Serenity now - A Blackwater riparium

[hitmanx]

I decided to try my hand at a riparium because it combines two of my hobbies, and sort of makes sense to include a shoreline in an aquascape scene...

I've had this journal over at the planted tank, but I've decided to keep it updated here too...

Updated Picture:

9/4/17



2/14/16



8/15/15



3/13/15



1/25/15





Tank: Do! Aqua 25-c (4 gallon) + Mr aqua large 1.2gal HOB breeder box
Heater: Hydor 50watt
Filter: finnex px360 + Seachem Matrix
Lights: 23watt 6500k cfl in work lamp reflector
Substrate: ADA Aquasoil Amazonia

Fauna:
Betta (black and red)
[STRIKE]ramshorn snails[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]orange sakura shrimp[/STRIKE]
skud shrimp

Submerged Flora:
Crypt wendtii 'tropica'
Crypt wendtii 'Mi Oya'
Crypt undulata
Crypt willisii
Crypt Lucens
Fissidens Fontanus
Singapore moss
[STRIKE]Anubias nana[/STRIKE]
Anubias nana 'petite'
Anubias Coffeeolia
[STRIKE]Java fern [/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Hygrophila 'siamensis 53b'[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Hygrophila polysperma[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Ludwigia repens[/STRIKE]
Ceratopteris thalictroides (water sprite)
Frogbit
Salvinia natans
[STRIKE]Brazilian pennywort[/STRIKE]
Heteranthera zosterifolia (Star grass)

Riparium Flora:
Spathiphilum 'petite' (peace lily)
Philodendron
Pilea cardierei (Aluminum plant)
[STRIKE]Pilea glauca 'aquamarine'[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Pilea depresa[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Chamedora elegans (neanthe Bella palm)[/STRIKE]
Ophiopogon japonicus (mondo grass)
[STRIKE]Acorus gramineus 'variegatus' (sweet flag)[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Schefflera elegantissima (False Aralia)[/STRIKE]
Syngonium podophylum
Hygrophila 'siamensis 53b

Ferts:
[STRIKE]Seachem Nitrogen
Seachem Potassium
Seachem Phosphourus[/STRIKE]
Seachem Equilibrium
KNO3
KH2PO4


I was already in the process of making a nano 10" cube for shrimp and I wanted to see if I could make a believable riparium out of such a small tank... I started this tank as a dry start with moss and crypts back in early December...

To get over the fact that most riparium plants would overshadow the 10" of front to back tank space quite fast, I decided to use a hang on the back breeder box to house the planters and rafts... a finnex px360 canister filter takes water from the cube and sends it into the breeder box and then overflows back into the tank...

I mostly did this project over the Christmas holidays so my options for supplies were limited... I made my own riparium planters from acrylic sheeting custom made to fit the breeder box... I ended up using seachem matrix instead of hydroton, and used leftover aquasoil for the top layer... the rafts I made from 4 layers of craft foam sheets crazy glued together and drilled holes to fit the stems... they work very well but could be thicker. ..

Plants were also limited up here in frozen north, so I decided to try chamedora elegans from home depot, ophiopogon japonicus and acorus gramineus 'variegatus' from petsmart, pilea carderi and pilea glauca 'aquamarine' on the rafts and philodendron climbing up the emersed driftwood with the root dangling behind...

While the pilea and philodendron are starting to take off, I'm getting crown rot on some of the the chamedora shoots with some leaves drying up and the acorus seems dried out despite trying to keep the rhizomes above the water with very small roots and I only used matrix for this planter... the ophiopogon isn't doing much at all... I'm not sure if this is failure or just transitions... it's only been flooded since Jan 13th so I have to be patient and just fertilized for the first time today...

Somehow in the future I am going to obtain acorus gramineus 'ogon' and probably Cyprus dwarf sedge to replace the the background, I just have to wait on the local nurseries to start bringing them in for the spring. ..


The emersed driftwood is attached to an equal sized chunk below the surface...




I'm finding it hard to properly photograph the under water part so bear with me until I get some good shots with the dslr... I've tried with the light above and to the side...

I added 12 orange sakura shrimp and one perished so far

 

[hitmanx]

2/6/15

This is a quick shot of the HOB breeder box that houses the acrylic planters:




And this is the HOB breeder box before I filled the tank... it's been modified to fit the glass and shortly after this shot I cut down the plastic to increase flow across the whole length instead of just through the the main overflow on the left:




And these are the planters I made from acrylic sheeting, cut on table saw and edges clean with a router table, then bonded with methylene chloride. .. holes drilled on all sides for water diffusion:




This is a shot before I filled the dry start and planted the riparium portion:




When the water was clear before I added alder cones, the first occupant was a juvenile cherry shrimp:




The acrylic planters sit on the bottom of the HOB with about 1/2" above the water:




Once I replace my faulty Hydor 50w heater I will house it in the remaining space in the HOB under the aluminum plant raft...

I wish nurseries were open up here in the frozen north... I need to get my hands on some of the proven riparium plants... my background choices are not fairing so well... the roots on the acorus gramineus 'variegatus' have rotted and there's isn't much rhizomes to use a rubber band to stabilize them... do the rhizomes NEED to be above the water completely? I figured the matrix would still allow oxygen but I guess not 🙁

I have a bunch of Spathiphyllum 'petite' but that is too broad for this nano... I'm thinking Cyprus dwarf sedge and some kind of grass... not sure I like the fan look of the acorus and the mondo grass, while not dieing, is showing no growth but maybe I need to be more patient 😉

There are some really good nurseries around here that have plenty of tropical plants but not much in the way of marginal or pond plants this time of year. .. I just picked up some syngonium, the common one and a smaller reddish one... as well as pilea glauca and pilea depressa and I am now adding those for the foreground... the mid ground is covered with pilea cardierei...

But I want the background to be "grassy", so I'm gonna have to wait for the pond plants to come in... maybe this chamedora elegans palm will pull through as its a very beautiful plant... maybe I have the crowns to far into the water. .. maybe I should raise the planters?

 

[hitmanx]

2/7/15

I've seen others have success with pilea glauca so I decided to try it... we shall see how unruly it gets... 2 days in and it looks like roots are sprouting!!




Close up:



I got the idea for this plant from ukamikazu over at aquatic plant enthusiasts:
http://www.aquaticplantenthusiasts.c...ginning-7.html


The Aluminum plant is growing gang busters... at least this will give the illusion of the background being filled in until I get my real background plants in order:




The pilea glauca is definitely starting to root in only a couple days:




I also added some pilea depressa to the opposite side on a foam raft... after only 1 day in a grow out tank the roots began to grow:




I wanted to try a plant I haven't heard of being used in riparium so before I even set this tank up I cut the roots from several False Aralia (Schefflera elegantissima) over a month ago and stuck it in one of my tanks with decent sucess:




With new growth:




And most of these roots have grown underwater:



We shall see how this plant does long term... I'm seriously thinking of adding it to this tank...

 

[hitmanx]

3/7/15

The pilea sp. are doing great in the rafts, as are the philodendron cuttings and the False Aralia (Schefflera elegantissima) in the acrylic planter which has new growth and new roots, although some of the lower leaves are starting to drop...

I have removed the Chamedora elegans (neanthe Bella palm) as it slowly dried out with no roots forming... I'm not sure why this one didn't work... I tried raising the crowns up but maybe it was too late 🙁

I filled the empty acrylic planter with 3 more Ophiopogon japonicus (mondo grass) to fill out the back, as the current ones have been growing new leaves and the roots have reached the bottom of the planter and new runners shooting everywhere...

The Acorus gramineus 'variegatus' (sweet flag) rotted away at the rhizomes, despite being above the soil but I didnt like it anyways... too 'angular' if that makes any sense... the arching of the mondo grass is more pleasing to me :icon_smil

Meanwhile the crypts are growing great underwater, filling in everywhere... the crypt undulata and wendtii 'mi Oya' may prove to be too large for this nano 😉

I've also added a stem of hygrophila 'siamensis 53b' into the aquasoil with the intention of it growing emersed to bring some nice flowers into the mix...

I've transfered the heater and thermometer to the breeder box which cleaned up the main tank nicely, but for some reason this raised the tank temp 1°C... I really want to build temp controllers for all my tanks to alleviate this kind of malarkey!

 

[hitmanx]

3/13/15

Well I only had a few minutes to take some crappy cell phone snaps yesterday... one of these days I'll get some dSLR pics taken...


Here is the riparium section from the front...


March 2015 25cm cube riparium by nbtobey, on Flickr

View from the top, which is my favorite angle... perfect to see the nice bio film scum that's accumulated on the surface :confused1:


March 2015 25cm cube riparium by nbtobey, on Flickr

The underwater section is growing in nicely but it's still pretty dark... I haven't mounted the light in its final location so it will get brighter :icon_cool


March 2015 25cm cube riparium by nbtobey, on Flickr

 

[hitmanx]

3/15/15

So the False Aralia decided to die off overnight... I guess it didn't like the planter :eek5:
I moved the survivors to another tank bare rooted so hopefully they will recover...

Despite the fact that Spathiphyllum 'petite' might be too big for this tank I added a flowering specimen to the empty planter, but maybe it will stay small enough to fill in its corner of the HOB... perhaps it will give me the height I want without the spread if I trim back the older leaves... I also added some more pilea cardierei to the raft that had pilea glauca on it... it was looking to sparse in that section.

That's what I like about this riparium thing; you can experiment with species and placements without disturbing the main tank and substrate...

Here's a quick shot of the changes. ..


March 2015 25cm cube riparium by nbtobey, on Flickr

 

[hitmanx]

3/18/15

I finally cleaned the filter to maybe help combat the surface scum, but it wasn't that dirty after 2 months of shrimp only. I added some purigen as well, so maybe that will help... I'm also thinking it's a complete lack of surface agitation as the flow over the HOB is disrupted by the driftwood mass...

I made a few changes to the tank as well. I temporarily removed the pilea glauca until I can find a suitable spot for it in the HOB, so I filled in that small raft with more pilea cardierei to fill out the left side...

But the most notable change is the addition of Singapore moss to the driftwood above the water line to grow emersed with their feet in the water... in this way capillary action soaks water up on the wood and the moss higher up. I'm hoping this works with lower relative humidity... Besides giving the "shore" a more believable appearance, a terrible white mold was growing on the drift wood in these sections and im hoping this moss will takes it's place, but of course it could also mean the mold will grow higher too... If that's the case then I may need to scrape the emersed driftwood idea 🙁

I had to kill the mold with hydrogen peroxide, which worked well but some spores flew off in all directions, hopefully not my lungs :confused1:


March 2015 25cm cube riparium by nbtobey, on Flickr

The moss is layered up the sides of the driftwood... for now I'm spraying it with water a couple times a day...


March 2015 25cm cube riparium by nbtobey, on Flickr

I applied the moss to all of the driftwood at the water margin... unfortunately water evaporation is pretty high in this tank compared to my other tanks for some reason, so this shoreline will be fairly dynamic unless I keep up on the top offs... 2 cups a day lost to evaporation could really ruin this emersed moss idea... we shall see...


March 2015 25cm cube riparium by nbtobey, on Flickr

I used a mixed of submersed and previously emersed Singapore moss from a high humidity setup... we shall see which one fairs better in this application...


March 2015 25cm cube riparium by nbtobey, on Flickr

I also put a black background on and removed the stunted crypts from the back left... This area was far too shaded so I'm going to fill it in with either narrow java fern or anubias... the rest of the tank is filling in despite being less then 20 PAR at the substrate...


March 2015 25cm cube riparium by nbtobey, on Flickr

 

[hitmanx]

3/24/15

Moss is doing well emersed as it wicks up the water from the tank... I barely need to spray with only the upper reaches drying slightly. .. but as I thought the mold is starting to creep in above the moss... but now I can't use hydrogen peroxide to kill it cause it will kill the moss below it too :icon_frow

I added a big rhizome of java fern with small leaves to fill in the back left around the filter intake as well as an anubias nana hanging off the driftwood. The tank is starting to look full... I added 3 amano shrimp too, but because the light is so low their not gonna have much algae to eat so I'm gonna need to feed them. Of course I also need to make sure I don't feed too much in such a small tank... This tank already has a planaria problem and I don't think feed too much :icon_twis

 

[hitmanx]

8/27/15

Well after 5 months of basically neglecting this tank save for top offs, its kind of taken care of itself... The shrimp disappeared when the planaria appeared... The plants filled in nicely... I never did move the tank to a better spot, nor did I install the proper light fixture so it has been getting subpar lighting at best, but it chugs along at a slow pace...

Despite the lack of fauna, this tank has started coming into its own, but it doesn't give me a sense of serenity like I originally envisioned... The slow trickle of water into the stillness of open water is calming. The fullness and richness of the plants above and below the water do give the impression of a living and thriving ecosystem, albeit on an extremely small scale.


25cm cube riparium August 2015 by nbtobey, on Flickr


The find this tank actually gives me a sense of unease... And I think it's because of the shape... I now hate cubes... I know that sounds weird, but I can't quite explain it any better... Thought a cube would be perfect but because the front to back is actually longer than the tank front is wide, because of the HOB, I can't help but want to turn the tank 90°... The tank just makes me feel funny :confused1:

I hate it when everything comes together except for one athetic detail that ruins the whole thing... This was my first foray into riparium, and I quickly fell in love. I'm in the process of building one about 15 times the size of this one, but in the mean time something needs to change in this one... Either it needs to be decomssioned or reinvisioned...

So my options are to add the contents of this tank into my new large shallow wide riparium build or transfer them to another nano tank that's more appealing to the look I am going for...
Perhaps along the lines of a shallow but longer tank like the ADA 45-f, but I don't the short front to back depth of that tank... I may have one custom made to give more front to back space, while keeping with the shallow style...

I added a nice black and red betta fish to give it more life and he seems to be thriving in the still water... So obviously his well being will affect my decision

 

[hitmanx]

9/1/15

I really don't know what to do with this tank... I hate the thought of decommissioning any tank I've spent so much time building... Either way its gotta move as the new shallow wide riparium is taking its place along the wall 🙂

My intentions were to move the filter behind the tank but that never happened just like setting up the permanent light fixture... Babies can be so time consuming! If I stick with the current tank shape,I think if the filter is in behind and its on smaller table then maybe the tank will look better...

I have a quote for a shallow nano tank that may work better for this riparium... But I'm worried that the drift wood might end up looking like a tree coming out of the tank instead of a balanced piece of emerssed and submerssed wood... The quote is for an 18"x12.5"x6.5" high so it would certainly change the dynamic of this riparium... I would also take the opportunity to switch out the aquasoil amazonia for Malaya to brighten the submersed section. This would also slow down the growth of the crypts as Malaya has less nutrients the amazonia... This will be a good thing as the wendtii and undulata species are becoming too big and will be more so is such a shallow tank...

After cleaning the filter last week, at least 1/4 of the crypt leaves have melted... Not sure what that's about :icon_frow

Anyways, here are some cell phone pictures of the betta... If I ever get the time to post process my dslr shots I'll post those too :confused1:

Betta fish by nbtobey, on Flickr

Betta fish by nbtobey, on Flickr

 

[hitmanx]

2/14/15

A quick update and more info to follow...

The riparium section has filled out nicely, but the crypts below have melted several times and I don't know what to expect of them now... I've mostly filled in the bottom with heterhantha zosterfolia (star grass) and Ceratopteris thalictroides (water sprite)...

The betta seams healthy and happy... I hope to finally move this tank into my daughters room and install the proper light fixture, but I have been saying that for a year 😉
25cm Riparium Feb 2016 by nbtobey, on Flickr

Here it is between the grow out tanks for my upcoming 75 gallon shallow wide riparium...

25cm Riparium Feb 2016 by nbtobey, on Flickr

 

[hitmanx]

2/17/15

The riparium section is now primarily the peace lily, and philodendron on the branches... a planter of mondo grass, and a newly added Syngonium fill the rest of the background, and a few stems of pilea cardierei and Hygrophila 53b round out the midground.

The other pilea species are gone as they grew too leggy... I think that fewer species works better anyways... Too many and it just looks jumbled.

The fullness of the plant growth is finally allowing me to enjoy this tank as its intended purpose... I think it now deserves to have a special place with a proper light setup and maybe on a pedestal stand to show off its shape better.

I just wish the underwater section would stay constant... I've never experienced so much crypt melt as I have in this tank. The water is calm so the betta is only movement this tank sees. He quite enjoys it. I just added a small population of skud shrimp so hopefully they breed and give him hunting opportunities... He's quite entertaining when I give him worms...

 

[zozo]

Just wonderfull and very inspirational, thanks for sharing.. Realy love it.. The rotting of rhizomes and roots you experience might be lak of flow, if the water colum is fertilized enough most plants do not need soil or gravel. A very low PPI filter sponge will probably do much better in flow and aeration in those filter compartments you made to give the plant it's hold. And can be taken out and cleaned if necessary once in a while. EnderUK grows a massive fern like that in a HOB filter.. 🙂

if you like ideas or inspiration for planting see Green Peko Pond from Mr. Teapot

If you like to play with grassy plants emersed give Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis a try, it's very hardy and does realy good emersed and not so climate sensitive. If you like more sense of scale with smaller leaved plants emersed you realy should give HC a try, you would be surpiced how well it does emersed near the water line and just below. Also Bog Pimpernell not tropical but does realy good and grows like weed once it takes off. Also Enchinodorus sp. is surpricingly hardy for growing in a setup like this, i have it planten in the tanks substrate and is now growing out of a 30cm high tank emersed.. 🙂

Here you see the Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis and the bog pimpernell growing emersed on a piece of driftwood it uses several moss sp. and UG to root in doesn't need substrate. And the Echinodurus which is planted in the tanks substrate.


Here also bog pimpernell, HC and UG on driftwood using mosses to root in. 🙂


The moss higher on the wood, is terrestrial grow form collected in the garden. But if you would like aquatic mosses to grow up higher emersed on your driftwood. Give Dried Sphagnum a try and tie the Sphagnum agains the wood til just touching the water line, this sphagnum takes up water 25 times it's own volume so it will soak. Then tie live moss to the dead sphagnum. Probably even do not need to spray it, since the sphagnum will soak the water up. And if you need to spray it wont be so often. I found Peackock moss doing very good emersed near the water line, it's hard to see in the jungle of the first pick but it's in there growing emersed. 🙂

 

[parotet]

This is absolutely wonderful. I need to read in detail all this information but it is already one of my preferred tanks in UKAPS!

Jordi

 

[JPT1974]

Like parotet. I need to read it all in great detail but your ripariums are lovely. I'd not considered setting up anything like this before. But I've an old fluval chi tank with riparium written all over it . Have you more info on tech set up?

 

[darren636]

Serenity now...... Insanity later...

Your tanks look fantastic.

 

[sanj]

Ooooh... 🙂

 

[hitmanx]

if you like ideas or inspiration for planting see Green Peko Pond from Mr. Teapot

If you like to play with grassy plants emersed give Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis a try, it's very hardy and does realy good emersed and not so climate sensitive. If you like more sense of scale with smaller leaved plants emersed you realy should give HC a try, you would be surpiced how well it does emersed near the water line and just below. Also Bog Pimpernell not tropical but does realy good and grows like weed once it takes off. Also Enchinodorus sp. is surpricingly hardy for growing in a setup like this, i have it planten in the tanks substrate and is now growing out of a 30cm high tank emersed.. 🙂

I actually just found the green pekoe pond yesterday - very interesting methods used...

I'm not sure I understand this concept of using other plants as a floating substrate for other plants... What holds up the whole shebang?

This method definitely introduces the ability to blend the riparium section into the midground of the tank... It looks so natural!!

Thanks you.

 

[zozo]

I'm not sure I understand this concept of using other plants as a floating substrate for other plants... What holds up the whole shebang?

In my first picture its a piece of driftwood i placed horizontally, far left you see i little acrylic hook hanging on the glass, made 2 of them myself, as tiny as possible from a little 10mm thick piece acrylic. Drilled a 1,5mm hole and use a army green 0.06mm dynema line to tie the wood to it.. Found out by this line is perfect for tying anything in aquarium, it's smooth and unbreakable it slides, even a double knot slides on, so it's easily to tighten with only 2 hands available. It's army green and doesn't even show, it doesn't decay you might mistake it as a piece of a plant.. So this piece of drifwood hangs in the corner, could have been everywhere, it hangs like it is floating 2/3 submersed 1/3 emersed. First planted moss on the wood. Moss doesn't actualy root, some mosses (e.g. Vesicularia sp.) grow itself to wood or even rock over its compleet available surface and than starts branching and forms a mat of thick moss on this surface. Which will function as a base layer in which other roots can run through as they like.

So if you put some other small plant like HC in the moss it'll take it's nessecary ferts from the water collum and happily grow on and root through the moss. At some point the lowest layer will start to decay, there will form a microbial process, decaying the smothered moss.. Perfect habitat for a carnivor like utricularia and even others like Mr. Teapots setup. But since mean while the roots of any other plant growing and rooting in that moss eventualy grab on to the wood in the same way with it's rhizoids (hair roots) in the cracks and rough surface of the wood (some do better than others) the whole bunch stays firmly attached. It's a complete interaction which willl keep on growing if you don't start trimming at one point. 🙂

The second pic works excactly the same with a piece of wood stuck in the substrate going emersed as you already have. 🙂 First moss, then HC, then UG, then even more moss, then bog pimpernell.. The water collum provides the ferts and also that decaying process from beneath will. It only needs good care and atention, if you see cyano develop, you'll need a little spray bottle with h2o2 during the water changes. 😉 and counter attack.. 😉

 

[hitmanx]

Thanks for the clarification... I think i will try this method either in this tank, or my upcoming Celestial Swamp...

carnivorous you say? I have heard that UG doesnt like ferts so that might be a problem...

Is cyano a common problem for this method? I had large amounts of Singapore moss growing semi emersed on driftwood and after a long time cyano did form on the moss and it eventually spread to my whole tank which took a lot of work to combat...