CrookedFingers
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hello, this is my first post here.
I already have some really low maintenance setups, but this will be my first more serious scapey thing, so even if I have a pretty detailed plan I wanted to hear some expert opinions
I am preparing a 72L tank for my baby razorback musk turtle, Gene. His species should (hopefully) allow for a planted tank with fish, and he will need a basking platform so, finding those pre-made plastic platforms really ugly, I set my mind on making a paludarium with a planted shelf on which (s)he can haul out should he wish to do so.
The shelf will probably be approximately 12x28cm, sculpted in fimo clay with plexiglass strengthening the bottom. It will be siliconed in the back right corner, with a plexiglass triangle supporting part of the weight. The rest of the weight should be carried by a large piece of driftwood. I'll try to add images to better explain what I mean:
On the shelf I'll probably plant a mix of terrestrial (fern, soleirolia) and emersed plants (Hemianthus callitrichoides, Utricularia graminifolia), with different substrates and umidity levels.
The driftwood will have creeping moss and Anubias nana.
On the bottom I plan to put in substrate dividers. In the left back corner I'll plant DHG, HC and maybe a little bit of UG, wedged between river rocks, in fertile substrate. The front will be just plain river sand, so my turtle can freely dig in it. I'm unsure of what to do with the left back corner, the one under the planted shelf.
I don't plan to use super high lighting, maybe a LED bulb added to my turtle's UV, nor CO2, but since I'm not interested in superfast growth I don't think it'll be a problem. I think the turtle should provide adequate fertilization!
I'll use a canister filter, and I'd like to build the intake tube into the platform.
I would like to add 6-8 white cloud mountain minnows.
I think that's all, sorry for the long post!
Any advice or suggestion would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance
I already have some really low maintenance setups, but this will be my first more serious scapey thing, so even if I have a pretty detailed plan I wanted to hear some expert opinions
I am preparing a 72L tank for my baby razorback musk turtle, Gene. His species should (hopefully) allow for a planted tank with fish, and he will need a basking platform so, finding those pre-made plastic platforms really ugly, I set my mind on making a paludarium with a planted shelf on which (s)he can haul out should he wish to do so.
The shelf will probably be approximately 12x28cm, sculpted in fimo clay with plexiglass strengthening the bottom. It will be siliconed in the back right corner, with a plexiglass triangle supporting part of the weight. The rest of the weight should be carried by a large piece of driftwood. I'll try to add images to better explain what I mean:
On the shelf I'll probably plant a mix of terrestrial (fern, soleirolia) and emersed plants (Hemianthus callitrichoides, Utricularia graminifolia), with different substrates and umidity levels.
The driftwood will have creeping moss and Anubias nana.
On the bottom I plan to put in substrate dividers. In the left back corner I'll plant DHG, HC and maybe a little bit of UG, wedged between river rocks, in fertile substrate. The front will be just plain river sand, so my turtle can freely dig in it. I'm unsure of what to do with the left back corner, the one under the planted shelf.
I don't plan to use super high lighting, maybe a LED bulb added to my turtle's UV, nor CO2, but since I'm not interested in superfast growth I don't think it'll be a problem. I think the turtle should provide adequate fertilization!
I'll use a canister filter, and I'd like to build the intake tube into the platform.
I would like to add 6-8 white cloud mountain minnows.
I think that's all, sorry for the long post!
Any advice or suggestion would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance