As it stands on the tank i have, that will be converted to the paludarium, the cover glass at the top has constant condensation on the underside. This is whilst it is filled to the top, i don't know if lowering it will alter this for when its filled to 1/3 as i plan to do. At each end of the tank there is an open section which is 2" wide and runs the depth of the tank, which is 16". These are the only two open sections as it stands, i plan on getting two perspex sheets to silicon in these gaps and have 2 sections cut out on each end for some ventilation mesh. Inside the tank i shall have either 1 or 2 air stones under the water surface to aid moisture dispersal (something i read helps), there will also be filtration in the form of an external filter. I'm hoping this will be enough for me to keep the submerged and emerged plan-life i plan (explained in a minute).
The first gut feeling I got was that I'd mesh the whole open sections in the ends. It's easy to make additional pieces to cover a portion of the meshed parts, but tough to add ventilation to glued perspex. Adjustability never hurts. But unless you plan on going for ventilating with fans, small spots in corners sound a bit undersized to my mind.
Airstones help with moisture and the return of the external filter can be rigged to help even more, up to a full-scale dripwall or such.
The room itself it is situated in is quite a stable room in terms of average temperature. My aquariums sit at a very contant 25/26C pretty much all year aorund, which is good. So hopefully the paludarium will be the same once converted, i'm expecting some fluctuations as there will be more air space which is far more unstable for retaining temperature/moisture than that of water.
Everywhere i've read states a hygrometer is required to measure humidity levels. How "required" would you say it is, i'm hoping personally to do all this by guess work. Constant trial and error to see how it goes, mainly because my budget can't include the cost of such equipment right now.
You're spot on with that thinking.
Condensation depends on the temperature
difference between the tank airspace and the ambient room temperature. The cooler the room, the more condensation, naturally.
It is typical with paludariums that lighting warms up the airspace during lit hours. When lights go off, the temperature drops back to what depends on the room temperature and the water temperature.
What happens with this fluctuation is that when temperature rises inside the tank, the relative humidity drops. Unless you either diminish ventilation or increase evaporation, or both. And that's why it's almost impossible to follow the true RH without a gauge.
Airstones can be used effectively here, for example by controlling them along with the lighting controls.
I'm already thinking of upgrading my lighting from x2 36W T5HO to x3 54W T5's. Obviously at first though i'll stick with what i've got. I've read the entire thread of your APC paludarium, then cleaned up a flood of drool on the floor, and finally sat back and was dumbfounded. Amazing doesnt even come close. I noticed you struggled with underwater plant growth initially, and i'm expecting the same, but i don't really plan on much in the way of submerged growth. Only perhaps slow growers such as Anubias species and the odd Cryptocoryne that do well in lower light, possibly some vallisneria. The land mass i have a few ideas, but really know nothing about true terrestial plants that i can use. I have ideas about Hemianthus Callicthoides and Pogostemon Helferi, but nothing set in stone yet.
Really appreciate your input. I have high hopes for mine, only because i've always been relatively creative, and my artistic skills are better than what most people usually hope for, but are by no means brilliant haha! Your harrypotterian design really appealed to me, and is pretty much how i envisage my land-piece turning out. A simplified version though that looks a little less like its straight out of a film-set.
How are the mudskippers and their environment doing?
Ehhehee. Thanks for the words, mate.
Yeah, I had a lot of trouble getting the submerged vegetation right at first. I'm running a sump in the tank, so CO2 issues are tough. Now that the tank's matured, it produces more plants than I'm bothering to harvest, so it looks a bit of a jungle most of the time.
Also have a stubborn BBA-problem and every now and then I'm thinking about adding CO2-suplementation.
Wow, you're brave, thinking about HC emersed. I imagine it needs close to 100% RH and is very delicate to humidity drops?
Terrestrial plants really depend mostly on what sort of humidity you're going for. But if HC is going to survive, then what you need is rainforest plants and mosses. Anything else will rot with that humidity, I think...
Lighting should do it for the emersed plants. What is needed for the submersed growth is anybody's guess. Depends on light positioning, also.
In the stream I'm running 6 x 28 W T5HO:s and a total of 70 W PC:s scattered. But the tank is 2,4 meters long, so comparing must be done by a meter or something.
The mudskipperarium's only got 2 x 58 W tubes for now. Not a whole lot for a 500+ l (140 gal) tank.
I'm looking forward to your outcome!
Be sure to poke me when you start a construction blog.
Mudsies are doing great, veggies recovering and even thriving.
Samolus seedlings, anyone?
