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Riparium? or not to Riparium?

752 Views 3 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  cradleoffilthfan
I have been seriously thinking about adding some riparium plants to the back of my tank. I just like the look of the plants growing out of the back. The only problem is, right now, my lighting fixture is on legs about 4 inches over the water surface. My tank is a 75P which is 18" tall by 18" wide, by 30" long. If I go with riparium plants, I would have to put it on hanging equipment and raise it in order to place plants underneath it, and have it high enough to keep it from burning the tips of any large plants. I want to keep all the plants I have in the aquarium itself though. I want to know if I can keep what I have and get a consensus. I have heteranthera zosterfolia, rotala indica, micro sword(lilaeopsis brasiliensis), anubias nana, narrow leaf java fern, C. Helferi, and Rotala Rotundifolia. What do you guys think. My current lighting fixture is a 3 bulb (24" bulbs) Catalina fixture(30") T5HO(3 6700K bulbs). Also, if it's possible, how far could I raise it up above the substrate so I can keep my micro sword a nice short lawn....I was reading the PAR charts, and found my 3 bulb Catalina fixture is pretty good. At 25" above the substrate, I am at @ 50 micromols of PAR. But that would only put my fixture 10" above the water surface. Would that be enough to fit riparium plants underneath without harming them? And would it be enough to keep all my plants already in there healthy? Thank you all in advance for any help and suggestions.
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Don't think you will have a problem with burning as far as excessive light. More so because of heat generated by t5ho fixtures. I've seen some folks have pc fans blowing over their riparian plants even though they are in open air, as opposed to a humidor. I think this is for distance from the heat source. Over at a.p.e. they have some people gone totally riparium batty might want to check there to.
And some plants don't need the extra light if you used plants like pathos you could leave the light alone.
I will check out A.P.E. thanks, and maybe pothos, I will look into it.
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