South American Paludarium

[zarathustra]

Originally Posted by zach2011

Thats awesome you got that big of a setup for that cheap. Im very interested to see how this all works out for you.

Haha as am I.


I've been trying to figure out the best way to make the background for this, I like the idea of cutting and forming styrofoam for it and then applying a mortar or cement over that. I had a question on acrylic paint though, I have an airbrush and am pretty familiar with getting a weathered look out of things but in an environment that has a lot of water have you guys had any problems with it wearing off where you have water flow?

[ultimbow]

hi zar there is 2 hole for 2 overflow its a safety. In saltwater it is comon for snail to clug one of the pipe (in my experience) so if there was just one hole the tank will overflow and make a huge water mess. They can be over 50gal of water in the sump for a tank that size. look on youtube for aquarium sump system it will give you a good idea of how it work.

[rudukai13]

Originally Posted by zarathustra

I've been an owner of a lot of herps over the years, but my attraction is to crocodilians. I have a very legitimate amount of space including a 30'x50' heated outdoor shed. I'm not planning on keeping him in this for his entire life. My plan is to use this for a Mata-Mata after he gets to around 2'. As I've owned a larger species already and did not have trouble with him I don't see a smaller species (granted more aggressive) being a bad idea for me. I'm not saying owning a crocodilian is a good idea, considering the thing could take my arm off if it really felt like it at about 3'. This is my interest and I have the means to support this animal. I completely understand where you are coming from, a pet shop 30 miles away had a dozen hatchling alligators a few weeks ago, and just this week there are none left. Those are the people that scare me. I feel secure in my ability to maintain a healthy habitat for this animal and my competence is above average. I'm not going to go around posting videos of my caiman killing things and try to tell people how cool it is. So after this somewhat of a rant on crocodilian ownership I guess I'll get back to your question. Yes I have considered species, I've owned a 6' water monitor, 2 water dragons, frilled lizards, tegus, green basilisks, a plethora of other smaller species of lizards and then on top of all that owned a true crocodilan from the time I was 12 to 17 and had to move for college.

Sounds like you know what you're doing. If you want something crocodilian-esque to keep in that tank after the caiman outgrows it, I highly suggest you still check out chinese croc lizards. Here's a video of a few:

YouTube - eet film shinisaurus crocodilurus 1

They're highly aquatic and still provide the armored look of crocs and alligators, just stay smaller.

[atzak]

I've had saltwater reefs for years. The larger hole was for the durso, which is a quiet way to get water to over flow into a sump, the 1.5 inch hole was for the return line. They pumped water from the sump, into a pvc return line there.

The holes in the back were for closed loops, used for water circulation. Basically, one hole would feed an external pump, the other hole was the return line. It's important for a lot of water circulation for reef tanks.