# Ideas for plant-friendly semi-aquatic species.



## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

I'm thinking about setting up a tank with a shelf- 










to mimic a lake bed... I'm also wanting to make it a biotope, with only one or two plant species, one fish species, and one creature that's semi-aquatic. (red-claw crabs come to mind)

Does anyone have any ideas for small (1-3 inches) semi-aquatic species?


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## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

well maybe a mudskipper and then a puffer in the water... both are brackish so don't know about the plants


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

I kind of want to stay away from brackish.. I thought about mudskippers + Archerfish, but this is a small tank.


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## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

oka then I would get some kind of crab as you said... how small is small


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

10G, if the idea works well then I might move it to my 20 Long instead.


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## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

maybe a few sparkling gourami


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Newts can work, depending upon fish. Some fish would bite the newts, and vice-versa. Years ago (1985) I had something similar with some Florida sunfish I think they were, small disk-shaped black and white fish. And some Eastern Newts. No heat needed. Worked well. A pair of Fire-belly newts even bred, the last of the offspring died recently in its 21 year, and might still be here if it had not managed to climb out and dissapear under the Christmas Tree where it was discovered--hard and dry--when the tree came down.


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

Thanks.. Would newts need a heat lamp? Would they do ok with such small amount of land area? (It's a ten gallon. Most of the tank would be 'shallows', with only a few inches on one side being completely dry)

I just did a little research... Looks good... Think I could keep some endlers with them? If they ate a few they would be doing me a favor.


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## cro117 (Jul 12, 2011)

newts might be ok with such a small land space, they typically like more water then salamanders. as far as a heater it would be quite the opposite, if anything they would need a fan and a chiller, depending of course on the room conditions. they do like it quite cold most of the time though.

as far as the crabs, dont mix them with the newts of course, but you might also want to look into vampire/carnival crabs, though i believe they like more terrestrial conditions.

riccia might do well and should grow out of the water. creeping jenny is another. i forget the name and dont feel like looking it up, but another plant that should do well is that vine you see...well... everywhere. next time you see your doctor or dentist check it out...ugh, ok im looking it up right now...epipremnum aureum. there are tons of "bog" plants out there like purple waffle, green sandy, peace lillys, but i dont have much experience with them so cant recommend them.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Yes, newts are fine at room temp, and spend most of their time in the water. I saw some Halloween crabs at a fish store recently. Bright orange and black, very beautiful; no idea what they are like, they were not exactly small (about 3 inches across). Newts would be safer with fish.


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

Well, unfortunately my roomate vetoed the newt idea. Anyone else have any ideas?


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## cro117 (Jul 12, 2011)

look up vampire crabs aks carnival crabs. i think they are mainly terrestrial so redclaws are probably a better idea, but it's something fun to look into anyway.


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

everything I can find on them says they need brackish water, and that would ruin my idea of pumping the water over the terrestrial plants (above the water line) as filtration.


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

Well, I decided on plants and stocking. 

I'm going to set it up as Brackish, with 1.008-1.011 salinity.
It will be well planted, with:
Variegated Acorus(Acorus gramineus var. 'variegatus') Terrestrial/Emersed
Cryptocoryne Pontederiifolia Terrestrial/Emersed
Crinum Calamistratum Submerged
Lilaeopsis novae-zealandiae (Microsword) Terrestrial/Emersed
Glossostigma  Terrestrial/Emersed
Java Moss Terrestrial/Emersed
Java Fern 'Windelov' Undecided
Anubias Nana Emersed
Azolla Floating
Varius Crypt species (already had) Submerged, will allow to grow emersed
Hairgrass Submerged

Stock will be 4-5 fiddler crabs, and 4-5 Hawaiian Red Shrimp, AKA Opae ula, AKA Anchialine Shrimp (Halocaridina rubra)

Halocaridina rubra are super interesting- you should take the time to google them.

Thanks for everyone's help.


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