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65 gallon planted tank


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#1 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 15 September 2008 - 05:22 PM

I cleaned out my 65 planted tank and am re-inventing it as a sort of paludarium.

First layer- leaves, mostly oak.

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Second layer- gravel.

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More gravel and some larger chert pieces.

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Water and plants!

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#2 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 15 September 2008 - 05:26 PM

A moss, perhaps Fontinalis species. This species grows both submerged, floating, and attached to stones at the margin of the spring whence I collected it. When growing submerged it is very pearly; I hope it will replicate this silvery look in my tank. This and the next several plants are from a spring in Humphreys County, TN.

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Another moss.

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Another moss.

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A polymorphic moss, with distinctly different emersed and submersed appearance.

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Ludwigia palustris?

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Riccia fluitans and a bit of watercress.

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#3 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 15 September 2008 - 05:31 PM

Plants from Kentucky Lake, also in Humphreys Co., TN:

Coontail AKA hornwort, Ceratophyllum demersum.

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Creeping burrhead, Echinodorus cordifolius.

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Moss from Broad River, NC.

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A few critters:

Pleurocerid snails, perhaps Elimia species.

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Scuds.

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There are also a couple varieties of planaria. I returned my five bluefin killifish (the sole inhabitants of the tank pre-renovation, once my Ambystoma had all metamorphosed). Later I will add my two western lesser sirens.

Edited by Newt, 15 September 2008 - 05:53 PM.


#4 Guest_pmk00001_*

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Posted 15 September 2008 - 05:45 PM

Looks great Newt -

Definately looks like Ludwigia palustris to me.

Keep us posted on the mosses, I'm really curious about how they do.

#5 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 15 September 2008 - 06:29 PM

Thanks, PMK. I am excited, but not very confident, about the prospect of growing these mosses successfully.

#6 Guest_natureman187_*

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Posted 15 September 2008 - 10:32 PM

Great stuff Nathan. Keep us posted with the mosses.
I think mine overheated in that trunk. When i got home it was brown...maybe next year.

#7 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 15 September 2008 - 10:54 PM

Thanks, Lance. If mine do well I'll send you some trimmings!

#8 Guest_mikez_*

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Posted 16 September 2008 - 08:03 AM

Interesting. I'll be looking forward to seeing it when the sirens are in there.

#9 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 17 September 2008 - 11:54 AM

Added a piece of driftwood, my two lesser sirens, some Palaemonetes paludosus and more bluefin killies from the pet store, a lone male guppy from the siren tank, and some more plants from a slough off the Cumberland.

The tank with its now very nicely stained water:

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Siren #1- the big guy:

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You can see he has some damage to his gills; I had been keeping him with a Seminole killifish who apparently mistook his gills for bloodworms. I don't know where I'm going to put that killi.

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Siren #2:

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The new plants:

Rumex verticillatus:

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Saururus cernuus:

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Also added some sort of smallish Sagittaria, perhaps S. brevirostra. Didn't get a good shot of it, I'll have to try again. This newest batch of plants is intended for another paludarium which will be set up soon. They are far too tall for this setup. I'm currently running a little experiment- I added some carbon this morning, and I want to see how great an effect it has on the tannins.

Edited by Newt, 17 September 2008 - 11:56 AM.


#10 Guest_schambers_*

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Posted 17 September 2008 - 10:37 PM

Very nice tank! I'm going to be setting up an open topped aquarium - this will give me some ideas.

#11 Guest_natureman187_*

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Posted 18 September 2008 - 06:13 AM

Very cool. Are you using a filter of any sort?

#12 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 18 September 2008 - 10:40 AM

Thanks, y'all. There is a filter- an Aquaclear 70 HOB. The uptake tube was a bit short so I extended it with a replacement UGF tube I had on hand. Collected another sag and a massive aquatic Polygonum, possibly P. lapathifolium. They are too big for this tank, so I'll have to find another place to put them until I can start planting the future 120 gallon paludarium.

#13 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 19 September 2008 - 05:38 PM

Sagittaria brevirostra (or not):

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Polygonum lapathifolium (for sure):

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And blooms thereof:

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New tank inhabitant: young-of-year Graptemys ouachitensis:

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#14 Guest_Clayton_*

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Posted 22 September 2008 - 02:21 PM

Looks nice Newt. How many and what kind of turtles do you have? You had mentioned stripe neck musks in another post.

#15 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 22 September 2008 - 03:02 PM

At the moment I've got:

Four common snappers, two adult males and two juveniles;
One juvenile alligator snapper;
Two stripe-necked musk turtles, one old adult male and one juvenile;
Two adult female stinkpots;
Five red-eared sliders, two adult females, one adult male, and two juveniles;
Three adult male eastern box turtles;
One adult male northern map turtle;
and the juvenile Ouachita you see here.

All are used as educational animals.

#16 Guest_Clayton_*

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Posted 22 September 2008 - 04:46 PM

That's a pretty nice native collection. Are they all wild caughts in TN?

Are you an educator of some sort? A lot of those shots look like they are from a classroom/lab and your 300 gallon tank said it was in a university I thought.

#17 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 22 September 2008 - 05:14 PM

Yeah, I work in a university. I'm not a professor myself, just a lab lackey, but I'm heavily involved in some public outreach/education programs and also help with informal training of many of the student researchers. The live animal collection is invaluable- nothing grabs people's attention quite like a living animal. However, it is not on public display. I'm hoping the public aquaria will serve as more of a continuous educational service. Eventually a computer monitor will be mounted near each of the public tanks; it will display a slideshow about the tank inhabitants, regional aquatic biodiversity and threats, biology dept. programs and student groups, etc.

The turtles are from various sources; some were dumped on us by well-meaning laymen, others are locality specimens that are enjoying a reprieve prior to entering the more permanent collection. The alligator snapper is a farm-raised specimen who was used to test a transmitter setup prior to a number of his brethren being released into Wolf River (southwestern Tennessee) in a reintroduction program.

#18 Guest_Clayton_*

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Posted 23 September 2008 - 09:54 AM

Very cool. Sounds like you get to come in contact with a lot of fun stuff.

#19 Guest_mikez_*

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Posted 24 September 2008 - 03:50 PM

...others are locality specimens that are enjoying a reprieve prior to entering the more permanent collection.


I love the way you worded that! :tongue:

#20 Guest_jimv8673_*

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Posted 24 September 2008 - 05:35 PM

This a great idea and a good looking set up (to me at least). Never been a fan of tall tanks, but when set up this way with only half water and combo submerged and above water line plants, plus the drift wood...its great, i can see a liitle newt, or small turtle on that drift wood already. Thanks for this presentation




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