hydrophyte

last i was moving some stuff around in the 120G Mexico river biotope riparium.

here's a shot down into display from the top.



this one has a lot of Cyperus in the background and semi-woody plants such as Ludwigia peruensis in the midground. the Ludwigia have flowered with many nice blooms. so have the Wedelia trilobata (the pointy lobe-leafed plant on the left side).



i added a new plant, a Xanthosoma 'Lime Zinger'. this plant will look really good for a while, but it might eventually grow too large for this enclosure. it has such pretty green satiny leaves.



i pulled the next plant out to make room for the Xanthosoma taro. this is a Cyperus 'Baby Tut' planted in a Small Hanging Planter.



look at the roots on that thing! you really can't go wrong with Cyperus--they are such vigorous growers. i wish, however, that i could find more shorter-statured selections. this one grows like mad with only moderate light and basic care, but it gets too tall--almost 30 inches in height.

hydrophyte

here is what the whole display looks like.



this isn't the greatest picture i know, and it's from a couple of months ago. the plants have since grown in quite a bit. i hope to take some time and get a good picture soon.

Veneer

I find your riparium approach very refreshing. Did you have a specific locality in mind as you were working on this tank?

fishlover

Very nice and cool.
Now for questions:
-What fauna do you have in there? I'd love to see some livebearers in there, wild swordtails would look great, also some small central american cichlids like Firemouths.
-Are all your plants from Mexico?
-Don't the overhanging planters appear? How do you conceal them and if you don't, how does it look aesthetically speaking?
Anyways, the tank looks amazing!!! nice, new, easier than the palu from what I understand, and the water must always be nitrate-free. Seems like a perfect setup!!

hydrophyte

there are fish in there. i stocked it with poecilids and goodeids that i collected in the Rio Purificacion in Mexico. they were still rather small when i shot this picture and the tank is so deep front to back (24") that very often many of the fish are way in the background.

here is the stocklist:

• Poeciliopsis turneri
• Poecilia chica
• Xenotaenia resolanae

i did my best to use plants that were representative of things that i saw down in Mexico (e.g., Wedelia trilobata, Bacopa monnieri). in some cases i used plants that were different species, but in the same genera as things that i observed along the river there (e.g., Ludwigia peruensis). there are a couple of plants that i included simply because they looked nice in combination with the other species (e.g., Eleocharis montevidensis)
there are several tricks that one can use to hide the the Hanging Planters and Trellis Rafts from view. in general, they become obscured by leaves, stems and roots as the plants grow. if you look hard you usually can see some of the hanging planters, but you almost have to have your head inside of the tank.

i have a blog post (still in draft form) that describes some of this.

http://hydrophytesblog.com/?p=275

please stop by and leave a question or comment if you have a moment.
thanks! i think that this method/concept really is easier to set up and keep than most paludarium designs. one of the most compelling aspects of it is that it provides a pretty simple way to keep many kinds of plants that haven't really been used in aquarium displays before.

hydrophyte

fishlover

Cool, You have some really nice wild fish in there (I'm a fan of wild livebearers) and it's great that you actually went to the place you are recreating, I'm sure it makes it more realistic. So, no submerged vegetation in that biotope?
I visited your blog, it's really cool as well.
I'm already awaiting your next creation LOL. Since you have a central and south american biotope, how about an African river tank or an indonesian tank?

hydrophyte

thanks very much. i have a Web journal too for one of my trips down there.

A la Pesca



i have a start on another project that will have a loose Southeast Asia theme, although it will also use some plants and fish from Sri Lanka. i am planting it with emersed crypts and i started a journal over in the Aquascaping forum.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...-riparium.html

fade2black

Very cool. You just added one more thing to my list of "I need to set one of those up".

hydrophyte

thanks very much. let me know if you are looking for any setup details. i hope to add some updates soon.

hydrophyte

I was over servicing this tank the other day and I got a few shots. Here is a view down inside made with five photos stitched together.



I haven't been able to tend this tank more than once a week for a while, so the underwater portion is rather dingy. However, the emergent plant growth is looking good. Note the big Xanthosoma taro at right.