I keep posting questions in the Planted Tanks forum, but I feel like I'm spamming them with this one project, so I figured I'd just put it all here instead. I'm going to warn you now: this first post is gonna be long.
So, you're probably asking: what's a riparium? It's basically a semi-aquatic NPT--or, at least that's a good enough description for my purposes. I've no idea how far the definition extends, since it's not nearly so common a hobby as fully-aquatic NPT keeping. I'm pretty sure the word can be used to describe what I'm doing, so I'm using it.
I'm including a badly-drawn sketch of what I'm planning, since that's easier than describing everything.
Basically, I stupidly bought a semi-aquatic plant (a peacock fern) for Felix's tank, and this whole plan is a result of trying to figure out what to do with it. Currently, the cuttings are sitting in a little vase of old tank water and they seem pretty happy.
I have a 5-gallon off-brand Kritter Keeper on the way. It's coming on Wednesday.
Oh, and speaking of which! Something that made my day was reading the reviews on the different Kritter Keeper-like tanks and seeing that there are several people who rescued bettas and put them in 3+ gallon KKs. ^u^
I myself am not going to put fish in this thing for a while... once it's established, I'll try putting Felix in it for a week and see if it's okay. That way, I have his other tank on hand so that if it doesn't work out, he has somewhere safe to be put back.
In order to cycle the thing, I'm probably going to put his nerite snail in there. The snail's a bit of an overload on his little 1.5g even with my conservative water changes anyway...
I have a feeling that Felix is not going to be terribly thrilled about a tank without a filter. He loves his filter. In fact, he's kind of obsessed with it. But I think he could stand to test drive this riparium for a while... he loves plants.
So, as of right now:
1. Tank: check.
2. Organic potting soil/topsoil: probably check. I'll have to see what kind we have.
3. Plants: got the first few... the peacock ferns, a lucky bamboo cutting, and the crazy number of extra java ferns in Felix's tank. I also have some spearmint rooting in a glass of water that I could probably put in the semiaquatic part.
4. Light: a west window. But I can put a CFL in one of my octopus lamp's light sockets and aim it at the tank if I need extra light. (Which I probably will.)
5. Livestock: got 'em. I may put one of Chard's lovely yellow bettas in the new one--they're really tempting. It depends on how Felix takes the riparium, I guess.
6. Sand: I'll probably steal some from Felix's tank. It's nice white sand. Might not be enough though, so I may have to go back to PetSmart and get more.
7. Cycling: Felix's tank is probably cycled, so I'll just bring over a couple rocks or something from that tank.
8. Testing: Don't have a test kit. Gotta fix that. Are koi pond test kits the same thing? Are they cheaper? I'm gonna have to do some research.
9. Lid: I'm going to get rid of the Kritter Keeper lid once I can replace it with one I'm making. I'm going to use clear plastic "fabric" from Jo-Ann's and see if I can't stitch something together. I'm thinking maybe a triangular sort of top to go over it, and I'll have to figure out a way to hook it down securely so my snail doesn't go for a walk.
10. Heating: Felix's tank stays at 80F unheated, at least in the warm months. It's because of the temperature of my room and the small size of his tank. The 5gal Kritter Keeper is bigger, but it'll be in the sun. I'll have to see if that's enough. If it's not, I have two small-tank heaters ready to go, and I have black rocks that can help to hold in some heat.
I have some trial and error to go through, but I think this'll be fun.
So, you're probably asking: what's a riparium? It's basically a semi-aquatic NPT--or, at least that's a good enough description for my purposes. I've no idea how far the definition extends, since it's not nearly so common a hobby as fully-aquatic NPT keeping. I'm pretty sure the word can be used to describe what I'm doing, so I'm using it.
I'm including a badly-drawn sketch of what I'm planning, since that's easier than describing everything.
Basically, I stupidly bought a semi-aquatic plant (a peacock fern) for Felix's tank, and this whole plan is a result of trying to figure out what to do with it. Currently, the cuttings are sitting in a little vase of old tank water and they seem pretty happy.
I have a 5-gallon off-brand Kritter Keeper on the way. It's coming on Wednesday.
Oh, and speaking of which! Something that made my day was reading the reviews on the different Kritter Keeper-like tanks and seeing that there are several people who rescued bettas and put them in 3+ gallon KKs. ^u^
I myself am not going to put fish in this thing for a while... once it's established, I'll try putting Felix in it for a week and see if it's okay. That way, I have his other tank on hand so that if it doesn't work out, he has somewhere safe to be put back.
In order to cycle the thing, I'm probably going to put his nerite snail in there. The snail's a bit of an overload on his little 1.5g even with my conservative water changes anyway...
I have a feeling that Felix is not going to be terribly thrilled about a tank without a filter. He loves his filter. In fact, he's kind of obsessed with it. But I think he could stand to test drive this riparium for a while... he loves plants.
So, as of right now:
1. Tank: check.
2. Organic potting soil/topsoil: probably check. I'll have to see what kind we have.
3. Plants: got the first few... the peacock ferns, a lucky bamboo cutting, and the crazy number of extra java ferns in Felix's tank. I also have some spearmint rooting in a glass of water that I could probably put in the semiaquatic part.
4. Light: a west window. But I can put a CFL in one of my octopus lamp's light sockets and aim it at the tank if I need extra light. (Which I probably will.)
5. Livestock: got 'em. I may put one of Chard's lovely yellow bettas in the new one--they're really tempting. It depends on how Felix takes the riparium, I guess.
6. Sand: I'll probably steal some from Felix's tank. It's nice white sand. Might not be enough though, so I may have to go back to PetSmart and get more.
7. Cycling: Felix's tank is probably cycled, so I'll just bring over a couple rocks or something from that tank.
8. Testing: Don't have a test kit. Gotta fix that. Are koi pond test kits the same thing? Are they cheaper? I'm gonna have to do some research.
9. Lid: I'm going to get rid of the Kritter Keeper lid once I can replace it with one I'm making. I'm going to use clear plastic "fabric" from Jo-Ann's and see if I can't stitch something together. I'm thinking maybe a triangular sort of top to go over it, and I'll have to figure out a way to hook it down securely so my snail doesn't go for a walk.
10. Heating: Felix's tank stays at 80F unheated, at least in the warm months. It's because of the temperature of my room and the small size of his tank. The 5gal Kritter Keeper is bigger, but it'll be in the sun. I'll have to see if that's enough. If it's not, I have two small-tank heaters ready to go, and I have black rocks that can help to hold in some heat.
I have some trial and error to go through, but I think this'll be fun.