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planning a riparium for discus

I've added this to my watch list, very interested to see how it goes for you. I have a blackwater discus tank with some floating plants that I would love to develop further with some emergent planting so will follow this for tips and pointers!

Phil.
 
Nanglebadger said:
I've added this to my watch list, very interested to see how it goes for you. I have a blackwater discus tank with some floating plants that I would love to develop further with some emergent planting so will follow this for tips and pointers!

Phil.
Click to expand...

Emergent or emersed?
 
I have one question that has been haunting me for a while, while thinking of this project.
Might as well ask for some opinions here: Should I leave the roots of these emersed plants hanging in the water or hide them in a compartment?

Let me explain: I have been thinking of the possibility of having transparent lids on the tank, with a bar across the width of the tank at the back that'd hold up both the lids and the baskets of the emersed plants. That'd mean that the lids would not be full depth, and leave the tank uncovered where the emersed plants come out. (please ask for clarifications if this part isn't clear)

I have also considered the possibility of using a sheet of acrylic at full height instead of just a bar making a separate compartment for the plants. The water wald go in the tank at one end, flow through the tank, flow in this back compartment where the plants' roots would be and down in the sump on the same side of the return.

Leaving the roots visible in the tank means that microfauna can form in there and any fry (cory and ancistrus for example) can hide in the tangle and find food. It also means that larger fish could get trapped in the tangle. I lost a juvenile discus in a tangle of pothos roots.

On the other hand having the separate compartment would make a cleaner looking tank, which could enhance the impression of river bank should I add a 3D background. It would also mean that the water would be forced to flow through the plant roots rather than having the option of going around, and plants would get to pull more nutrients. On the negative side it would mean less volume for swimming, since about 10cm thickness would be taken by this compartment, and I'd lose the "fry rearing tangle" at the back.

Opinions?
 
sciencefiction said:
The plants need to be rooted. Otherwise the top will grow twisted, just like if you let a stem plant float in the water
Click to expand...

If you read the original post you would know that the plants will be rooted in baskets full of clay pellets secured to the rear edge of the tank
 
Also depends a bit on which plant.. 🙂 A <syngonium> doesn't need a pot.. I have it trailing over the tank with the roots in the water, attached a tube suction cup to the glass inside tha tank and stuck the stem in the ring.. It was a simple cutting and it has quite some roots hanging in the tank by now. Depending on the height of the tank and the size of the plant, if it is relatively shallow and the roots reach the substrate it might pull itself down into the substrate.
<Anthurium> is also such a plant you might like it can develop an intuiging submersed rootsystem..

I never tried myself but for example a large piece lily <(Spathiphyllum)> could do in the substrate of a shallow tank and grow out the top.

Since you are about discus tank i guess this will be rather large and tall tank.. It could work with scaping it with elevations to create shallow areas closer the the surface for a plant like that..

<There are quite some possibilities>

Scavange <Pinterest> for inspirations. 🙂 Name it, people have tried it.. There are loads of possible bog plants in the house plant corner from the garden centre. But not displayed as such.

I'm not sure what plant this is.. But it seems he attached Java fern narrow to the rhizome of the big plants.. And it seems to rock the boat..
decorazioni-creative-piccolo-acquario-3.jpg
 
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sciencefiction said:
Oh. OK. I thought you said cory and pleco fry hiding in the roots....Not possible if the roots are potted. I did read your original post
Click to expand...

The roots will grow out of the baskets and down through the water.
Remember we're talking about emersed plants, not submerged.
 
zozo said:
Also depends a bit on which plant.. 🙂 A <syngonium> doesn't need a pot.. I have it trailing over the tank with the roots in the water, attached a tube suction cup to the glass inside tha tank and stuck the stem in the ring.. It was a simple cutting and it has quite some roots hanging in the tank by now. Depending on the height of the tank and the size of the plant, if it is relatively shallow and the roots reach the substrate it might pull itself down into the substrate.
<Anthurium> is also such a plant you might like it can develop an intuiging submersed rootsystem..

I never tried myself but for example a large piece lily <(Spathiphyllum)> could do in the substrate of a shallow tank and grow out the top.

Since you are about discus tank i guess this will be rather large and tall tank.. It could work with scaping it with elevations to create shallow areas closer the the surface for a plant like that..

<There are quite some possibilities>

Scavange <Pinterest> for inspirations. 🙂 Name it, people have tried it.. There are loads of possible bog plants in the house plant corner from the garden centre. But not displayed as such.

I'm not sure what plant this is.. But it seems he attached Java fern narrow to the rhizome of the big plants.. And it seems to rock the boat..
decorazioni-creative-piccolo-acquario-3.jpg
Click to expand...

I have a couple of smaller baskets with small peace lilies in my ram tank.
When I get home I'll take a few pictures and post them.

As for the depth of the tank I'm planning 60cm, with enough sand on the bottom for the corys to play in and the two amazon swords to set root.
 
Here is a basic representation of what I was thinking.

Either this:
untitled.jpg

Basically a beam (with braces and supports of course, I haven't added them in here for simplicity) where the lids can rest and that would hold up the baskets for the plants. The water flow would be normal, from one end to the other of the tank and rhe roots would simply dangle in the water.

or
untitled2.jpg

Same as the first one, but here it's not a beam, it's a wall. The water comes into the tank at the far end, flows through the display portion, then over the weir (where the dent in the wall is) through the plant roots that are hanging in the separate compartment and at the far end back in the sump.

What do you think?
 
Zante said:
also means that larger fish could get trapped in the tangle. I lost a juvenile discus in a tangle of pothos roots
Click to expand...

If you are planning high density plant roots I would separate it with the acrylic sheet. My Discus got stuck in plants I had on the side of the tank near the surface it managed to work itself deep into the roots chasing a piece of flake. Discus shape means it's can be hard for them to turn around within a weed bed once it's worked itself in. My Discus was fine & didn't panic but just waited for me to pick it out however I did thin out the roots. So be aware of the possibility and plan ahead.
 
Hi
I will go for option two myself but will not just place a wall but make it like a aqua nano sump felled with coarse sponge that will be able to clean easy compared to the clay agregate that will collect a lot of mulm over time.This way U will ensure water flows evenly trough it and as it will take path off less resistance if not devided .
Regards Konsa
 
Zante said:
The roots will grow out of the baskets and down through the water.
Remember we're talking about emersed plants, not submerged.
Click to expand...

They will grow out of the baskets if the base of the plant also grows too big for the baskets. As it multiplies sideways, the new plantlets will simply grow outside, using the main plant as stabilizer. Until then all the roots will stay in the basket. In my old tank the pots I used were rather small and yes, all the plant base/roots outgrew the basket. The restriction does limit the size of the plant .It worked fine to an extent for the peace lilies*apart from my baskets falling in the water as the plant grew) but not for the palm which took off once I potted it in bigger quarters. The small basket also caused the anthurium lily to start creeping over the surface of the water instead of growing upward. It is no problem while the plant is small. But if you want them to mature and flower, the basket size will play a role in a year or two as the plant develops fully.

Konsa said:
Hi
I will go for option two myself but will not just place a wall but make it like a aqua nano sump felled with coarse sponge that will be able to clean easy compared to the clay agregate that will collect a lot of mulm over time.This way U will ensure water flows evenly trough it and as it will take path off less resistance if not devided .
Regards Konsa
Click to expand...

I think there is more chance of clogging if using sponges than using clay pebbles. When I do water changes and drop the level way below the basket level and then fill back up, the lot of the mulm flows out of the baskets. I am basically flushing them that way each week. So I need to do a "surface siphon" when I fill the tank back up to over the surface of the baskets. It is slightly annoying but ensures no big scum collection in the planting baskets. It doesn't take long either if one is using a python for water changes. So in general, no scam collection. The issue was totally different when I tried emersed plants in a trickle filter. It clogged the filter and it caused a mini leak out the back of the tank a couple of times. That's because the water level never went above the trickle filter and the only way I could flush it was to take it apart. Plants don't like that disturbance as one is basically pulling out all the nice root growth apart.
 
dw1305 said:
It is an Aroid
Click to expand...

Thanks Darrel, that was the word i was searching for.. In our language Aroid literlay translated this type of plant is called Arons Chalice..
But what threw me off is that (segmented) stem at the left base and the leafshape.. Thought it might be a young Dracaena (fragrans)..

Might be a combination of both..
 
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