Dimensions 91 × 46 × 41 cm

Title El Riocuario

Volume 151L

Background A simple (black) felt fabric background

Lighting Hydrofarm 24" T5HO light fixture hung above tank (w/24w 6,500K bulb)

Filtration SunSun (265 gallons per hour) canister filter

Plants Vallisneria spp., Echinodorus amazonicus, Echinodorus 'Aflame,' Cyperus 'baby tut' (emersed), Pilea cardieri (emersed)

Animals Ilyodon frucidens, (gold breasted splitfin) - 12x adults, 5x fry

Materials River rocks, driftwood, pool filter sand/gravel mix as substrate

Additional Information The title of this display is "El Riocuario," which, when roughly translated from Spanish means: The Rivaquarium. This title suites this display as I attempted to recreate a Mexican river bank setting. I planted the aquatic plants in a way that one might see them in nature: The hardy Echinodorus near the river's edge (by the riparium plants) where they sometimes become emersed during dry spells, and the Vallisneria near the deep, center of the river where they have a constant supply of water (and receive lots of light). The plants are obviously not native to Mexico, but I deemed them acceptable for aquascaping purposes.

This setup is, I believe, the first riparium (an aquarium that utilizes planters and/or rafts attached to the glass panes of the aquarium with emersed bog plants, houseplants or aquatic plants planted in them to add a second emersed dimension to the display) to be entered into an AGA aquascaping competition.

The planters and rafts in this display were purchased from Riparium Supply.

Fertilization is very light, with dry fertilizers added to the water column on a bi-weekly basis.

Extra water flow is added via a Hydro Koralia Nano 420 powerhead.

Heating is accomplished with a Hydor 200w ETH inline heater attached to the canister filter's outtake tube.

Water parameters are: pH 7.4, GH: Medium, Temperature: 72* F

This setup is done on a very low budget, as I am 14.