# The Foliage Elements in a Planted Riparium



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

_This thread begins with the last couple of posts copied from a thread in *General Planted Tank Discussion* http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/general-planted-tank-discussion/86101-word-meaning-paludarium-vs-riparium.html. 

I am eventually going to assemble this material into an article. I would appreciate any observations that anyone might be able to offer._

OK, here is an image that helps to demonstrate how this display is put together. This picture was shot over the top rim of one side of the aquarium. Notice that the emergent plants more or less cover the water over the rear 2/3 of its surface. The water surface in the front portion is mostly open. 










Here plants are numbered to reference the distinct foliage elements of the composition. Rather erect, tall background plants, including an _Acorus_ sp. (1) and an _Echinodorus_ sp. are rooted in Hanging Planters and fill much of the space in front of the rear panel of glass. Their leaves reach forward into the midground, which is also occupied by _Lippia nodiflora_ (2) and other plants supported by Trellis Rafts. A floating leaf plant, _Nymphoides_ sp. (3), resides between the midground and open water and softens the transition between the two areas. An underwater plant, _Hygrophila angustifolia_ (4), grows in the underwater foreground, taking advantage of the relatively bright conditions there.










Notice that the front aquarium panel (5) is very clean. Water spots and chalk lines show up prominently on this area of glass, more so than for a tank filled to the top with water, so I wipe the glass here with a vinegar and distilled water solution every time that I service the riparium display.

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I have a couple more pictures to explain how to assemble the foliage elements in a riparium compositionr. The shot below also shows a view from the side, but I removed several plants in order to capture a cross-section view.










The next image is the same photograph with some reference numbers added. A Small Hanging Planter (2) hung form the rear pane of aquarium glass (1) holds a _Bacopa monnieri_ plant that grows forward into the composition midground with support provided by a Trellis Raft. A _Hemigraphis_ 'Red Equator' (3) also grows in the midground, supported by a Nano Trellis Raft (4). While the _Bacopa_ is rooted in Riparium Planter Gravel, the roots of the _Hemigraphis_ grow directly in the water.










The next figure is a CAD drawing, also depicting a vining stem plant (60), Trellis Raft (40) and Hanging Planter (30).










Yet another figure, this one with the _Hemigraphis_ plant removed, better shows the _Bacopa_ "lawn" (5), supported by a Trellis Raft, which is only barely visible (6). The carpeting effect created by the floating mat of _Bacopa_ contrast well with the vertical growth of the background plant, an _Echinodorus_ (7), and obscures the Large Hanging Planter that supports that large specimen. Notice that area of water in the front of the composition (8) is mostly open.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

looks cool. Do emersed plants require more ferts than submerged?


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

that's a good question. i get the impression that the emergent aquatic plants probably do require more fertilization than plants growing underwater because they grow somewhat faster. 

it might be difficult to make a comparison with growing underwater plants because the main fertilization technique that i use is to pipette liquid ferts directly onto the surface of the planter gravel--for a few reasons, this is somewhat easier than dosing directly into the water--which isn't really comparable to fertilizing the water column.



mistergreen said:


> looks cool. Do emersed plants require more ferts than submerged?


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

What about the light? How high is it above the tank, the kelvin rating, wattage, and brand of bulb?


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

that fixture is a SunLight Supply Tek Light running just two Giesemann 6000K, 39 watt HO T5 lamps. the light is about 8 inches above the rim of the tank. it lights up the tank really well because there is less water to punch through. the polished reflectors in the Tek Light make a big difference too. it's plenty of light.


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## houstonhobby (Dec 12, 2008)

This is great stuff. I have a couple of 20xh's I don't know what to do with. A riparium sounds like a good use for them.


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

I have to agree. As much as I was skeptical of this at first, it looks nifty. I kind of like the "floating plants" look with the void of water under. Very different. Gives it that bog or shallow pond cross section...

Something easy enough to try in the future.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

i need to work on this some more sometime. i have a half-dozen writing projects that i'm working on all at once. i posted a notice a few days back i did finally pull together a blog post in article format, _Nine REally Great Plants for Riparium Displays_. http://hydrophytesblog.com/?p=182
this discusses aquascaping some in relation to specific plants.


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