78 replies to this topic

[Leo]

update?

[dspdrew]

I just cleaned this thing up. The glass was getting so covered with algae, I could hardly see in it anymore. I had a bunch of creeping myrtle growing really well in there, but it just suddenly died off. The moss and fern has always stayed healthy, but died off a little a while back. Now its mostly the fern that is really starting to spread.
 

 

 
 
Does anyone know why the fern never sprouts fronds anymore? It sprouted a few of them a long time ago, but they never lasted long before dying.
 

 

 
 
This waterbug was recently found in Trabuco Creek. I had a really tiny fish in here too, but I think the waterbug ate it. It attacks your finger the way a praying mantis does if you get close to it.
 

 

 

 

[sgheaton]

Why?!

 

Paludarium.. Cool!

 

Praying Mantis' flatbacked cousin that wants to fight me with its murder scissors because I'm simply cleaning its tank.... It ate the fish man! 

 

Edit:
It is really interesting though.

Edited by sgheaton, May 31 2017 - 6:34 AM.

[T.C.]

Would you like to get rid of the algae? Here is my recommendation. Add a few aquatic plants in the water. Then apply seachem flourish excel daily. ( https://www.amazon.c...l/dp/B000256962) Also you will need some lighting if you want the plants to grow like a led hood. The plants need lighting as well as food so either buy plant food or add some aquatic substrate on the bottom to give the plants their necessary nutrients. Also, keep the tank away from sunlight. The algae will really grow if it's getting direCT light from a window or something.

[dspdrew]

There is already perfectly tuned high intensity lighting on this. I'm not sure I understand how you expect to give a tank lighting to make plants grow, while at the same time making sure not to give it lighting that makes algae grow. Sunlight is exactly what is being simulated with plant lighting.

[T.C.]

I'm going off what I read when I created my planted aquarium. (I'll, post pictures later) Apparently, "direct" lighting from the sun causes algae growth at a much more rapid rate than using artifical lighting. I use seachem excel as a C02 alternative which grows plants, and somehow makes it so algae cannot grow. I'm not sure how it works since algae is a plant, however I have had no algae in my tank.

Edit: but to be honest, I think the effects of sunlight on planted tanks is highly exaggerated.

Edited by T.C., May 31 2017 - 9:45 PM.

[dspdrew]

Well sunlight is exactly what plant lighting is supposed to simulate. The best lighting would be just like sunlight. Maybe if you have plants that don't need much direct sunlight, then you could do without enough intensity to simulate direct sunlight.

[T.C.]

Well sunlight is exactly what plant lighting is supposed to simulate. The best lighting would be just like sunlight. Maybe if you have plants that don't need much direct sunlight, then you could do without enough intensity to simulate direct sunlight.

Not sure. I'm going to make a thread on plantedtank.net and see what others say. Maybe someone can give me a reasoning.

[sgheaton]

Sunlight causes catastrophic take overs in algae blankets in the Chiclid tank if I accidentally leave the blinds open before I go to work. 

[dspdrew]

Sunlight causes catastrophic take overs in algae blankets in the Chiclid tank if I accidentally leave the blinds open before I go to work. 

 

Are you growing plants in that tank?

[sgheaton]

 

Sunlight causes catastrophic take overs in algae blankets in the Chiclid tank if I accidentally leave the blinds open before I go to work. 

 

Are you growing plants in that tank?

 

Hah..no.. Sorry to chime in my 2 cents. Completely different scenarios. 

I do feed them twice a day though. What isn't eaten is typically the seed and the suns the catalyst. Live plants are upstairs. 

[dspdrew]

The moss and fern have been growing like crazy as you can see.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
There's froggy hiding in the back as always.
 

 
 
I thought this was kind of cool. I saw a tiny sprout of moss growing on the glass in the corner, so I left it alone, and now it's turned into a big patch. It's weird how good this moss grows compared to all the rest I tried.
 

 
 
I added two little fish to the tank today, since the last ones died a while back. I think one might have gotten eaten by the water bug actually, but the water bug eventually died too.
 
While looking closely at the fish i bought today I noticed a little larva of some sort running around on the piece of wood under the water. After checking online, I think this might be a damselfly nymph. I actually had a damsel fly eclose in there once and I didn't know where it came from. It's weird how these creatures just popup out of nowhere in this thing.
 
Here's a little video I got of the nymph.
 

[Zeiss]

Yeah, that is a damselfly larvae.  Hopefully it doesn't get eaten and you can have more in your tank, they're pretty fun. 

Edited by Zeiss, October 21 2017 - 7:12 PM.

[Connectimyrmex]

Oh my god. the paludarium is beautiful! I'm so jelly! My terrarium looks like some sticks, plants, and bugs thrown into a glass box compared to this.

[Chicken_eater100]

Oh my god. the paludarium is beautiful! I'm so jelly! My terrarium looks like some sticks, plants, and bugs thrown into a glass box compared to this.

totally not me...

[T.C.]

Do you know what size filter that is? The one I have appears to be the same, yet only puts 1/4th of that in water.

[Connectimyrmex]

 

Oh my god. the paludarium is beautiful! I'm so jelly! My terrarium looks like some sticks, plants, and bugs thrown into a glass box compared to this.

totally not me...

 

?

[dspdrew]

Do you know what size filter that is? The one I have appears to be the same, yet only puts 1/4th of that in water.

 

I think it's a Topfin. It's about 8 inches tall.

[dspdrew]

I added some more plants again. One is an underwater plant I got from the pet store, and the other is some Creeping Myrtle I took from my back yard. I planted some back there over a year ago, and it has since spread out a bit.
 

 

 
 
I added some fish to the tank again too.
 

 
 
Here's the frog sitting on her rock.
 

 

 

 
 
I also added a salamander I caught while at Chaney Trail, but you can't see it in these pictures. It dug a hole behind the rock and likes to hide out of sight.

[dspdrew]

I recently brought home some creek critters to add to my paludarium.
 
 
Whirligig Beetle
 
These things hardly ever stop moving. I have about 10 of them and they just swim around in groups really fast on the surface of the water for hours.
 

 
 
Backswimmers
 
These things like to stand upside down on the surface of the water waiting for a meal.
 

 
 
This one caught a fruit fly I dropped in there.
 

 
 
Caddisfly larva
 
These funny little fly larvae make their own little shell-like hideouts they carry around with them like hermit crabs. They make them out of whatever they find in their environment. This one made its case from pieces of dead leaves. You can see the fresh piece it found and added to its case shortly after putting it in my tank. The other one added a fresh piece to its case as well.
 

 

 

 
 
Dragonfly nymph.
 

 

 
 
I also added a few Damselfly nymphs too, but they disappeared pretty quick.
 
I can't say for sure that these weren't there before I added these creatures to the tank, but I spotted seven eggs the exact size, color, and shape of large Camponotus eggs stuck to the rocks under the water. Does anyone know what might have laid these?
 

 

 

 

 
 
And of course the frogs.