Supervisor Bill Reilich was joined by the Greece Town Board and the Library Board for the unveiling of the new paludarium display in the Greece Public Library, located at 2 Vince Tofany Boulevard in Greece.
A paludarium is a part aquarium, part terrarium ecosystem composed of such plants as Malaysian driftwood, moss, and orchids. This biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment are becoming popular as a tool to teach biology and earth science. Being the first of its kind in the area, the Greece Public Library’s paludarium features technology that allows it to simulate weather events, including lightning storms, fog and rain. It holds about 350 gallons of water and features a waterfall on each side. The paludarium contains several fascinating specimens, one of the most interesting being the freshwater fish from Lake Malawi in Africa. A unique feature of these fish is that they are mouth brooding, which means that the mother fish protects her young by keeping them in her mouth. The paludarium is an ideal habitat for mouth brooding fish, as the terrarium elements provide hiding spaces for the mother fish.
The library’s new paludarium was previously an aquarium. Most of the fish that were in the aquarium now live in the paludarium, along with some new friends. A few of the larger fish that were in the aquarium – including the fish that visitors to the Greece Public Library affectionally named “Nemo” – have retired to bigger homes at ABC Aquarium.