Wy Renegade's 20L Bog Tank

[Wy Renegade]

Also added some moss to the bog area, anybody recognize this one?

A couple shots of its placement;

And a couple fun scenery shots of the bog area:

I'm afraid that the sundew and the pitcher plant are not looking well - afraid the "bog" is just too wet.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Had the students out collecting macroinvertebrates and testing water quality yesterday, so we had a chance to add to the collection in the bog tank. It changed it's appearance quite a bit with the addition of a number of new plants.

First, some of the macro's we collected; you can see a large stoneflie, a caddisflie, and a beetle larvae we collected - I used the quarter for size reference. Not show are the other stoneflies, mayflies, and worms we gathered up - guess I was hurrying too much to get the plants in - all my other shots are out of focus.

Did get this slightly out of focus shot of another of the beetle larvae we found - it's got some nasty looking jaws on it, obviously predacious.

And I got this shot of the big beetle again - not the best shot by any means, I'm find it rather hard to photograph for some reason;

 

[Wy Renegade]

Also added a few new plants, both aquatic and terrestrial, which has really changed the look of the bog. Its actually starting to look more like a bog LOL.

Not sure . . .

Hornwort;

Another I'm not sure of . . .

Fern spores and horsetail

Again, don't know . . .

And another I don't know . . . maybe a large duckweed?

Wild Mint and some sedges

 

[Wy Renegade]

Of course the orchid and the sundew aren't new, but they wanted their picture taken too. I pulled the pitcher plant out, it was mostly dead.

 

[Wy Renegade]

The tank is actually set-up so it can be viewed from two sides, and its absolutely hillarious to watch the students crowding in trying to get around the tank so they can all see what is going on.

Here's a backside view of the pool;

One of my favorite shots;

And the reguvinated bog, well on its way to recovery;

 

[FishEggs]

looking good

 

[Wy Renegade]

looking good

Thanks Matt. My only problem now is that I want to sit and stare at the tank all day long - it makes it really hard to get my work done .

It is nice though to walk into the room and see a bunch of high school students standing around the tank pointing and saying "cool, what is that thing?" Makes me feel like the effort is worthwhile

 

[becrac16]

That is really awesome. I'm glad to hear that you get your students involved with the project as well. Its great to learn about bugs and plants that are native to your area, and how different they all are. I hope to have a tank in my classroom someday.

 

[Wy Renegade]

That is really awesome. I'm glad to hear that you get your students involved with the project as well. Its great to learn about bugs and plants that are native to your area, and how different they all are. I hope to have a tank in my classroom someday.

Thank you - indeed it can be a very powerful learning tool. Are you a teacher or an education student?

 

[becrac16]

education student, in a masters in teaching program right now. I also think it is a great way for kids to feel calm (i have done some special education work) and some sources say that sped (and regular!) kids can benefit from having a tank in their classroom.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Good for you! Indeed, we (I say we, as in my students and I) help a SPED teacher maintain her aquarium for just that reason.

 

[ilovemydragongoby]

thats an awesome looking tank. i've always wanted to do something like that. but i live in an apartment and theres a "no reptile, amphibian" rule. i guess someone had a snake and a lizard both escape from a couple of tanks and since then havent let anything "creepy crawly" go in the building lol

 

[Wy Renegade]

thats an awesome looking tank. i've always wanted to do something like that. but i live in an apartment and theres a "no reptile, amphibian" rule. i guess someone had a snake and a lizard both escape from a couple of tanks and since then havent let anything "creepy crawly" go in the building lol

Thank you. I understand the rule thing - we used to keep a colony of the Mad. Hissing cockroaches here at school. Then the physical plant person discovered them and decided some had escaped - she bombed the entire building and made us get rid of the colony.

 

[HeathB]

I love the idea. The only bog plant that comes to mind for me is anubias. Its not native as far as I'm aware, but it is a tough customer when it comes to survival in emersed and submerged conditions. If you have problems with moss, there are several varieties people grow in their aquariums, some native to the states, that would most likely do more than well.

I do love the idea of a native tank though. I'd love to set something up with local minnows and plants someday. The bugs, however interesting they may be, are out of the picture. *shudder*

 

[Wy Renegade]

I love the idea. The only bog plant that comes to mind for me is anubias. Its not native as far as I'm aware, but it is a tough customer when it comes to survival in emersed and submerged conditions. If you have problems with moss, there are several varieties people grow in their aquariums, some native to the states, that would most likely do more than well.

I do love the idea of a native tank though. I'd love to set something up with local minnows and plants someday. The bugs, however interesting they may be, are out of the picture. *shudder*

Hey Heath, thanks - I'll check out the anubias. I've got a different variety of moss I'm trying this time, if it doesn't work out, I figured I'd ask around on the boards.

Native tanks are pretty interesting. If I lived were you do, I'd have to have one with the little orange salamanders - not sure of the name. I've got a buddy who lives in Indiana near one of the state parks, and he has a stream that runs through his property that is litterly crawling with the little guys. I always figured they would make an interesting display.

LOL on the bugs - it always amazes me how many of the girls in my aquatic class don't freak out over the bugs and actually think they are pretty cool. But, I've definitely had both girls and boys in the past who can't handle the bugs - so I hear were you are coming from.

 

[The_Desacrator]

I have an anbias in my tank and it si doing very well. One thing you should know about them is that their root system is extensive so they need alot of soil or they will grow themselves out of the gravel and start to float.

 

[Wy Renegade]

I have an anbias in my tank and it si doing very well. One thing you should know about them is that their root system is extensive so they need alot of soil or they will grow themselves out of the gravel and start to float.

Thank you, that is good to know. I checked and the anubias are native to Africa, so since I seem to be taking a more native route as this point, I think I'll probably pass on it for now - perhaps sometime if I do a non-native bog tank I'll include it.

I'm pretty happy with the mix of plants I have at this point, although I don't know what a lot of them are - yet. I figure this will be a good exercise for my aquatic class when we start talking about wetlands (i.e. see if you can I.D. the mysterious wetland plants). The mint and one of the others did not transplant well, so I've lost them, and the sundew is definitely checking out as well. But everything else appears to be doing well.

 

[Andrewz00]

that tank is beyond cool!!! read through the first few pages and OMG i would be crushed if i trusted a student to care of it and it was destroyed!! OMG!!! it would be under lock and key after that!!!

love the concept too... i assume you are some type of earth science or bio teacher? i wish my classes had things like this when i was in school!!

didnt someone on here build a 125G bog not too long ago??

 

[Wy Renegade]

that tank is beyond cool!!! read through the first few pages and OMG i would be crushed if i trusted a student to care of it and it was destroyed!! OMG!!! it would be under lock and key after that!!!

love the concept too... i assume you are some type of earth science or bio teacher? i wish my classes had things like this when i was in school!!

didnt someone on here build a 125G bog not too long ago??

Well thank you - I was indeed a bit devestated, and can assure you that it won't be sent home with a student over the summer again.

Indeed, I teach biology, aquatic biology and horticulture. The joy of this particular tank, is that it has allowed me to combine my love of both fish and flowering plants into a single thing.

I don't know about the 125g bog, I haven't seen it, I did see some tanks on here that have had a lowered water area, combined with floating or matt-forming plants. I believe that CZCZ (forum member) did something somewhat similar on a larger scale - perhaps that is who you are thinking of? If not, and you happen to remember who did the large bog or bog-like tank, I would be interested in a link.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Some new pictures from the other day;

One of the new plants was blooming;

the sundew had mostly died out, but a new growth has appeared off the side;

the roots are kind of growing out of control LOL - although it creates an interesting effect;

Tried to get a couple pictures of the fish, but I just can't seem to catch these guys in focus much;

that last one and this one are kind of interesting it that they show the air-water interface of the pool area;

This one though has to be my favorite shot; don't know why, just love the way the log, roots, and green plants all come together in this one area;