So I built one- now I'm hooked and want another

wogreno · #1 07-10-2011, 02:33 PM

So I built my first paludarium which I will hopefully be posting on here soon to show my progress (haphazard as it has been) and get some feedback. But I digress.

What I want to do do for this new project is create another paludarium, but give it the look of a ruined city thats been abandoned and taken over by nature. My thought was to incorporate some smalled scale model train buildings, trains and track to create this theme. My question now is whether I will get any negative results from some of these unnatural materials in the tank. Should I go about boiling things like I would rock or wood. Any thoughts?
I want to start this as soon as my budget can afford it. Any feedback or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

From the man stuck in the desert in Reno

multicoloredangel · #2 07-23-2011, 04:47 AM

Since there is so much water involved I would try to shy away from metal objects that will rust. If you were a potter I would say make the buildings from clay and fire them. At least you can clean them and they will not rust.

Hi my name is Teresa and I have a Dumpy White Tree Frog named Nora, and a new addition 4 days ago of a Leopard Gecko, Mooshe. Both are great eaters and I am really enjoying them. So is my 8 year old Grandson. I will post some pictures later once I figure out how all this works.

evilhorde · #3 07-23-2011, 12:42 PM

I have used a couple of HO scale buildings in my setup and no fish have died yet. I used Loctite 495 (super glue) to stick the parts together and it seems to hold up under water just fine. I did not boil anything but I did let the glued pieces air for a few days before installing them. The buildings have been fully submerged for a couple of months now.
A company called Model Power has a couple of different buildings that are under construction or demolition and would probably work for what you have in mind. Some companies offer very realistic buildings right out of the box.
Here is link to my setup, the buildings under water are on the second page.
Lurking no longer.

wogreno · #4 07-23-2011, 01:28 PM

evilhorde - Thanks for the info, and funny enough I have actually followed your build. And the pictures of the buildings and the train are what kind of started to inspire me on my "fall of civilization idea". Did you end up with any new fauna in your setup or adjusted it at all. I like how you had the building setup in the fish tank.

MCangel - Rust was one of my concerns as I wanted to incorporate trains and most are metal. I plan on doing plants and letting those run long before I start putting any major living things. I guess we'll see what happens.

evilhorde · #5 07-23-2011, 01:59 PM

The top shelf now has 3 venus flytraps and the vine between the two shelves has died.
Also the pitcher plants on the bottom shelf have died. I am up to 10 zebra danios in the tank now. The little buggers are breeding in there. I have some sort of plant in the tank now as well. I forget what it is called *wort something or another. It should make good cover for the red cherry shrimp when I get them.

If you want to use railroad tracks I would suggest using steel tracks. They will rust, but in clean fresh water it shouldn't be too bad. Of course you won't be able to run a train on them because the rusty track won't transfer the current well enough. The brass track will oxidize and release copper (brass=copper and zinc) so I wouldn't use that. Besides, rusty steel track will look much more realistic than green oxidized brass. It would be best to avoid running water over the tracks, try to keep them to the driest areas and it *should* be alright.