VerdantAquarium field guide
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A planted paludarium with a shallow underwater garden rising into a mossy fern-covered bank.
Aquascaping styleWaterline & small-format styles

Waterline & small-format styles

Paludarium

A paludarium combines a true aquatic zone with a planted land or marginal zone. Wet stone, roots, mosses, ferns, and shallow water create a continuous humidity-loving ecosystem rather than two unrelated displays. The transition from submerged to terrestrial planting is the main event.

AmphibiousBankMossHumid

01

The look

A shallow planted pool rises naturally into a humid bank of dark stone, exposed roots, moss, and small ferns, with soft mist and no theatrical waterfall or enclosure hardware.

02

Common hardscape

The materials that give this style its structure and sense of place.

  • Wet dark stone bank
  • Exposed structural roots
  • Shallow water zone
  • Background hardscape structure

03

Commonly used plants

Plant choices that suit this style. Follow any linked species into the encyclopedia for full care details.

Christmas mossVesicularia montagneiBucephalandraBucephalandra spp.Anubias nana ‘Petite’Anubias barteri ‘Petite’Java fern ‘Trident’Leptochilus pteropus ‘Trident’

Also common: Terrestrial & marginal ferns · Terrarium mosses

From the encyclopedia

Plants for this style

All plants
Editorial underwater photograph of Bucephalandra.Foreground

Bucephalandra

Bucephalandra spp.

Difficulty
Intermediate
Growth
Very slow
Light
Low
CO₂
Beneficial
Rhizome plant4–15 cm