Finally getting to my paludarium!

[Maverick]

other thread

[Epiphile]

Hey Maverick,

I see you got a few answers to some of your questions over on DB- I would say you got some good advice there, particularly regarding the clams (which I think is a really neat thing to try and attempt).

I would say that algae wouldn't be too much of a concern below your land portion as there won't be much light getting to it. Bacteria may be good or bad, depending on how you're keeping your water. You're planning a water feature, which is good for the fact that you'll have some water movement.

Anything else you have questions about, just ask, and welcome to the forum. Looking forward to seeing this project moving ahead- keep us posted.

[beckdg]

the rocks should be fine depending on your design.

the clams.... i'd try to keep them by themselves before adding them to an environment with other critters.

clams are not easy to keep at all and require a good bit of specialized attention and knowledge since they burrow and filter feed. when they die they can foul up a tank pretty good and cause widespread death pretty good.

[Maverick]

Yeah, I have had that website saved for a while.. though I was really hoping to be able to have Dart Frogs. But oh well, the Mudskippers sound pretty interesting! Now I just need to find a local dealer here!

I decided to turn a smaller tank(30g) into a small clam/aquarium plants type tank. It'll be my little tester tank so I can slowly aclimate the actual palu.

Also, I'm considering getting more Great Stuff today.. if I do I'll take pictures and add them to the next post!

[beckdg]

excellent, keep us updated. i do agree having the clams would be awesome if you can keep them alive.

[DazzleDiscus]

on the clams- make sure to test the river water where you gather them from. You said that the river is brackish, so then you would of course want to mimic that water as close as possible. In my experience, clams should be fed twice daily when housed in a tank. You can pick up a liquid feed at the aquarium section of petstores, or you can pulverize fish meal/fish food/other fishy foods and use an eye dropper to handfeed them whenever you see their filter tubes poking out of the sand.

Sand should be used instead of aquarium gravel as it is safer for them- gravel would put more pressure on their shells than sand would if a rock or other object landed in the area. Also makes it easier for them to move house.

Oh- and count how many clams you put in your tank- then count them at feeding time. Usually it is easy to find them - and even more easy to find them if you use sand.

You should also check the state's listings to make sure it is ok for these clams to be kept- for example, I believe that VA had a certain species of clam that was illegal to move from its habitat. However we also have an introduced clam species that we can take as much as we want out of the river. Not sure which one is which, but you should always check your state's listings to ensure that you arn't weakening the genetic code availability of the species.

I would also keep the clams separate from the main tank for a month or so as you have mentioned. It helps make sure all are feeding well. You'll find much satisfaction when you see them growing

[beckdg]

i believe you can make your own food for them also. just take some fish food and put it in a jar full of water and put it by a window and wait for it to turn green... real green. then you can serve this to them at feeding time through a pipette.

you might want to check on that but i'm pretty sure of it.

[DazzleDiscus]

beck- that is a method used for growing daphnia and other tiny critters. The clams would love the daphnia if they can suck them up, and small fish love them too. I would be careful of feeding the cultured green water though... daphnia thrive on it, but sometimes it can spark a green water bloom in your own tank. I've never had a problem with it though, but the daphnia water is just a murky light brown/green - I don't think that it is the algae green water. The water is from a pond with food added to it. There are many recipees for culturing daphnia, vinegar eels, and other such tiny fauna on the web. Usually these are cultured for raising fish fry though.

[Maverick]

Hey guys,
So I've been slowly working on this thing, having NO luck on finding Mudskippers online or at local aquarium shops. All of the shop clerks had nothing to even say, other than good luck.
:[

I took quite a few pictures of the process as it is now.. so hopefully i'll get those loaded up here in a minute.

The clams are in their own 30gal aquarium and seem to be doing good! (I actually counted them as you said and have 30!) One for each gallon i suppose?

[Maverick]

So this is it sofar. The backround was actually from a 30gallon that I was planning on making into my terrarium, then decided to go with the larger 55gal instead.


This is my "filtration system".. Originally I was going to have a fountain pump pump water up to a powerhead filter. The water would be filtered, then spill into that red funnel which has a hose attached to the bottom, which would be my waterfall.



Here is my pump, I am planning on putting more "egg crate" on the right side and center, and foaming it as well. (Screen is now sewn around the pump bottom)



This is my egg crate, that I intend to use for my land area. I am going to spray foam in between the egg crate and this other type of extremely flimsy "light defuser pannels". I put the plexi-type material on the back of the egg crate in hopes I would get a straight backing. Also I am hoping the foam will expand through the egg crate instead of backward into the land area


CLAMS!!!
Here are the clams in their little 30gallon aquarium. You can see a couple of them opening up showing the mouth! ( also a little snail in that one picture!)