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Very low tech Riparium

12K views 37 replies 15 participants last post by  PaulG 
#1 ·
A 29G no tech Riparium. The inspiration comes from BigTom and Hydrophyte, owner of RipariumSupply, so a big thanks to them for starters!

I wanted to try something new, I wanted it to be cheap and at least fairly self sustaining. I don't mind the occasional feed or adding of ferts but I'd like to keep water changes to a minimum. I suffer from ME and I find them difficult on anything other than really small tanks. Plus I wanted the challenge of going El Natural.

Rocks, gravel and soil in. Around 1 inch of each.



Planters in.



A few plants to start.



Moved the peace Lilly...







Magnolia leaves from the garden still waiting to sink. All the plants are terrarium cuttings so I'm hoping they adjust to the lower humidity.

Any questions feel free to ask!
 
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#36 ·
I am curious - my philodendron isn't growing, in fact it is dying. How does submerged in a planter like you have vs. just submerged in water affect growth/health? I would think a) the plant has to able to tolerate submerged roots and then b) is there more to how it absorbs nutrients?

Any good lists/websites with bog plant species that you used, or did you just use trial and error?
 
#38 ·
Check the Riparium section and specifically threads/posts by Hydrophyte. A wealth of information regarding suitable plants. Also there's a thread by BigTom in which he set up a similar tank and tried out a few houseplants to see which worked. I think a few Calathea Sp.

The planters with hydroleca actually have no nutrient value and I think the plants are starting to suffer as they grow and increase demand for nutrients. The peace lilly has rooted way down through the basket and almost to the substrate and 3/5 planters have been switched to some year old ADA Amazonia 2 in an effort to provide more nutrients to the roots. Maybe if I was dosing the water column I wouldn't need to do this.

As for Philodendron my P.Scandens was growing well but I decided to remove it as I didn't like the look.
 
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