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 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 composition. 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 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 raft. A
Hemigraphis 'Red Equator' (3) also grows in the midground, supported by a raft (4). While the
Bacopa is rooted in planter gravell, the roots of the
Hemigraphis grow directly in the water.
The next figure is a CAD drawing, also depicting a vining stem plant (60), 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 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 hanging planter that supports that large specimen. Notice that area of water in the front of the composition (8) is mostly open.