15-gallon Riparium

I have a start on a new display. I don't have the tank in place yet, but I think I have a clear vision in mind. This new one will go into a 15-gallon rimless tank (24" wide X 12" tall X 12" deep). I have not tried a riparium in such a small enclosure before, but I have a good plan in mind for plant selection and other important points.

I had a lot of fun with my latest layout (now dismantled) and I intend to use certain elements of that setup for this new project. Here's a shot from that 50-gallon riparium setup.



I have that one journaled in this thread...

Synodontis petricola Riparium Display

Here are some features that characterize that design pretty well:

• A tank filled with water to about 2/3 of total depth
• Relatively bright lighting
• Erect, tidy, "grassy" background plant (Cyperus) that throws relatively little shade
• Fine-leaved sprawling stem plants (Bacopa, Limnophila, and others) growing on trellis rafts and forming dense floating carpet
• Underwater scape lacking plants, but with an artistically-rendered stone layout
• Relatively large and showy fish
• A striking centerpiece plant (Cyrtosperma)

My new project in the 15-gallon tank will use some of the same elements, with a few important variations. I hope to adapt a general Nature Aquarium design concept for this riparium planting. I list here some elements that will support this idea:

• Emersed plants with relatively fine foliage
• Emersed plants having mainly subdued, green foliage, as opposed to leaf variegation or bright coloration
• A well-rendered underwater hardscape lacking plants or having just a few bright green plants
• A group or two of small, tightly-shoaling fish
• No conspicuous centerpiece plants or fish

With another post or two I will explain more specific ideas for hardware, scaping, plant selection and fish stocking. I would be interested to hear any ideas that you might have.

I have a few more pictures and a bit more description to post.

My general idea is to develop the background with "grassy" foliage. The major constraint for the plant growth habit and shape is that they scale well with this smaller tank. I think I have some pretty good selections for this concept. All of these are well-recognized as growing in wet/marginal aquatic situations.

I have several ideas for midground emersed plants to be grown on trellis rafts. I will come back to describe these with another post.

Of these three plants only the first, Pogonatherum crinitum is a true grass (Graminae). The Cyperus is a sedge (Cyperaceae) and the Acorus is a sweetflag (Acoraceae).

Pogonatherum crinitum

This one is still untested for riparium culture--I only recently acquired it--but it looks like it might be a winner. Known with the common names "baby panda bamboo" or "miniature bamboo", among others, it is not a true bamboo, but it is a grass. I am confused as to whether Pogonatherum paniceum (another plant that appears in searches) and P. crinitum are synonyms, or two distinct but similar species. I get the impression that they are the same thing. Descriptions for both describe plants growing with bamboo-like foliage to about 18" tall. It is very popular as a bonsai subject or houseplant and also makes a good houseplant. This could be a great riparium plant.



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Acorus gramineus "dwarf"

I am still uncertain about the best classification for this plant. I have the species right, but I have run into some conflicting information on the variety, so I just identify it with "dwarf" in double quotes. The foliage is neat and tidy and has a perfect shape for a setup like this, with leaves that arch forward from the creeping rhizome at about a 45 degree angle. The top of that planter cup is three inches or so wide. The leaves reach to about 9" in length. Bruised foliage of this particular Acorus variety has a wonderful sweet spicy smell. Sweetflags are highly susceptible to spider mite infestation and damage, so it will be important to watch for these plants and treat promptly if they appear.



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Cyperus albostriatus 'Nanus'

I have had this plant for a couple of years. It is unusual among Cyperus in that it has a running rhizomatous growth habit, instead of clumping habit. It is a bit difficult to see in this photograph, but the foliage includes leaves that arise in whorls from axils on the tops bare flowering stalks, like other umbrella sedges, as well as longer leaves that grow out of the ground from the plant crown. It grows to about 12" tall. This is a hardy plant and it stays looking very nice all winter long when kept as a houseplant. It dose well as a marginal aquatic, but thrives best with the crown at least an inch or so above the water surface.

Moss is a great idea.

Here is some Christmas moss growing on a Nano Trellis Raft.

Hoppy said:

Click to expand...

That looks more like a regular terrestrial moss. You might look around the dart frog stores/forums for stuff like that. You can try local terrestrial moss from the woods, but those mosses often require a winter.

I made some more headway on this setup late last night. I had all of the plants goring out the top of a 20-gallon, which was sitting in the same spot where the new setup will go. I moved the riparium plants to this plastic basin while doing the switch.



I think that I'm going to use most of these same plants for the layout. This gives an idea of what they might look like anyway.

Here's the tank, a "flood damage special" standard 15-gallon with top plastic rim removed.



I decided to just re-silicone the tank seams. It was easy enough. After spending a couple of hours scraping away everything but the little bit of sealant holding the panes together on edge, I masked off both sides of each corner, leaving 3/16" for the new seams.



I used a plastic yogurt lid to make a triangular sealant scraper. It worked pretty slick and scraped the silicone bead down to a nice even seam.



After letting it cure overnight, this morning I used a new razor blade to cut through the sealant right along the edge of the masking tape, then pulled the tape off. It looks pretty good.

I'll give it a couple-few days to cure before adding water. I will only fill this tank to about 2/3 full (~10"). The glass is less than 3/16" thick and flexes freely with just a little pressure on the two long sides. I don't trust it filled to the top with water.