# Redwood Forest, Alberta, Canada - 76.5 MYA



## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

*Redwood Forest, Alberta, Canada - 76.5 MYA*

I procrastinated with this project for a long time, but finally resolved a few questions and put it together.

This is a paleo terrarium recreating a Late Cretaceous Redwood Forest biotope by combining live plants with diorama elements. A replica dinosaur nest portrays the diminutive dromaeosaurid, _Hesperonychus elizabethae. _

Plant selections are stand-ins to more or less represent the flora that grew in the area where _Hesperonychus _lived, during the Campanian Age (83-72 Ma) of the Late Cretaceous. White Cedar (_Thuja occidentalis_) represent the trunks of mature _Sequoia_ trees, while live Coast Redwood (_Sequoia sempervirens_) saplings represent their offspring growing in filtered sunlight below. Coast Redwood grows well in terrariums. While mature Redwoods are among the World's tallest trees, it is actuallly easy to miniaturize young plants because they respond well to pruning to control size and shape. There are a few other interesting plant selections and I'll explain with more detail in future posts.

Enclosure is 24" X 24" X 33", about 83 US gallons.


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## Harpspiel (Jan 18, 2015)

This is just next level nerdy and I love it.


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## ParrotAlex (Aug 7, 2021)

I tip my hat to you, this is legendary. Reminds me of some museum displays I've seen.


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## MorseToad (Mar 27, 2021)

What a great idea! I would never have though to combine two of my favorite things: vivariums and paleontology.


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

Thanks very much. I'll write again to explain the plant combination some more. There's a few interesting plants in there. 

_Hesperonychus elizabethae _is not known from fossilized eggs or other nest remains. But the replica nest—including egg arrangement (in a ring), egg pigmentation and approximate egg size—is based on fossil evidence from related animals.


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## Vargoje3 (Oct 5, 2020)

As someone who went to grad school to study paleontology this is pretty cool.


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## Alexzandriap (12 mo ago)

Oh wow! This is really cool! I plan on doing something similar myself. I want to create prehistoric biotopes for my future geckos and frogs.


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

Alexzandriap said:


> Oh wow! This is really cool! I plan on doing something similar myself. I want to create prehistoric biotopes for my future geckos and frogs.


There are some cool plants you can round up for a project like that. Let me know if you want ideas.


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## Alexzandriap (12 mo ago)

hydrophyte said:


> There are some cool plants you can round up for a project like that. Let me know if you want ideas.


Well, I'm aware bromeliads have occurred during the late cretaceous and ferns have been here since the Jurassic or carboniferous.
Mosses are also ancient. But I'm unaware of any other species that would be suitable for smaller setups. Please give me ideas if you have time to!


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

Alexzandriap said:


> Well, I'm aware bromeliads have occurred during the late cretaceous and ferns have been here since the Jurassic or carboniferous.
> Mosses are also ancient. But I'm unaware of any other species that would be suitable for smaller setups. Please give me ideas if you have time to!


Bromeliads actually are a relatively recent plant group. There are more interesting and representative choices if you want to explore plant evolution. 

How big is the enclosure going to be?


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## Alexzandriap (12 mo ago)

hydrophyte said:


> Bromeliads actually are a relatively recent plant group. There are more interesting and representative choices if you want to explore plant evolution.
> 
> How big is the enclosure going to be?


I'm getting two 20 gallons. Both are 24 inches wide,12 inches deep and 16 inches tall.


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

Alexzandriap said:


> I'm getting two 20 gallons. Both are 24 inches wide,12 inches deep and 16 inches tall.


Coast Redwood actually grows real nice as a terrarium plant. The adult trees of course grow to gigantic size, but you can prune a sapling to maintain it more like a small bush. Here's a seller who will ship you perfect little seedling trees....

Coast Redwood | Small Tree Seedling

I would also suggest a _Zamia_ cycad, but those tanks will not have the vertical space for that.

There are lots of ferns, mosses, _Selaginella_ and some liverworts you can look into.

If you can track it down, a hornwort would be really neat to include planted in a shallow-water margin area...

Hornwort - Wikipedia

If you will have a water feature, plant a dwarf _Equisetum_. there..

Dwarf Horsetail Rush

More semi-aquatic ideas...

Marsilea - Wikipedia

In Defense of Plants

Isoetes - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

Few setup pics for a related project in a 12G bookshelf tank...




























Adding gravel and more pretty soon...


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

Microscopy today!

This is material from our related setup, the Stromatolite Reef. I'll explain more about this at some point...










This old Leitz was donated by a local battery manufacturer. The paired oculars are in rough shape with mold or something inside, but the vertical camera eyepiece is more clear. I think my pics are at 50x, 100x and 200x, although I had a hard time reading the engraved specs on the objective lenses...need to go back and look again...










Filamentous Cyanobacteria with extracellular polymeric substances...



















Benthic Diatoms growing as a tight mat...


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

I've seen quite a few theme/biotope reef tanks over the years, and that's one of the coolest. What a great idea. 

Eagerly awaiting edification on stromatolites...


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

Socratic Monologue said:


> I've seen quite a few theme/biotope reef tanks over the years, and that's one of the coolest. What a great idea.
> 
> Eagerly awaiting edification on stromatolites...


It's been kind of slow, but seems to be establishing well. Those rock foundations are of course just reef limestone pieces. But I seeded them with material from the vicinity of living stromatolites in Great Salt Lake. Water in the tank is hypersaline at 85ppt, so most organisms are excluded from growing in there.


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## IShouldGetSomeSleep (Sep 23, 2021)

Is this a pet rock exclusive tank or will other animals be added? Are you feeding the bacteria? How does this work?


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

IShouldGetSomeSleep said:


> Is this a pet rock exclusive tank or will other animals be added? Are you feeding the bacteria? How does this work?


This setup is just dedicated for the stromatolites. Not many animals can survive 85ppt. The only kind of aquarium animal that could make it in there would be brine shrimp, but they would not get along very well with the powerhead.

I have dosed P fertilizer to get the Cyanobacteria established on top of the rocks. This has encouraged a lot of algae on the sand and glass as well. My hope is that once a thicker microbial mat develops on top of the simulated stromatolites I can back off on the P.


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## MorseToad (Mar 27, 2021)

Amazing! I always wondered if it was possible to have a stromatolite aquarium. Keep us updated on how it progresses!


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