38 Gal Paludarium Build

[megamax42]

Price List:
$6 for the humidifier from a thrift store
$6 for pvc adapters and hose
Total investment: $12

[Johncullenjr@hargray.com]

Hey man nice next time try life guard pool paint fish and plant safe and really waterproof. Quarts avaliable.Shields all in not good wet all the time and no good submerged

[megamax42]

Thanks! I really appreciate the advice, trying to find the sealant was a major part of this build and I ended up pretty disappointed with sealer I chose. It's finally starting to have algae growing on it in the submerged portion, but it's still gonna be a while before it's unnoticeable. I'll definitely bookmark that sealant though for the next build




The increased humidity from the fogger has caused the terrestrial vegetation to grow a beautiful bright green, it's insane the difference it made, especially since I usually only turn it on 15-30 minutes a day on it's lowest setting.

A new dilemma has also come up. The snails have been populating like crazy, I feel like I see 10 new snails every day. This has led me to come to two possible solutions:

1. The 5 gallon shrimp tank had a snail infestation recently as well, except a much smaller species. I dealt with those by using assassin snails. They're still at work but it seems the battle is being won. So one solution could be introducing quite a few assassins to the tank.

2. The second solution changes my future plans a lot more. It's based off the fact that the snails love to climb out of the water and explore the various pools of the water feature. Sometimes the water is flowing over the edges of the waterfall (and they can only get in to them if it's overflowing) and sometimes the outside is completely dry, meaning the snails get stuck in the pools. Doesn't seem to bother them though, I've seen a couple generations mature in the pool at the very top before the outlet gets clogged up and the water starts overflowing. Once that happens most usually migrate back down into the water portion. The lower waterfall pool is usually overflowing constantly so they always have access to that one, as well as the calm pool next to the waterfalls. Anyways, my idea is to introduce pea puffers to the tank. Then hopefully they have a sustaining supply of snails from the pools above. The problem with this approach is I don't think a pea puffer would get along well with the fire belly toad, and I know it would decimate the RCS. I could live without the RCS, but I definitely want a couple amphibians, as that's what I built this tank for.


I would love to hear your opinions

[EricBel]

I personally love pea puffers and it looks like you would have enough water for one. One is all you would need to completely destroy your snail population. They will probably rid your tank of snails in about 2 weeks. From then, you would probably need to make sure you have some frozen blood worms on hand.

As far as keeping them with amphibians, I think you can do it with the right ones. Fire bellied toads might be ok with them, but one concern is the toxins they give off. I've heard that fire bellied toads give off toxins that are potentially harmful to other amphibians, but I'm not sure what it would do to fish if anything. Also, where they spend a lot of time in the water, there's also a chance of the toads eating the puffer or the puffer nipping the toes.

With all that said, one thing to keep in mind is every puffer has a different personality. I have 2 pea puffers in 2 separate tanks. One I keep with dwarf cat fish and red cherry shrimp and it has never even tried to nip at them, the other I have to keep alone because he is pretty vicious. I think it also depends on if the puffer is last in the tank or first. I think they tend to be more vicious if they were there first, but that's just a theory.

Best of luck!

[megamax42]

Hmmm, well as much as I want to, perhaps I should pass on them for this tank.
Although now I know what my next build will be
A paludarium for pea puffers that has enough pools above the water line to provide a sustainable food supply, then a reptile of sorts for the land portion.

[megamax42]

My next dilemma is what plant to use for the water feature

Preferably something dark green, that will hang over the edges of the basins. I sorta want green hair algae, except minus the algae part. This way the water has a path to follow, as it sometimes tries to drip into the soil if the flow is too strong.

[megamax42]

I'm also trying to work on proper ventilation now. My plan is to have the system re-circulating the air as a closed system most of the day, then at 'sunrise' and 'sunset' have it evacuate the old air and bring in fresh air.

Would this be an acceptable route to achieve air movement while retaining humidity?

Also my plan is to build it using computer fans, is there any system you would recommend over a computer fan?

[megamax42]

Found a very large shrimp in the little pool next to the waterfall the other day. I still have no idea how he got up there but he was just chilling in the baby tears. Then I moved the light to take a picture and he darted under the ledge, so this was the best picture I could get:






The vine has been doing incredibly well. I should probably get in there and do some trimming soon.

[Johncullenjr@hargray.com]

Originally Posted by megamax42

I'm also trying to work on proper ventilation now. My plan is to have the system re-circulating the air as a closed system most of the day, then at 'sunrise' and 'sunset' have it evacuate the old air and bring in fresh air.

Would this be an acceptable route to achieve air movement while retaining humidity?

Also my plan is to build it using computer fans, is there any system you would recommend over a computer fan?

Computer fans are great for many applications. I have two running in my water dragon tank. Unless you plan to do it manually you will need some type of motor to open and close (fabricated)vent at a timer interval. Simple 5 volt or so as power supplies are very easy to come by. I am no plant expert but plants have a tendency to do good for sealed air and a simple slide vent may be sufficient. Check out my new beardie build. To be complete soon.

[megamax42]

My goal is to one day integrate an Arduino system into the tank, so this sounds like a good place for me to start buying items.

Here's a thread of a shrimp tank I'm doing a LED/Arduino build on if you're interested, I believe the LED stuff starts at the bottom of the first page.

Fluval Chi RCS tank

Now I guess the question is...do I use a servo, stepper motor or solenoid?

Robotics : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits


By the way, your tank looks fantastic!