What Fish For Paludarium?

[Sadial]

So I've been fascinated with paludariums and ripariums for the past year. I have read everything online that I could find on them (and watched a million youtube videos) and began planning my own. I took a break from saltwater to work on these. I built a 20G tall riparium and it turned out pretty ok. So, I spent the summer working on a 60G paludarium. Tonight I filled it with water - finally! I admired the work of those aquarists who put in foggers and underwater LED lights and waterfalls. I did this with mine. Now that I've finally filled it with water, I'm unsure what to stock it with . I'm not positive how many gallons I have but I estimate it to be about 35 - 40 gallons, given the huge background that I made. I have a tetra 40G whisper HOB filter (the source of the waterfall) and a classic Eheim canister filter (about 66 gallons). I'm thinking I have overkill on filtering - which isn't a bad thing.

I put in sand substate because I would like khuli loaches. But what other fish do you think would do well in this setup? I wanted it to look like a riverbank. I may put in one or two powerheads, to give it river movement.

Any suggestions? Most paludariums that I saw, seemed to focus on the land portion and be designed for frogs. I wanted fish so I designed mine with that in mind. It's 4 feet long and less than 12" from front to back (depending on where on the background that you measure). It is about 15 inches deep from sand to the waterline. Here's a few pictures. It's nowhere close to done but I wanted to test the waterfall and start the cycling process.

 

[icydeath]

Do you only want fish or are herps an option?

If fish only, you have atleast 30 gallons so you could probably stock quite a bit...

Any particular groups you like?

Also what is your pH and temp?

 

[icydeath]

Btw, looks very nice. I like the work you put into it.

 

[Sadial]

Do you only want fish or are herps an option?

If fish only, you have atleast 30 gallons so you could probably stock quite a bit...

Any particular groups you like?

Also what is your pH and temp?

Thanks. From what I've read, dart frogs would struggle in this setup and might drown. However, I think fire bellied salamanders would be cool but is it too deep for them? I like those blue crayfish and I have a screen top, if I need it. So much caution about mixing animals, though. I have no idea. I haven't taken any readings yet so I'm not sure of pH. I imagine until it settles, readings will be nuts. Although I've researched my materials and from what I've read, everything should be safe, it's in the back of my mind that something somewhere might be toxic. I haven't set the temp because I'm not sure where to go now. I have UV lights for herps but the problem with the narrow tank is that the heat melts the frame. I had to replace the top frame because I was using this tank for a bearded dragon, before I upgraded her to a 75 gallon. I melted 3 places of the plastic frame and it was not fun ripping off the frame and putting a new one on. I might be overestimating the gallons, too. I think it's closer to 30, like you said.

 

[bribo12]

Darts would definitely be a terrible option. Nowhere near enough land. They'd definitely drown .
Btw it looks good . Fire belly toads or newts would probably do well. The newts would need cooler water though


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[icydeath]

So the newts you can just take the heater out. For the toads, you could leave it in.

Both would be very interesting to keep, but keep a species tank as they have very very mild toxins to humans, but can be irritating to other species.

 

[icydeath]

A blue crayfish would be interesting, but I don't think that would fully give you the full experience in terms of the paludarium being utilized well.

Herps like newts and firebelly toads would work well.

 

[bribo12]

+1 to what icy has said. The amphibians would be much more interesting than the crayfish


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[t4runnr]

Mudskippers?


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[Sadial]

Darts would definitely be a terrible option. Nowhere near enough land. They'd definitely drown .
Btw it looks good . Fire belly toads or newts would probably do well. The newts would need cooler water though


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Yeah, I think darts are out, too. The paludariums that I've seen them in have a lot of vertical space and shallow water. Some of the dart setups I've seen are gorgeous and amazing. I wanted to focus on the water portion with mine. I'll read up on fire belly toads. Thanks.

 

[Sadial]

So the newts you can just take the heater out. For the toads, you could leave it in.

Both would be very interesting to keep, but keep a species tank as they have very very mild toxins to humans, but can be irritating to other species.

More reading to do then! I didn't know that.

 

[Sadial]

Mudskippers?


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I'll read up on mudskippers too. That sounds really interesting.

 

[Homer8]

I'll read up on mudskippers too. That sounds really interesting.

I have mudskippers but a typical paludarium wont work. Mudskippers need brackish water and its really hard to keep plants alive with salt in the water.



My tank has mudskippers, red claw crabs, a figure 8 puffer, a female molly and 8 bumblebee gobies. If i could figure out a way to separate plants up top to be exposed to only freshwater i would get some


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[Sadial]

I have mudskippers but a typical paludarium wont work. Mudskippers need brackish water and its really hard to keep plants alive with salt in the water.

View attachment 248663

My tank has mudskippers, red claw crabs, a figure 8 puffer, a female molly and 8 bumblebee gobies. If i could figure out a way to separate plants up top to be exposed to only freshwater i would get some


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You've got a lot of variety. Does everyone get along? Have you looked into red mangroves? Those would work in brackish water. Or - one way to separate the plants and brackish water would be egg crate and foam. It's going to be buoyant so you wouldn't have to upset the water portion much, if at all. You could build it outside the tank and then seal it with drylok, colored with concrete tint. You could foam around net pots to hold plants or use small plastic containers filled with hydroballs or gravel and potting soil to keep fresh/brackish water separate.

 

[Homer8]

They all get along really well. The problem with mangroves is that they are trees. You can only have them in the tank for so long.


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[Wy Renegade]

I have mudskippers but a typical paludarium wont work. Mudskippers need brackish water and its really hard to keep plants alive with salt in the water.

View attachment 248663

My tank has mudskippers, red claw crabs, a figure 8 puffer, a female molly and 8 bumblebee gobies. If i could figure out a way to separate plants up top to be exposed to only freshwater i would get some


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Several types of plants will make the transition to brackish water, particularly vals, but they need to be slowly acclimated. Now those plants may not mix well with your crabs and puffer, but that is a different story.

 

[bettaowner]

I'm working on creating a setup like that with guppies.


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