Water bug tank

arachnocat

Arachnoangel
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Here is the new tank I've been working on for some water bugs. I have miniature papyrus, anacharis, bamboo plants and a few other aquatic plants in there. I'm using a waterfall filter and I have a few sticks in there for extra places for the bugs to hang on to. I'm hoping to get some Abedus sp. eventually. Does anyone know where I can find them this time of year? Hatari has Lethocerus americanus but I'm not sure I want those for a communal tank.

 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
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Very nice tank setup, IM sure they will love it! I know I would if I were a water bug:)
 

dtknow

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Wade is offering adults of Abedus. A few of those plants may not make it in the long haul but it will be interesting to see what happens. I'd look for Najas myself...great stuff and mine love to hide in it.

For Abedus, a more natural setup would be a kind of river tank. I'm imagining lots of large rocks with plants growing along a "riverbank". Wade would know, but I'm guessing the bottoms of these streams are probably silty. In that size of a tank you could probably get a group of livebearers(mosquitofish) or other small fish breeding and providing you feed the Abedus they may sustain themselves. I'd do this if I had the space.
 

arachnocat

Arachnoangel
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Thanks. The place I usually get aquatic plants from has some Najas in stock as well as a few floating plants so maybe I'll get a few to try. I have a light on top to help the plants grow during the day. Will see how they do. I can always replace them with ones that grow better in low light. :)
 

GartenSpinnen

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So this is what you do if you want those plants to grow good.... you get the regular 10 gallon hooded light setup and instead of putting the regular aquarium bulbs in it (actinic i think they are called?) go to walmart in the pet department and look for the mini compact flourescents which are 10 watt a piece, they will screw in and you can put 2 of them in the light setup making it 20 watts, occasionally you can find the 15 watt ones which is awesome cause you get 30 watts and for those plants to grow good you want at least 3 watts per gallon (20 watts is o.k..... but 30 watts is more what you want to shoot for). Also you want the substrate to be around 3"- 4" deep, go to a petstore and look for "flourite" and mix that in with some fine gravel or sand. Do these things and your plants will grow much much much better.

Good luck!

and oh ya... for more information go to www.plantedtank.net
 

GartenSpinnen

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Oh ya... you said you want something that grows good with low light, so try java ferns, anubias, java moss, crypts, and foxwort. :)
 

arachnocat

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Awesome! Thanks for the info. The gravel in there is called "aquatic planting mix". It's for ponds I think and supposedly has all the nutrients in it for plants to grow. I have another planted tank for my axolotl but it doesn't look as nice as the ones on the plantedtank website. My CO2 generator isn't so good. I think I need to get another one that works better or just make my own. Not sure if the waterbug tank will need one. The tank is about 40 gal. and I'm savin up for a flourescent hood. Hope to get one next week maybe. :cool:
 

Wade

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I've collected them in three locations, and every one was different. Once was a murky, slow moving stream that was muddy and I only found them because I happened to dip my net in. It was literally chokes with leaves and algae. The second time I found them was a crystal-clear mountain stream, wih no plants around and just rocks. The third time was somewhere between those two, a stream that wasn't totally clear, but still had good visibibility. Not picky about habitat, apparently.

Wade
 

PeriplanetaAmer

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:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Fantastic!!! I was looking for some information about Water bugs (thank you Wade:) ) and now, you show us this beautiful tank. Can you tell us how do you construct it? Thank you!!
 

roach dude

Arachnobaron
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WOW! That is a awesom set up..what you planning on keeping in thier?:? :D :?
 

arachnocat

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Thanks! I don't know what's going in there yet. I found a science supply store that will have giant water bugs and diving beetles in March. Still trying to get info on what species they are though.
I may visit the lake this weekend and see what I can find. Will post some more pics when I actually put something in here :)
 

roach dude

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Dunno weahter u get these in america but their realy common in briton ponds..their called backswimmer waterboatman their realycool to whatch, i might suggest some of them but they may eat almost everything else....... sma ehte the diving beatles...:D
 

AviculariaLover

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That's a great looking tank! I hope to set something up like that this summer and get my hands on some lethocerus americanus in my area, there are a bunch of ponds near my house. The one I was keeping in my dorm died for unknown reasons, perhaps from the mites. Was a really really great pet though! And I know a guy who worked at the Insectarium in Montreal up here, and he said they kept lethocerus americanus communally quite well, as long as they're about the same size. I had two at one point and they would tend to stalk each other sometimes but once they got close, they backed off. Silly little creatures they are. You'll have tons of fun, no matter which aquatic insects you get, they all tend to be a bit vicious and great to watch {D
 

arachnocat

Arachnoangel
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Barney from Hatari said they keep their lethocerus americanus together in 5 gallon buckets (about 12 to a bucket) and they don't attack eachother. I may give them a try when I can afford to buy more bugs.
Does anyone know where I can find info on keeping Nepa sp? I know there's some info in the Elytra and Antenna book but I gave mine away last year when I got rid of my assassins. Doh! :wall:

Oh here's some info about the tank: It's a 40gal and the background is a Habi-Scape rockwall from herpsupplies.com (which is a great site for buying vivarium stuff). I glued it to the back with aquarium sealant. It doesn't quite go all the way to the bottom of the tank, but I'm going to put a black background behind the tank it so it won't be as noticeable. I glued the air plants and moss on with a glue gun. :)

One more thing, I don't recommend the tetra repto filter. It really is as crappy as people have said. If suction cups on the pump come loose (which they do every few days) the pump will spit out foamy water or just make a horrible noise. An underwater filter would work much better.
 
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Tleilaxu

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Quick FWI make sure that bamboo can get its top above the water or it will drown.
 

arachnocat

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I got some Abedus today! 6 of them. They're pretty cool. One of them has a lot of algae growing on him. Here's a few pics:






I just brought some feeder guppies home for them. Can't wait to see the carnage {D
 

dtknow

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Where did you get them from? It sure doesn't look like an Abedus? Perhaps Benaceus or a similar genera?
 

PeriplanetaAmer

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:worship: :worship: :worship:

Ooooh!! They´re beatiful!! Can you post photos of the Abedus in the tank? Thank you!:)
 

arachnocat

Arachnoangel
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I got them from Carolina Biological. They may not be Abedus. If anyone can ID them for me that would be cool. I'll try to get some better pics of them in the tank. They're about 1". I have some diving beetles coming next month too. Those should be fun.
 

arachnocat

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This is the best pic I could get, till another one comes out of hiding. Any ideas what species it might be?

 
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