Pond aquarium

[McConkey]

Good morning everyone!!
I live in Northern Alberta, Canada and during the winter months everything freezes and i have about 5 months where it can be difficult to collect fresh water samples. I want get an aquarium started with a nice diverse eco system that replicates a fresh water stream and will give me plenty to look at.

Where should i start? I'm thinking of getting a 5 or 10 gallon aquarium, grabbing a slim covered rock from my local stream, maybe a few dead leaves and mud from the stream or a small log from the stream or a plant or two and letting it settle for a few days with the pump running with no filter.

Will this be sustainable? Is there a key factor i'm missing when creating a fresh water eco system indoors? Will fish make it more diverse?

I did a quick search online but couldn't really find too much specific to our micro-organism needs.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

[lorez]

Back in the day I kept aquaria for invertebrates with minimal to limited success. We discovered that maintaining the necessary balance required by the variety of specimens was difficult to impossible because everything needed something slightly different.

My advice would be to do as you are thinking, without the fish. Remember the food chain. Even if your efforts were short lived you would gain some current experience and possibly get a few good observations and photos in the process. There are several in the group who have had good success with photographing through the side of their aquarium.

My best success was with a larger volume of water and a smaller amount of additional detritus.

Also, remember that there is always something living under the ice. If you can find a spring or flowing body like a small ditch that is a good year round source for all sorts of fun things.

Good luck,

lorez

[KurtM]

I've been doing the "micro-aquarium" thing for some time and have a blast with it. I just went to the hardware store and picked up scrap pieces of window glass, a glass cutter, and a tube of aquarium sealant for a few bucks, and made my own. They measure roughly 4" x 6" x 5"high. Extra big samples are dipped out of the favorite pond making sure to get a bit of bottom muck and smaller vegetation, and fill the mini tank up. A piece of plexiglass or other suitable cover keeps evaporation in check, plus prevents emerging insects from escaping. I never saw a need to add anything normally found in fish tanks - no filter, no feeding, no nothing except sunlight.

The first pic shows a shelf I put up in a window for sun, a window that doesn't receive direct sunlight. One mini-aquarium is long established, the other fresh and in the process of settling out.

They last as long as you want 'em to, although the cast of characters will change. Whatever critters disappear are always magically replaced with others, and it's quite interesting to observe these evolutions. But if you want to keep celebrities like Volvox, Desmids, and such things that don't seem to endure long, then you simply replace the sample water more often. But I've had Hydra populations go for years at a time, so you never know until you try...

[lorez]

Whatever critters disappear are always magically replaced with others,

I do a lot of work with wastewater treatment plants and this is the hallmark of their evaluations. When a certain species is present they know a certain condition exists.

lorez

[McConkey]

Thanks for the detailed reply guys!

Lorez - Maintaining the balance for sustainability is my biggest concern, i figure moving something from a fresh flowing water source to a tank would kill anything as its not getting the constant flow of diverse organisms it's use too. Thanks for the "skip the fish" advice! I like the positive thinking in that even if the ecosystem is short lived it'll still give me something...and that's better than nothing!
Unfortunately the bodies of water up where i live freeze solid, even the flowing streams and creeks i normally collect from. The ground freezes down to about 6ft, nothing escapes! Last week it dropped down to -28C and its only getting colder!

Kurt - What you show in your pictures is exactly the idea i had in mind! Thank you for sharing! Good call on the additional piece of glass to prevent evaporation, thanks! How do you stop the water from becoming stagnant though? Wouldn't it start to turn a little nasty after a week or so without a constant flow?

I hope to get this little experiment up and running soon! Thanks for the responses guys!!

[MichaelG.]

Whatever critters disappear are always magically replaced with others,

I do a lot of work with wastewater treatment plants and this is the hallmark of their evaluations. When a certain species is present they know a certain condition exists.

lorez

That must be an interesting exercise ... Is there a simple 'look-up table' published, which we could access; or is a matter of expert knowledge ?

MichaelG.

[zzffnn]

I have done this for a few years. No fish or frog is needed, as they may take more effort to maintain.

The natural diversity is impossible to maintained (it will decrease significantly within the first 2 days or so - per a university research), but you will still have more than enough to observe.

Some sun light is good, but not too much direct light (too much may reduce diversity). I will leave it near window, but not let it receive too much strong direct sun light, for more than what the original habitat receives. We are in Texas USA though, so we often have too much sun light.

I thought about adding an air pump and use it occasionally (not constantly), but have not done it yet to see if it helps.

I add 2-3 pieces of fish flakes once every two weeks or so.

[lorez]

That must be an interesting exercise ... Is there a simple 'look-up table' published, which we could access; or is a matter of expert knowledge ?

Here is a highly cropped photo of the "stalked ciliate" that is representative of a healthy basin. The amorphous blob to the left of the ciliates is bacterial floc. In this sample there were also rotifers, nematodes, tardigrades, and a variety of "free swimming" ciliates. I am using quotes here because that is the designation used by the operators.

There are books specifically for the industry, but I don't have a copy of any and cannot remember any titles. A web search may offer some suggestions.

lorez

[KurtM]

How do you stop the water from becoming stagnant though? Wouldn't it start to turn a little nasty after a week or so...?

Why, I have no idea. It just never happened. It has in smaller sample containers, but only a few times. My freshwater samples seem to seldom turn foul smelling and/or looking, but marine samples almost always do in a few days to a week.

[MichaelG.]

There are books specifically for the industry, but I don't have a copy of any and cannot remember any titles. A web search may offer some suggestions.

lorez

Thanks for that ... I will have a look around.

MichaelG.
.
.
These look like good places to start:
http://www.biologicalwasteexpert.com/us ... ation.html
http://www.abcwua.org/education/SWRP6_M ... ivity.html
http://www.norweco.com/html/lab/Microscope.htm#

[lorez]

Those look like good places to start. The norweco site has photos that are excellent examples of what the wwt operators see. Maybe you can visit your local facility and beg for a sample. They take them regularly.

lorez

[lorez]

Here is another, maybe a little better shot of the stalked ciliates. Again, the shot is heavily cropped to comply with the limits of the forum. Other than sizing there have been no other adjustments. As I recall the objective was a 20X phase plan achromat.

lorez

[McConkey]

...I add 2-3 pieces of fish flakes once every two weeks or so.

Thanks for the advice! I'm seeing a consensus of not too much direct sunlight which is good to know! I have the perfect spot for it in my office! Is too much sunlight really a bad thing?? I'll trade you some of your Texas sun for my Canadian snow!

Lorez - Thanks for providing the pictures! Awesome shots! Knowing those little guys are a sign of a healthy basin is good to know! Thanks!

Kurt - I'll stick to freshwater then and keep my fingers crossed it doesn't turn too funky!!

Thanks again for all the advice everyone! Hoping to start this little project later this week!

[Crater Eddie]

This one is about 2 months old and still quite productive. Looks like I need to top it off though.
CE

[Hobbyst46]

Eddie:

This nice vase that survives now 2 months: which type of plant is the one with green leaves that grows inside? Was it a cut stem from a terrestial plant or an aquatic plant?

Hobbyst46

[Crater Eddie]

Hobby, this is a very common "water weed" in my area, can be found around just about any pond. I believe it to be a creeping water primrose, but am not 100% certain since the leaves are usually more blunt than in the photos found online.
Here is a link:

http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/wet ... mrose.html

It grows along the pond bank rooting into the bottom and can spread out over the water surface for a few feet. I often find hydra attached to it.

CE

[Hobbyst46]

Eddie

Thanks!

[charlie g]

Hi, Karl...bitter cold Alberta winters 'no sweat' for an outdoor balanced aquarium with niches similar to a running stream habitat (lotic waters...vrs wetland/swamp/pond/lake : lentic waters). Have a 15 or 20 gallon aquarium stocked with a few dipnet collected minnows, snail, bottom crusteaceans...air-stone bubble stream, submersed waterpump, upper terrarium wetland which the tank water circulates through before spilling down into the aquarium. In dead of winter...plop in one or two fish-tank heaters. Life and active communities thrive under the ice in running streams where you live (lotic waters), life goes on under the ice in ponds and lakes, wetlands (lentic waters) too .

Just as you can collect area native plants for a year round garden...you collect area lentic and lotic samples for your setup. Always keep a minds eye for the freshwater microscopy your balanced setup will offer you year round, when you collect for your setup.

The outdoor setup tracks after your areas seasons, otherwise you can keep such a setup indoors and forget about winter heaters. All the kit necessary is extremely low cost. Charlie Guevara, finger lakes, US BTW...November 2012 issue of this forums: "Microbehunter Magazine", has an article with images of one of these lowcost setups for outdoor 'balanced microcosms'.

http://www.microbehunter.com/microbehun ... ember-2012 (my links never work)

[McConkey]

Charlie - Thank you for the awesome information and link! Sorry for the delayed reply, I was away for work for a little bit! I'll give the link a good read tonight and see what i can come with up! I am really more optimistic about this setup than i was when i first started thinking about it! I wasn't too sure if it was possible but now i am confident i'll be able to get something up and running to give me samples all winter long!

I love the idea of having a upper terrarium wetland and a water heater! It is something i never thought of!!! It never occurred to me that i could have the aquarium outside with a heater! I am hoping to have a few days off around Christmas so i will be using that time to get my little aquarium setup!!

Thanks again everyone for the input!!
Karl

[apochronaut]

Karl. Are there not a few streams around that never freeze? Fast running water, although home to a more limited range of species should stay reasonably active year round and lots of species can be found in eddies and as Charlie g. says, under border ice etc. Half way back on our farm, there is a little stream that is home to green plants and various critters, year round, even the few times it has nudged -30.

About 20 years ago I planted a few horseradish roots on the little alluvial plain that borders that stream. With various spring floods and other occurrences the the stream bed has shifted and now the horseradish clumps are in mid-stream. They have green crowns year round and the enormous root balls( 20" or more diameter) are now kind of like a reef , covered in algae and moss and abounding with lots of organisms, in the fissures and on the surface.

The species' in most small environments will change seasonally, and over time but the biomass will stay relatively constant and not decline too quickly. When old familiar species start to wane in population, some other ones always take their place. Sometimes feeding with some energy source, is helpful.

I keep, numerous 2 or 3 oz. jars in the window all winter. Sometimes I transfer an eyedropper full from a particularly active jar to one that is lagging and also sometimes add a bit of sugar or yeast. Yeast is a great care package for an ailing environment.

[ajmckay]

I wish there were various "like" or "thanks" options on this forum!

This is a great thread with some really cool info.

Thanks especially to Kurt and crater for sharing examples of your setup. A simple pic is effective for the beginner forum!

[McConkey]

I will echo what ajmckay just said! This was a very informative thread and incredibly helpful! The community here is beyond awesome!

Phil - Thanks for the suggestion about Yeast! I will keep that in mind if i notice low activity!

Over the Christmas break I did manage to setup a little aquarium, unfortunately the temperature never got above -33, it even dropped down to -51 for about an hour one night and as a result everything is frozen solid. Even the waterfalls are frozen solid!! I took to a hammer to the local stream but there wasn't a drop of liquid to be found! Luckily my wonderful partner in crime found a local aquarium supply store that specializes in all things underwater so i was able to get some tank scrapings from them as well as some interesting algae samples!

I'm going to let the tank settle for a few more days and then start grabbing some samples! I eventually intend to have a small "garden" placed just above the water and have the flow of water from the pump trickle through as was suggested in an earlier post but that'll have to wait as my local greenhouse is closed till the 15th! For now i will see what grows!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is ready for 2018! All the best for the new year everyone!!

Karl

[KurtM]

Thanks for the pictures -- good heavens I can never understand how anyone can live in places like that! We've had overnight lows dip below freezing here on the Texas gulf coast for three days in a row and I'm about to die!!

First time I've ever read a sentence anything like: "I took to a hammer to the local stream but there wasn't a drop of liquid to be found!"

Seriously, I love those pictures. I feel just a little bit warmer now.

[billbillt]

For us living in south Texas, we never see anything like that... Much less a frozen waterfall.. Mind boggling!..

The Best,
BillT

[einman]

My wife and I are contemplating moving south. I dislike cold weather immensely. In regards to your aquarium, I too am working on a project and hope to post details and perhaps an article soon. I suspect you will be posting a good deal of photos soon!

[McConkey]

Kurt - oh come now!! We get -51 you get +51. It’s not that big a difference!! You’d be amazed how quickly you get used to your nostrils freezing every time you breath in! It’s delightful! The temperature jumped up to -5 today! You’d swear it was the summer time with everyone wearing shorts and tshirts!

I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures Bill!! There is always beauty up here when everything starts to freeze! If you ever want a tour I’d be more than happy to show you some of the frozen sights!!

einman - I am the opposite! I dislike the heat! Can’t stand it aha how far south is south?? I really look forward to seeing your project come to life and what you come up with! I really enjoyed putting my little aquarium together and can’t wait to add to it! and oh yes, the forum will soon be flooded with some new images from me!

[Crater Eddie]

The temps in southern Illinois have been hovering around 0°F give or take a few points for long enough now that our ponds are well frozen over. Its kind of hard to see, but here is a red ear turtle lazily cruising under about 4 inches of ice. That green you see is a large mat of algae about another foot farther down. I was amazed at how clear the ice was. I had neither pick nor axe, so didn't get a water sample.

26172684_1934209383274170_1387223405640933155_o.jpg (70.89 KiB) Viewed 10248 times

CE