Bog Filter inside a 150 gallon aquarium

[jgell]

In January I started building a bog filtered 150gallon aquarium in my classroom. It was winter, the space was there so why not. About a month after getting it up and running we adopted our daughter and I left school for the rest of the year. I would go in every once in a while and check on things. It’s doing pretty well. The bog has monkey flower and a dwarf canna. I’m using some grow lights I had. They are good for the bog but might be too intense for the aquatic part. A student brought in a baby painted turtle and it is doing well. It does have a CO2 system. The goldfish and koi were taken out this weekend and replaced with crappie and yellow perch. Bluegill and maybe a small bass will be added soon. I’m going for a local gamefish collection. There is also a channel cat in there. I would love to screen in the space above it and try to have aquatic insects hatch and breed but it could be a year or two before I attempt that. I need to put up a sign in the lower left explain wetland filtration and a bit about what’s in the tank. I hope that will make that dead space more interesting. I wish I had made that area a window into the inner works of the filter. Thought I’d post it here and see what you all thought.

 

[jgell]

Here is a closer look at the bog plants

 

[Mmathis]

Nice!

 

[GBBUDD]

I miss my planted tank. I had a bog filter sorta speak before i knew anything about a bog filter. I broke all the rules to keeping an aquarium back then. i had mostly tetras. rummies, a gobos, and blenny. Swimming around a 90 gallon corner tank that was an open top. I built the tank off the wall a foot and made a water proof shelf. that had a plexi glass wall to keep water from doing any damage to the wall. i planted some ivy some bonsai, a fern and hc. There was a 2 foot water fall that dropped into the open top tank. THE AREA WAS PEAT AND NOTHING BUT PEAT. I then had window screen running the rim of the tank to the ceiling and i placed shaft tail finches up there. i did not have a clas of students but i did have all the kids wanting to see it all the time and i could never get them to leave.
You will probably have the best ;luck because your not fidgeting with the tank and over feeding Look pretty good so far. I keep forgetting my avatar is actual a picture of that tank,. Might be a heck of a lab for the kids

https://www.aquariacentral.com/foru...-unsure-but-i-think-youll-like.110988/page-11

i did place 148 in a ada competition one year which really surprised me

 

[Stephen Noble]

You will probably have the best ;luck because your not fidgeting with the tank and over feeding Look pretty good so far. Might be a heck of a lab for the kids

Totally agree with @GBBUDD, What lucky kids!
What grade are they? Is this a biology or science class? The tank is beautiful. The turtle is a 'game changer' however. If you are interested, I will share some thoughts. A screened area for bugs is a great idea! It would be ideal for an Archerfish species tank. Anyway, you have a golden opportunity to 'energize' young minds. Just imagine the satisfaction you will get diverting those kids thumbs away from typing on social media and getting them wet! A classroom aquarium is one of my fondest memories as a retired educator.

 

[jgell]

I miss my planted tank. I had a bog filter sorta speak before i knew anything about a bog filter. I broke all the rules to keeping an aquarium back then. i had mostly tetras. rummies, a gobos, and blenny. Swimming around a 90 gallon corner tank that was an open top. I built the tank off the wall a foot and made a water proof shelf. that had a plexi glass wall to keep water from doing any damage to the wall. i planted some ivy some bonsai, a fern and hc. There was a 2 foot water fall that dropped into the open top tank. THE AREA WAS PEAT AND NOTHING BUT PEAT. I then had window screen running the rim of the tank to the ceiling and i placed shaft tail finches up there. i did not have a clas of students but i did have all the kids wanting to see it all the time and i could never get them to leave.
You will probably have the best ;luck because your not fidgeting with the tank and over feeding Look pretty good so far. I keep forgetting my avatar is actual a picture of that tank,. Might be a heck of a lab for the kids

https://www.aquariacentral.com/foru...-unsure-but-i-think-youll-like.110988/page-11

i did place 148 in a ada competition one year which really surprised me

Your tank was very impressive. I found threads about it on here and at least one other site while looking around to see if any one else had tried filtering an aquarium with a bog. It is working so far. I have removed the goldfish and koi and the perch and crappie are in. They are pretty stressed but adjusting. They are in the 3-4 inch range. I caught some 1 in bluegill today that will go in tomorrow. I also netted a 3 in large mouth. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get it to take pellets but I’m gonna give it a try.

 

[jgell]

Totally agree with @GBBUDD, What lucky kids!
What grade are they? Is this a biology or science class? The tank is beautiful. The turtle is a 'game changer' however. If you are interested, I will share some thoughts. A screened area for bugs is a great idea! It would be ideal for an Archerfish species tank. Anyway, you have a golden opportunity to 'energize' young minds. Just imagine the satisfaction you will get diverting those kids thumbs away from typing on social media and getting them wet! A classroom aquarium is one of my fondest memories as a retired educator.

I teach high school chemistry and physics but bring my science nerd hobbies into the classroom. In addition to this tank I have two 65 gallon tanks packed with tamasaba goldfish that power aquaponics systems. Most of what is grown in those is fed to the 12lb leopard tortoise that roams the classroom. About 10 of my 100 kids ever look at any of it anymore. They were interested for the first week of school and now the only time they notice anything is after I clean out a filter and the complain about the smell.

 

[addy1]

Kids! It is really neat!

 

[GBBUDD]

I teach high school chemistry and physics but bring my science nerd hobbies into the classroom. In addition to this tank I have two 65 gallon tanks packed with tamasaba goldfish that power aquaponics systems. Most of what is grown in those is fed to the 12lb leopard tortoise that roams the classroom. About 10 of my 100 kids ever look at any of it anymore. They were interested for the first week of school and now the only time they notice anything is after I clean out a filter and the complain about the smell.

Thinking back to my high school days . you are a brave soul !
it was all harmless more or less, but man did we screw with a few teachers. We found out one had a phobia of spiders, "that went all wrong"
One teacher chased me out the window from the second floor , i thought i was all that until i heard a thud behind me, as the teacher jumped out after me . i could hear the class erupting in laughter as i was running away with the teacher on my heals .

OR WHEN THE DEAN came out to fire island a ash island out in the swamp next to the school . a great place to play hooky that we made from our left over ashes and baseball benches. with only one way in when Conrad decided to come looking who had the fire going we had to try and make a second way out and it went badly i ended up in water up to my thighs and went to class with a giant puddle under my lab bench.

Then there was the biology lab cats that got stolen i had nothing to do with THAT. but when they came back well lets say puzzy cat was given new meanings. we had harmless fun . SORTA SPEEK

BRAVE SOUL Thank god this woke HORSE SHI- Wasn't around we would have had all kinds of fun with the flower pot, kat, and the list of pronouns. Mine would have been SHe/ IT

 

[GBBUDD]

I teach high school chemistry and physics but bring my science nerd hobbies into the classroom. In addition to this tank I have two 65 gallon tanks packed with tamasaba goldfish that power aquaponics systems. Most of what is grown in those is fed to the 12lb leopard tortoise that roams the classroom. About 10 of my 100 kids ever look at any of it anymore. They were interested for the first week of school and now the only time they notice anything is after I clean out a filter and the complain about the smell.

Shouldn't be that much smell unless your just talking an odor like mud. hydrogen sulfide " rotten eggs should not be or there is something wrong

 

[jgell]

Shouldn't be that much smell unless your just talking an odor like mud. hydrogen sulfide " rotten eggs should not be or there is something wrong

There isn’t much of smell at all. Just some dramatic kids who make a big deal out of everything. They’ll be in for a real shock to their senses when we start working with organic compounds.

 

[GBBUDD]

oh i could give them something to whine about, Gets the wife to be vociferous.

 

[jgell]

Here is a little update on my wetland filtered tank. The tropical canna and monkey flower are growing great and blooming regularly under the grow lights so they must be pulling lots of nutrients out of the water. I reduced the time the light was on over the main part of the tank and much of the algae has died off since. The goldfish have been rehomed. 4 of 5 perch take pellet food readily and are grow fast (too fast). Only 3 of 5 crappie survived transport and none are taking pellet food. 8 bluegill are not taking pellets or flakes. The large mouth bass starting taking pellets last week so I expect his growth rate to shoot up. The catfish is thriving but is a little upset that more and more fish are taking the pellets, means less for him to scavenge. Those that don’t take pellets get some frozen shrimp, frozen shrimp and bits of tilapia fillet. Hopefully they start on dry food soon because I’m not buying frozen shrimp and blood worms again.

 

[jgell]

Forgot an overall pic

 

[GBBUDD]

Forgot an overall pic

Nicely done , i love the tree stump, i use to get chewed out all the time for having an ordinary tree stump in my aquarium. i never followed the rules . I always tried to duplicate NATURE.... NOT WHAT SOLD....