Wy Renegade
Aquarium Advice Addict
Ok, so I have this 20gal long bog tank. Originally a turtle tank, I siliconed rock in to create a barrier, and placed a peatmoss/sand mixture on one side for soil, and have about an 1" of gravel on the water side. Water level is about 3" total.
I've got some native fern growing in the peatmoss/sand mixture, which is kept very moist (barrier is not water tight, so water moves easily into the moss/sand mixture). Up until about a year ago, I had moss and Baby's Tears in there as well. On a piece of bark between the two sides, I had attached a dendrobium orchid. In the water side I had a underwater fern, and a grass of some sort that grew up and out of the water.
In the water side I've kept snails, stoneflies, guppies, and last year we introduced a tiny snappying turtle.
Long story short, last summer I allowed the student who had found the baby snapper to take the tank home over the summer, and my bog tank came back devistated. The snapper is MIA, the moss and Baby's Tears are dead, the orchid disappeared, the aquatic plants are all dead. Looks like the tank was allowed to dry up and left sitting outside - it was full of grasshoppers and ants.
So we cleaned it all up, and reset it, and I'm looking at getting some plants going again. I've replaced the orchid, and the native fern is still going great guns, but I need some additional suggestions. I don't want something like ascaris, which would take over the entire water area and block out all visibility in such a small tanks. Also looking for suggestions for the peat moss/sand portion. Anybody have any bog pimpernel? Or has anybody tried creeping phlox in a similar tank?
Open to suggestions. TIA
I've got some native fern growing in the peatmoss/sand mixture, which is kept very moist (barrier is not water tight, so water moves easily into the moss/sand mixture). Up until about a year ago, I had moss and Baby's Tears in there as well. On a piece of bark between the two sides, I had attached a dendrobium orchid. In the water side I had a underwater fern, and a grass of some sort that grew up and out of the water.
In the water side I've kept snails, stoneflies, guppies, and last year we introduced a tiny snappying turtle.
Long story short, last summer I allowed the student who had found the baby snapper to take the tank home over the summer, and my bog tank came back devistated. The snapper is MIA, the moss and Baby's Tears are dead, the orchid disappeared, the aquatic plants are all dead. Looks like the tank was allowed to dry up and left sitting outside - it was full of grasshoppers and ants.
So we cleaned it all up, and reset it, and I'm looking at getting some plants going again. I've replaced the orchid, and the native fern is still going great guns, but I need some additional suggestions. I don't want something like ascaris, which would take over the entire water area and block out all visibility in such a small tanks. Also looking for suggestions for the peat moss/sand portion. Anybody have any bog pimpernel? Or has anybody tried creeping phlox in a similar tank?
Open to suggestions. TIA
