Paludarium Experiment

[Scooterpierce]

First off, I would like to thank Mikaila31 for giving me this idea. I too have a 5 gallon tank just laying around the house and would like to try my hand at building my first Paludarium. I will be using plexiglass to divide the tank to create a water barrier then building my rock wall in front of it. I feel that i can get a water tight seal this way (i hope ) I will post new pics as I make my way through this process.

 

[Scooterpierce]

I decide to lean the plexiglass wall so I can build a rock wall up it to go for a more natural look. The plexiglass was sealed with aquarium safe silicone and I am currently waiting two days for the silicone to cure before I seal test it.

I would love to hear your guys suggestions as I build this!!

 

[chrisbassist]

I was thinking about doing one of these (for my wife...)

One idea I had was to build in a cave under the "land" side. But to do it right up against the glass so you can still see in there... Might be too late for you to do that though.

which side is the land going to be?

what are you thinking about putting in there?

 

[Scooterpierce]

The land will be going on the larger side of the tank. I was able to pull apart my filter that came with the tank and will be trying to make a rock water feature out of it...Kind of hard to explain what is in my head. Still looking into plants to add in here. Any suggestions?

 

[chrisbassist]

i'm not a plant person really but considering the size i'd stick to things which dont grow too long, like mosses n stuff, otherwise you'll be constantly trimming. if you dont mid the extra work of trimming, why not put a bonsai in there?

 

[Scooterpierce]

A bonsai would be awesome if i can find one that would be small enough, i'll have to check the climate that the grow in and see if it would work..yes im definitely going to be adding moss in there as well. maybe some clover as well

 

[chrisbassist]

almost any tree can be a bonsai, you just need to trim and shape them. quite a popular one is chinese elm. but you could use an oak tree, or anything really. a lot of garden centres have a basic selection if you don't fancy growing it yourself... basically all you need to do is restrict the growth, that's done in 2 ways, firstly you restrict how much space the roots have to grow. secondly you restrict the size of the plant itself with cutting, and trimming excessleaves off. since if it doesn't have them, it will grow a lot slower.

they can take over 10 years to reach 10" depending on species and maintenance...

have you thought about stocking? what fish/other animals???

 

[Scooterpierce]

was thinking with the tank being so small maybe a couple blood shrimp or a neon tetra to the water side and possibly a poison dark frog. the stocking is where i would love suggestions, with this being my first habitat.

 

[chrisbassist]

hmm,

if its a 5 G and you're using the small side for fish, then you're gonna have less than 2G for the fish right?? and even that depends on how deep the water is.

tough, stocking something that small... I'd try and find a couple of really small fish,that don't mind being in low numbers. the tetras appreciate at least 6 of them, and theres not a lot of space there for 6. maybe find something that size that you can keep only 2 of...

 

[Scooterpierce]

I would say there will be about a gallon of water..maybe more

 

[superman1]

will be watching this thread closely. i have a 30 litre tank which i want to do something similiar with. i was thinking of doing the land with sand and rocks and the water side dorset pea gravel with a wood piece coming out and having maybe a couple of red clawed crabs in their.

 

[Scooterpierce]

I was too thinking of using a type of crab, I think the allowed space would be great.

 

[Scooterpierce]

UPDATE!!!! So I added water and the seal held perfectly. YAY!

 

[Scooterpierce]

After I drained out the water I started building my landscape side. I placed black about a inch and a half layer of black gravel to the bottom before I added the organic soil to help with drainage. I then added plants that I washed prior to planting hopefully to remove any chemicals that were on the leaves.

 

[Scooterpierce]

Added some moss as well as stone and a hut to the landscape. All right, time to build the rock wall (water side), I'm using aquarium silicon to attach the rocks to the plexiglass to prevent it from moving. Here is how it looks so far...