# Cryptocoryne Riparium



## hydrophyte (26 Aug 2009)

Hi all,

I have had this tank going for a while, but would like to start a new journal thread with updates as I accumulate them. I also have one or two shots in another general gallery thread that I started last week. This riparium display is planted into a 208-liter tank. I got a new picture tonight.






In selecting the flora I was shooting for a dominant _Cryptocoryne_ theme, although I have had to add several large _Spathiphyllum_ (larger, bushier and easier to grow plants) to fill in the background. The midground has _Anubias_ and the ferns _Bolbitis_ and _Microsorum_ planted on Epi-Trellis Rafts. The underwater plants are all various crypts.

This tank makes a nice display in the room where I have it.


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## hydrophyte (28 Aug 2009)

Here's another picture showing just the left side of the tank.





This gives an idea of what a setup like this would look like in a 60cm-wide aquarium. That _Microsorum_ fern there in the middle sure is a nice plant.


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## rawr (28 Aug 2009)

This looks great, and with my favourite plant type too! 

I don't know if I'm missing something here, but I thought Crypts could only be grown emmersed if there was only a small amount of water above the substrate?


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## Brenmuk (28 Aug 2009)

Great looking plant display! What are the terrestrial plants planted in it kinda looks like some kind of floating pot?


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## hydrophyte (28 Aug 2009)

Thanks very much. I like this tank a lot. I have it in my bedroom and the fish are so entertaining. I have some of my favorite plants in there.

The plants are all supported there at the waterline with riparium cup planters and rafts.


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## Nick16 (28 Aug 2009)

by rafts do you mean that they float around?
so this can be easily incorporated into a normal aquarium?  do each of the raft pieces join together?


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## hydrophyte (28 Aug 2009)

Yes the rafts can be attached to each other or to the planter cups with the plastic mushroom-head fasteners that are adhered to each.


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## hydrophyte (2 Sep 2009)

Here is another new shot from tonight, with black background.





My photography still stinks, but the plants are happy. They have grown in well.


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## hydrophyte (9 Oct 2009)

This tank has gotten to be overgrown. Here is a picture from earlier this evening:





The emersed plants look great, but they are shading the underwater area. It looks pretty cool though if I crop away the underwater portion.





I think that I am going to remove most of the larger, bushy plants in order to open it up some more. I do have several smaller, unusual crypts that I can situate in this setup.


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## hydrophyte (31 Oct 2009)

I have finally found some time this weekend to work on this tank again. I am going to start removing some of those plants that have grown too large. Here is one one of the new smaller additions that I have introduced.





This plant has unusual leaf patternation.  I understand that this _C. wendtii_ variety is identified with the unofficial variety name, 'Hybrid'. I put together a blog post with a few more specific observations about it.

[url="http://hydrophytesblog.com/?p=1231"*]http://hydrophytesblog.com/?p=1231*[/url]


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## hydrophyte (6 Nov 2009)

I have an update from last night. I knew that this plant was growing well, but I didn't have an idea of how large it had gotten to be until I pulled it out of my 55-gallon emersed crypts riparium. This is a _C. wendtii_ ('Mi Oya', maybe[?]) in a hanging planter, with spritzer for scale.





Here's more detail.


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## Mark Evans (6 Nov 2009)

this is becoming more and more tempting.


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## AndyOx (6 Nov 2009)

Wow, that's a very healthy looking Cryptocoryne    What medium did you use to plant them into? Was it the same under the gravel as in the pots?

Andy


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## hydrophyte (6 Nov 2009)

Thanks you guys. I was really amazed when I saw how large that plant was when I pulled it out of the tank.

Most of the media in the riparium planter is just a baked clay product similar to Fluorite (and old-fahioned cat box litter   ) that I use quite a lot. There is also a thin layer (about 1 tablespoon) of "mineralized topsoil" (MTS). Have you all been using MTS over there? It has become quite popular over here. It is simply regular garden topsoil subjected to repeated wettings and dryings so that the better part of the organic matter is burned out of it. This is intended to make it more stable in the tank environment and less likely to cause ammonia spokes and other problems. I think that regular topsoil would work about the same in this context. Crypts really do like to have some natural media to grow in.


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## hydrophyte (10 Nov 2009)

I have an updated full-tank shot from tonight.





I was finally able to get in there and pull out some of the overgrown plants. I am please that light can get through and that I am once again able to view the fish and the underwater area.

It has something of a disheveled look right now, but that's just because I was moving things about. It will look better when the plants get a chance to settle back in and grow a little more.


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## hydrophyte (11 Nov 2009)

I'm doing some more image editing tonight. Here is another shot of that same big _C. wendtii_, backlit. This, again, is the emersed-form leaf. Notice the small amount of green variegation.


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## Steve Smith (11 Nov 2009)

That's looking stunning!  Great work


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## hydrophyte (11 Nov 2009)

Hey thanks SteveUK.

Here is another one of my favorites from this tank, _Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia_.





You can see it there in the full-tank picture as the tall green one near the center. It has great leaves.


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## hydrophyte (13 Nov 2009)

I really was having fun pulling plants out of this tank the other night for specimen shots.

This picture shows the _Anubias barteri_ var. _nana_ growing on an Epi-Trellis Raft.





If you look carefully at the full-tank picture you can see that that plant forms much of the low midground in the layout.

This next image shows the regular _A. barteri_, also on an Epi-Trellis Raft. The plants really like to grow on these planters. You can see that this one has great root development.





This was one of the plants that I removed from the tank to another setup because it was throwing too much shade. You can see it in the full tank shot from a few weeks ago as the large plant at the far right. The leaves have gotten to be really big.


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## JamesM (13 Nov 2009)

Wow, awesome


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## Dan Crawford (13 Nov 2009)

Wow! Love it all


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## hydrophyte (13 Nov 2009)

Hey thanks you guys.


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## hydrophyte (22 Nov 2009)

I acquired another new species from a local shop, _Cryptocoryne usteriana_. It is quite an attractive plant.





I did not plant it into the this display tank just yet. I instead potted it up, then placed into a smaller growout tank with the crown a few centimeters down below the water's surface. The new leaves should be compelled to grow emersed. The submersed leaves that it has now are almost 45cm tall. I hope that the plant will fit into the display tank as it grows up into an emersed specimen.


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## hydrophyte (24 Nov 2009)

Here' another neat plant, _Cyrtosperma johnstonii_. 





I don't have this one going in the crypts tank, but it is an aroid (Family Araceae) just like crypts are. _C. johnstonii_ grows as an emergent in rainforest swamps. It can get to be ~1 meter high, but I hope to be able to control the size of this one. Right now it's only about 20cm tall.  I am working on a new open-top tank where this plant might work well as a centerpiece specimen.


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## hydrophyte (2 Dec 2009)

This tank is finally getting closer to what I had in mind. Here is a new update from the other night.





Some of the plants had grown up so big that I was disappointed that I didn't plant into a larger tank but after removing the large Java fern and _Anubias barteri_ I have found that everything else scales really well with the dimensions of this enclosure. This should be a good long-term, low maintenance setup. I hope that I will be able to maintain this look with just routine water fertilization and occasional trimming.

This image was post-processed a little bit for exposure.


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## hydrophyte (4 Dec 2009)

I got a shot with a view down through the top of the tank too.





I wish that I could leave the tank with the canopy off, but these plants are all high-humidity selections so I have to keep it covered up.


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## samc (4 Dec 2009)

looks amazing  

from seeing this i am now setting my own up. its more of a paludarium though. very inspiring


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## hydrophyte (6 Dec 2009)

Thanks so much *samc*.

Here's another kind of cool picture from last week. This is an open spathe of the large _Anubias barteri_ that I removed to another tank a little while ago because it was getting too big.





It is substantially larger than the spathe of _A. barteri_ var. _nana_ (which has bloomed for me many times), but otherwise similar.





That US dime is about 18mm in diameter.


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## hydrophyte (24 Jan 2010)

I got a quick shot of this thing last night--overgrown again. I need to make some time to clean it up this week. That _C. wendtii_ and _Bolbitis_ there in the middle get too big pretty fast, but I like them a lot. 





The _C. usteriana_ has some new emersed-grown leaves on it. That plant will also outgrow this setup. I wish I had a bigger tank for some of these more robust specimens.


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## hydrophyte (25 Jan 2010)

I have started to shuffle things around in here. I took the opportunity to get a few specimen pictures. Here is one of the handsome and good-sized _Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia_.





This one had a spathe going on it. I think _C. pontederiifolia_ might be the easiest crypt to bloom. I often see spathes on mine.


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## hydrophyte (26 Jan 2010)

Here is another specimen shot, _Cryptocoryne wendtii_ 'Tropica'.





I ought to have gotten this photograph with a white background--it's difficult to see the leaf coloration against black.

I like this plant a lot too. The leaves have such rich coloration.


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## a1Matt (26 Jan 2010)

Nice pics Devin, thanks for sharing  

I wonder whether Tropica crossed the Wendtii with something to produce the Wendtii tropica variety or whether it is a natural mutation that they cloned.  To my eyes It looks to me like a cross between Wendtii and Bullosa. I have a curious mind!


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## jonnyjr (26 Jan 2010)

Is that Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Tropica' grown emersed or is it still under the waterline, I have the same but underwater and the leaves are a lot smaller and a lighter shade. Nice seeing how plants change from submersed to emersed.


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## hydrophyte (27 Jan 2010)

Thanks johnnyjr, That 'Tropica' was grown emersed. It seems as though this plant grows larger and with more richly-colored leaves when it develops emersed.

I wish that I could have gotten that shot against a white background to better show the leaf coloration. Now I'll just have to wait a few months for it to grow in again.


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## Themuleous (28 Jan 2010)

I really must try one of these, they look so dam amazing.

Sam


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## hydrophyte (28 Jan 2010)

a1Matt said:
			
		

> Nice pics Devin, thanks for sharing
> 
> I wonder whether Tropica crossed the Wendtii with something to produce the Wendtii tropica variety or whether it is a natural mutation that they cloned.  To my eyes It looks to me like a cross between Wendtii and Bullosa. I have a curious mind!



Thanks a1Matt, I think it is probably just a _C. wendtii_ variety. It seems that they are fairly serious and rigorous about plants at Tropica, so they probably would not have named it as a species if it were more likely a hybrid.


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## hydrophyte (24 Feb 2010)

I tore this tank down, then set it up again. Now it's at a local garden center shop. 





Here's a better view.





I added hardscape (stones + manzanita driftwood) too after getting this picture. I'll come back with a couple more image files when I get them loaded. I have some new plants in there too and some comments on them to add.


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## George Farmer (24 Feb 2010)

Absolutely wonderful journal so far, Devin! 

Crypts are my favourite species of all time and to see them showcased like this is amazing.

I really need to try my hand at this...  Fancy coming over to the UK to give a demo to UKAPS?!

I'm surprised this isn't more popular.  For me I think it's the fear of getting it wrong due to lack of knowledge but with your work it is certainly seeming more attainable.

Kudos on the photography too.  It's something as a viewer we often take for granted.

Thanks again for sharing!


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## hydrophyte (24 Feb 2010)

Thanks very much George. Really these setups are pretty easy to keep.

Now that I moved it I only have one crypt in there, a _C. pontederiifolia_. The other new plants are mainly spathiphyllum and other tropical houseplants, which are a bit more resilient than most crypts.

Here is a quick shot that I got after adding the hardscape, some rounded river stones and manzanita driftwood.


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## hydrophyte (11 Apr 2010)

I was over servicing this tank the other night and I got a got a couple of pictures. Here's an FTS. The fish were all hiding in the shade--I should have thrown a food wafer in there to draw them up front.





The stem plants have grown up quite a bit.


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## Mark Evans (11 Apr 2010)

what is that red stem Devin!   that's stunning!


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## hydrophyte (11 Apr 2010)

That plant is an _Iresine_. For me it is a bit too red. After getting these pictures I trimmed it down small again.

_Iresine_ is mainly used as an outdoor annual bedding plant, but it grows well right in the water planted on a Nano Trellis Raft--very easy.


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## hydrophyte (11 Apr 2010)

Here quick is a view from another angle.


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## hydrophyte (26 Apr 2010)

I put together a blog post about moving this tank over to its new spot there at the *Paradigm Gardens* store (http://www.paradigmgardens.com/hydroponicstore/store/home.php) here in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Here is the link...

http://hydrophytesblog.com/?p=1799


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## altaaffe (26 Apr 2010)

That is an absolutely stunning shot.  Must admit - I love the shock of that red but I suppose it does tend to draw your eye in and away from the rest.  I should imagine that kept lower it looks much better ?


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## dw1305 (27 Apr 2010)

Hi all,
If you can find a plant or seed of _Iresine herbstii_, sometimes sold as the "Beefsteak plant", it is extremely easy to propagate from cuttings. The very red form is cv. "Brilliantissima", you can also get streaked red and yellow leaved ones.
cheers Darrel


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## hydrophyte (27 Apr 2010)

I think that that is "beefsteak plant" that I have. It is very easy to grow like this in hydroculture, but in this tank it has gotten to be rather leggy. It would probably perform better with somewhat brighter light and drier air.


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## hydrophyte (2 May 2010)

I put together a new blog post with descriptions of stuff that I received in a new order from Asiatica Nursery (http://www.asiaticanursery.com), a rare/exotic plant nursery in Pennsylvania, USA. I got two _Schismatoglottis_ spp. plants and a couple of other fun and intriguing possibilities for riparium growing. 

Plants in genus _Schismatoglottis_ have a natural distribution in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia. A number of them live in streamside situations out in the rainforest and it seems that they could be good choices for a lowish-light, high-humidity ripairum setup like this one and good companions for emersed crypts and _Anubias_.

Here's the link to the post.

http://hydrophytesblog.com/?p=1952

And here are shots of the two plants that I describe there.





_*Schismatoglottis*_* 'Frosty Kiss'*





_*Schismatoglottis picta*_


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## hydrophyte (14 May 2010)

Last week my emersed _Cryptocoryne usteriana_ bloomed for me. The spathe was really fantastic--it only lasted a day. As crypts go, this one is pretty hefty and robust. That riparium planter cup is about 3" across at the top.





Here's a close up shot for the spathe.


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## dw1305 (14 May 2010)

Hi all,
Fantastic, I love the Cryptocoryne flower, Aroids are just great. I admired a Dracunculus in the garden this morning, it's not quite out yet, but it won't be long. 


.
I've never heard of _Schismatoglottis_ before, but the look of it would instantly suggest that it will be suitable.
Have you got _Schismatoglottis picta_ as well? The nursery link you sent is very interesting to, lots of good plants both glasshouse and garden.

I was very taken with the Philodendron collection. http://www.asiaticanursery.com/inde...phaKey=P&whichName=genus&showIntro=0&catID=73

cheers Darrel


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## chilled84 (14 May 2010)

dw1305 said:
			
		

> Hi all,
> Fantastic, I love the Cryptocoryne flower, Aroids are just great. I admired a Dracunculus in the garden this morning, it's not quite out yet, but it won't be long.
> 
> 
> ...



I plopped one of these bulbs in my garden just before spring, But it has not poped up at all    Wish i could find someone who sells it potted in the uk that i can just place in the garden for this year. I only bought it because i love the way it looks and i realy wanted to annoy the neibours with it rancid smell lol


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## hydrophyte (14 May 2010)

Thanks you guys. That is quite a remarkable patternation on the petiole bases of that _Dracunculus_. 

Here is another quick close up of that _usteriana_ spathe.


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## LondonDragon (15 May 2010)

The usteriana spathe is a beauty, would be interesting to source this out in the uk


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## hydrophyte (15 May 2010)

dw1305 said:
			
		

> Hi all,
> Fantastic, I love the Cryptocoryne flower, Aroids are just great. I admired a Dracunculus in the garden this morning, it's not quite out yet, but it won't be long.
> 
> 
> ...



That looks like a fantastic plant Darrel. I think that it is possible to grow _Dranunculus_ here by planting it out and then digging the tubers to store in the fall. I like aroids too; they are my favorite group of plants. HAve you ever checked out the International Aroid Society? I seem to recall that there are some pretty active members in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. I went to their show in Miami last fall and they were a fun crowd, and they had amazing plants.

I did order the "_S. picta_" with those other plants. I understand that that name is obsolete and a synonym for _Schismatoglottis calyptrata_, a highly variable species with a broad range. Here is a shot of a leaf of my plant.





It seems that _S. calyptrata_ is not really a rheophytic/water-associated plant, so I am just growing mine as a houseplant.


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## dw1305 (17 May 2010)

Hi all,
_Dracunculus_ is quite hardy. I just leave them in the ground, I can't dig them up now even if I wanted as the tubers are a long way down.  It got to about -14oC here in the winter but it rarely gets any colder. I grow a few other aroids,  in the garden _Arisarum proboscideum_ - 

 which does very well, and a couple of _Arisaema_ sp. (_A. candidissimum_ and A_. "griffithii"_ these do less well). They have been very fashionable here, I got mine from  http://rareplants.co.uk/, they sell all sorts of good stuff in the UK.

Here is my picture of the RBG Kew "Titan arum" a couple of years ago.




I was thinking about another Aroid for the riparium, the vegetable Eddoes or Taro (_Colocasia esculenta_) 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	




 as you see it likes the wet, and should be cheap and easy to obtain. You can also get variegated and purple leaved ones.
Colocasia esculenta albo variegata 'Elepaio'


 

Another thought was a non-aroid, but another edible one Sweet Potato (_Ipomea batatas_) here is 'Pink Frost' 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	




 and leaves flower of a standard one.





cheers Darrel


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## hydrophyte (17 May 2010)

Nice _Arisarium _Darrel. In that order of plants that I got from Aisatica Nursery I also received an _Aridopsis_, which is a small aroid from the Himalayan region with heart-shaped leaves and an unusual little spathe. Those mini-aroids are good for collecting for somebody like me who doesn't have a lot of space. Some of those aroid collectors accumulate big collections of those monster _Philodendron_ and _Anthurium_ and the like but I suppose you have to be independently wealthy with a conservatory or live in the tropics to keep those things. 

I have tried a couple of different _Colocasia esculenta_, but they quickly grow to large to keep in a riparium. However, I have done very well with a dwarf taro, _C. fallax_. These stay managable for a riparium at least 90cm wide and have this very attractive foliage.





This one is var. 'Silver Dollar'. 

Look at the mass of roots and rhizomes all round the riparium planter cup. This plant must do a super job at biological filtration for the aquarium water.


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## dw1305 (18 May 2010)

Hi all,
The _Arisarum_ is very easy, I'm a great one for plants that you plant and just let get on with it. I tend to divide mine occasionally as if you get a big patch they die down by early July and it leaves a bare patch. I've tried planting them with _Cyclamen hederifolium_ and a _Roscoe "cautleyoides_", to try and limit the amount of time with bare ground. The _Colocasia fallax_ looks a great plant for the riparium, as you say fantastic roots.
cheers Darrel


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## hydrophyte (18 May 2010)

The roots of that _C. fallax_ grew all over the tank near the top of the water. I was getting livebearer fry in that tank at the time and the root mass provided many spot for them to hide.

I ought to try some _Arisarum_ some time. They look like great little plants. I think that there might be a few US sources.


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## hydrophyte (28 May 2010)

Now that I have moved and redone this tank with a different selection of plants I am starting work on another new setup for my emersed crypts. I have some real nice plants, but they are all in dingy culture tanks right now. 

I have a fun piece of of hardware to use for this new project, a new riparium trellis raft design that is designed for medium-small varieties of emersed aquatics that grow on hard substrates, such as Java fern 'WindelÃ¸v' and _Anubias barteri_ var. _nana_. Here is a shot of the raft, which is about 5.5" long.





This picture shows a _nana_ growing on the old prototype raft similar to this new one, but the prototype had more pieces of foam sticking out, and was thus more difficult to hide.





The new design should be easier to cover up and it has a few other handy features too. Here are some shots showing various different configurations that one might use for attaching the raft with hanging planters.













That last one uses one of the puzzlie-piece floats to get the raft out another 3cm or so. There are some other plants that might also be supported well by this thing. Certain stems, such as this NOID _Pilea_, could for example be planted into those larger round holes in the raft.





I think that I have a pretty fun idea for the tank configuration in mind. I won't be using a 220-litre as I did before, so I might start another new journal thread.


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## hydrophyte (14 Jul 2010)

I haven't been back to this thread in a while but today I got a quick shot of this tank. It was having some trouble with algae but now it's all clear again.





I'd say it could use a trim. I also hope to add a few underwater plants sometime soon.


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## hydrophyte (1 Sep 2010)

Hey I have exciting news folks. There are two developing spathes on my _Anubias hastifolia_ plant. This one has never bloomed for me and I'm pretty stoked. The spathes are pretty big. I'll come back with photos soon.


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## hydrophyte (3 Sep 2010)

Here is that spathe on my _Anubias hastifolia_. It's not so much to look at, but I have had this plant growing now for a couple of years and it is fun to see it bloom. The spathe might open up some more. I will return with more pictures if it does.


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## hydrophyte (5 Sep 2010)

I just started a thread over in General Planted Tank Discussions, "Riparium How-To: High Humidity Setups". I am using this tank as the main example for discussion. Here is the link to that thread...

http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=12829

...oh and I also have another quick shot of that _A. hastifolia_ spathe. this is the cropped version of that picture above for more detail.


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## hydrophyte (25 Sep 2010)

I just made another entry in one of the how-to threads. Here is the link...
http://ukaps.org/forum/search.php?search_id=egosearch


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## Iain Sutherland (22 Aug 2011)

this is amazing... i want one


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