My First Paludarium

[JSW]

I've been lurking on this forum for a while, so I decided to try my hand at making a paludarium from an old 20 gallon tall (12" X 12" X 18") tank I had laying around. I think it turned out pretty good. What do you guys think? I still need to get some plants and was wondering if anyone had some suggestions for some plants that would go good in this tank. Thanks

- Josh

[Epiphile]

Hi Josh- nice first tank. I bet it's heavy...

I think something lush and low-growing that would spread across your substrate would be nice on the left there. Some emergent plants like Echinodorus sp. in the water would be a nice touch. And I'm sure that some mosses would love the rocks with the water moving over them.

[JSW]

Thanks for the reply. I really have no experience whatsoever with what type of plants are suitable for these kinds of tanks. Would a small epiphytic plant on the background work or is this tank just to small? Also, what type of lighting should I use? Sorry for all the questions, but I really am a newbie and I don't want to do this wrong. Thanks.

- Josh

[Epiphile]

Size shouldn't matter- there are lots of small plants available. How moist are you keeping the part of the background that doesn't have running water on it? That might determine what you're able to keep there. Keeping it evenly moist will give you a lot of choices as far as common vivarium epiphytes.

You could grow Anubias on the stone, too, if you wanted some foliage there- pick a small cultivar of A. barteri like 'nana' or 'petite'.

As far as lighting, I'm sure one of the round dome fixtures would be enough light. You could put a 40-something watt lamp in there and I bet everything would do really well. If you don't like the look of that there are always the Exo-Terra single-lamp fixtures, or an aquarium fixture for a nano tank. You could do something custom, too, of course.

[JSW]

Thanks for replying. I am keeping the background wet where it isn't already from the waterfall by misting it. Do you recommend using a compact flourescent bulb or will an incandescent bulb work OK? I have an incandescent on there now but was planning on getting a compact flourescent instead. Thanks.

- Josh

[Epiphile]

I'd definitely go with a compact fluorescent- as many watts as you can safely fit. Incandescent lamps don't really provide a good amount of light for plants.

If the back wall stays somewhat moist all the time and you have a high general humidity within the tank, there are a lot of plants to choose from. How about a smaller orchid?

[JSW]

I'll pick up a compact flourescent next time I'm at the hardware store. As for plants, I was thinking of maybe putting a small Neoregelia, like a Neoregelia Chiquita Linda on the background, having some Anubias on the rocks like Epiphile suggested, a small emergent plant, (I was thinking maybe Cryptocoryne wendtii) in the pond along with maybe some duckweed. I would also like a low-growing plant for ground cover but don't know what to use for that. I plan on also putting some moss on the rocks and edge of te pond as well. Does this plant selection sound OK? I really am a newbie at this, so please tell me if my plan is bad or if you have any suggestions. Thanks.

- Josh

[JSW]

Anybody?

[Epiphile]

Sounds good to me- go for it.