Swamp tank

[Wyld-Fyre]

Hi all,

In short, I'm gonna consider building a 'swamp' tank. I'll need to know the following information.....

1) What type of water conditions does an 'average' tropical swamp have?
2) What's the 'average' temperature I'll need?
3) What type of fishes would be suitable for a 40 gallon aquarium?
4) Best low-level light plants I could easily acquire?
5) Oxygenation/carbonation/aeration level of such water?

For fishes, I'm thinking along the lines of catfishes.

If you can help, it would be much appreciated....

 

[StingrayKid]

I go frog hunting with friends in swamps and I can tell you this: The water is very warm. There are LOTS of plants. And you're going to need mud, or maybe sand. I've never made one before though, but, I'd give it a shot if I were you. As for stocking the tank, I'd just catch some fish from a nearby pond. Hope that helps.

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

And I thought I'd never get a reply.....thanks m'man!

It seems like there's little interest in this area. I've made up my mind. I'm gonna do it!

 

[NinjaSmurf]

First of all, cool idea!! This might be a stupid question, but it's late and I have no caffeine, so bear with me here... is there going to be land too, or just swampy water? And what kind of catfish, cause the one's I've seen get pretty big... Of course I don't know where you live but anyways I have no idea how your going to do filtering and if you figure out a way I'd love to know. As to plants I think you could use something called arrowhead or arrowroot, I forget the name exactly it's a marshy kinda plant that grows leaves out of the water. And maybe if you use a mix of red clay and sand it won't get messed up as easily when the fish move. Can't wait to hear how it goes, good luck!

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

Thanks NinjaSmurf (cool name!). I want to change mine to ''Darwin's Frog,'' but don't know of a way without losing my posting numeration.

Not having any particularly interest in cold water or marine tanks, I'd like to try my hands on something 'different'. This was when the idea had come to me of a building a swamp tank.

This'd mean I'd need a fairly large tank. I think a 4' by 4' tank would be sufficient for my intentions. Fill it up with various small/large trunks of wood, various hardy plants, a soft mud-based substrate, four heaters, and a couple of filters. In'll go a couple terrapins, a couple of frogs, catfishes (need to find a suitable type), other fishes (need to find suitable types), and various snails.

I think this'd be a good a start.

I think you're right about the cleaning aspect being a possible problem. I think daily/regular water changes, and a quarterly clear out would be sufficient.

Thanks for your input.

Kribsinvcrib/Darwins Frog

 

[VulcanNinja]

I wonder if you would have to change water in a swamp tank?

NinjaSmurf, I thought you copied your name from me, but you've been here longer! I wonder if smurfs like Vulcans.

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

I am very certain you'd have to because if I didn't I'd most likely encourage the growth of dangerous anaerobic/toxic bacteria/fungi into the tank. Plus it'd probably whiff terribly I didn't.

 

[Phantom Thief]

Swamps smell terrible, dont you know?

P.T.

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

I know they do. It's just the case of how bad, and dangerous, it'd be if left it standing.....

 

[canarsie11]

An lfs had swamp display, very cool. Fog simulation and everything!

 

[MithrilRider]

My LFS had a mudskipper. I think it'd be cool to have one of those but I don't know about what conditions they need or anything

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

My sincerest apologies Phanton Thief. I was a bit rude to you. Of course natural swamps do smell bad. I've managed to track down a website to confirm your/my assumptions...

http/www.offwell.free-online.co.uk/wetland_fd/intro3.htm

However, for 'swamp' tanking, in the home, I'll have to ensure the tank is cleaned at regular intervals. Otherwise my neighbours would complain about the smell!

Thanks for your input though.

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

canarsie11, did you get a chance to have a sniff at that tank?!

MithrilRider, I'd love to have mudskippers. Perhaps in the following project after the swamp tank. I think they live on the mud flats of mangrove swamps. They crawl/live/swim in brackish water, and their nearest neighbours would be fiddler crabs.

Cool!

 

[NinjaSmurf]

Hehe, I don't know if vulcans like smurfs, they might find them entirely too illogical... and it's actually part of the nickname my friends gave me, Ghetto Ninja Smurf. And Kribs, I totally understand about the wanting something different, I'm the kind of person that's like, what's the wierdest thing you got and can I get it? I was thinking about the water and maybe if you hooked up a pump that would run the dirty water through a tube at one end of the tank and have it come out at the other it would provide enough circulation to keep the water from going stagnant. I once had a 55 gallon that was half water and half land for a bunch of tadpoles and we just had an airstone in it, it stayed pretty good, but you'll have more fish so I don't know.... Have fun anyways!

 

[fishdudein]

Very interesting concept! I agree with you that it sounds like you will need a large tank, bigger the better it sounds like. Have you thought of building an indoor pond?(assuming you have the space)-would open up more possibilities for you.

As for filtration, what comes to mind that might work for you would be a freshwater version of the saltwater "Miracle mud" or refugium style filter. Would not be hard to "build" rather than buy, suit your own specs. I would think that any "in tank" filtration would be disrupted by the terrapins digging around. I will give this more thought and post again if anything comes to mind..........COOL idea!