Synodontis petricola Riparium Display

I have been meaning to do this for some time, but I finally got my act together and started getting some video for this project.

Here's the YouTube link to the first file that I uploaded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7E5UpvP-aY

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I need to work on this some more. These first videos that I got are all very grainy and I don't know why. This one gives you an idea of how crazy the fish get anyway whenever I throw some food in there. The present stocking includes one Cryptoheros cutteri, five Ilyodon furcidens and seven Synodontis lucipinnis.
 
I got another video loaded. Here's the link...

15-II-10-tank-video-II.MOV (YouTube)

It seems that video has even more of that bright glare washing out the foliage in the emersed area. I have this problem with still photos too, although it's less severe. I need to look into fixes for that.
 
The Cyrtosperma johnstonii plant is still doing well. There are several new little suckers growing around the base.

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I plan to get some new plants started with those.
 
Lovely... I especially like that although the emersed plants are very eye-catching, the eye is equally drawn to the underwater hardscape. The aromatica and bacopa are my favorites here.

Those synos are adorable, and I see baby fish! Great video :)
 
Thanks so much fishycat. And thanks for taking a second look at the layout for those observations.

I took the Cyrtosperma johnstonii outside for a shot in the sunlight. This new leaf has more of the gold and pink.

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This is a great plant, and pretty easy to grow in a riparium provided that you can give it some vertical space.
 
I got back to work on this tank last night too. I tidied up the underwater area some, cleaned the glass and yanked almost all of the emersed plants. Now I am pondering a new scape and starting out with selection of centerpiece plants. Here are two options that I have in mind.

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The specimen on the right is a plant that I have been growing for some time, an emersed Anubias hastifolia. It has such as attractive way of holding its leaves.

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I am unsure as to how this plant will do long-term in an open-top setup. I have been growing it in a tank with a closed canopy and higher humidity. If it is anything like the Anubias barteri that I have tried growing in lower humidities then it won't do so well longer term. I have found that hardened A. barteri leaves hold up well enough in drier air, but new leaves whither and fail to develop.

The plant on the left is an intriguing possibility. Leather fern (Acrostichum danaeifolium) is a gigantic plant (to 12' tall) that grows in freshwater swamps and brackish magrove swamps in the tropical Americas and West Africa. Luckily my plant has only grown slowly under lights and after six months it is only about 12" tall.

31-v-10-acrostichum-danaeifolium-i-m.jpg


I have had this one in an open-top tank all along, so it should do well here. I intend for this rescape to be more subdued than others that I have tried so I am going to try use only green plants and avoid variegated foliage and warmer colors.
 
Thanks! These are some nice plants that I am re-starting with.

The synos do hide most of the time, but they reliably come out en masse and swim all over the place whenever I drop food in there and they put on a great show.
 
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