What type of gravel is that? I think I might replace my current gravel with something like it, mixed with black sand and flourite.hydrophyte;3583909; said:Here is another one of my setups. This one is in a 120-gallon.
This is closer to what I have in mind for this new setup. I want to just have nice gravel and stones in the underwater area, but no plants. I also intend to fill the tank to about 2/3 full, then have a lot of the foliage growing up and out of the top.
Ripariums for Plant Filtration
- Thread starter hydrophyte
- Start date
I bought that stuff as "paver base" at Home Depot, then screened it to remove the finest particles. I only ended up with about one part of that nice gravel to three parts finer sand, which I discarded. You might try looking around for pool filter sand, and get the coarsest grade that you can find. I have seen some pool filter sands that are similar and they are cheap, just $7 or so for a 50-pound bag.
Thats pretty good. I might get some of that with a bunch of flourite and eco-complete. I might get a 55g for my silver dollars and severums so that I can plant the bottom of the 125g riparium.
You could try mixing with those plants substrates, but be aware that the Eco Complete and Fluorite are larger and coarser grained and will thus tend to "float" on top of the regular sands or gravels. It might be easier to just use one or the other in the bottom of the tank.
Fluorite is really good for use in the riparium planter cups.
Another tack you might consider is to just put together a nice underwater scape with gravel, stones and/or driftwood, and no plants, and then have lots of emersed riparium plants above water, like that 120 above. This will leave lots of room for the fish and simplify everything. No matter what configuration you use it is a good idea to select light-colored sands or gravels so that they will reflect light and brighten the underwater area. When the emersed plants grow up they tend to throw a lot of shade.
Fluorite is really good for use in the riparium planter cups.
Another tack you might consider is to just put together a nice underwater scape with gravel, stones and/or driftwood, and no plants, and then have lots of emersed riparium plants above water, like that 120 above. This will leave lots of room for the fish and simplify everything. No matter what configuration you use it is a good idea to select light-colored sands or gravels so that they will reflect light and brighten the underwater area. When the emersed plants grow up they tend to throw a lot of shade.
ADA sands & gravels are another option, although they would start to get really expensive for larger tanks. The natural gravels run thirty or forty bucks/bag with shipping. Here is a bag of "Branco Forest Sand"...
...and a sample to better show grain size, color and texture.
...and a sample to better show grain size, color and texture.
Here is another ADA decorative substrate, "Nile Sand"...
...and a sample.
This stuff looks quite natural and attractive, but it is also pricey. There is a guy on another forum who purchased some pool filter sand for just a few bucks per 50-pound bag that looked almost identical to this.
...and a sample.
This stuff looks quite natural and attractive, but it is also pricey. There is a guy on another forum who purchased some pool filter sand for just a few bucks per 50-pound bag that looked almost identical to this.
Sorry, my computer has been messed up for the past few days. That nile sand looks perfect. That is exactly what I'm looking for. Do you know where he got the pool filter sand?
I am not sure of exactly where he gt his sand, but he lives in California. The stuff that I have seen around here is finer and more of an even translucent white. Here's a link to one store that carries the Amano sand...
http://www.adgshop.com/Decorative_Sand_s/23.htm
...like I said, it's rather expensive, but it does look nice.
http://www.adgshop.com/Decorative_Sand_s/23.htm
...like I said, it's rather expensive, but it does look nice.
I have a good start on that species setup for Synodontis petricola. The journal is over in the Catfish sub forum.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=286114&page=3
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=286114&page=3
Here is an update for that 50-gallon setup.
It still needs to grow in, but this gives a general impression of what the planting will look like. This thing will have excellent biological filtration when the plants grow to size.
I have also added all of the fish that I plan to use for the short-term. The fish seleciton is still subject to change. There are more details in the journal thread that I link above.
It still needs to grow in, but this gives a general impression of what the planting will look like. This thing will have excellent biological filtration when the plants grow to size.
I have also added all of the fish that I plan to use for the short-term. The fish seleciton is still subject to change. There are more details in the journal thread that I link above.
