Critter-Keeper Paludarium Build!

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user_name

Senior_Member
May 23, 2010
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Cam
Hey guys, having been inspired by Mellowvision's sculpey build, I decided to try making a clay wall paludarium myself. Here's the plan:

1. Clean up the mock I set-up.

2. Get more fimo clay, and try to mix multiple colors. Doing one color didn't look as nice as I wanted.

3. I also need to buy some more silicone (I'm trying to find GE sillicone 1, or aquarium safe)

4. Figure out how I want to run a filter, and if I want to include a waterfall.

5. Bake the clay wall, and silicone it into place.

6. Get plants, potting soil, and lighting squared away. What kind of plants are good for hanging on the dry walls? How about plants that are good sticking out of the water, and ones that are good for completely dry land. What kind of lighting do I want?

7. Figure out what to do for stocking. With about 1 gallon of water, 3-4" deep, what am I looking at for fauna? I was thinking ghost shrimp, although it would nice to be able to keep some fish or even some amphibians. (I don't know of any that would work though)

8. ???

9. Profit

Let me know how this sounds, I can use lots of help! By the way, I will be recording every step of this process, let me know if you want to be mentioned in the credits!

Thanks,
Cam
 

RazzleFish

AC Members
Oct 28, 2009
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What size Keeper are you using? About how much land area is there?

For #6 are you going to have a top on it? Most plants are going to get fairly tall for a critter-keeper but look into air plants and epiphytes. Black Jungle has a few for sale right now. For plants growing in the water, peace lily and pothos but both get rather large. Crypocorynes might be a better option. On land you could do almost any of the smaller house plants. Florescent lights are going to be best for plant growth.

For #7 I'd go with red cherry shrimp or similar. Ghosts just blend in too much IMO. Also if this is going to be your only stock (which being only a gallon seems like it) you want something that will pop out at the eye.

As for any animals, I'd stay clear of them. The tank is small and keeping a reptile or an amph long term in a tank that size is tricky at best.

HTH
~Razz
 

allaboutfish

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Jul 12, 2011
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johnathon dunn
you could do like a thai crab or switch to brackish and do anubius and java fern for the water and have a a male fiddler crab and a female or 2 females depending on how big the enclosure is.
 

mellowvision

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May 17, 2007
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Bill Brissette
here's my 2 cents:

Don't plan for dry land. I tell this to anyone who'll listen, a paludarium is going to have wet land eventually, so plan for it up front and enjoy the benefits of having all your land drain through into the water column. It allows you more water, and less headaches when your divider wall lets water in. This means no potting soil as well. I like to use inert fired clay up to the water and maybe 1/4-1/2" above, adn then cap it with a mix like ABG mix. Works GREAT.

In a small tub like that, skip a waterfall. The splashing is going to be an issue. In my sculpey project, I am planning on greatly difusing the waterflow to just a slow churn, because at full blast it's like a drinking fountain at a school. A spring fed river could be cool. something that doesn't require a lot of vertical space. The filter is going to be hard to hide, use a small one. I like the Tom mini and micro filters. They're the smallest I've found so far and are easily adaptable to hoses etc with included parts.

Forget crabs. Seriously. In anything open top, they will suffer from lack of humidity, and they WILL escape. Without a doubt. 1 gallon of water is not enough for them. It will be an ammonia pit in no time. And brackish crabs? not worth the trouble if you want a nice scape. Thai microcrabs underwater? sure. shrimp? yes. Nerite snails? ABSOLUTELY. my nerites climb up and down the cork walls in my larger paludarium with my crabs, and are doing a great job of keeping the cork bark algae free.

A good shrimp for a palu might be a CRS or bee shrimp, since they like more acidic water than cherries, and chances are you'll end up with more acidic water from your terrestrial soil mix. I'd also say, maybe look into dwarf mexican crayfish. I've always wanted one. Also: scuds are awesome.

Leave the pothos in the window. It's too big, and will strip the water of anything the other plants might want. Stay small. Keep the scale small. Anubias are great. HC is very adaptable. Aroids are great for the dry walls, and you might have some luck with mounted orchids as well. I got some awesome small plants from Josh's frogs... including a button fern that I loved, that did great sitting on the window sill as long as I watered it daily.

You want bright daylight. I'd suggest 2 twist in cfls, maybe 24w each, in clip lamp reflectors, or something like that hanging above.
 

user_name

Senior_Member
May 23, 2010
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Cam
Thanks for the input guys! I'm thinking that I will have all water in the bottom, and make a fake wall to hide the filter, and then put the dirt and small river in. That way there will be water in the whole bottom 2/3 of the tank, and the corner will have land and still be kinda separated. (Think shelf with a cave underneath)

Mellow do you think I'll need a top if I get a nerite? I was planning on letting it have an open top, so that some plants can grow out of it. It'll be kinda like a riparium mixed with a palu, as I'll have the plants sticking out of it.

I'm going to put RCS in it, I don't have the money for a colony of bee shrimp. I'm pumped to get this set-up, I'm going to start when I get back from Florida.
 
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