150g paludarium

[latshki]

Well this week Im going to start my 150g (5x2x2) palu
the water portion is going to be about 50g and filtered by a xp3 which is rated up to 175g so quite a lot of flow
this is because the inhabitants will be tow african side neck turtles or two eastern mud turtles with fish according to each

I will likely go with the side necks and african cichlids
and I will decide on plants when I go to the nursery and see what is available

now for the Q's

is all of the great stuff aquarium safe?

what is the best way to secure egg crate together, zipties?

and here is my VERY detailed ms paint drawing lol

black lines seperate different altitudes with in tank
the canister output will be a small pool at the highest part with a water fall down to a stream which goes into the other main pond
the green is different vegetation lightest being water plants, darkest would be tropical plants and the olive being moss

also there will be a trio of crested geckos along with a lot of branches and vines

[froggsong]

Love the design!

[latshki]

another Q
will a quickcrete background break apart in water and will it affect my water quality PH wise or the such and what can I ad to make it nice and dark
black gravel?

[beckdg]

gaps and cracks or the pond types will be your best bet for g/s.

with 2 turtles and fish in 50 gallons an xp3 is a little short for filtration imo. 2 would be better. a powerhead placed low in the tank should help to keep particulates suspended for the filters to remove them.

zip ties should work fine.

i don't know a whole lot about turtles... are sidenecks compatible with cresties?

quirete... under normal conditions... is not the best thing for under water. to get it darker you can use anything from food coloring to concrete coloring to acrylic paints to krylon fusion.

some of your questions will be answered here... how it's done... favorite links thread

[latshki]

side necks an almost entirely aquatic species along with mud turtles and some people I know have never seen theirs bask
and the likely hood of them coming in contact and there only being 3 cresties in a huge tank with a lot of foliage
I have had my cresties for two years and have only seen them on the ground to lay eggs

and what could I use instead of quikcrete?

[latshki]

I think I might do a sump instead of the xp3
a lot cheaper and could do some serious water flow
whats the acrylic stuff they put in grout when doing these jobs
and what are good vines other than pothos ?
for underwater Ill just make a slate wall, and it will provide hiding for fish

[beckdg]

excuse my ignorance but i think this guy... HowStuffWorks Videos "Piranha Adventure: Side-necked Turtle" ... might cause an issue if he's hungry and somebody's close enough to grab at for whatever reason. just my thoughts... i could be completely off, but i wouldn't chance it, personally... unless i've got the species completely wrong.

in that link i posted there is a thread that leads to thread after thread with lots of info concerning crete b/g's and such. in the one thread there's a video explaining how to do it for under water purposes... including product (which i think is quikrete brand, but not your typical bag of quikrete).

[latshki]

there are many types of side neck turtles from the amazon, asia, africa and the such so they can vary greatly
if possible I would like to get pinkbelly side necks as they can be found on islands near new calodonia where cresties are from plus they are prettier and smaller

Ill have to check out those links a bit more
thanks for the help, it is well appreciated and needed!

[Greg H.]

Originally Posted by latshki

another Q
will a quickcrete background break apart in water and will it affect my water quality PH wise or the such and what can I ad to make it nice and dark
black gravel?

I'm still researching the specifics on concrete stain but this is what I have found so far.

Concrete stain can turn it dark - often it is just one or more types of iron oxide and/or carbon black/powdered charcoal.

Iron oxide can be had in yellow, red, or black forms, and by varying the amount of each of them you can get different shades of red, tan, brown, dark gray, or even almost black. Iron oxide can be bought at pottery supply stores or even on-line ( although shipping can get expensive if you have to get it shipped ).

You will have to make some trial pieces to see how much of what type of coloring agent will give you the color you want - don't forget it will appear darker when wet.

[TheSmench]

With the Crested Geckos in there make sure they have plenty of ways to get out of the pools. They can swim but cannot tread water. Good luck. The plans are cool