waterfall Paludarium build & new drip system

[aajk13]

Hey guys, a few months ago i found my old Exo Terra 18 x 18 x 24 tank so i decided to make an all inclusive paludarium to take with me to my apartment. What i mean by all inclusive is there is no external water tanks, lights filters etc, because i will be moving around a lot so i want it somewhat portable and easy to maintain. I plan on putting animals in it, but im not quite sure what at the moment, Suggestions?

Now lets start with the pics!


I started by getting a little hagen filter and pump in one to cut out external filters. this does the job great, its like a 10 gal pump but my palu is way smaller than that so it has so problem circulating the water.


I made a housing for it so i can service it when the build is complete. I later turned the pump around to make it easier to get at.


Then i build a false bottom to have a water store for my pumps and covered it in screen to keep out big particles, i then supported the back with Styrofoam to hold my waterfall.



I wanted the waterfall to be the centerpiece so i made it out of real stone by cutting stones i found with a quick cut saw, this allowed me to cut back on un-needed material and gave my a flat edge to stack them.



I used cement epoxy to glue them together and then i filled in the joints with tile grout. sculpting and shaping it to look like one rock. Then i added bumps to the rock to make the water fall where i wanted it to.


While researching of irrigation methods like drip walls i came up with the idea of combining both a drip wall with my waterfall because my pump was so powerful. To do this i put 2 T's in the line and drilled holes in the drip line up top. It works by excess pressure from the waterfall, so if i pinch the end of the waterfall the pressure will back up into the top tubes and will let water drip through slowly whenever the water fall is running. Now that i have the palu done it works great and my back wall is always damp.



Now i put in my wood and branches, using spray foam.





To make the background i took fern root panels and cut them to fit in the spaces over the foam, this allows plants to root into the BG and grow. In the intricate, small areas i just smeared brown silicone on the foam and pushed in peat moss. I also stick in a couple of rocks on the wall to tie the theme together.



Then i gathered rocks, branches and sand and boiled it ti sanitize. After that i placed them in the palu and landscaped everything adding peat moss and sediment.


I then began to plant it with exotic vines and creepers, moss and broms.

After it was planted i am playing around with the lighting and ventilation systems to get everything stable.

The finished product:


hopefully more detailed pics to come,
-Alex

[peddro]

that looks great...jealous!!

[x5tr41ghtj4ck3t]

It does look amazing. Where did you position the fogger?

[EricBel]

This is an awesome setup! I'm dying to see what animals you eventually put in.

[aajk13]

Thanks Guys! any suggestions for animals?

i positioned the fogger underneath the waterfall in a shallow stream area.

[aajk13]

So it has been been a while and my palu has had some time to grow, so here are some shots:

[LittleGecko]

Do you notice big drops in water level? I've always had issues with keeping the water level stable.

[x5tr41ghtj4ck3t]

Unless you're leaking, evaporation usually occurs at a rate that I consider higher than I thought it would. Water level drops, I imagine, could only be attributed to this and to plants.

As for keeping it stable in a system like this, the only way I know how to do that is by means of an overflow + sump system. If the tank is small, it may be more effort than is worthwhile. But in case you're wondering, it's basically drilling a hole CAUTIOUSLY (and it will only work if your glass is not tempered, which you should research before hand) in the bottom of your tank, sticking a pipe in it to the desired water level, and having it flow into a smaller tank below that pumps water back up to the top display tank. The water level then drops in the bottom tank, not the main.

[aajk13]

yea exactly, i did the same with an external filter in a larger tank i have. For this tank i put everything inside to keep it compact, although i have been thinking of having a secondary tank with float on the inside of this one to then trigger a pump on the secondary tank. Water loss is a big issue in my tank because i am sometimes gone for a week straight and ill comeback to the water being 2" lower sometimes. I'm guessing it is because i closed in the top, thus creating more heat and humidity, then evaporating my water faster.

[x5tr41ghtj4ck3t]

hmm... putting a float in a tank so small and beautiful seems like a challenge. I couldn't honestly tell you a better solution though now that the whole thing has been finished.

If the tank is low on ventilation, I would think that that's keeping the water level rather than dropping it. The heat on the other hand would raise the humidity in the tank. The only place to pull that humidity from is the water, so evaporation might be high in that respect to drop the water level, but the water is still mostly in the tank, no? I mean, it's a hypothesis (I don't understand the mechanics well enough to say for sure), but it would seem like there would be a point where the air in the tank would get saturated enough that evaporation couldn't occur as fast as it would if the air were in low humidity. The only thing against that could be every time you open those doors, the tank refreshes the air inside quicker than it does with normal convection (front vents through to top vents).

And, totally missed your question>>>animal suggestion: a newt or salamander of some sort.
There are a lot of people that say frogs can drown in water like you have here. I'm not familiar with the hobby (specifically, poison dart frogs), so I don't know for sure. Any frog that survives in a lake would be of no issue.
if it were a larger tank, fish might be appropriate. In the very least, a crayfish would definitely survive (although I think they are better off in colder water temperatures. It would most certainly tear apart any plant life underwater though, and maybe some on land. Really, I can't see how you could go wrong with a salamander or a newt, other than that some species do a significant amount of hiding.


Maybe aquatic insects could be a choice?

Also, question before I go... I have attached an image... Now, you'll see in it that there is an object that I cannot identify... I read through your posts and none of them explain what it is... To be honest, it looks like a dinosaur.. specifically: Parasaurolophus. Maybe it's just the angle of the photo that is strange, but it's bugging me out real bad... WHAT IS IT??!!?!?