Planning my paludarium

[yilduz]

I've been planning a 55 gallon paludarium for a while and I'm getting kind of excited about it, looking forward to starting it, but still planning and learning. I've made a simple model of how I want to tank to be laid out.

On the left, under the platform, I want to make that area kind of cave-like. I want a hammers cobalt blue lobster and I imagine that will be his favorite spot. Outside the cave area, I want to have a variety of live plants. I'll also keep live plants in the land area, but those that are generally near water. In addition to the blue lobster, I also want ghost shrimp, and some fish, possibly some type of tetras. I'd also like some sort of amphibians, but I want to make sure nobody is going to eat anybody else.

I did some math and figured the way I have it in the model, the water area will be about 30 gallons, minus the areas displaced by rocks, etc.

My main purpose for creating this thread is to get input and ideas. For instance, the pillars holding up the platform - I was figuring I'd use some sort of rocks as the pillars and use aquarium adhesive to hold them in place. The platform itself would be an acrylic sheet with the ground on top of it. Do you have any other suggestions, though? Also, does anyone have any suggestions for types of plants, animals, decorations, materials, etc?

 

[Fishguy2727]

I used PVC pipe to make the stand on mine. The platform was made out of egg crate and I used needlepoint plastic grid for moss to grow onion the land area and for ivy to root through. I made a creek and small pool with thick plastic sheeting that I silicones gravel to. I painted the PVC pipes black to blend in with the background. The filter was a fluval 3 plus with the tube output attachment that filled the pool and powered the creek.

 

[yilduz]

I don't think I want to use PVC, mainly because I'd like it to look more natural - but you have some pretty cool ideas. I was also thinking about a stream, and the way you did it seems like a pretty good way to go. Thank you.

 

[Fishguy2727]

You can easily hide the pipes with siliconed gravel, corkwood, etc.

 

[yilduz]

I've found a tank, which I believe to be 55 gallons, at a local second hand/cosigning store (they call it the garage sale store). They also have another tank, which I'm estimating to be around 30 gallons. The large tank comes with a couple of lights, a couple of filters and the smaller tank comes with a light. They're asking $80 and $50 for them, but they said they will likely drop the price if we agree to buy both (the store owner needs to contact the cosigner but the two tanks have been there more than a month and nobody has been even remotely interested in them). My wife is hoping they'll take $100 for both, and if they do, I can start my project and she can have a larger tank than what she has right now.

I may be able to start my project soon.

 

[BigJim]

Sounds like a good deal to me.

I would also build the platform out of PVC. If you're looking for a more natural camouflage, you could sculpt Great Stuff expanding foam to look like rock or wood. It's aquarium-safe if you seal it.

 

[TraceyB4602]

Sounds like an awesome idea to me. I wanted to have a tank like that but I just never had the time to build it. I love the idea of having a land area and a water area plus a cave. I wanted to make a brackish tank like this for mudskippers : )

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium

 

[yilduz]

So we got the tanks today. The big tank is actually a 45 gallon, but it should be fine for what I want. The smaller tank is a 27 gallon, and it's a lot nicer than the big one. My wife is going to use the smaller tank for a community and I'm going to have a lot of fun with my tank.
I can't wait.

I never even thought about mudskippers, I bet those would be cool, but I can't imagine they'd enjoy the type of environment I'm going for, but I'll research them a bit. I don't even know how big they get.

Also, with two suggestions for pvc, it's making me wonder if I should go that way. What are the advantages of using pvc coated in something for looks rather than using real rocks?

 

[mandy2936]

Following

 

[Fishguy2727]

For one it is a lot lighter. It is strong and you can cut it to fit exactly what and how you want. Even if you didn't silicone anything to it if you paint it black and have a black background it will blend in. Silicone some gravel, pieces of rock or driftwood, or anything else you want to do and the pipe will disappear.

 

[TraceyB4602]

I do believe mudskippers need brackish water, but seeing i have never owned them or really looked up on them I could be wrong. But they would live on the land part of your tank

 

[Fishguy2727]

Yes, they are brackish so it would be a single species tank.

 

[yilduz]

Here are a couple of pictures of the tank and the stuff that was in it. It's now Friday so I have the rest of today and the weekend to clean it and figure out what else I'm going to put into it. I'm going to Home Depot tomorrow for some unrelated supplies, but since I'm there I might as well look at aquarium silicone, slate (for a cave), pvc, and anything else that could be useful. I'll also look at building materials for a stand.

So, I have a couple of questions. First of all, what is the best way to clean the tank? It seems there was hard water in the tank and the glass doesn't look very clear. I'm afraid to use anything until I hear from you guys because I don't want to put any chemicals in that will be hard to rinse away and cause harm to the fish.

Also, as far as the Home Depot supplies, is there anything else I'm forgetting to look at while I'm there? Do you have brand suggestions for anything?

 

[mandy2936]

Hey! About cleaning the tank... I always prefer not to use bleach, even when heavily diluted in water, simply because it's hard to rinse out, and I'm always too worried that I haven't gotten it all out. Using something else is worth the peace of mind, IMO. Anyways, try using a vinegar/water solution. It works pretty well. Just be sure to rinse

 

[Wy Renegade]

Tagging along - looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

 

[Fishguy2727]

Ammonia will disinfect and if any is left over it will be used up while cycling.

 

[herp_mommy]

skip the amphibians if you want the lobster. the two don't mix. Lobster will cut the poor things up

 

[yilduz]

Thanks everyone. I tried a little bit of vinegar water last night on a spot to see how well it works and it seems to work alright. I'll do that with the whole tank and then rinse it all out. Once that's finished, I'll try some ammonia.

As for the amphibian, I have been concerned about that and I haven't been able to find anything that I'm comfortable will be compatible with the crayfish so I'll skip that for now.

Thank you to everyone that has replied.

 

[TraceyB4602]

You can look for sand at home depot. The sand for like children sand boxes is sold there and is much cheaper.. that's if you are using sand

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium

 

[yilduz]

I didn't even think to look for sand at Home Depot. I looked for the silicone, but they didn't have any. I looked for PVC but I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted yet so I waited on that. They had a ton of slate, but apparently there are several boxes of it in a shed in the back yard, so I didn't grab any. I didn't grab any materials for the stand yet, because I wasn't sure what I needed - but for all of these items, at least I know what they have and what they don't. On the way back from Home Depot, I stopped at the pet store in town. I'm not too crazy about that place because their selection is so low it always looks like they're going out of business and what they have in stock just depends on what they managed to pick up, so they're not exactly reliable. However, they did have a 3 oz tube of aquarium silicone so I grabbed it.

As for the tank, I've cleaned it up and put water in it for a while. It looks better and holds water just fine. My next step for the tank is to get some of the slate in the back yard (and some obsidian) and test it for aquarium safety and then start building my cave and start gathering other materials. However, right now I'm researching plans and working on designing a stand for the tank.