# Bog Terrarium?



## Myrmicinae (Jun 30, 2014)

I'm interested in constructing a bog terrarium and am wondering if anyone here has experience with this sort of thing. What substrate mixture would be most effective for growing bog plants? Also, would it be best to leave out the drainage layer?

Thanks!


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

I have seen a couple of these that turned out real nice that were simply fish tanks filled about 1/3 with water followed by a layer of dried sphagnum moss and with live sphagnum and various other acid bog plants on top. Since the sphagnum moss is saturated anyway you probably don't the drainage layer. You should use bright light and good air circulation/ventilation.

If you want to make something authentic for your area or wherever you are getting the plants, then you should not use New Zealand sphagnum because it contains spores that will grow with New Zealand species.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

I would have to wonder about the tank becoming nasty smelling after a bit...how would you avoid that???


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## epiphytes etc. (Nov 22, 2010)

The nicest bog viv I've seen was 125 gal with an eggcrate false bottom with an airstone being run below, dried sphagnum above, and live sphagnum on top of that. The water was filled to the top of the dried sphagnum. The whole thing was being lit with metal halides.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

were there any critters in there? What sort of bog plants were in it to make/keep some sort of balance? I'll bet there was no top...and there were emergent plants...it would be kinda neat...


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## epiphytes etc. (Nov 22, 2010)

There were a few different Sphagnum sp., several Saracenia, Drosera and Pinguicula (the usual suspects), and some kind of rush type plant. No critters, other than fungus gnats, as far as I can tell, though I'd be surprised if there weren't springtails too. Yes the top was open. I may have a pic of it somewhere, I'll try to dig it up.


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## epiphytes etc. (Nov 22, 2010)

Judy S said:


> I would have to wonder about the tank becoming nasty smelling after a bit...how would you avoid that???


I bet the high amount of tannins present in peat bogs keeps down bacterial action, hence "peat mummies".


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

Duh.................


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## Myrmicinae (Jun 30, 2014)

Thanks for the responses! I'll give it a try and post photos if it turns out alright.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

I don't know if this qualifies as "bog", more "emersed" maybe...
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/me...l-10gal-utricularia-other-various-plants.html

Soil is a.mix of long fiber sphag, aquatic plant soil, some peat and activated charcoal.


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## Myrmicinae (Jun 30, 2014)

Dendro Dave said:


> I don't know if this qualifies as "bog", more "emersed" maybe...
> http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/me...l-10gal-utricularia-other-various-plants.html
> 
> Soil is a.mix of long fiber sphag, aquatic plant soil, some peat and activated charcoal.


Thanks for the information! This will be very helpful.


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## inka4040 (Oct 14, 2010)

Here is a link to the best example of this type of setup I've ever seen. 

Emersed aquatic plants with carnivorous plant layout - Plant Physiology & Emersed Culture - Aquatic Plant Central


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## Athena (Mar 20, 2013)

WOW! That's an inspiration inka4040, thanks for sharing. While mine is nowhere close to that, my 10 gal carnivorous bog tank is simply sphag and playground sand. In the 5 years I've had it, I've never noticed any stink. The great thing with using sphag as the base for the substrate is that the bog plants I have don't need full "emersion" to have their roots wet. Sort of the opposite of what we want with 'regular' vivs


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

Resurrecting this thread...

I'm thinking about an acid bog planting in a 65G fish tank.


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## RabidSimian (Sep 25, 2015)

Not quite a bog, but I have a lot of marginal plants in this one. It's grown in quite a bit since I took this (the pictures are from August/September) and I added more ferns, sundews, some Peperomia prostrata, mini orchids, liverworts, and micro violets. I'm currently on the hunt to find an Utricularia sp. to add. The driftwood releases an excess of tannins and the water is quite acidic. 

I made it by stacking pieces of driftwood and using aquarium mosses and liverworts to fill the shallow areas between driftwood islands (which you can kind of see with the top view). Once they grew in I added plants to grow in the moss. The whole entire back portion that faces the window is dense liverwort and moss from the base of the substrate to a few inches above the water line. This is where I plan to add the Utricularia so their flowers creep up above the Anubias and Cryptocoryne


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

A bog is actually a specific kind of wetland habitat with strongly acid water and very low nutrients and minerals dominated by _Sphagnum_ spp. mosses and a few other plants that can tolerate these conditions.









(Wikimedia Commons image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Tourbi%C3%A8re_03_-_Parc_de_Frontenac_-_Juillet_2008.jpg)


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

Here are links to a couple of free pdfs (two chapters from the same publication) on the vegetation of bogs...

http://www.bwsr.state.mn.us/wetlands/delineation/WPPC_MN_WI/IVa%20OpenBogs.pdf

http://www.bwsr.state.mn.us/wetlands/delineation/WPPC_MN_WI/IVb%20ConiferousBogs.pdf


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## GandalfTheGrey (Nov 18, 2015)

RabidSimian said:


> Not quite a bog, but I have a lot of marginal plants in this one. It's grown in quite a bit since I took this (the pictures are from August/September) and I added more ferns, sundews, some Peperomia prostrata, mini orchids, liverworts, and micro violets. I'm currently on the hunt to find an Utricularia sp. to add. The driftwood releases an excess of tannins and the water is quite acidic.
> 
> I made it by stacking pieces of driftwood and using aquarium mosses and liverworts to fill the shallow areas between driftwood islands (which you can kind of see with the top view). Once they grew in I added plants to grow in the moss. The whole entire back portion that faces the window is dense liverwort and moss from the base of the substrate to a few inches above the water line. This is where I plan to add the Utricularia so their flowers creep up above the Anubias and Cryptocoryne


You could definitely add a paradise fish or betta fish to that tank, if it's not too cold. You could also try adding cherry shrimp, crystal shrimp, or ghost shrimp. They kind of work like springtails in a viv, cleaning out detritus and the like


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

what size container is it? Really nice.....


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## RabidSimian (Sep 25, 2015)

GandalfTheGrey said:


> You could definitely add a paradise fish or betta fish to that tank, if it's not too cold. You could also try adding cherry shrimp, crystal shrimp, or ghost shrimp. They kind of work like springtails in a viv, cleaning out detritus and the like


I actually have a small group of Galaxy Rasboras (that have laid eggs and some have hatched) and about 5 Blue Diamond Cherry Shrimp. Up top I did have terrestrial vampire crabs, but my home got too cold this winter (building's boiler is getting old and fizzled out for a week) and most went dormant. I'm not sure if they will emerge from their burrows in the wood and moss. 

The whole this is 17" in diameter.


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## warlock (Jun 7, 2012)

RabidSimian said:


> I actually have a small group of Galaxy Rasboras (that have laid eggs and some have hatched) and about 5 Blue Diamond Cherry Shrimp. Up top I did have terrestrial vampire crabs, but my home got too cold this winter (building's boiler is getting old and fizzled out for a week) and most went dormant. I'm not sure if they will emerge from their burrows in the wood and moss.
> 
> The whole this is 17" in diameter.




they really went dormant?! they come out yet?


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## RabidSimian (Sep 25, 2015)

warlock said:


> they really went dormant?! they come out yet?


Saw one scuttle away the other day. So at least one was fine with the cooling period.


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