15-gallon Riparium

[hydrophyte]

Thank you Jake!

It still hasn't grown in enough to do much for the scape, but the baby panda bamboo (Pogonatherum crinitum) has started to root in its planter and grow new leaves. I think that this will probably end up being a really great riparium plant. It will look so cool to have a little miniature bamboo stand growing up in the scape.

When I made this plant purchase I actually got two different P. crinitum selections, the regular species, and a second with whitish-green leaf pinstriping, var. variegatum. This variegated one is growing well too.

Like I say the baby panda bamboo hasn't really started to fill in much. In this shot you can see two planters of it over on the far left side of the tank.

 

[hydrophyte]

I am going to re-do the layout in this tank with new stones and some new plants so I wanted to get a couple quick shots before moving stuff around. The plants have grown in real nice. This was a great selection of plants for a nano/smallish riparium setup.

I like the fish in this tank, but they don't photograph very well. I tried to get a shot with the tetras but it doesn't look like much. I mean to introduce some lighter-colored rocks and maybe also some bright green plants so that the underwater area won't be so dark.

Here's a good view of the emersed foliage.

 

[Mikey5924]

Great looking tank.

 

[hydrophyte]

Thanks Mikey!

While replanting this one I intend to use just the new trellis raft design. These should be real good for nano riparium setups.

This design has some nice features. There are two or three plastic snap fasteners and an extra puzzle-piece float. It is about 4" long. If snapped tight into place with the hanging planter it only sticks out a couple of inches. Here is a shot of one planted with some creeping charlie (Pilea nummularifolia).

 

[PaulJ69]

Nice looking tank you have there!

 

[JakeJ]

Those rafts would be perfect for my setup. Yours really grew in well! It all works together quite well.

 

[hydrophyte]

Hey thanks you guys!

Yes these trellis rafts work really nice for small tanks. They are smaller than the other designs and with a more rounded shape and no corners sticking out, so it is easier to hide the foam.

 

[Inka4040]

That new raft design is pretty neat! Man... This tank is really giving me ideas. Saw a super squat rounded corner square glass rimless at the LFS that would just be perfect for this open top type setup. If only I had a place to put it. Did you have to stick to more terrestrial plants given the lower humidity in this setup compared to your others?

 

[BioHazard]

Wow, that is a neat set up!

 

[hydrophyte]

Here is another way to use that Nano Trellis Raft. This time with a sprawling emersed stem plant (Bacopa) rooted in a planter and then growing forward across the raft surface.

This eventually grows into a nice floating carpet. The plants do require moderate-bright light intensity and pruning of the growing tips to grow in dense like this and cover the foam and plastic.