OK I am going to Petsmart in the morning and getting a 20 or 30g aquarium and making a paludarium (I think, half water half land) for my Fiddler so he doesn't die in my community tank. Only question is how in the heck do I filter this thing, or rather what kind of filter to get. Anyone have any pics of such a set up... And do I worry about the sand building up gasses?
How to filter a paludarium
- Thread starter lferg
- Start date
mellowvision
Seafood Lover
a canister will serve you best. check the 15 in my sig...
in terms of sand and gasses, you could possibly run a filter return line under the sand, like a spring, to help avoid the undercirculation. poking and stirring the sand will help too. I don't know how large of a risk this is, but have considered a similar beach set up.. to what I THINK you're talking about... but in most paludariums, there's not much need for sand, people use other substrates.
brianstropicals.com/building.html has the best tips for building, I think.
in terms of sand and gasses, you could possibly run a filter return line under the sand, like a spring, to help avoid the undercirculation. poking and stirring the sand will help too. I don't know how large of a risk this is, but have considered a similar beach set up.. to what I THINK you're talking about... but in most paludariums, there's not much need for sand, people use other substrates.
brianstropicals.com/building.html has the best tips for building, I think.
Thanks Mellowvision. You have great setups. I was thinking of more of a beach than a tropical "river" though. Here was my thought at 3 in the morning. Silicone a 1/4" x 1/4" strip of glass/lexan to each of the long sides of the tank a little less than 3/4 the way to the top and cut a sheet of glass/lexan to that is equal to about 1/2 the length of the tank that will lay on the strips. That will be the "beach" that can be easily cleaned and I can have a full length of water under that...
mellowvision
Seafood Lover
yeah, I've been avoiding that direction myself. I think the full tank, siliconed in, shelf with water under it is problematic in it's self. you'll never be able to really remove the shelf, without dumping half your beach in the water... the space under the shelf will likely become a trap for algae and debris, and you won't be able to get under it to clean.
I do like the beach idea a lot though, and will probably build something at some point. the key is to think about what you're going to keep in it first, and make it for them. you'd want a different beach for a red claw crab than you would for mudskippers, since the crabs need to burrow, but the skippers don't. you'd want a different beach all together for something like hatchets...
If I was building a beach now, with no limits besides space, I'd use a 30 or 40 breeder tank. I'd first lay a plumbing system on the floor of the tank, that allows me to pump water under the beach, then I'd stack some fairly large, but flatish rocks around the foot of the beach area, and fill in between the rocks with some sort of bioballs... like 1/2" ceramic balls or something, then I'd start adding sand... all the sand for the tank, but I'd add it all from the top of the beach, and would toss in a large rock here or there as I see how it's spreading out. I'd probably be trickling water in as well, to start raising the waterline. this process, I think, would create something fairly natural looking. some small, strategically placed, rooting plants would help with erosion, but for the most part, I'd let it do it's thing. sand moves. over time, you'd maybe pour a cup of sand on the top of the beach every now and then... and let it erode....
I do like the beach idea a lot though, and will probably build something at some point. the key is to think about what you're going to keep in it first, and make it for them. you'd want a different beach for a red claw crab than you would for mudskippers, since the crabs need to burrow, but the skippers don't. you'd want a different beach all together for something like hatchets...
If I was building a beach now, with no limits besides space, I'd use a 30 or 40 breeder tank. I'd first lay a plumbing system on the floor of the tank, that allows me to pump water under the beach, then I'd stack some fairly large, but flatish rocks around the foot of the beach area, and fill in between the rocks with some sort of bioballs... like 1/2" ceramic balls or something, then I'd start adding sand... all the sand for the tank, but I'd add it all from the top of the beach, and would toss in a large rock here or there as I see how it's spreading out. I'd probably be trickling water in as well, to start raising the waterline. this process, I think, would create something fairly natural looking. some small, strategically placed, rooting plants would help with erosion, but for the most part, I'd let it do it's thing. sand moves. over time, you'd maybe pour a cup of sand on the top of the beach every now and then... and let it erode....
mellowvision
Seafood Lover
in a 10 gallon, it probably wont. but a suggestion, maybe make your beach across the back of the tank, instead of front to back, with a steep incline back from the waterline... shelf or no shelf, it will give you more swimming space...
I was thinking of something more like this..... I am going to put some sand on the shelf and I guess a plant or maybe some sort of ramp to get on and off. Really didn't think it though enough though now that it is getting finished. For one I think my lexan is too thin to support the beach its 1/8" But we'll see. Like I said before. A 10g is only $11 (thats what I tell myself to feel better anyway)
mellowvision
Seafood Lover
crabs need 3-4" deep sand, with the bottom 1/2" of sand, or more, underwater... they dig burrows, and the floor of the burrow needs to be at the waterline, for proper filtration of their waste...