Question:
Hi – Okay, first I’m new to this particular group (I ocassionally post in rec.pets.birds) and I have a pond/aquarium question. I hope it doesn’t sound dumb. Question: Okay, I have a 55 gallon LONG aquarium and I want to set something up that mimics a small pond or swamp. I want to have 1/3 land area with some nice terresital plants and possibly grass. Then, I want to have the other 2/3 of the tank 1/2 filled with water and have water plants, water bugs (boatmen, backswimmers, etc), 4 or 5 minnows, 1 giant water bug, several whirligig beetles, a fisher spider, a crayfish, some fairy and tadpole shrimp, water fleas, water mites, a possible freshwater sponge, a possible freshwater jellyfish, some possible rotifers, several water striders, some tadpoles, a water snake, and a small slider (turtle.) I don’t know if I can catch all of those (some, like the turtle, crayfish, and snake I’ll buy), but I want all of those in the water part. The land part is nice for the snake, turtle, and the to be frogs to be on……just like in the wild (you know, land for sleeping and basking, water for eating, etc) Above the land area will be an incandesant light. Above everything will be 2 flourecent lights. Anyone know how to do this (or know a wonderful website?) to build this? Any help is wanted. Marissa P.S. I want this to look really natural, and I want to observe these neat creatures in their underwater world. Oh yeah, I’m going to have a underground filter to keep clean, and 1 or 2 air pumps for the fish and for the sake for better cleanliness.
Response:
Marissa, you are my kind of person! I have done this with a small aquarium. My husband used plexiglass (about half as high as the aquarium) and glued it in with aquarium silicone (fish safe type stuff). Filled one side with pebbles (another layer of charcoal would probably be good) and then some soil. Planted land plants and added some stuff to make hidely holes for the critters. Turtles have specific light needs and a turtle page would tell you what kind. In the water side add ‘natural’ polished gravel and a sand shark filter (They sit on the bottom). And water. Water from a fresh water pond if you can manage it. I had firebelly toads in mine. You can add as many critters as you want. You’ll have to see if they proceed to eat one another. A water snake will eat minnows and tadpoles. Younger turtles will eat the insects, fish and tadpoles. Water insects will prey on each other and the minnows and tadpoles. But… time and mother nature will let you know how they will all work together. Underwater plants will give everybody a place to hide. Anacharis grows like crazy and I use it in my kitchen windowsill pond in a large jar (houses one aquatic frog, several snails and a leech). k30a green water tips page http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/writing.html
Response:
Holy Cow Kathy, you can keep that many creatures in 55 gal? It sounds like a real microcosm, but I am wondering about the size. randyinaloha http://www.geocities.com/randyinaloha/Pondering.html?1006242309930
> Marissa, you are my kind of person! > I have done this with a small aquarium.
– Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server – http://www.Mailgate.ORG
Response:
My daughter has a turtle (red eared slider), 2 salimanders and a large frog in her 35 gallon (has a large crack, so it has to be a terrarium). we used mud / sand from a local river so the flaura and fauna would not take long to settle. We used houe plants that can endure 12 hours of light. (spiders, ferns, etc.) cricked seem to be the best food for the frog, tetra min turtle pellets for the turtle. I don’t know what the salamanders eat.
Response:
> I don’t know what the salamanders eat.
This probably looks dumb (me answering my own post) but we have 2 large tiger salamnders that we keep in another aquarium. Ours eat crickets if we hold them for them, worms, pinky mice, and baby frogs. The reason why I’m not putting the salamanders in my aquarium pond is because I paid $20 ea. and the snake would eat them in 2 meals. I did my homework, and the thing is, that you need to keep adding the small water bugs (water boatmen, etc) so that the large carnivorous water bugs don’t run out of food! The thing I’m wondering, is how do you feed them in the winter? We live in MN, and it gets really cold up here, and the lakes naturally freeze. Do the water bugs hibernate, or do you feed them chunks of raw meat? Marissa
Response:
Out in the wild water bugs hibernate. Usually the last generation that hatched out over the summer. Some bugs leave their eggs to carry on the following spring. Keeping them over the winter…. they would probably eat crickets, if the crickets were introduced to the water and kept moving and didn’t drown. Most water bugs hunt by reading the vibrations in the water. You can order water bugs and the like from http://www.carolina.com/ Last I read they restricted their catalogs to teachers. I requested the catalog when researching an article and they sent me on.. They stress not releasing any of their critters and ask they be used for educational purposes only and humanely destroyed when not needed. k30a green water tips page http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/writing.html
Response:
>and ask they be used for educational purposes>only and humanely destroyed when
not needed. Does stomp….squish count as humane ? :-) Jerri http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond
Response:
Jerri wrote << Does stomp….squish count as humane ? 
>> nope! k30a green water tips page http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/writing.html
Response:
>Jerri wrote << Does stomp….squish count as humane ? >> >nope!
Well how DO you humanely put down a bug? http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond
Response:
Well, if required to help a bug into the great beyond, I would cool the bug down in the fridge and then put the cooled bug in the freezer. And warn my DH… Reminds me of my poor mother. We lived in Northern Canada at the time and there was not a vet in town or anywhere within hundreds of miles. Our pet chipmunk was very elderly and seemed to have had a stroke. Mom took the chipmunk down to our small hospital and the nurses helped the chipmunk die by using some sort of gas in the operating room. k30a green water tips page http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/writing.html
Response:
>>Jerri wrote << Does stomp….squish count as humane ? >> >nope! > Well how DO you humanely put down a bug? > http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond
Jerri: We humans have the stangest ideas on the best way to go. As far as I think instantaneous is best. Hitting a cement wall at high speed is probably as easy as it gets. I would apply this to bugs. A quick squish is sure better than running around kicking from bug spray. However my DW uses he total approach. She sprays them and then steps on them. Never have figured that one out. vern — Please visit my ponds at: http://mywebpage.netscape.com/vernonolson/instant/garden.html
Response:
However my DW uses he total approach. She sprays them and then > steps on them. Never have figured that one out. > vern > — > Please visit my ponds at: > http://mywebpage.netscape.com/vernonolson/instant/garden.html
She’s just making sure all her bases are covered. Nothing wrong with that 
— Bonnie NJ http://hpphoto.com/home/ViewMyAlbum.asp?coll_id=876614 http://www.users.fast.net/~maebe/index.htm
Response:
I’m one of those ‘catch the bug and put it outside’ to my husband’s raised eyebrows as I will toss all sorts of worms, slugs and garden snails into the pond to be eaten alive. This winter I have a jumping spider living around my computer desk – he gets himself into the strangest situations. One day he was climbing my address book and fell off backwards. He was waving his little legs in the air as he fell. Cracked me up. He finally made it to the top and then launched himself towards me (he was actually trying to get a few rungs down the spiral binding) and boy, did I holler! k30a green water tips page http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/writing.html
Response:
Hi Marissa, That’s way to much for a 55 gallon tank. If you scale back your expectations a little you can do a great set up. I set up lots of dart frog tanks with water sections. A tank without soil or potting medium works best for me. I use pea gravel to coarser gravel for the basic substrate. I make a depression where I want the pond. I circulate water with a minijet or powerhead type pump. It can easily be hidden and the water will freely circulate through the gravel. Use tubing to route your water where you want it. You can make waterfalls or streams with rocks, drift wood, and or cork bark. I use dead sheet moss or terrarium moss as a medium. Plant bog type and terrarium plants on the moss and in the gravel. Any plants that don’t like it to wet to can be planted higher up in hidden pots or inverted curled cork bark etc. You’ll have to make some decisions about what you really want in the tank. You could throw it all in and see who eats who. I think you’ll wind up with a cray fish and a giant water bug left. Michael Shrom Frog Pond – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Hi – > Question: Okay, I have a 55 gallon LONG aquarium and I want to set > something up that mimics a small pond or swamp. I want to have 1/3 > land area with some nice terresital plants and possibly grass. Then, I > want to have the other 2/3 of the tank 1/2 filled with water and have > water plants, water bugs (boatmen, backswimmers, etc), 4 or 5 minnows, > 1 giant water bug, several whirligig beetles, a fisher spider, a > crayfish, s
Response:
>This winter I have a jumping spider living around>my computer desk – he gets
himself into the strangest situations. One day he>was climbing my address book and fell off backwards. He was waving his little>legs in the air as he fell. Cracked me up.>He finally made it to the top and then launched himself towards me (he was >actually trying to get>a few rungs down the spiral binding) and boy, did I
holler! The only spiders I let live in the house are a daddy long legs that lives in the ferns over the sink……he eats all kinds of fruit flies and stuff…….and a little tiny spider that has a tiny little web in my bathroom in the corner of th floor……I figure he might eat a dust mite flea or something so I let him be. Jerri http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond
Response:
>However my DW uses he total approach. She sprays them and then >steps on them. Never have figured that one out.
ROFL Vern….I agree with you would rather be squished real fast than froze real slow, and would sure not like to be sprayed…..maybe the spray is just to "get back at them" for invading her space. Jerri http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > I’m one of those ‘catch the bug and put it outside’ to my husband’s raised > eyebrows as I will toss all sorts of worms, slugs and garden snails into the > pond to be eaten alive. > This winter I have a jumping spider living around > my computer desk – he gets himself into the strangest situations. One day he > was climbing my address book and fell off backwards. He was waving his little > legs in the air as he fell. Cracked me up. > He finally made it to the top and then launched himself towards me (he was > actually trying to get > a few rungs down the spiral binding) and boy, did I holler! > k30a > green water tips page > http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/writing.html
Nothing more fun than watching spiders play. (I know, vern get a life) We have tall ceilings in our living room. About 12 feet. every so often a spider will hang from the ceiling on his web, I’m always amazed how they climb up and down the web and wad all that web up under their belly. I know they are having a ball the way they bounce up and down. vern — Please visit my ponds at: http://mywebpage.netscape.com/vernonolson/instant/garden.html
Response:
> Hi Marissa,
<snip> Wow, you are among the few who have answered my origianl question. Thanks for not describing the best way to kill a bug Anyways, I figured I was going over board. Thanks again. Marissa
Response:
Maybe a lethal injection? Provided it was proven not to cause cancer, or harm the environment regardless of race, gender, national origin, ect. and approved by every agency and rights groups that might find out about it. randyinaloha
>Jerri wrote << Does stomp….squish count as humane ? >> >nope! > Well how DO you humanely put down a bug? > http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond
– Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server – http://www.Mailgate.ORG
Response:
I see a problem stomping water bugs. They are *water* bugs. k30a green water tips page http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/writing.html
Response:
>I see a problem stomping water bugs. >They are *water* bugs.
LOL now that would be a problem !!! Jerri http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond
Response:
> I see a problem stomping water bugs. > They are *water* bugs.
Not too hard once you get you feet wet.:-) vern
Response:
Hi – Okay, first I’m new to this particular group (I ocassionally post in rec.pets.birds) and I have a pond/aquarium question. I hope it doesn’t sound dumb. Question: Okay, I have a 55 gallon LONG aquarium and I want to set something up that mimics a small pond or swamp. I want to have 1/3 land area with some nice terresital plants and possibly grass. Then, I want to have the other 2/3 of the tank 1/2 filled with water and have water plants, water bugs (boatmen, backswimmers, etc), 4 or 5 minnows, 1 giant water bug, several whirligig beetles, a fisher spider, a crayfish, some fairy and tadpole shrimp, water fleas, water mites, a possible freshwater sponge, a possible freshwater jellyfish, some possible rotifers, several water striders, some tadpoles, a water snake, and a small slider (turtle.) I don’t know if I can catch all of those (some, like the turtle, crayfish, and snake I’ll buy), but I want all of those in the water part. The land part is nice for the snake, turtle, and the to be frogs to be on……just like in the wild (you know, land for sleeping and basking, water for eating, etc) Above the land area will be an incandesant light. Above everything will be 2 flourecent lights. Anyone know how to do this (or know a wonderful website?) to build this? Any help is wanted. Marissa P.S. I want this to look really natural, and I want to observe these neat creatures in their underwater world. Oh yeah, I’m going to have a underground filter to keep clean, and 1 or 2 air pumps for the fish and for the sake for better cleanliness.
Response:
Marissa, you are my kind of person! I have done this with a small aquarium. My husband used plexiglass (about half as high as the aquarium) and glued it in with aquarium silicone (fish safe type stuff). Filled one side with pebbles (another layer of charcoal would probably be good) and then some soil. Planted land plants and added some stuff to make hidely holes for the critters. Turtles have specific light needs and a turtle page would tell you what kind. In the water side add ‘natural’ polished gravel and a sand shark filter (They sit on the bottom). And water. Water from a fresh water pond if you can manage it. I had firebelly toads in mine. You can add as many critters as you want. You’ll have to see if they proceed to eat one another. A water snake will eat minnows and tadpoles. Younger turtles will eat the insects, fish and tadpoles. Water insects will prey on each other and the minnows and tadpoles. But… time and mother nature will let you know how they will all work together. Underwater plants will give everybody a place to hide. Anacharis grows like crazy and I use it in my kitchen windowsill pond in a large jar (houses one aquatic frog, several snails and a leech). k30a green water tips page http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/writing.html
Response:
Holy Cow Kathy, you can keep that many creatures in 55 gal? It sounds like a real microcosm, but I am wondering about the size. randyinaloha http://www.geocities.com/randyinaloha/Pondering.html?1006242309930
> Marissa, you are my kind of person! > I have done this with a small aquarium.
– Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server – http://www.Mailgate.ORG
Response:
My daughter has a turtle (red eared slider), 2 salimanders and a large frog in her 35 gallon (has a large crack, so it has to be a terrarium). we used mud / sand from a local river so the flaura and fauna would not take long to settle. We used houe plants that can endure 12 hours of light. (spiders, ferns, etc.) cricked seem to be the best food for the frog, tetra min turtle pellets for the turtle. I don’t know what the salamanders eat.
Response:
> I don’t know what the salamanders eat.
This probably looks dumb (me answering my own post) but we have 2 large tiger salamnders that we keep in another aquarium. Ours eat crickets if we hold them for them, worms, pinky mice, and baby frogs. The reason why I’m not putting the salamanders in my aquarium pond is because I paid $20 ea. and the snake would eat them in 2 meals. I did my homework, and the thing is, that you need to keep adding the small water bugs (water boatmen, etc) so that the large carnivorous water bugs don’t run out of food! The thing I’m wondering, is how do you feed them in the winter? We live in MN, and it gets really cold up here, and the lakes naturally freeze. Do the water bugs hibernate, or do you feed them chunks of raw meat? Marissa
Response:
Out in the wild water bugs hibernate. Usually the last generation that hatched out over the summer. Some bugs leave their eggs to carry on the following spring. Keeping them over the winter…. they would probably eat crickets, if the crickets were introduced to the water and kept moving and didn’t drown. Most water bugs hunt by reading the vibrations in the water. You can order water bugs and the like from http://www.carolina.com/ Last I read they restricted their catalogs to teachers. I requested the catalog when researching an article and they sent me on.. They stress not releasing any of their critters and ask they be used for educational purposes only and humanely destroyed when not needed. k30a green water tips page http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/writing.html
Response:
>and ask they be used for educational purposes>only and humanely destroyed when
not needed. Does stomp….squish count as humane ? :-) Jerri http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond
Response:
Jerri wrote << Does stomp….squish count as humane ? >> nope! k30a green water tips page http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/writing.html
Response:
>Jerri wrote << Does stomp….squish count as humane ? >> >nope!
Well how DO you humanely put down a bug? http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond
Response:
Well, if required to help a bug into the great beyond, I would cool the bug down in the fridge and then put the cooled bug in the freezer. And warn my DH… Reminds me of my poor mother. We lived in Northern Canada at the time and there was not a vet in town or anywhere within hundreds of miles. Our pet chipmunk was very elderly and seemed to have had a stroke. Mom took the chipmunk down to our small hospital and the nurses helped the chipmunk die by using some sort of gas in the operating room. k30a green water tips page http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/writing.html
Response:
>>Jerri wrote << Does stomp….squish count as humane ? >> >nope! > Well how DO you humanely put down a bug? > http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond
Jerri: We humans have the stangest ideas on the best way to go. As far as I think instantaneous is best. Hitting a cement wall at high speed is probably as easy as it gets. I would apply this to bugs. A quick squish is sure better than running around kicking from bug spray. However my DW uses he total approach. She sprays them and then steps on them. Never have figured that one out. vern — Please visit my ponds at: http://mywebpage.netscape.com/vernonolson/instant/garden.html
Response:
However my DW uses he total approach. She sprays them and then > steps on them. Never have figured that one out. > vern > — > Please visit my ponds at: > http://mywebpage.netscape.com/vernonolson/instant/garden.html
She’s just making sure all her bases are covered. Nothing wrong with that — Bonnie NJ http://hpphoto.com/home/ViewMyAlbum.asp?coll_id=876614 http://www.users.fast.net/~maebe/index.htm
Response:
I’m one of those ‘catch the bug and put it outside’ to my husband’s raised eyebrows as I will toss all sorts of worms, slugs and garden snails into the pond to be eaten alive. This winter I have a jumping spider living around my computer desk – he gets himself into the strangest situations. One day he was climbing my address book and fell off backwards. He was waving his little legs in the air as he fell. Cracked me up. He finally made it to the top and then launched himself towards me (he was actually trying to get a few rungs down the spiral binding) and boy, did I holler! k30a green water tips page http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/writing.html
Response:
Hi Marissa, That’s way to much for a 55 gallon tank. If you scale back your expectations a little you can do a great set up. I set up lots of dart frog tanks with water sections. A tank without soil or potting medium works best for me. I use pea gravel to coarser gravel for the basic substrate. I make a depression where I want the pond. I circulate water with a minijet or powerhead type pump. It can easily be hidden and the water will freely circulate through the gravel. Use tubing to route your water where you want it. You can make waterfalls or streams with rocks, drift wood, and or cork bark. I use dead sheet moss or terrarium moss as a medium. Plant bog type and terrarium plants on the moss and in the gravel. Any plants that don’t like it to wet to can be planted higher up in hidden pots or inverted curled cork bark etc. You’ll have to make some decisions about what you really want in the tank. You could throw it all in and see who eats who. I think you’ll wind up with a cray fish and a giant water bug left. Michael Shrom Frog Pond – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Hi – > Question: Okay, I have a 55 gallon LONG aquarium and I want to set > something up that mimics a small pond or swamp. I want to have 1/3 > land area with some nice terresital plants and possibly grass. Then, I > want to have the other 2/3 of the tank 1/2 filled with water and have > water plants, water bugs (boatmen, backswimmers, etc), 4 or 5 minnows, > 1 giant water bug, several whirligig beetles, a fisher spider, a > crayfish, s
Response:
>This winter I have a jumping spider living around>my computer desk – he gets
himself into the strangest situations. One day he>was climbing my address book and fell off backwards. He was waving his little>legs in the air as he fell. Cracked me up.>He finally made it to the top and then launched himself towards me (he was >actually trying to get>a few rungs down the spiral binding) and boy, did I
holler! The only spiders I let live in the house are a daddy long legs that lives in the ferns over the sink……he eats all kinds of fruit flies and stuff…….and a little tiny spider that has a tiny little web in my bathroom in the corner of th floor……I figure he might eat a dust mite flea or something so I let him be. Jerri http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond
Response:
>However my DW uses he total approach. She sprays them and then >steps on them. Never have figured that one out.
ROFL Vern….I agree with you would rather be squished real fast than froze real slow, and would sure not like to be sprayed…..maybe the spray is just to "get back at them" for invading her space. Jerri http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > I’m one of those ‘catch the bug and put it outside’ to my husband’s raised > eyebrows as I will toss all sorts of worms, slugs and garden snails into the > pond to be eaten alive. > This winter I have a jumping spider living around > my computer desk – he gets himself into the strangest situations. One day he > was climbing my address book and fell off backwards. He was waving his little > legs in the air as he fell. Cracked me up. > He finally made it to the top and then launched himself towards me (he was > actually trying to get > a few rungs down the spiral binding) and boy, did I holler! > k30a > green water tips page > http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/writing.html
Nothing more fun than watching spiders play. (I know, vern get a life) We have tall ceilings in our living room. About 12 feet. every so often a spider will hang from the ceiling on his web, I’m always amazed how they climb up and down the web and wad all that web up under their belly. I know they are having a ball the way they bounce up and down. vern — Please visit my ponds at: http://mywebpage.netscape.com/vernonolson/instant/garden.html
Response:
> Hi Marissa,
<snip> Wow, you are among the few who have answered my origianl question. Thanks for not describing the best way to kill a bug Anyways, I figured I was going over board. Thanks again. Marissa
Response:
Maybe a lethal injection? Provided it was proven not to cause cancer, or harm the environment regardless of race, gender, national origin, ect. and approved by every agency and rights groups that might find out about it. randyinaloha
>Jerri wrote << Does stomp….squish count as humane ? >> >nope! > Well how DO you humanely put down a bug? > http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond
– Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server – http://www.Mailgate.ORG
Response:
I see a problem stomping water bugs. They are *water* bugs. k30a green water tips page http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/writing.html
Response:
>I see a problem stomping water bugs. >They are *water* bugs.
LOL now that would be a problem !!! Jerri http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond
Response:
> I see a problem stomping water bugs. > They are *water* bugs.
Not too hard once you get you feet wet.:-) vern
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