# Jake's 40g Biotope Riparium



## RipariumGuy (Aug 2, 2010)

*"El Rio Grande" Jake's 40g Biotope Riparium*

Moderators/Admin - I do not know where to post this, so if it needs to be moved, please do so! :-D









_Let it begin!_









_"El Rio Pico," this setups forefather_

*A Little Backround*

Many of you have probably seen my "El Rio Pico" riparium. Great little tank. But if you begin to read the very first post, and many more, you will realize how unprepared, unlearned, and horrid at spelling I was. I mainly got by on luck, water changes, and hardy fish. Well, now that I have a good grasp of aquaria (and spelling!) I am going to up the ante. After getting the awesome parents of mine to OK the "Bigger Aquarium Bill" I freak out, and begin to scour Craigslist for a good deal. While looking around for a bigger tank, I decide on getting a 40g breeder sized aquarium. I also plan the tank out, a S. American Biotope, with riparium plant in the far left corner, lots of driftwood, and everything else that is needed, mostly using overpowered equipment from "El Rio Pico". This leads us to yesterday, when I learn of the _Petco_ "Dollar Per Gallon Sale". I check my funds, think it over, and decide to get the tank new, and get a used stand. Late this morning (8/30/10) I come home with a brand new, _Aqueon_ 40 gallon breeder aquarium! Which leaves us at the here and now. The tank won't bee setup 'till I get the stand, but getting the tank is a good excuse for starting a journal.









_Petco a store that is on the rise... in my area!_









_The thing is huge!!!_



*Equipment List*

_Tank_: Aqueon 40g Breeder w/black trim
_Filter: _Eheim Classic 2213 w/powerhead 
_Substrate: _Pool filter sand
_Lighting: _24" T5HO hydroponics light fixture w/24w 6,500k bulb*
_Stand: _Unknown
_Flora_: _Vallisneria _spp. _Echinoduros_ spp. 
_Fauna:_ Unknown
_Photoperiod: _Unknown
_Fertilization:_ Unknown
_CO2:_ None Planned...

*Upgrading ASAFA

It will be a while before I can get this baby up and running, so be patient! (As I will have to be...) Please, feel free to comment and tell me what you think! If you see any problems with my plan, tell me. Please!









_Oh my horrid cheese puffs, samples!!!_









_The tank..._


Special thanks to: Petco and Riparium Supply.


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 2, 2010)

*In With The New, Out With The Old - Tank Setup, But Dry*

*In With The New, Out With The Old - Tank Setup, But Dry*

Today was a big day, atleast when it came to my aquaria! (And college football...) I begin with moving the flora and fauna from "El Rio Pico" to an extra 10g setup with a heater and air pump late in the morning. The fishes seem fine, which is a releif. Once all the "perishable" stuff was moved, I moved the substrate (pool filter sand) into some large buckets to be pust to use later. With the tank emptied and the stand cleared, it was time to say good by. *Sob*.... :icon_eek:










_The final hours of "El Rio Pico"..._









_Takin' everything out_









_The holding tank_









_It's.... Gone!_


Well anyway, my awesome dad "helped" (Ok, he did everything!) me make the stand. Several 2x4's, screws, and wafer boards later, the stand was lookin' good! So early this evening, everything was inplace! The Eheim was clean, the stand was up, and the tank was on top of it. But this is where a little problem takes place, the reinforced wafer board which the tank is sitting on is uneven. So I will have to wait 'till I can even the stand out, (tommarow) to fill the this baby up! This is totally OK with me, since am I pooped and the idea of filling and dumping around forty buckets of water into the tank sounds a little, "unfun." I did spend some time aquascaping the thing though, so this update isn't totally worthless! 

Tell me what you think!










_Da Mess!_ 









_The Stand in All Its Glory_









_More of The Stand_









_Aquascape!_


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 2, 2010)

*The Drought is Over! - Tank Setup*

*The Drought is Over! -Tank Setup-*









As the title says, Sunday was "fill up day" for the tank! I really like what is happening so far with thsi thing. I have filled up tanks by hand in the past (no Python... no fun!) so I figured out a way to do it "bucketlessly." With the help of the little bro, I brought our garden hose up though my second story porch door right up to the tank. It was sooo nice being able to fill the tank in three minutes with no labor, compared to an hour or more with alot of bucket lifting. :icon_smil Anyway, once the tank was filled, I had to rearange some of the driftwood as most haven't sunk yet. Monday afternoon I added the fauna, and all has been pretty good since. The only thing I have noticed, is that one of the _Corydoras_ is missing the top of his back fin (anal fin?). He also seems to have been rejected by the other _Corydoras_. It appears that they chase on occasion and will not school with him. The two things that my have happened, is that my rejuvenating _Betta splendens_ who is in the tank temporarily, could have nipped him and the others are picking on him because he is weaker. That or the other two are now a breeding pair? I highly doubt the second one. 









_As far as the ripascape goes, I will add on to the riparium plants that I have as this baby progresses. _
















_Under The Tank - Featuring, the Eheim, baskets, and a _Dracanea








_I love spray bar current!_








_Side Veiw_


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 2, 2010)

*New'ns! - Update.*

Hello all!
Been a long time since I have updated, though, I do as always have an excuse... I lost my SD card. Pretty lame, huh? But anyways, alot has happend visually with this tank since I have updated. Probably a day or two after the tank was setup, I added oak leaves to create a leaf litter for the bottem of the tank, and in my opinion gives it a beutiful biotope feel. I took a trip a couple weeks ago to Advanced Aquarium Systems, and picked up some Vallisneria sp.. They seem to be doing OK, thought it will be interesting to see if I can keep them alive, because I haven't kept aquatics alive for more then three months. :icon_surp On Tuesday I got a package from Ripairum Supply. In it was some Ruellia, Pilea grandifolia, Echinodorus, and a Large Tank Planter Planter 2-Pack. (For more on the Tank Planters, take a look at this blog post). That night I replanted and cleaned all my Riparium Supply Planters in an effort to get rid of the most annoying springtails that like to call my tank home. One a very happy note, my Corydoras have started to regularly spawn! I have even gotten the chance to unknowingly raise one of the fry, who is now about +1in. long!
Equipment List
*Tank:* Aqueon 40g Breeder w/black trim
*Filter:* Eheim Classic 2213 w/Maxi Jet 404 powerhead 
*Substrate:* Pool filter sand
*Lighting:* 24" T5HO hydroponics light fixture w/24w 6,500k bulb*
*Stand:* Homemade
*Flora* 
Riparia Flora - _Echinodorus Cordifolius _'Marble Queen'
Baby panda bamboo (_Poceana_ spp.)
_Pilea grandifolia_ 
Peace lilly (_Spathiphyllium_ spp.) 
Tahitan Bridal Veil
Dumb Cane (_Dieffenbachia_ spp.)
Basket Grass (_Oplismenus hirtellus_?) 
_Ruellia_ spp.
Aquatic Flora - _Vallisneria_ spp. 
*Fauna:* Unknown
*Photoperiod:* 10HPD with 2 hour seista period
*Fertilization:* Dry fertilizers 1 per week
*CO2:* None
*Decor':* Driftwood, oak leaves, river rocks
*Upgrading ASAFA






















































Pardon the fact that I was playing around with my cameras flash.


A quick video I made....

Please comment!


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

Wow this is looking good. I love the look of the white sand. Thumbs up to you. :thumbsup:

and kudos to dad for the stand.


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 2, 2010)

Romad said:


> Wow this is looking good. I love the look of the white sand. Thumbs up to you. :thumbsup:
> 
> and kudos to dad for the stand.


Thanks!


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

*nice lookin good*

Viva la rio grande.....es bonito amigo....


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 2, 2010)

badxgillen said:


> Viva la rio grande.....es bonito amigo....


 
Gracias amigo! Me alegro de que te guste.


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 2, 2010)

*Thanksgiving Update*

Don't worry, I didn't forget about this thread...
The tank has been going as well as the turkey tasted yesterday. With a few downs added. The riparium plants are recovering from a aphid infestation, which where eradicated after a qiuck 24 hour dunk. Aphids seem to really like soft tissued plants, having left the_ Spathyphillum _and such alone but chowing down on the poor _Echinodorus_. Other then that, the plants have been flourishing. Fauna wise, the _Corydoras_ keep doing what cories do. So far they have added two more almost adult fry to their ranks. Another thing I have learned is that neons love this.








Man do they attack every little shrimp until they look more like hatchet fish. I have been taking a look around most of the fish stores around here and unfourtunatly can not find any dwarf cichlids. Fish Ulimited is the only store I haven't checked yet... So keep you fingers crossed! The backup plan if I can not find any dwarfs are angels, which Advanced Aquarium has an abundance of. 
For equipment, and I have researching some good light fixtures and heaters. So far I have these in mind for lighting.
Odyssea T5 High Output Lighting
or 
Sun Blaze - - Fluorescent Lighting

Now on to the pictures! (Notice, I got a backround!)


























_*Pilea grandifolia*_









*My monsterous Dieffenbachia (aka Dumb cane)*









Poor plant...









*Daddy Corydoras with his son*.
Enjoy! And please comment...


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

*nice*

things are looking great...you know things are going well when the fish are breeding for you without effort involved...you should try the spiralina enriched brine shrimps...same brand i believe...oh and what did you do about your aphids....


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 2, 2010)

badxgillen said:


> things are looking great...you know things are going well when the fish are breeding for you without effort involved...you should try the spiralina enriched brine shrimps...same brand i believe...oh and what did you do about your aphids....


Sorry for getting back to you so late...

I saw the enriched brine shrimps, but they where way more expensive. Next time when I have more cash with me I will deffinatly get the enriched ones. For the aphids, I dunked all the plants under water for 24 hours then scraped the sides of the tank to kill any others. After that I haven't had a problem with them! 
Thanks for the comment,
Jake


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 2, 2010)

This tank is finally kind of starting to look like I had planned it to be. Remember the, "kind of" in that last statement.
The over all plan is to have the riparium section act as the obvious land section, being filled with _Acorus graminius_ (spelling?). I would then place the driftwood(manzanita if all goes as planned) to make them looks like the root system/stump of a tree. The rocks would then be arranged so that the left side of the tank would be like the center of the stream. _Vallisneria _and a few _Echinodorus _would then be lightly added throughout. Sound good or what! :biggrin:
























The current rescape is temporary until I can get some better wood/manzy.
The leaves are right now gone for a little as they where causing to much waste for my liking. But don't worry, they will return.
Also, I am in the hunt for some new equipment, if you happen to have a decent canister filter, 24-36" T5HO light fixture, or a good heater that you would like to sell, PM me!








I am still working on pictures my picture taking skills, especially fish and full tank shots so please bare with me.
































_Pilea grandifolia_
























*Still a bit cloudy.*


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

*cool*

yeah once you get that wood and light it souds like it would be quite the biotope...not that it isnt impresive as is...how often do you change the oak leaves...


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 2, 2010)

badxgillen said:


> yeah once you get that wood and light it souds like it would be quite the biotope...not that it isnt impresive as is...how often do you change the oak leaves...


I will be going on vacation to CA in January, and I plan to pick up some manzanita then. I should be able to get the light fixture after christmas, depending on what santa brings me. :roll:

I change the leaves about once a month. I unfourtunaly wasn't able to collect any more leaves other then the ones I have now, so I will have to invest in some indian almond leaves sooner then later. TFH actually just had a thing about leaves in the home aquarium. Pretty good read IMO.
Regards,
Jake


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## thefishboy (Aug 20, 2010)

That is avery nice tankk... Very jealous


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 2, 2010)

Thanks Fishboy!

Here is an updated picture:


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## thefishboy (Aug 20, 2010)

What are the inhabitants??


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 2, 2010)

On a side note, I will be getting some wild-type livebearers and a honduran red point for this setup in mid-Feb. So siked!


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

*cool*

i am currenty trying to cross my convicts with honduran reds right now...just for fun...


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 2, 2010)

badxgillen said:


> i am currenty trying to cross my convicts with honduran reds right now...just for fun...


That is sweet! Keep us updated with your progress.


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

*ok*

i am waiting for my female convict to heal from some fin damage befofre i try anything...her you can see it is healing nicely....i have a number of animals that need feeder fish and set up an egg crate devider in a 55 that i have a red belly piranah in to keep the convict adults in one corner and the over population can drift throught the devider....i am also getting some gobii wolf cichlids for the same purpose...


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