Finally getting to my paludarium!

[DazzleDiscus]

Wow those are some old looking clams! How big are they? the clams from our river system don't get very big, and usually I can't find any that are bigger than 1" across. I don't know if they ever stop growing though... ?? Anyone else know? or do I have to spend 30seconds googling it?

[Maverick]

Yeah they are! I'm not sure of how big they actually get, but I feel that some of them are full blown grannies! Recently, I've been slowly working on the project. Sanding down my GS with a dremel, forming the shapes of rocks i want. Covering them with Ultraflex 2, and finishing my waterfall.
My waterfall posed a problem since I'm still feeling really unsteady about the ability of water to penetrate my terrestrial area :[
I'm just thinking of how upset I will be if I get all of the mortar and everything done, just to have a leak and ruin my land portion. So, needless to say I'm really considering just bumping up my land a little bit so water can be free underneath.
Granted, I REALLY dont want to do this so my plants will have more soil, but what can ya do.
If any of you have a firm belief that if I cover my GS land border with UF2, then silicon it, and it will not be penetrable by water.. I may still try to do that. This was my initial plan anyways, but the first terrarium I ever made had the issue of flooding :[
Cant go there again, Sad Sad days those were!

But, I'm extremely excited of how the mortar is coming out. So excited I've decided to completely nix the cocofiber/silicon back and cover it with UF2.
It just doesnt look nearly as good.. it looks so half-assed, you wouldnt even believe it.

SO! Here's where I'm at other than the false bottom hang up..
SHOULD I mortar over the gs/silicon backround as is to see if it will stick, or do you think I should go to the extra trouble to dremel around the rocks and get all that silicon/coir off?

2nd. As I put my 2nd layer of crete on my one piece of backround and waterfall.. I wake up this morning to what? CRACKS! :[
NO IDEA what happened, did I not spray it with water enough? Was this 2nd layer of UF2 to thick? And I was thinking it would be alright to just mist it a bit and lay down my 3rd coat in hopes of the final clean coverage?

This is why I love these projects, It's honestly the ultimate problem solving/experimentation type project. Any experimental data would be appreciated! :P

[Maverick]

So I've been working quite a bit lately and havent had much time to work on my paludarium! :[
But, I have done quite a bit of work since the last time I posted! I decided to allow water under the land area as a false bottom rather than praying that it would stay waterproof! For my tank, I really feel like this is a plus. I am going to have an air stone under the false bottom so I can have increased oxygen and water circulation. I am in hopes that this will improve my ability to culture small crustaceans ( Freshwater SCUDS and Brine Shrimp ).

Also, I went plant hunting out in the woods where i grew up.. because of a spring fed creek that I remembered! Sure enough, I get there and right as I step foot in the woods all I see is moss. It reminded me of Fern Gully! haha. So I made a killin with the moss/fern game!
I'll post a few pictures of all of these things in a second, but I do have one question.

The Aquarium I have my clams in is outside on the pool deck in the sunlight. The water is pretty clear, where it does not get direct insane amounts of sunlight, but the parts that do get quite a bit of sunlight are going ape with algae! I'm pretty sure it is hair algae, which is perfect for my clams anyways, so I've been letting it roll! I'll post pictures of this as well after I mortar some rocks while it's still daylight! Let me know what ya think!

[Maverick]

Check out this cool piece of Cypress I found that looked perfect, but unfortunately WAY TO BIG for this project! :[


And here are some pictures of all the goodies I discovered along the spring fed creek I was speaking of :



What is this sea green colored moss? It looks completely different than the other types!




More, PLUS AIR PLANTS! :]


A different type of moss? Or possibly stretching for light?


And here is the Algae in the clam tank.. this is just above the light house air stone I had put in to keep water moving.


This is the right side, the picture doesnt do it justice.. it looks completely clouded over, but it really isnt that bad. Also its more stringy and strand like than just a big hunk. This is the right side that gets direct sunlight almost all day.

[beckdg]

the clams should be well fed in there for now.
that moss just looks like it's stretching/transitioning to me. java moss does that in it's terrestrial phase. i can't i'd it though.

[froggsong]

I can't see the pics of the clams...

[Maverick]

I had the experience of going to aquaculturestore.com's actual store since it's so close! It looks like I'm going to have plenty of food for everything in the tank! It was so cool, the coolest thing was for sure the baby sea horse fry!

[Maverick]

:O
WOAH! So, I'm extremely excited to tell you guys that I happend to stumble upon an aquarium shop in jax! The shop is freshwater/oddball/saltwater and reef! They were extremely interested in this project, and said they were willing to help me find whatever I need and I was actually given the online catalog address so I can order from the catalog! They've got 4 different species of mudskippers.. 2 species of archer fish, stingrays, shrimp, flounder, anything you can imagine. As excited as I am about the ability to look at the whole catalog, it's extremely discouraging! haha, I had no idea there would be SO MANY options!!

Oh, and they also had a whole tank of mangroves with seahorses just hanging out around the roots.. I couldn't help but envision my mudskippers having a blast on those mangroves! :]

BUT! I'm painting my mortar now, it's coming out extremely well. I accidently left some of the mortar pieces out on the pool deck so the paint would dry from the sun, and while I was at work it started to rain! :[ So one of the pieces actually cracked, not too bad, but enough to notice. I figure hey, learn from my mistake.. and it'll make things look a little more realistic. So DONT KEEP FAKE ROCKS OUTSIDE! :]

Updated album and pictures coming soon, cant wait to hear what you guys have to say about it!

Btw, if Youd like to help me out with this selection.. or just check the site out.. it is Segrestfarms.com. Unfortunately you cannot order from this site, because they are trying to protect whole salers/shops. But if you find a shop near you that can order from them, that's their catalog! Have fun, and good luck :P

Check out the mudskippers! :]

[Maverick]

Hey guys! Good news, my paludarium is ALMOST done. I've got all the rock work done, all the painting done, the rocks are all sealed off. Now I'm just planning out where I want the plants to go, and painting off the outsides to hide the foam work.

I loved how it came out, the only problem I'm still having is the mineral deposites on the glass. I soaked it over nite in white vinegar, scraped with razor blades, nothing would work. I fear the thought of putting CLR in the aquarium, however it seems that may be the only thing that will work.
I may end up just painting the top of the glass black so you cannot see the stupid haze! :[

BUT! Here are some pictures of the build sofar! Lets hear some opinions!

First coat of paint on mortar:



Starting to hit the rocks with some Shadow.



Done painting/sealing/ready to fill with plants/water!






Here's my little open area on the right side of the tank (Main water portion)


And last but not least, my underwater cave that is in the middle:




So now I've got to get my ass in gear and finish the planting! I'll post pictures periodically throughout the end process!

[Grimm]

Damn nice looking background work Mav! It seems everyone has new progress on their awesome builds this weekend haha