Ripariums for Plant Filtration

[hydrophyte]

I would recommend inquiring at that store the I linked above there. I know that they have the 4' Sun Blaze strip light too they just don't have it in their online store. Here is their email madison"at"paradigmgardens.com
Just one of those lights should be enough, and might only cost you $65 or so with shipping. An advantage of using lower lighting is that you will get less trouble with algae. However, the plants will grow faster and you will see more flowers under two of those lamps.

 

[Gearhead]

I have a pleco, so no worries on algea. I'll get two lamps, seeing as this is my moms christmas present.

 

[hydrophyte]

Another big advantage of those hydroponics fixtures is that you can switch each independently (or run several together in series) so it is easy to dial back the light intensity, or program a midday burst with timers. For many aquarium fixtures several or all of the lamps are switched together, so the light intensity is all or nothing.

Plecos are good for anlage control, but most do not eat every kind of algae. If you have bright lighting it is real important to manage nutrients with water changes and good plant growth to keep the algae in check.

Here's one more shot from that 55 with a close up of some plants. The brown thing with the wrinkly leaves is one of my favorites, Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Tropica'.

 

[Gearhead]

That is one of the most stunning aquariums I have ever seen. It would be even cooler with a few green treefrogs, they love to hang out on leaves above the water. I just bought the two 4' light strips and the reflectors, I didnt buy the hangers, I figured I could rig my own.

 

[hydrophyte]

Another way to rig those striplights if you use two of them is to just cut a rectangular piece of plywood to back the tops of the strips, then use the mounting hardware included with the lights to mount along one flat surface. The whole assembly can then be hung with a pair of eye bolts or screw eyes and some chain. If you cut the plywood with care and then finish it it will also look better than that metal hanger.

I have heard many suggestions to include frogs and other herps in there, but I am sure that they would trash it pretty quick. Most of those crypts have light, limber stems and would just by flattened by any animal weighing more than 1/2 gram or so. The plants really do create plenty of interest for the above water area, and there is a good deal of room for fish too. Ripariums are really best for displaying fish and plants.

A cool aspect of riparium setups is that they make it easy to bloom plants and enjoy the flowers. Here is a spathe that I recently got from an Anubias barteri.

 

[Gearhead]

Some types of fish like splashing tetras acttualy jump onto the leaves and lay their eggs on them, then they continue splashing water on the eggs until they hatch. I dont know how hard it is to breed them, but I'd bet you could do it rather easily in those ripariums.

 

[hydrophyte]

There are a few other fish that could be interesting as choices specifically for ripariums. Species that use the water's surface a lot, such as hatchetfish, and mollies, could be displayed really nicely in an open-top tank with emersed vegetation. Archerfish could be a cool selection for a large brackish riparium. I know a guy who had a blue gularis killi (Fundulopanchax sjostedti) and his fish would jump right out of the water to grab insects perched on the end of a stick held over the tank.

 

[Gearhead]

Thats pretty cool, I might have to buy some cool surface dwelling fish. I might buy a few more needle nose gar, they like to hang out on the top and snatch fish out of tongs from the waters surace.

 

[hydrophyte]

For that new 50-gallon that I am working on I am going to start out with Poecilia chica mollies (below) as a fish for the upper areas of the water, but I wonder about eventualluy switching those out and getting one of those blue gularis killis when the Synodontis catfish grow up some more.

 

[Gearhead]

I think the species of catfish that you bought breed in a very unique way. They use mouthbrooding cichlids to raise their eggs. When the cichlids lay their eggs, the catfish rush in and lay their own eggs in the same spot. The cichlid picks up the eggs and raises the baby catfish as if they were its own young.