Mark the day - aquarium terestrial lawn

[Nomadu571]

Mark this day people as I think I am the first one ever (to my knowledge) to have a "terrestrial" lawn in tank.

The idea was to create a lawn area or my turtles. They are musk turtles and so they don't really bask a lot, however I do catch mine exploring rather than basking. To this end I decided to add an interesting feature which would be nice or the turts, a little home away from home, to be able to climb up onto and explore.

The turtles are small at the moment the larger I the two being between 2-3" round. In order to explore the idea I have come up with stage one, which if it grows, will be a step towards a bigger better feature in the forth coming upgrade at the end of the year. This is an experiment of sorts, and I will update with growth progress in a few weeks.

 

[ktomminello]

I'm working on a tilapia based aquaponic herb garden, my husband already set up my black water irrigation, I just need my barrels and tilapia stocked. Lol, I'm cycling my stocked tanks so I've been dumping my nitrogen enriched water in it and I have a mini rose plant in a filter bucket on my aggressive tank. Good to see like minded people.

 

[jkdubs2]

This is an awesome idea! Lol. I may have to try and build one for myself if yours works out.

 

[Gillie]

I had one a few years ago in a 55 gallon. Using dwarf baby tears for the lawn,sagitarria, various hygros and ludwigia. It was filtered by an old Pennplax river filter. I kept killies in the aquatic half and a couple of treefrogs in the other. It was a lot if fun, too bad I didn't have the space for it when I moved.

 

[alLexX]

cool idea,cant wait to see how it turns out

 

[Wy Renegade]

Nice to see that your idea has worked out well.

 

[4yannie]

Nomadu571 - your idea is amazing! I bet they love their little home!

 

[Nomadu571]

Thankyou everyone, it's been an idea that I have toyed with and have wanted to do for a while, to give my turts (ant and dec) a more comfortable basking area than Just rocks or wood. They do love their home, at night all you can hear is them running around, plonking back into the water occasionally.

The grass is Growing well I am worried that the die back may have cause too much thatch at the bases of the grass and it may need a tidy soon but hoping the thatch will just help it spread for now, only time will tell. The herb garden idea is such a good idea. I may have to borrow that one and change it slightly. I'm thinking herbs like thyme for a scent, With a larger lawn area it could be done to look like a mini garden. Lol. If only I had the time to bring every idea to life!

 

[Nomadu571]

Some growth since the weekend! From above with the spot on the grass it looks browner than it is, that's because of the thatch. I might invest in some seed and try from seed in another pot, to get more of an all over growth. Preferably some fescue or some hardier grass.

 

[Nomadu571]

Ok so I got a slice of new turf after we had alot left on a project today, which means I can replace the shoddy looking garden patch thats got too much dead and put some fresh well grown grass down. I'll update with new pics later hopefully it will look more kept and less old field.

 

[Autumnsky]

Try spearmint. I have some which grew as a marginal in the mountains in a stream here in Colorado. My neighbor brought it back and now we have it growing all around! It smells sooooo wonderful!

 

[Nomadu571]

Try spearmint. I have some which grew as a marginal in the mountains in a stream here in Colorado. My neighbor brought it back and now we have it growing all around! It smells sooooo wonderful!

That would be nice to have a scent. This will definitely be an idea for the future, for now however here's the improved lawn; looks good now wait to c how it grows. It's still a mixture of rye, fescue and chewing grass but it looks good.

 

[Autumnsky]

looks like a fun place for the little guys, how big will they get?

 

[Nomadu571]

looks like a fun place for the little guys, how big will they get?

Only 5-6" max. But that's round. This is only until the end of the year after which were hoping to move, so the bigger permanent tank is coming once we move. They have a huge lifespan and grow slowly so they won't outgrow this tank that quickly.

 

[jkdubs2]

New patch o grass looks good. Can't wait till u get some pics of the turts basking on it.