65 Tall Paludarium Project

Last summer, I was given a young stinkpot/common musk, and in the fall I was given a 65 tall full setup (yes, for free) from one of the professors at my school. I've come up with an idea to design a paludarium setup around the stinkpot and include some small native fish, some live plants, and mybe even eventually some treefrogs for the upper portion (but they will be the last thing added, if at all). It will probably be sometime in the spring/summer when I have the time/money to complete the project, but it is currently in the planning stages.

I downloaded Google Sketchup a few days ago and have been figuring it out and coming up with designs for some projects I've had in my head for a while.

Here's the basic design for the plumbing and also a small shelf/container for some terrestrial plants (which will probably be constructed from some scraps of glass from an old broken 29 I have laying around). The tube on the right will be the filtration intake. The two on the left will be the output. One is a spraybar across the back of the tank, and the other will be the start of a small stream/waterfall. They are connected outside the tank, and will have valves to adjust the flow between them. All the in-tank plumbing will be hidden in/under a stump/root structure constructed mainly from styrofoam (as you can see in the next pictures).


Here's a basic idea of what I want the hardscape to look like, although the real thing will probably have more branching and roots. For the terrestrial plant area, I'm thinking about a carnivorous plant bog for some venus flytraps and small American pitchers.



Let me know if you have any suggestions or questions about it.

user_name said:

A cool idea for the island would be to make pvc + spray foam branches to suppourt it, it would also add detail and hiding spots to the tank, and allow terrestrial inhabitants to be able to climb out easier.

What dimensions will the shelf be?

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I do plan on doing some more roots/branches under the shelf and also going up to its edge. I'm not sure exactly what the dimensions of the shelf will be, but in the model it's about 9"X18"X6". I think it might end up being a little smaller.

titansfever83 said:

cool idea but i'm not sure whether your inhabitants will co-exist. The stinkpot would eat the fish(if they're slow moving, danios might work) and possibly the frogs and if you have plants on your basking area then those would be trampled. Though I can't remember what the stinkpot's diet consists of ATM.

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He has very little interest in fish. I've never seen him even attempt to go after any that he is currently with, but I don't plan on including any slow bottom dwellers or anything. I also don't think there will be much of a problem with plants getting destroyed. My stinkpot doesn't leave the water much, so I don't see him bothering to climb up into the plants much. The roots on the right side will be primarily for basking and there won't really be an easy way for him to get to the plants. I also highly doubt he would bother treefrogs, but I still don't know if I'll try them or not.

user_name said:

It seems like the tree frogs can escape easily, plus I think they they will be a little weary of the turtle to begin with.

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I've kept them before and with most just a normal screen top is fine for keeping them in. Since they would mostly occupy different areas of the tank, I don't think it would really be a big problem. He's a pretty small turtle, so they'd probably barely even notice him.

LifelessForm said:

You may want to look away from carnivorous plants, I think they need a cooling period to go dormant for proper health. Unless you plan on letting your turtle hibernate, you may want to stick with native plants.

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You're correct. Most North American carnivorous plants do require winter dormancy. I would just remove them from the tank during this time.