55 gal paudarium

[snailrider]

Yep, crossing over from the salty side.

I picked up a damaged 55 and will be splitting it into land/water as soon as I get some plexy.

I have a venus fly trap already in a small container that keeps growing, and figured what a great place terrarium/fishtank for it to get relocated.

So now I am in quest of good plants land and water, thinking some sort of newt or something small to go from land to lake, and some compatable nice little fishies.

So, what type of substrate do I need for a freshwater planted tank? And of these planted, which will fish leave alone to grow? I have too many questions at this time. I have a pic of the tank on my blog, nothing fancy, but the damage is pictured.

Ideas suggestions welcome :grinyes:

[theotheragentm]

You can plant into just about any kind of substrate you want. Sand works decently. What kind of critters were you hoping to have in the tank. Some fish won't ever mess with plants. Let us know what you're thinking more and we can chime in with suggestions.

[mellowvision]

before you do anything, take a look at how this guy does it:

http://www.brianstropicals.com/building.html

[snailrider]

Those look awesome

I am going to split the tank into two separate sections with a plexi divider


On the water side, I love how the TOTM looks, aiming for something like that on that side, then on the other side more like a terrarium.

There will be a beach that connects and allows for access for critters.

So interesting critters than can move about, On the fish side, I would like something that breeds, and can be food source for land critter if possible.

But also maybe a centerpiece fish or two. It's 55 gal so there is plenty of room for all sorts of interesting things.

I am not apposed to making structure out of fiberglass, the foam thing, I have never worked with. I do build my own "Live Rock" for salt tanks (blog).

But since the tank is only one day sitting in the front room, I haven't got any real distinct ideas yet, just some general things. The more I talk about it the more the ideas flow :drool:

But the water level of the tank will be about 5 or 6 inches from the top.

I presume I do not use undergravel filtration for panted tanks correct?

[ohbly]

I like the look or your live rock, I think you should build the land structure out of stuff like that.
It would be original and it would look awsome!!

[snailrider]

Did you see the thread on saltwater build log? That is awesome stuff. And probably alot lighter.

I don't know if I have it in me to learn new media to sculpt with.

I'm heading to California in a day or so, and may stop by Crystaliner and see if they have that foam he used.

Rather than epoxy etc, I might look into fiberglass. I have worked with that a little. But man, I was just thinking gluing in a piece of plexy and being done, but after seeing that project, I want, I want: I have visions, I see little critters climbing the walls and swimming through vast green forests (TOTM).

sigh :drool:

[ohbly]

Did you see the thread on saltwater build log?:

haha thats my build log:grinyes:
if you plan on using glass then you have to use epoxy.. I used fiberglass epoxy and just left out the fibers.
you could make a female mould from real rock out of latex(youd find this in a model store), paint the inside with release agent and glass inside that..
that shouldnt be too hard.
plus making stuff is fun:headbang2:

oh and if you see the way I made my background out of hypertufa, moulding with sand it comes out fairly lightweight because of the hollows.
Its also real easy to work with(much easier than foam) and you can stick driftwood through it like roots growing through a cliff.
but as with your live rock it takes a long time to cure and leach..

[snailrider]

LOL Probably should have paid more attention to the names, but I go looking for pictures not peeps.

That is a great job you're doing there, just seems like way more work than I want to spend, but then it is a "Creation" and that is fun.

And I have no idea about hyper tufa, sounds like a great sponge :eek:

I was humoring the idea of like Hoover Dam and then have the canyon cliffs on the back wall and planted dirt on the front side with the dam flowing over into a river and collected and pumped from the far end in a pool at a different level than the water side.

Like using the overflow to a fuge in saltwater, that way I can use more depth in the water end for planted FW.

Just so many ideas floating.

[ohbly]

dude that it such a cool idea!
so cool that I drew a crap drawing of my interpretation-
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f239/ohbly/paladium.jpg
of course it would have to be wider and less crap but it could be amazing if done right.
Id have the water level in the deep side just above the hood because I hate it when light leaks out the top.
Id make the waterfall more of a trickling cliff that wraps around so you can see it from the front and id attempt to make the waterfall look something like this-
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f239/ohbly/waterfall.jpg

and id make it out of hypertufa- hypertufa is pretty much diy liverock but without salt and with peat instead of crushed oyster.
I would seal the water side with concrete primer and epoxy and leave the land side porous to grow mosses..

and I would make little pools all the way down like I made here with my experimental backgound-
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f239/ohbly/testtank.jpg
it would look cool with the tufa covered in moss with dripping pools of clean water..

BTW if you dont make it I will!:headbang2:
but not anytime soon..

[snailrider]

I thought I had a pretty good idea then you came and posted the pics.

The smaller pool/falls are a great idea, my concern is how do I keep the land part from getting saturated from the splashing of the falls?

A separate rock substrate maybe with a secondary pump? Like a french drain system maybe?


I may have to shorten the water side some, which is actually not a bad idea. Maybe 1/3 the tank deep water, the rest terrarium with river and falls and pools, and cliffs and kayaks.

Yes your drawing omitted the kayak tumbling over the falls :rofl:

I will have to brush up on the tufa stuff and other media neccessary for the project.

[Red_Fox]

You should rethink the the Venus Flytrap. They are a temperate plant and need a dormant period. It might live for a while in a terrarium, but won't thrive and will eventually die for lacking a dormant period.

[mellowvision]

I'd personally try to avoid using the plastic divider... you can probably create some nice coves/caves/waterfalls with stones or tuffa if you think creatively. I'd also mostly agree with Red_fox that the flytrap would eventually die off, but you might think about potting it, and then making a spot in the land where the pot fits in, or is concealled, and then you could remove it to give it a dormant period when it needs it... maybe have 2 that you swap back and forth? I don't know much about the periods it needs, but bet you could work something out.

[willisan]

FYI, I just discovered that Bondo Fiberglass Resin eats through the Corning pink foam insulation sheets...

Had my background carved and ready to go...and the stuff just went right through it. Hopefully epoxy will work better....

[mellowvision]

resin and epoxy are very similar. the pink foam is not tolerant of solvents.