Starting an Utric Aquarium

[SubRosa]

Rubbish mossies won't lay eggs in flowing water, I have had mossie larvea in small tanks with a circulating system, plenty of movement (granted they preffer still, butthey are not confined to it), as for fish, I have a few ponds (the smallest being 15L that has U.Aurea, Gibba, Uliginosa (on the bottom) and stellaris, this small pond has a fighter fish in it and is going very well (many months on), my other ponds (in excess of 200L) have guppies, gold fish, Gudgeons and rainbow fish (Au species) and are all very happy, sedges are a good companion, as are sarracenia, but these are to large for you, a local plant called Nardoo works very well at countering algae, as do a few snail species that don't (often) feed on utrics.

I must also add that I use a spag layer on the bottom of anything smaller than 25L, then peat on larger, adding a few old sarra leaves (cut up) will also increase tannins, CO2 and growth, but I would not advise this if algae is an issue.

On a side note my Aurea and stellaris readilly catch small mossie Larvae, but that is primarilly the guppies job.

I know that the buckets I aerate to culture daphnia don't get wrigglers, and the ones I leave stagnant to attract mosquitos do.

 

[Tanukimo]

Rubbish mossies won't lay eggs in flowing water, I have had mossie larvea in small tanks with a circulating system, plenty of movement (granted they preffer still, butthey are not confined to it), as for fish, I have a few ponds (the smallest being 15L that has U.Aurea, Gibba, Uliginosa (on the bottom) and stellaris, this small pond has a fighter fish in it and is going very well (many months on), my other ponds (in excess of 200L) have guppies, gold fish, Gudgeons and rainbow fish (Au species) and are all very happy, sedges are a good companion, as are sarracenia, but these are to large for you, a local plant called Nardoo works very well at countering algae, as do a few snail species that don't (often) feed on utrics.

I must also add that I use a spag layer on the bottom of anything smaller than 25L, then peat on larger, adding a few old sarra leaves (cut up) will also increase tannins, CO2 and growth, but I would not advise this if algae is an issue.

On a side note my Aurea and stellaris readilly catch small mossie Larvae, but that is primarilly the guppies job.

It is so nice that you are able to grow so many native species of Utricularia. Many species in the US are very difficult to acquire (especially affixed aquatics).

 

[SubRosa]

I asked my friend in the aquarium trade, and here is what he had to say:

"You are adding CO2 into your water with surface agitation. By agitating the surface (like how the airstone is), it allows for more CO2 to dissolve and increases solubility. But since you're adding oxygen into the water with an airstone, it decreases the CO2 in the water. To add the most CO2 into the water, it would be best to only agitate the surface without adding oxygen....so for example adding a filter outflow which creates currents. This would allow for greater solubility of gases while not adding oxygen and allows for the water to contain a greater supply of carbon dioxide. I think by adding an airstone inside the water, you are obviously adding more oxygen than carbon dioxide."

So the surface agitation from an airstone is beneficial, while the oxygen added is not. If you want the best of both worlds, you should consider adding something to increase the flow in your tank, like a power head perhaps, without injecting oxygen into the water. Surface agitation can also prevent films and proteins from building up on the surface of the water in addition to adding more CO2.

I posited this scenario on a chemistry forum. To anyone interested:http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=4728939#post4728939

 

[jimscott]

These pictures are a few years old and my Aldrovanda died out, but I had Aldrovanda & U. gibba set up in a 10 gallon tank, on the porch. I used the bog water that was nearby and they flourished. Snails naturally came with the water. I also used a couple bog plants.












I didn't have an algae problem, presumably because the U. gibba (and possibly snails) partially blocked the light.

 

[pearldiver]

This book speaks of habits of most of the species of mosquitos around the world. http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=...LA-_-Book_15To24-_-Q000000633-_-2688262715030 The author lists and describes those that breed in stagnant water as well as those that prefer flowing/fresh water. One interesting note is he travels to the office building of the association devoted to eleminating malaria and its main vector. Outside, he finds small water puddles of water full of larvae. I consider them friends as larvae, enemies as adults and work with that. For control I mostly use Gambusia, mostquito fish. It works pretty well most of the time.

 

[pearldiver]

Whoops, lost link. http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=...LA-_-Book_15To24-_-Q000000633-_-2688262715030

 

[pearldiver]

Not gonna happen. Mosquito: The Story of Man's Deadliest Foe is the title.

 

[ChronoKiento]

Jimscott, thanks for posting the pictures! It looks great! That's very close to what I am trying to accomplish. Right now I am just struggling with making the water less murky. I removed one gallon of murky water and replaced it with one gallon of pure distilled water kicking up a ton of peat in the process, of course, but I expect it to be much less murky after it settles a bit. I'm thinking that I really should have rinsed the peat more beforehand, but hindsight is 20/20.

On the bright side, the U. gibba already seems to be growing quite a bit.

 

[Tanukimo]

Here is my setup:

 

[Axelrod12]

If you put a rock or plate or something in the tank pour the water over that when you add it and it will help to prevent the peat from stirring up too much.

 

[ChronoKiento]

Thanks for posting more pictures Tanukimo! As far as water clarity goes, mine is starting to look a bit closer to what yours looks like (but still not quite). I think I'll just wait a little while before I do a water change, but I don't think it will really settle more than it already has. I also can't help but notice how much peat you have at the bottom of your tank. Mine has under two inches or so, do you think that I should've added more? I had quite a bit more in the tank but it just would not sink, so I had to remove it.

I will definitely have to put some kind of rock or something in the peat, but first I have to find something that won't leech nutrients into the water. If I get some plants that float on the surface, I could pour the water over them as well.

 

[Tanukimo]

No problem, ChronoKiento. Here are some more pictures of a more recent and simply setup. It is about two months old and is just a plastic jar with some peat at the bottom. I never changed the water after putting peat in so it is fairly brown, but it seems okay since Utricularia I received that weren't producing bladders have started making them after I put them in here, even though I don't really see any micro-organisms in the water. I don't really see a need to do water changes; the tank in my previous post has never had its water changed, and the plants are still doing well. I think you just need to have patience waiting for the water to clear up, and the plants should be fine even without it perfectly clear since they will be floating at the top.

 

[ChronoKiento]

Very nice Tanukimo! I split the U. gibba into two when I first received it just in case one batch happened to die, but so far they both seem to be growing pretty well. The one I split and put into a small tupperware container and it is totally doing it's own thing despite it being a spur of the moment kind of thing. I definitely underestimated the little guy. So far there are no algae problems and the water is still brown and cloudy, but the U. gibba mostly just floats on top so it's not an issue at the moment. I think I will start adding some other floating plants now to keep the nutrients under control. Small insects and such have been falling in and I've noticed that my pool/pond has become overrun with algae so.. 'tis the season I suppose. I haven't seen any algae in my tank yet, but I'd still like to get some other aquatics in there just in case and to just make it look nicer.