hydrophyte

Hi All,

I have been lurking for a while, but I am new here and this is my first post. I have a pretty good start on a new display and tonight I managed to get some pictures.

I am setting up a 55 gallon as a riparium with mainly Cryptocoryne in hanging riparium planters. I am not crazy about the dimensions of the standard 55--it's too short front-to-back--but I think that it will work well for this display. I want this tank to create a "botanical" impression with crypts lined up in such a way that their different shapes, colors and sizes are visually contrasted.

I still only have have it set up as a culture tank on a fishroom bench, but here is the aquarium with some of the material that I will use:



There's other stuff in there too, including some ferns and Anubias.



The emmersed crypts are going to form the composition background. I have a couple of ideas for midground plants. I intend to plant these onto Nano Trellis Rafts.

This is a little Pilea sp. that I have had half-neglected in with my orchids.



This Hemigraphis (I haven't been able to figure out species) does well growing hydroponically on a Nano Trellis Raft.



I have a number of big robust crypts already in Hanging Planters. This is a C. wendtii, maybe 'Bronze'. It has flowered for me several times.



The next plant is a Lagenandra idontknowwhichoneitis. I picked it up at a LFS a couple of months ago.



This one has already filled its planter with roots. What a cool plant. I was so happy to finally get my hands on a Lagenandra.

This is a C. ciliata in a Large Hanging Planter. I potted up this one a couple of months ago and it is well-established. Most of the leaves it came with melted as these new ones developed.



I have a few things planted onto Epi-Trellis Rafts.



This Java fern is about the best looking that I have on an Epi-Trellis. It might be too big for this display, and its not a crypt, but I will try it out. It is such a nice plant and I don't really have any other ideas for it right now.



I am going to plant crypts also in the underwater foreground. Here is a nice C. wendtii 'Green Gecko'. I wonder how big these get(?). I need to look for smaller stuff for the underwater portion too because the water will only be ~8" deep.



More later!