DIY hob riparium journal

[MMantelli]

So I've finally figured out how to add plants to my cichlid tank. I'm going to build a hob riparium. I have an idea already for the design its going to be similar-ish to a hob refugim. its going to be powered by a submersible pump with a sponge filter on the inlet, go through a baffle into where the plants are along the back of the tank go through another baffle with heli-x media and then overflow itself back into the tank. So to get a feel for a riparium setup I'm going to use two hob biowheel filters for the time being one is a 150 and the other is a 350. The light will be from a t8 48" 2x32w shop light with two 6500k daylight bulbs with 2600 lumens. Any tips tricks and experiances will be appreciated.

So for my first question what kind of media should I put in the spaces in the hob filters. Or should I pot something like sand or eco complete in there to hold the plants in place. I've heard of people using the Fluval ceramic beads.

 

[MMantelli]

Whoops forgot the pics of where I'm at so far.

 

[MMantelli]

Dangit and they didn't post that time here they are.







Second question if I wanted to move that whole pothos plant from the pot to one of the hob's how would I go about doing it if I wanted to keep it together as much as possible I'd like to try to keep it as a mother plant. If that makes sence.

 

[Rivercats]

I'd use polyfill to help keep the water detris free going into the riparium and then use any extra other space for a little extra bio media.

 

[MMantelli]

cool will an anubias nana petite do ok in a riparium. i would also like to keep a christmas cactus in here i already have a black mangrove on the way.

 

[Rivercats]

As far as I know Anubia's can be grown with feet in the water and leaves out. I had one growing like that accidently in one tank once and I did fine.

 

[MMantelli]

Cool. I asked jetajockey (david) about it an he said it doesn't even have a transition period from submersed to emersed. I wander wich way it will grow faster.

 

[Rivercats]

I don't remember how fast or slow it grew compared to the others that were submerged.

 

[MMantelli]

Well mabey if its big enough ill split it in 2 and see what the difference is in person.

 

[MMantelli]

Now just to figure out what plants to put in it. So far its a golden pothos, a peace Lilly, an anubias petite and a black mangrove. I like to have a prayer plant, a dwarf cardinal plant and a Christmas cactus. What do yall think of those and what would you reccomend. I like colorful, unique and flowers

 

[MMantelli]

Well here's a short update.

Whatcha think so far I'm still drawing out the plans for the one I'm gonna build just doing this to see how different things work. Like depth of plants types of plants how well my light will work. Just tryin different things.

 

[Rivercats]

The only one I don't know if it will work well is Christmas Cactus. I'm not sure it will like having wet feet. The Prayer plant should do really well as would Wandering Jew. Overall I think your on the right track and want to follow how your growth progresses.

 

[MMantelli]

Definitely. I'll post pics regularly also when my nanapetite is big enough to snip I'm going to put a piece in there. How would an amazon sword do in there? Do you think any of the other plants I have already would do good in there?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

The peace lilly likes to have good oxygen flow around its roots so don't plant it in sand. I have one in pea gravel and some in vermiculite capped with gravel. You can leave the pothos in the pot and drape a stem into the water. It will shoot roots where it makes contact.

 

[MMantelli]

I have the peace Lilly held in place by a rock and the pitted pothos is the mother and I have like 9 stems just plopped in one of the hob's

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Awesome one more thing. The peace Lilly will get a fairly extensive root system so keep an eye on the workings of your filter. It will shoot roots down looking for substrate and get large (depending what kind you have).



Here's some of mine. They are 60cm tall.

 

[MMantelli]

Nice plants. Thanks for the info

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Thanks. No problem

 

[Rivercats]

Really nice plants Mumma!

Mike I think an Amazon sword would quickly outgrow it.

 

[MMantelli]

Mainly just to grow out my plantlets. I have about 4 on the shoot on my main one. Just to get them big enough to sell or trade.