Multi-Species Paladarium

[calivivarium1]

I am not suggesting professionals complete all the work on the project. I agree, building something yourself can be half the fun. However, unless you have experience building something like this it is quite possible for mistakes to be made (I am not suggesting that you are incompetent, its simply reality whether you are building a car, a house, a paludarium, or a rocket ship). And a mistake on this scale could be, at the least, smelly.

If money was not an obstacle, I would go all the way and make a big ol' mangrove setup.

 

[marinkafuschia]

I think this could really work but I would house birds and reptiles and plants only, no fish, the moisture would be way to hard to control, wait, unless you put like a pound liner in there with rocks around it so it was above floor level, then maybe. also I would recommend keeping larger reptiles such as water dragons just so you can keep track of them and make sure their in good health. this is an amazing project but I would just go talk to some one at a zoo or at least go to one and see how they have filtration and stuff set up. good luck to you! I can wait to see pics of the progress.

 

[murraycod]

There was a paludarium here recently which incorporated finches. I remember because the guy was impressed with Gouldians from Nthn Aust and I put him onto the Finch Soc. here. Someone else will know how to locate that thread, I'm sure.....cam.
Apart from the dragons, there are innumerable species of skink, most of which are commonish insectivores and won't annoy the fish. In fact, they're well adapted to arid environs....blue tongue, shingle back, stumpy tail all grow to about 400mm, are docile and easy to handle. There're many smaller species of skink which move more quickly, like the dragons. Monitors are the larger lizards. Up to six feet, but need skill in handling since they have long powerful talon-like claws with which they climb trees and rob birds' nests of eggs and young, and any possum or whatever else they find. If threatened, they'll try to run over you. Very messy.
Gobies, gudgeons, smelts, pygmy perch, rainbows, yabbies, mussels....
Like the guys above have said, loads of money, work and potential enjoyment. Good luck. :thm:

 

[tricksterpup]

You know, I am not poo pooing the idea here but the more I think about it the more you are going to need professional help as in an architect to help you design this room. If this is on a wooden floor structure they may be flaws that will cause problems, moisture aka Mold. How are you going to clean up the room? Bird crap is very bad for humans and can be a health hazard especially if you have little ones. Clean up would be an all day weekend event. Plus Parrots destroy things. They will chew on the walls, so you have to be mindful of that.

You would also need to set up a ventilation system to help carry away the moisture outside, to help prevent mold and rot. This would be part of Code as well. You will have to talk to your city as well for a building permit. Have someone come in and inspect it as well after its finished for safety reasons.
The reason I say this there will be structural changed made to the home. So you will have to be careful.

Personally, I suggest turning it into an Artroom. build a small Aviary, add a few tanks add nice enclosure for a lizard of your choice.

I am not sure of what your budget is and how secure your job is but with today's economy you really need to think before building something like this. Also, do you plan to forever live in this house? This would drop your Resale value like a hot rock due people would rather have that as a spare room. Which is why i recommend a walk out. A green house would help with resale over an altered room which may not allow someone to live in it. http://aviary.com/

 

[Sploke]

Here is what I would do. Paint the walls and ceiling with epoxy paint, and cover the floor with pond liner (basically moisture-proof the room). Build in a vent with a fan on a humidistat to control humidity - not too difficult if the room has an outside wall. I'd lay down some sort of shredded bark on the floor. For the water feature, I'd build a, above-ground pond, basically. Frame up something out of landscaping timbers, and use pond liner inside it. Unless you are on a concrete slab, you will most likely need to do some significant floor reinforcement so this doesn't fall through the floor. Make the pond about 3' deep and maybe 6x6 or 8x8 footprint. I'd built a ledge around the edges of the pond so you had a marginal area that was maybe 1-2" deep where you can put some marginal plants, fill it with rocks for a turtle or some other herps. Find some nice huge planters and get some small trees to plant in there.

Obviously the species choices and animal choices are going to be on you to research and decide. I know nothing about birds, so I can't tell you anything about what to design to keep them happy. It seems to me that birds would eat any butterflies you put in there, but I'm not sure, I guess it would depend on the bird species. If you are doing tropical fish in the pond area, that should keep the rest of the room fairly humid. I would close off all the electrical service to the room (aside from a sealed lighting fixture meant for outdoor use), and run conduit for all your wires through the wall or floor to the basement or another room and put all your wiring and controls there, as the humidity will eventually wreak havoc on the GFCI outlets you should be using. Also, some sort of sealed door.

And, as trickster said, keep the future in mind - if you sell the house, you'll most likely have to turn it back into a regular room, so I wouldn't do anything that couldn't be undone.

 

[Paladaria]

Paladarium Update:

So as this project will be major under taking and one that I want to do right and be able to enjoy while building I plan to build it in stages.
It may take 6 months to a year to complete it. So we are currently in the planning phase, which is were this blog comes in.
The minds of many far surpase the minds of the few. So I wanted to share our current plans and thoughts on the project.
Please keep in mind that we are still working through kinks. Any POSITIVE sugestions are appreciated.
I also wanted to give some feedback to many suggestions and opinions that have been given thus far.
The room as I mentioned is 12 x 15 x 8 ft square. It sits on the back corner of the house. It is actually an addition that was added to the back many years ago. The room does sit on a concrete slab.

-Current thoughts/plans: we agree alot with SPLOKE's recommendations. We definitly need to waterproof the room. Our idea is to make it like one giant bathroom. Line/seal the walls with shower vinyl.
-As far as the floor. We plan to seal/maybe even add some sort of drainage gradient. ( we plan for the entire floor to be covered with some sore of bio-floor.)
-Definitly needs ventilation. We plan to install 2-3 electric vents in the ceiling. Maybe one large skylight to let in more natural light later on.
-The Humidistat is a great idea to control humidity. Flooring is still to be determined but we want something that drains well (i.e. gravel/soil/pettmoss mix)-we need it to be live soil to help with the "poo problem"
-another blog last year when aquapants had the idea, was to use worms in the soil, so we are thinking about that.
-Water feature will definitly be built above ground,may be can utilize some shell ponds. My husband wants a waterfall at some point.
-Still pondering the "bird poo problem" (what can eat bird poo?) flat fish in the water...Can hermit crabs eat bird poo?
Thanks to everyone who has given great suggestions. Our first step will be to clear out the room, remove the carpet, seal the room, and keep the planning going.

Please continue to give the great ideas for the Paludarium. I would love to share my step by step process with you all.

-On a parting note, I have a stable job, no I can't afford to get a loan or do it all at once. We have no plans on selling (maybe renting) in the near future, but one realestates agent said it would increase the value as a "green room". Additionally, this is room #5 of our house.
-I am pretty sure I don't need a building permit, I am not building anything or changing the structure. Would you need a building permit for turning a room into a large sauna. (I'm pretty sure I don't, but will check)
-I love the positive feedback, as far as the negative, you know who you are and god bless. I am not looking for your approval or your opinion to create it or not, but your like minded love for paludariums.
Thanks again for all the positive suggestions. Keep them coming.

 

[Sploke]

Nothing will eat bird poo (aside maybe from some very specific microorganisms, which would be very hard to identify. never mind get a hold of). Keeping up with the waste of all these animals is going to fall on you. Which will be a good thing to think about when choosing the bedding you put on the floor - you're going to want something easy to remove/change/clean, as I would plan on having to completely change it out every 2-4 weeks as you would in a smaller animal cage.

I'm not sure what you mean about "flat fish", but keep in mind that most fish are best viewed from the side (i.e. in a tank). Koi were specifically bred to make them appealing to view from the top, like in a pond. Most fish will just disappear, or at least not make much visual impact, when viewed from the top (asian arowana excluded). If the fish are something you want to get some visual impact from, I would say you are either looking at a very large tank, or sticking with koi, comets, or fancy goldfish depending on tank size.

 

[Notophthalmus]

I would build a planted aviary, much like what you described, minus the water feature. Then I would add wall of tanks along one side.

 

[cam191919]

i think its an awesome idea, and one worth doing

what im most interested in is the stock

i agree with sploke about the top view of fish, but surely there must be a fish that looks good from the top, besides koi. do you like the idea of seeing fish everyday, or having the experience of a pond in your house?

my senegal parrot, which is only about the size of a cockatiel, can produce more waste than any other animal iv kept for its size. cleaning bird droppings would be easiest if you could hose off the floor, is there any access from the room to the outside for this purpose?

in my opinion reptiles will be the easiest variable in your case, as long as its something that doesn't eat birds or fish...

although they dont eat poo, hermit crabs would be pretty interesting given the right habitat, especially since they like to climb

as i said before its an awesome idea and you shouldn't be deterred....

 

[austinpetemo]

will the aquarium part be in the ground or above the ground?