Converting 50G tall to a paludarium - Do-able?

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chrismisc

Registered Member
May 25, 2011
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Chris Schowalter
hello All!

Well, long story short, I was looking into how to downsize my current low-light planted 50g discus tank to something that didn't require hauling RO water, with minimal maintenance, that could maintain my java fern/anubias covered driftwood bits, and then I saw this site called paludariumsupply.com. And I got a surge of exitement, & now things are getting complicated again- in my head at least. My local water is hard & chewy (8.0+ ph, GH & KH 200ppm, 25ppm nitrite out of the tap. I know I should look into Rift Lake Cichlids with water like that, but I really like aquatic plants.

My current tank's dims are 36" wide, 27.5" tall & 15.5" deep. I understand this might not offer enough depth to create the diminution that really helps compositions, but it's what I've got to work with. For the air water ratio, I was thinking about 16" of air/glass over about 11" of water (36" wide and 15" deep). I'd like to pick someone's brain as to the advisability of this idea (I'm on a budget). I currently have discus in a softwater set-up, and am looking to move to something that can tolerate my ph 8.0+ hard tap water (done hauling RO water jugs). Suggestions of livestock for that volume are very welcome. I was wondering if there's a terrarium plant package biome/grouping that's recommended for my tank dimensions -or at least a recommendation as to what book(s)/sites would be the best references for my intended application.

I like live plants, and have kept aquatic ones for years, as well as carnivores. My current aquatic plants are java fern, java moss, anubias nana- all growing on driftwood, and bronze cryptocorynes. I have several amazon swords I will be evicting because they're too tall. One I've had for 10+ yrs. I would like to keep some small fish in the water portion, and the idea is the emersed plants would do a significant proportion of the filtering, though I'd like to hook up a (probably internal) filter, perhaps with a spray bar positions to "water" some of the plants? I would like to feature a combination of emersed, submersed, & epiphytic plants in this paludarium. I was thinking those poor "aquatic plants" that aren't aquatic at PetSmart might be a good place to start for cheap foliage, and the local garden store's marginal plant section.

For hardware, I currently have about 2 watts per gallon 6700K fluorescent lighting. I'm guessing that's probably woefully inadequate, but would love to hear otherwise. I have a 70% glass cover I can use to keep humidity up/evaporation down, if need be.

I'm not really sure a transition to half-air is going to result in less maintenance for me, but that's the goal (plus I always liked how my tank looked when it was mostly drained for a water change, so this is natural progression/excuse to evolve!

Anyone have any thoughts, caveats, suggestions? Is the transition feasible without a huge outlay for hardware? I'm not dead-set on hard water (just less RO-- I have my own 90 gpd RO unit), or keeping my java/anubias, wood. Sorry for so much rambling and the disjointed info.

Thank you!!
 

garyfla

AC Members
Apr 23, 2010
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Hi
Paludarariums are MY favorite tyrpe of setup though I've downsized to a 150 that is located in the GH. It's more of a terrarium actually more of a cutting shed as I 've yet to organize it into a "theme 'lol
My largest was a 6 foot tall based on a 75 gallon tank with four feet of plexiglass on top. Ran 14 inches of water in the tank from water surface to top of tank was a "Marsh " area and above that an epiphyte area . Lights above that. Being so tall it was tough to get light to the bottom especially with the shadowing of the epis. Kept 80 species of plants in it was beautiful but a lot of work!! has been converted to a 75 FW aquarium to lower the maintainence most of the plands were moved to the Gh except for the water plants where they got nipped by the record setting ccold along with a breakdown of the heating system.
It all depend on what you want . Like aquariums you can make them as simple or complex as you like. Decide on a "theme " and furnish it with that idea.. The easiest to maintain and with greatest choices of plants are "lowland tropical". I would suggest using RO water to eliminate the water line and spots a real bear to remove in the confines of a tank. Are you going to keep animals?? . Obviously you'll have to design the setup around their needs. Good luck !! gary
 

chrismisc

Registered Member
May 25, 2011
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So-Cal
Real Name
Chris Schowalter
Wow, that sounds awesome! Any pictures? Sorry about your frost & heating malfunction. I'd have cried. Thank you for the insights and suggestions. I will look at the lowland tropical plant care requirements.

Actually, I mis-stated my tank dimensions (I called the sitter & asked her to measure, then double-checked & found out different). The outside dims are 36" wide, 15.5" deep, and 23.5" tall, making the anticipated water area approx. 10" tall, including whatever substrate. I was thinking of getting one of the larger internal filters and just putting the ceramic bioball-things from my canister inside it, wrapped in floss the catch the mulm. I also re-tested my tap water and Yikes! It's off the charts on my tests. pH 8.4+, KH 300+. GH reads 0ppm, but I think this may be due to its being water softened with sodium chloride.

I would want to have livestock. I'm a sucker for japonica shrimp, flower shrimp, cherry shrimp. A set-up with some/any of those little guys (albeit not a hardwater setup then), and some compatible teeny schooling fish would be a vision of indulgence. and while I've pretty much concluded I need to part with my discus, I'd miss my 4 little corydoras sp., though they're pretty big and probably not cherry-friendly (though they never bothered my japonicas when I had them).

Regarding maintenance, I think perhaps I'm in denial, trying to see how I can have my cake & eat it too. I can see how this could become a really engrossing aspect of the hobby, but I wont have time to dose ferts, trim plants, do weekly or bi-weekly partial water changes (I'm lucky to get to it every two months currently and don't deserve my discuss and 4 cory cats any longer. They survive by virtue of the low stocking level and all the plants they cohabit with cleaning the water, not because of my neglect).
 

garyfla

AC Members
Apr 23, 2010
427
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Hi
have you thought of adding some type of plumbing?? When I converted the above paludarium back to an aquarium
I put in an auto water change based on my rainwater system. can change 50 gallons in less than 10 minutes lol
When it ran as a paludarium I kept a school of 18 cardinal tetras only terrestrial creature was a gigantic preying mantis
Have no experience with shrimp though i have seen some fantastic paludariums which were large enough to house Discus
Low maintenence ?? I don't think so ??? lol gary
 
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