Hey guys...

Make an egg crate shelf with PVC rolled in silicone and then sand (or whatever) as legs to hold it up. I did this for my 55g paludarium because I also wanted the whole area for fish.

you can buy humidifiers at most pet stores.

The more airflow the inside of the tank has the less likely you'll have problems with humidity and mold.

Welcome to AC!

Francis said:

So I'm new here. Came over from MFK to get some advice on a paludarium that I'm thinking of setting up.
I have a 125g tank that I want to turn into a paludarium. I have 1 fish that I want to keep from my current set up, which is my pictus catfish.
If I get the tank up and running I have the stock I want already decided. I'm just wondering a few things:

1. Will my fx5 work with a paludarium? The input goes down to the bottom but the output only reaches just below the lip of the tank, so how would I get around this?

2. How to build a shelf and a background? I want complete access for the fish underwater, so with the tank half filled up, I want the land portion (the shelf) just touching the surface, or less than an inch above it. It also has to support some weight obviously, from the rocks, substrate, etc.

3. How to control the humidity of the tank? I don't want mold or fungi growing in the tank...
Thanks in advance for answers.

Click to expand...

1. First test to make sure the pump is strong enough to suck water up a fairly long distance. The output could be made into a waterfall feature or you could go to a home improvement store and get a section of tubing or PVC to extend the output to the water.

2. Do you want a floating section with area for water underneith? If yes then look into turtle docks. They can be modified to hold plants or gravel and what not. Otherwise I would suggest making a divider using thick panes of glass siliconed together and then siliconed into the tank. This is how I made my 40 breeder palu and it works well. With this you could make it any height you want as well as position it anywhere in the tank.

3. For less humidity install computer fans in the tank. Also keeping the top off or putting a mesh top on allows the humidity to disperse. If this is not an option you could add springtails to the tank. I have them in my paludarium and they do a great job with eating mold, fungi and dead plant material.

There are quite a few different paludarium build threads here so maybe reading through a few of those could help you come up with ideas for your tank.

HTH
~Razz

PS: Welcome to AC!

Get some foam or some other floating material and cover it with paint or some other aquarium safe substance and texture it how you want. You could even silicone more pieces together and carve them in a shape you like and then use suction cups behind and on the side to keep it in one location. Just thought of this off the top of my head hopefully someone else might have some more helpful suggestions. I guess it would just be like a homemade customized turtle dock. You could make a waterfall/stream with your filter through part of the land.