# Three Proven Riparium Plant Combinations



## hydrophyte (Dec 16, 2009)

*Three Proven Riparium Plant Combinations*










I have heard lots and lots of questions about which kinds of plants to grow in ripariums. Naturally, plant selection is an important first step in planning and developing a healthy and attractive riparium layout. The following list offers three important features of useful above water riparium plants:

Adaptability to riparium conditions[/*]
Appropriate size and shape for aquarium enclosures[/*]
Visual appeal in combination with other plants.[/*]
Point #1 is the most important to consider when choosing a plant. The best riparium plants are those that grow in very moist or wet conditions out in their natural habitats. These might include the edges of streams or rivers, marshy edges of lakes or swampy locations in the forest. Since their roots will be underwater in the riparium display, they must be able to tolerate the much-reduced oxygen levels and other special conditions of saturated soils in the root zone. Succulents and cactuses, which grow in arid environments, and epiphytes (including most kinds of orchids), which grow in the tops of trees, are two large groups that need a well-oxygenated and are poor choices for ripariums. If planted in the water these kinds of plants will probably suffer root death very quickly and expire soon thereafter.

With this important limitation in mind, you can expect to find many suitable riparium candidates among aquarium plants that can grow well in emersed conditions. These include most _Cryptocoryne_, _Anubias_, _Echinodorus_, _Microsorum_ and many kinds of aquarium stem plants, among others. Plants grown in garden ponds include many other promising choices, but as indicated in point #2 above, it is important to keep the proportions of these selections in mind. Many pond plants, such as canna lilies (_Canna_) and pickerel rush (_Pontederia_) grow too large to keep in most aquariums aquarium and are much better for growing outside. There are also a number of common houseplants that originate from wet places in tropical forests and are useful riparium choices. These include peace lilies (_Spathiphyllum_), dumb cane (_Dieffenbachia_) and pilea (_Pilea_), along with several others.

*Choose a Theme*

With so many potential plants to use in a planted riparium layout it can become overwhelming to select a group of plants that will look good together, the point presented as #3 in the list above. I have planned and put together a number of riparium layouts and the strategy that I have found to work best is to choose a theme that combines just a few plants having proportions, colors, textures and shapes that work well to gether for visual appeal. A less successful kind of planting is one that uses a different kind of plant in every riparium planter. A layout with too many different kinds of plants will just present a confusing display to the viewer--it will not make a visual impact.

Having this important idea in mind, I plan to fill the rest of this thread with descriptions and discussion on three especially successful riparium plant combinations that I have discovered along with other hobbyists:

A layout with _Cyperus_ umbrella sedges and carpeting stem plants[/*]
A layout with _Spathiphyllum_ peace lilies, _Pilea_ and other tropical forest plants[/*]
A layout with _Acorus_ sweetflag along with other selections as visual accents[/*]
For each of these suggested combinations, the first plant mentioned is planted in several riparium planters, fills much of the above water part of the layout and functions as the dominant kind of background foliage. I intend to discuss each with one or two posts. Please post into this thread if you have any questions or comments.

Naturally, some mention should also be made of _underwater _plant selections. In general, the underwater plants, hardscape and fish selections should also function in a visually harmonious manner with the above water riparium layout.


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## hydrophyte (Dec 16, 2009)

A lot of these aquarium stem plants are pretty easy to bloom in a riparium. Here is the flower of _Hygrophila corymbosa_ 'Siamensis'.










This one flowers non-stop in my 50-gallon setup.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

I really appreciate these types of threads because they give a nice overview of how to do it.


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## hydrophyte (Dec 16, 2009)

I should be able to make another entry here pretty soon.


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## hydrophyte (Dec 16, 2009)

*1. A layout with Cyperus umbrella sedges and carpeting stem plants*

*Cyperus plants:* Plants in the genus _Cyperus_ are known as papyruses or umbrella sedges. Most grow in moist marsh or shoreline situations and the several hundred different species are distributed all over the world. Thus, they can be used to recreate the look of many kinds of riparian habitats in a planted riparium. Although grass-like in appearance, they belong to the sedge family (Cyperaceae). An aquarium _Cyperus_, _C. helferi_ is one of the few fully aquatic members of the genus. For such a large group fo plants there seem to be relatively few in use in horticulture. Here are the three different ones that I have tried in planted ripariums:

_Cyperus alternifoliu_s var. _gracilis_[/*]
_C. involucratus_ 'Baby Tut'[/*]
_C. albostriatus_[/*]
These varieties/species are most commonly used as pond marginals, although they also perform well as houseplants in sunny windows and as annual bedding plants in sites with plenty of moisture. This rather dark picture shows _C. alternifoliu_s var. _gracilis_. Notice that the stems are leafless around the base and with a whorl or leaves at the top. This kind of foliage is typical for most kinds of _Cyperus_.










Aside from being more or less representative of many kinds of water-associated habitats, _Cyperus_ plants have a number of other compelling features. The ones that I have tried have all grown very well under fluorescent lighting and they do not seem to demand careful fertilization. They grow into nice, sturdy plants that add vertical dimension to the riparium layout. Significantly, a mature _Cyperus_ has many fine grass-like leaves, so it will fill a good deal of space without throwing a lot shade. An especially appealing way to use these plants is in combination with sprawling emersed aquatic stem plants--even with the Cyperus growing as tall background subjects there can still be plenty of light left over to support a dense "lawn" of stem plants. This picture shows _C. involucratus_ 'Baby Tut" along with a few other tall plants in a 120-gallon riparium and with a dense growth of _Bacopa_ sp. covering much of the water's surface.










Here you can see a similar effect in a 50-gallon riparium layout with _Cyperus alternifoliu_s var. _gracilis_ and various stems growing beneath.










_Cyperus_ have extensive root systems and are best planted into a riaprium hanging planter with a fine clay gravel substrate. They will really appreciate root feeding with a root tab fertilizer.

The only major drawback of using umbrella sedges in ripariums is that there is a limited availability of shorter-statured varieties. Of the ones that I listed above, the shortest is _C. albostriatus_, which grows to about 14" tall. _Cyperus alternifoliu_s var. _gracilis_ can reach to 30" tall, a height that requires hanging the aquarium lighting pretty high above the tank. When I have seen it growing outdoors _C. involucratus_ 'Baby Tut' develops as a compact plants about 20" tall, but under fluorescent lights it eventually grows to more than 36". It only looked very good in the 120-gallon setup shown above because the water level in that tank is lowered to about 40% of the total depth.

_Cyperus albostriatus_ is apparently less tolerant of fully-saturated soils than mainy of its relatives. I have had the best luck growing this plant in ripariums by raising the planter cup up so that its top rim is about 1" above the water's surface. Here is a picture of this plant used pretty well in a 15-gallon riparium.










*Carpeting emersed aquatic stem plants:* Here is a preferred way to plant carpeting stem plants for this kind of layout. These _Bacopa_ sp. stems are planted into a hanging planter and will be trained to grow across the attached ripariumtrellis raft.










As they begin growth the stems will quickly start to grow across the foam trellis raft. You can encourage a dense, thick carpet that will hide the foam and plastic parts be pruning the growing tips of the stems as they reach beyond the raft. This next shot shows that same kind of _Bacopa_ after it has grown into a dense carpeting lawn of foliage.










All of the emersed aquarium stem plants that I have tried have also done best with a rich, fine clay gravel substrate.

I occurs to me that I have not mentioned specific ideas for stem plants to use with this kind of layout. This post has run long, so I will return with another shorter entry and some additional notes one stems.


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## hydrophyte (Dec 16, 2009)

Well i hope to get back into this thread with another update. It takes a little time to write these things so I just need to set aside an hour or two.

In the meantime here is a quick YouTube video for that 50-gallon with _Acorus gramineus_ and other plants.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ripariumsupply#p/a/u/0/vtV_qEuZ4zg


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