would do no harm, as far as I can see.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Any updates on this baby? I'd be interested to know how those Dracaena have fared.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

How is this grouping looking, now that it has some growth?









It has the potential to be a really beautiful grouping, with the colors and leaf shapes.


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

Looks great! Something to work up to!


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Sorry for the lack of blow by blow updates on this one. Its been a busy month or so. That being said anything this tank has developed into has been pure survival of the fittest. I turn the MH on for 5-6 hours a day after work and throw in some dry ferts randomly. I hope to have some time over holiday to get a few things done with the tank... 

I have removed a few things that haven't fared well but surprisingly the Dracaena has done great so far. I have battled a little hair algae but I guess thats to be expected in any new setup. I've brought a little balance to the submerged area by adding lots of Naja Rorima or whatever the heck its called. Its not totally gone but it doesn't look like a wookie either. 

Snapshots, no clean glass with poopie lighting.


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

In the last picture, what is the plants with big oval'ish leaves? I really like how it looks.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That's looking pretty good. I'd say that that swordplant could use some ferts. Do you have any root tabs that you could stick in the planter with it?

Is that Draceana actually growing new roots inside the planter cup? It looks nice. What is that little fine-leaved thing to the left?


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Jake I'll have to go back in my notes to figure out which one that is...

The Draceana is definitely growing roots into the planter all the way down to the bottom. If you full size the tank shot you can actually see some of them. Its gained some height and the new chutes in the center have a greenish tinge to them. Pretty neat. 
That little mound of dark green on the left is a big wad of dwarf mondo grass that I've had floating in a trellis raft since I set up the tank. It seems to be fairing decently getting nutrients through the roots but I have noticed some browning of older leaves.

And yea I need some plant tabs. I put a base of aquasoil and mineralized soil in all of the cups but it couldn't hurt. I still have nothing under the submerged plants either...


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

It is still looking very good. The Draceana is really a nice find for a riparium - I may pick up one at PetSmart for my new riparium. Every time I see someone else's tank I end up wanting still another feature for mine. This is a very resistant strain of collectoritus.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hmm, if it already has Aquasoil and MTS I wonder why that swordplant won't grow. That should be just about that hardiest thing in there. Next time you are shooting pictures you might try to get a closeup of that plant I would be interested to see what it looks like.

Last night I grabbed some lucky bamboo (another _Draceana_ species) while shopping at a garden center. I used to think that that was such a tacky-looking plant and that I would never want to use it in a riparium setup, but then I saw that tank of *shrimpo*'s and noticed that it actually looks pretty good if planted in a group. It certainly ought to be hardy enough if it can grow on an office desktop in stagnant water. I just purchased a couple of long straight canes (not the twirly kind) and I should be able to chop each up into several little sections to sprout.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

I plan on doing a little work on this tank over the weekend. 

Looking back at the pictures of the plain sand substrate has me wanting to go back. Taking out the pebbles is going to be a really lame chore but its gotta be done. 

I rearranged planters and removed several things last weekend and started some new planters with new emersed cultures... needless to say its gonna be a bit before its picture worthy. 

On a positive note the underwater area is completely stable now and I'm experiencing no algae buildup... not even on the glass. I'm suspecting this is because the MH is hung so high above the tank. This might also explain the lack of totally explosive growth of the planter cups. Things are growing just not as quick as I expected. I plan on dropping it down at least 12 inches this weekend.

Freakin' pebbles. Arghhh.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

What do you plan to do with the substrate? I'm still sold on light colored sand for the substrate, just for the way it makes the underwater scene so much brighter. I think I might even like a plain substrate better than a planted one, for the same reason.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

I plan on just sticking with the sand.

I hate to do it though as all of the plants have settled in now and I have no doubt that they'll have to come up to get the pebbles out.


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

How is it coming along? I saw that you are useing an Ehiem aquaball, how is that working?


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

I wanted to try an aquaball but couldn't find one locally and didn't want to pay shipping for one item at the one place I found them available online. 
I ended up going with an Aquarium systems Duetto filter DJ100. Its been great so far and one of the cool things about it other than the fact that its slim and easily hidden is that it has an adjustable flow rate from 30gph to 90gph. Well that and its totally submersible and can stand up or be positioned on its side.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

So this morning I awoke with motivation and a plan. The pebbles had to come out. I wish I'd never added that top layer, removing it sucked. I had to basically break down everything so I took the opportunity to re-arrange a bit. Looking at these pics makes me want to go try to de-rim this thing right now while its running. 



















As you can tell there are still some pebbles in there. I had no thoughts about trying to get each and every one out and I think just a few lends a more natural feel to the sand. 
Pardon the water deposits on the glass. Its a second hand tank and I've never been able to clean it off.

Here's a few different shots...



















Several of the planters are recent experiments in moving submersed plants over and a few are showing promise.

Hyptis Lorentziana









Topica Staurogyne 049G - Product card This one has only been in the tank for a week or so. This is still fairly rare so taking perfectly good stems and trying to convert them to emersed is a risk. Its starting to throw tiny emergent buds as the old aquatic leaves die back. This image is really just for me to document growth progress. 









In the empty cup there is something I'm trying to grow from seeds... just threw them in there today. Time will tell.
And this caught my eye at home depot, I really have my doubts that its going to grow in a trellis raft but it looks too cool to not try it. Variegated Oregano! Haha!









Thats it for now. So happy to have the bright sand back. I plan on filling out the foreground with Helanthium tenellum for a splash of color underwater.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Someone asked me via pm about dosing for the ripariums. Figured I'd put it here for reference. 
Currently the planter cups have a mixture of aquasoil and mineralized top soil (provided by riparium supply). On top of this I've been dry dosing the tank @ approximately EI levels for the tank volume. Also after removing the pebbles I've also added some ADA powersand underneath the sand to help a little for the root feeders and give myself a buffer if I skip dosing due to vacation/laziness. No fish/inverts in the tank at the moment so not really worried about jacking up levels.

A gent in my local club has juvenile Electric Blue Crays for sale now and I'm considering adding one to this tank. Just gotta decide if its worth the risk of having it climb out using the power cables for the filter/heater. Any thoughts or suggestions for that idea?
I do have some spare plexiglass lying about that I could stick a section in that corner to block escape attempts but would it be enough? Are these small crays people are keeping really tiny ninjas?


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

Intresting journal. Where is the Dwarf Gourami? Wife is gonna smack you. =P


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Its in the 20 long. She agrees it looks better in there with all the greenery.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

lf i were you i'd de-rim it  i'd just be extra careful. ln my opinion it makes a big difference and allows you to concentrate more on the beauty of the tank than on the rims.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Yea I actually considered trying to de-rim it today while its up and running... thankfully I came to my senses though. The truth is this is a pretty rough tank that was given to me by someone with a monster fish room. Its been well used/abused. In fact you can actually see red mud on the outer side underneath the rim. I'd guess if I did de-rim it that it would look like poo.
I may have some extra hobby money soon and I'm considering getting a rimless from GLA to replace the tank. The beauty of ripariums is it would probably take like an hour to transfer everything and be up and running again.

plants that failed: oregano, staurogyne 'repens', still up in the air on the other that I'd growing out from seeds (front right). 

Everything else is doing well, I can't wait 'til it gets just a little warmer and all the big box stores start stocking up goodies to try out. This rip seems a little flat compared to everyone elses and I need to kick it up. 

After pulling the pebbles out I moved my pygmy cory group of 11 over and they are enjoying the heck out of this tank. I've also added 2 kuhli loaches and a small group of 10 Threadfin Rainbows. They have added quite a bit of movement and interest to watching the tank. I've also moved the water level up to ~50% of tank volume to offer a little more swimming room. 

A few quick shots:


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

That red striped plant has been busy growing! What is it, again? I know this has been asked and answered before, but I want to be sure what it is, because I think I can get one at HD for a low price now.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Hoppy its some Dracaena sp. I'm not totally sure but it came from HD in the tropical section. No doubt that eventually it'll overgrow its planter cup and this tank but it grows slow enough to make it viable for a short term item. Once it gets beastly I might pop it in the yard scape somewhere and see how big it'll get.  

It does seem to be right at home in a riparium though, I've only trimmed off a few of the lower leaves as they died off. Other than that I've just left it alone.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Wow that spiky red Dracaena looks happy in there. I gotta try some of that some day. I wonder if there is a similar all-green variety(?). That plant would look good situated in a larger group of similar plants with plainer green foliage.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I can see I will be visiting HD today - not just to get a red Dracaena, but also to get more plants for my vegetable garden. I'm always a bit early with vegetable gardens. Spring is here!!:thumbsup:


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## PROX (Oct 20, 2009)

This is something unique....nice work


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## shane3fan (Nov 2, 2009)

any updates on this, or did I miss them in one of your other journals? Still trying to decide if Im going to try a 40B for a riparium or just convert my 29g.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Its still going at the moment. Got some nice new plants from craig including some pilea 'silver tree' which has really cool leaves. At the same time I tried a few plants in the planters that didn't fare well... I really don't even know what they were. Trimmed them while on weekend at the coast.  
Might try to refresh it this weekend for an update but I'm considering replacing the tank with a 20 long or taking it down all together. Not giving it up but I think I need to scale back a few tanks to narrow my focus more.


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