I want to make a paludarium!

user_name

user_name

Senior_Member
May 23, 2010
3,169
0
36
Mass
Real Name
Cam
Ok, I have been doing a bit of planning on this over the past week and have a few questions on my future paludarium.

What would be easier to take car of, a 5 gallon or a 10 gallon. I'm obviously going to plant it, but i have no experience in aquatic plants.

Also, what types of fauna could I keep in 10 gallon or a 5 gallon with about 75 percent water and 25 percent land?

Lastly, what kind of equipment will I need for the tank.
 
The bigger, the better...especially since you wont have exactly "75%" water...there is a lot of air space. For the water part I would just do with some shrimp/snails until you know how much there actually is...
 
user_name said:
Ok, I have been doing a bit of planning on this over the past week and have a few questions on my future paludarium.

What would be easier to take car of, a 5 gallon or a 10 gallon. I'm obviously going to plant it, but i have no experience in aquatic plants.

Also, what types of fauna could I keep in 10 gallon or a 5 gallon with about 75 percent water and 25 percent land?

Lastly, what kind of equipment will I need for the tank.
Click to expand...

I think a 10 gallon will make it much easier to clean, especially changing the water.

In a 10G, you could keep probably keep Fire Bellied Toads or Tree Frogs and some fishy/shrimps for the aquatic area.

Could you give us an idea on how your setup will look like?
 
View attachment paludarium.bmp

I was thinking maybe something like this. The substrate will be be white gravel, (but with sand at incline spots). In between the sandy incline and the gravel I will use glass (or acryllic which is best?) to separate the gravel and the sand. However, I might just use all white gravel if it would co-operate with the fire-bellys' bellys . A diagram below shows what I mean.....
View attachment water to land with sand diagram.bmp
 
ok, would I buy a submersible filter or will this require some DIY ingenuity?
 
alright I know that this is really early for stocking plans, but how about 2 Fire belly Toads with 4 white clouds in the water???
 
user_name said:
alright I know that this is really early for stocking plans, but how about 2 Fire belly Toads with 4 white clouds in the water???
Click to expand...
IMO, white clouds will need way more water space than what it sounds like they'd be getting.
 
What's to keep the sand from sliding promptly straight down into the water as soon as you fill it? And then keep the dirt from following in hot pursuit? :)

I have paludarium plans in the future too..far, far in the future, alas. But the ones I've seen that look the best have the "land" portion on a shelf of some sort. So you have the "open water" portion in the front of the tank, exposed to light from above, and the "shaded water" portion in the back with light blocked by the land-shelf. Gives a lot more options for fish and wastes a lot less space. But this might just be my personal preferences talking. :)
 
user_name said:
What kind of fish would work? What about endlers or feeder minnows?
Click to expand...
I think it really depends on how much water you plan to end up with, and how you plan to filter it. I know you said 75% water, but like Pappy said, you'll have air space in the top, that will reduce the volume of water you can hold. I would probably stick with shrimp based on the mental image I have of what you're planning.

Xan had a good idea with the shelf... it might open up some more water space if you really want to keep fish in it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom