Marshlands

[Tyko_N]

This is my first journal, but I want to learn so don't go easy on me. My main interest is in life right along the water’s edge with a side dish of epiphytes, so my tanks tend to have vegetation either spilling out of them or with a focus on more terrestrial species entirely. Most of the setups are small and experimental, where I try out different techniques, but let us start at the other end of the spectrum. About 6 years ago I started planning my first big project, a large (for me) paludarium, and a year later construction started. I was rather specific about the design so it’s almost entirely home-made, 150cm wide by 125cm tall and 60cm deep, with 12mm plywood on the sides and a 60cm tall front pane 15mm thick (yes we are pretty paranoid about accidents). This is what it looks like today:

Quite a bland green I know, but it offsets the orchids beautifully when the start flowering around Christmas. Plenty of different plants have come and gone over the years, many were removed due to rampant growth and new additions were made when I found anything interesting. Today the plants include but are not limited to:
Ferns (Microsorum pteropus, Davallia sp., and three unknowns)
Orchids (Brassia, Phalaenopsis, Dendrobium, Promenaea, Ludisia)
“Carnivores” (Nepenthes x ventrata, Pinguicula sp 'Tina')
Ficus (Benjamina, Microcarpa, Pumila)
And a bunch of smaller ones like Selaginella martensii and Lysimachia nummularia

The water section doesn't look nearly as good and is impossible to photograph thanks to all the reflections. The fish add a bit of interest though, with a school of Congo tetras and a trio of angelfish the most obvious ones, but also some plecs, SAEs, a Peters’ elephantnose (have had her for 7 years now) and the only one who stays still long enough for a photo:

The system is pretty low-tech with no CO2 injection and limited fertilization. Light is provided by two UHOP LED-panels from Dusk, giving a combined total of just over 9000 lumen. Filtration is via a sump with water then returned (by an EHEIM universal 2400) along the “EpiWeb” on the back wall, a couple of streamer pumps (Rossmont Mover M3400) are mounted inside the main system though, to provide some extra cirkulation. I replaced the acrylic baffles in the sump with glass ones last, which made it look like this:

However, there was a large compartment deliberately left empty of filter media so that I could use it for rearing fry and suchlike. But the empty space needed some plants as well so I put in three Echinodorus sp., today it looks like this:

I wonder how closely related Echinodorus are to Triffids...

 

[Fiske]

Cool!

 

[shangman]

This tank is gorgeous! I am also absolutely fascinated by the water's edge and that trasitionary growth. It would be lovely to see more pictures and photos showing how you made this wall, or of some of your small experiments.

If this tank has been running for 6 years, are you planning on changing/evolving it in this journal? Excited to see what's next after such a big achievement!! 😀

 

[Tyko_N]

Thank you Shangman! The wall is made of EpiWeb, a substitute for xaxim panels, it's hanging from hooks at the top and kept in place by a couple of large pine stumps poking up from the water below (yes I know conifers are usually a big no no, but these are from the bottom of a dammed lake so have been underwater for 50+ years already). The first few months the wall looked like a complete mess, covered by cyano with the occasional piece of moss poking out, but then the plants really took off and the only real problem since then is the need to reattach it now and then due to the increased weight.

There are no big changes planned for the paludarium at the moment, I would like to break up the center background though, but have to find someone to offload all the Davallia cuttings on first 🙂 Other than that I'm mainly working on the water portion with trying to establish some more plants, not an easy task with the plecs fancying themselves as interior designers and the congo tetras nibbling on everything (even snacking on any new Anubias leaves).

 

[Tyko_N]

Yesterday's work involved a much smaller “aquarium”, an old and scratched second-hand 30 liters. This is my seasonal aquarium (or whatever it should be called), and after spending the summer as dry (relatively) ground it was time to transition it back to the water phase, all inspired by Scott Fellmans blog over on Tannin Aquatics.

Technology is very simple: An Aquael Leddy Smart for light and an airstone for circulation during the wet phase. The substrate is a bit more interesting though, being a mix of peat, fine sand, clay, and dead vegetation. It’s also full of little critters so there should be some copepods and ostracods turning up over the next few days, providing a good alternative food source if I decide to raise some fry here again (there are some Fundulopanchax gardneri in another tank that has worked well before). Planting is limited with Sagittaria subulata as the main water plant (although it handles being exposed to air very well) and Cyperus alternifolius ‘Zumula’ as an emergent. This cycle I chose to go with a mix of floating plants (Lemna, Azolla and Phyllanthus) to see if any of these would work well, otherwise I’ll just go back to the Salvinia I used last time.

With snorkeling as my main summer hobby I have tried to get some inspirational photos from the wild, so in the future I hope to make it look something like this but with more botanicals (and smaller fish...).

 

[Guest]

Superb, shared on Instagram 🙂

 

[Tyko_N]

Superb, shared on Instagram 🙂

Thank you 🙂

Saturday is paludarium day here, with water changes and general cleanup, so noticed a few things. One of the Pinguiculas is about to flower, not sure if the others will follow or if this one is just doing its own thing (I haven't quite figured them out yet beside that they root very easily from leaf cuttings, and prefer aquarium water over "cleaner" alternatives). The newly added Ludisia (got them from my sister when she struggled to keep them alive) also seem happy and are putting out new leaves. Then there is the Ficus benjamina which I have let go a bit wild, with the effect that it's now putting out more aerial roots to support the new growth.


Underneath the paludarium the sump doesn't completely fill the space, so I have managed to squeeze in an old homemade tank of 15 liters or so. This one has housed a lot of different setups over the years but now I'm testing using only rainwater, partly because I'm trying to grow some Utricularia gramminifolia, and partly just to see what happens. So far no large effects, and I'm still struggling with some cyano patches (there's obviously some nutrients still leaking out of the substrate, that's why the Limnophila is in there), but I'll give it time. The goal is to make it look something like the last photo, although with moss instead of boulders as the walls.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

One of the Pinguiculas is about to flower,

I noticed that some of my <"Pinguicula "moranensis"> are budded as well. I don't know if it is because they get more insects in the summer, or whether the shorter day length stimulates them to flower.

cheers Darrel

 

[Tyko_N]

Hi all,

I noticed that some of my <"Pinguicula "moranensis"> are budded as well. I don't know if it is because they get more insects in the summer, or whether the shorter day length stimulates them to flower.

cheers Darrel

Yes daylight makes sense, even in the paludarium, the amount of time they get outside light has definitely decreased, I'll see if the others start as well. That being said I had one in another tank that produced two flowers about a month ago so I'm not sure how reliable my plants are 😉

 

[Tyko_N]

Time for another little experiment: The flower pot pond, made from a glazed 40 liters or so flower pot, with a generous application of silicone on the bottom to make sure that it wouldn't leak. Technology is basic with a sponge filter and a 770 lumen grow light above, complemented with a couple of hours of natural sunlight during the morning. It’s not heated to limit evaporation, which isn’t too bad, and standing on the floor means that the temperature remains around 18-20 degrees Celsius year round. This is how it looked yesterday (please excuse poor phone pictures):

Basically just a storage space for leftover plants and cuttings, with those above the water line hogging all the light making the water portion look small and dark, and the emerging Hygrophila struggling in the dry air. So it was time for a change, the driftwood supporting the terrestrials had to go and some more Cyperus (almost hidden in the first photos) and Echinodorus went in making it look like this:

The water is still a bit cloudy due to all the mud I stirred up, but I’m much happier with it. There are two more Cyperus cuttings waiting to go in (when they are a bit taller so they can reach the water surface), otherwise it mostly needs time.

On another note, the Pinguicula flower in the paludarium has opened, and the all-green background make it stand out like a tiny jewel:

 

[Tyko_N]

Today I thought that I would share a few tricks I have been using over the years, and that at least I haven’t seen being widely circulated on all parts of the web, yet. Hope that they can come in handy one day.

Firstly a really simple one more people must surely be using, but for some reason are not told to newbies. You take half a coconut shell, or something else of that shape, and push it into the substrate leaving just a small opening. Pop in a chunk of frozen food and you have a feeding station for your bottom dwellers, out of the way of boisterous mid-water tank mates. It has worked very well keeping my elephant nose nice and plump in the paludarium, despite the school of perpetually hungry congo tetras there.

Secondly I have been using the leaves of common house plants (obviously not treated with any insecticides or similar) to provide some more natural looking botanicals, and that are not instantly recognized as temperate species (like oak and maple). I have seen mango and guava recommended before, but have tried Ficus benjamina (pictured below after some time in water), parlour palm, tougher ferns (like Davallia sp.), and Hibiscus in smaller quantities with no ill effects so far.

Then I have one that might not work everywhere, depending on which container you buy your fruit in (but it should be easy to modify). At least here in Sweden small stuff like Physalis come in small plastic baskets, with a few cuts these are easy to mount on the aquarium rim and can be filled with something like leca to provide a good spot for emergent plants. If the front side is lined with moss these tend to blend in quickly, but be careful about how big plants you place in them, especially if you are doing large water changes.

And a bonus one (and more widely known): If you have leftover driftwood lying around you can try mounting some epiphytes on them, in my opinion much better looking than the plastic pots orchids and others usually arrive in.

 

[Karmicnull]

Great tips - Thanks!

 

[Tyko_N]

Some quick updates today. The seasonal aquarium has been flooded for about two and a half weeks now and the copepod population is booming, so there is quite a bit of activity even without me adding any livestock (yet, at least). I have only done one tiny water change, but I started it off with mainly rainwater this time which combined with the Azolla seems to keep the cyano at bay so far (I think I have some nitrogen-phosphorus imbalance in my tap water, since I rarely get any other “algae”). A pinch of Utricularia that also went in is looking like it’s actually growing, against all my expectations, although I do have a back-up population that is doing considerably better.


The tiny tank beside the paludarium sump is also evolving, I changed the baskets hanging from the back pane so that they are now sitting lower in the water and I can try growing some Sphagnum moss there (will show some pictures in the unlikely event of it working), plus moved some submersed plants around and thinned the floaters. It’s not looking very good at the moment, but I think it’s heading in the right direction.


Also, autumn is well underway here, so time to restock on all the botanicals I might need over the coming year. One bag done for now:

 

[Wolf6]

Do you use those ficus leaves in your tank as well? I have both ficus ali and ficus benjamini that I regularly have to prune, if those are safe for tank use after drying that would be great 🙂

 

[Tyko_N]

Do you use those ficus leaves in your tank as well? I have both ficus ali and ficus benjamini that I regularly have to prune, if those are safe for tank use after drying that would be great 🙂

I have tried benjamina, microcarpa and pumila in various tanks, and they all worked fine (plus looks "slightly" more tropical than oak or maple 😉 ). I try to use only those that have turned yellow though, rather than leftovers from pruning, to reduce the amount of sap and nutrients in them. With that being said, I do find the occasional green leaf floating about in the paludarium with no ill effects, so as long as you start slowly rather than with bucketfuls I think you'll be fine 🙂

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I noticed that some of my <"Pinguicula "moranensis"> are budded as well. I don't know if it is because they get more insects in the summer, or whether the shorter day length stimulates them to flower.

and here they are.

cheers Darrel

 

[Tyko_N]

and here they are.

Beautiful ones Darrel, and so many at the same time. My plants only seem to have one or two flowers simultaneously, although they do keep putting out new ones for quite a while and I think that I have had something like 15 flowers over one season from a big plant that had started splitting into multiple rosettes. I'm surprised that more people aren't growing them as regular houseplants, considering that they aren't much trickier than say an african violet, look pretty, and stay a manageable size.

 

[Tyko_N]

Update from the little sump neighbor. The moss walls were taking up more and more of the volume, while deteriorating from behind, so in the end I removed them completely, meaning that the submerged part is looking a bit barren now. The above water part is doing well though, with the Sphagnum moss growing even, so I have switched from the original idea into making it look more like a quaking bog instead. But we’ll see how that goes, and for the moment it looks like this:


With so little going on below the waterline I have turned to working on the substrate instead, hoping to create a nice mulm layer that the struggling Utricularia can grow in, similar to what I have in the seasonal tank:


The Utricularia (and Pinguicula) growing in the Sphagnum moss seem much happier though, so even if the submerged growth fails I won’t be entirely without carnivores.


One of the paludarium crew wanted to say hi too, and show off his table manners

 

[Tyko_N]

Found an old picture of the paludarium as it was 5 years ago, just as the first plants are starting to take off (you can clearly see why the pothos had to go). The right side hasn’t really changed, other than becoming more overgrown, and the land part is still supported by the same old pine root. The left side on the other hand has seen a number of different versions before I settled on the current one, but I have to say that it was worth all the hassle of moving stuff around rather than having the nagging feeling that something was a bit off.

At the moment not much is going on in there, it’s going to be at least another month before the orchids start flowering if they stick to their usual schedule, and I’m still trying to make anything grow in the water portion despite the congo tetras who think that anything touching the surface must surely be food (they are even demolishing any new growth on the Anubias plants). The only recent change was removing the Nepenthes x ventrata which wasn’t doing well (might have become too wet in the end despite growing well there for over a year), and switching the Pinguicula on the bamboo tube for a Nepenthes x gaya cutting which is now settling in nicely.

 

[Tyko_N]

Quick Utricularia update:
The ones growing among the Sphagnum moss in the sump neighbor are doing well and are spreading nicely, while those under the surface are looking a bit pale, but still hanging on.

Of the few strands in the seasonal aquarium one has decided to break free and is now happily putting out new growth among the duckweed at the surface, I guess it will reattach to the substrate once I drop the water level.

Since the mother colony doesn’t seem to mind me “taxing” it every now and then I started a pico-project:

The glass is about 0.6 liters (marketed for gin and tonic which sounds a bit much to me), the soil is ancient and has been washed I don’t know how many times, and rocks were given to me by one of my aunt’s neighbors who brought it from their holiday cabin. (I don’t know about the rest of you but once my relatives started to considered me a bit mad, but in an interesting way, I started to be given a lot of odd bits and pieces; from straightforward stuff like an old aquarium my uncle found, to more unusual (but useful) ones like Posidonia oceanica balls from Turkey (great for creating hovering islands), an old terracotta water pipe (good catfish cave), and sterile 60 liter “buckets” which had been used to store some kind of medical equipment. Sometimes it helps to be considered a bit odd 🙂 ).