plans for a big build

[cuervo25_1]

In my off time at night I enjoy researching and planning ideas for my first big build when it comes time for it and here is the drawing I came up with.




I will describe it when I get home from work.

[cuervo25_1]

ok first of all this Palu will be of epic proportions. It will be 8' wide 4' deep and 6' tall overall.

The top section is 3 ft tall from the bottom to top it uses 3/4 inch plywood for the back and bottom .I am hoping to score some tiger maple for the sides, top and front from a custom furniture builder I know along with his help. If not most likely red oak since it is in abundance here and it can be found with a 4 foot diameter. the bottom will have 1/2 of it full floor and the other half will be cut where it has 2" for supports that will be in the lower section .

The front door frames will have grooves cut in them for the acrylic to slide in in which silicone will be used to seal it, they will open to the side for easy access to everything inside. Behind the doors on the edges of the wood there will be weather stripping tacked that will seal in the humidity, along with a 3/4" x 4" board that goes across the front of the land side and up to the back that seperates the land from the water half. on the inside of that I will have acrylic that lays flat on the floor with strips 4'' wide that will be glued to the bottom that go around the perimeter. That will serve in keeping the land part in place, any excessive water from flowing into the water half and keep the wood from any excessive moisture and acids. The boards will act as support whe the door is open and across the water/land changeover.

Inside of the land side I will have 1'' of expanded clay, 1'' of unfinished compost and 2" finished compost with worm casings. Now mind you this is overall ,there will be parts that I build inside that area that will have more unfinished and finished for deeper roots and some areas may have sand added to the mix. It all depends on what exact plants that I decide to have in there what the exact mix will be, and where.

[cuervo25_1]

The lower part consists of the water section which is 1' deep and the storage / pump area, I will start with the storage/pump section. It will be like the top section except where the top is going to be oak or maple on the upper section , it will be plywood on the lower section because it wont be seen it is cheaper, and stronger. There will be a frame made from 2x4s involved on this due to the weight it will be supporting . the shell obviously as I said will be like the top. Inside the right side storage area ( the taller side) will house the fogger, and pumps for the water features other than the filter that is for the water section, that will be described in a bit. The smaller part will have spare parts, filters, and care products for the critters.

Now on to the water section that will be as I said 1' tall. the rest of the measurments will have to be taken later because I want it to fit pretty tight, and lets face it what I plan on using may not happen due to unforseen circumstances . there will be a
2"x2" frame that goes along the sides and back to support the upper section the front will be against the front which will have sand, gravel, and rocks from the creek that I am catching the inhabitants from along with some plant life and so on.

[cuervo25_1]

Now on to the inhabitants.

Since I am a bit homesick I am making this a VA palu. so all the plants, mosses ect will be VA NATIVE species

amphibs

Spring peepers
upland chorus frogs
Northern red salamander

lizards

southeastern 5 line skinks

snakes
eastern worm snakes

different freshwater and land snails

freshwater mussles and clams

minnows

mountain redbelly dace
southern redbelly dace
blacknose dace
swallowtail shiner
bridal shiner


crayfish

various insect larvae

pillbugs
redworms
crickets

[boabab95]

sunds cool, although i wouldn't put all of that in the tank inhabitant wise, it just seems a ittle crowded...and trust me, 8'x4' may sound big, but once you start, it will seem much smaller...not to mention legality of keeping the species in your state and the fact that they will likely eat each other...

[cuervo25_1]

Originally Posted by boabab95

sunds cool, although i wouldn't put all of that in the tank inhabitant wise, it just seems a ittle crowded...and trust me, 8'x4' may sound big, but once you start, it will seem much smaller...not to mention legality of keeping the species in your state and the fact that they will likely eat each other...

The frogs are very small so they don't take much room the Skink I think is a bit smaller than an anole, and the various minnows are only about 2 inches long at the most. Yes some of the animals will eat each other like the crayfish will eat the larvae and minnows and minnows will eat the larvae, algae and baby crayfish. This will be an attempt to have a "sealed" system at well. the frogs and skinks will not try to eat each other I did all the research on this to be sure. The snake only eats worms so that is safe to have in there as well. It is mainly the water section I have to keep an eye on as far as who is eating who, I may drop the crayfish idea unless I find an odd colored one.

As for the legality of the animals none of them are endagered in VA and actually the minnows,crayfish,and larvae are used as bait and there is a ton of them. So I can keep them as well as the others because of their abundance. The NJ law has nothing about keeping these particular animals as far as legal, or not legal. it just has a couple lists of native species that you need a license for and another list that you don't need a license for. Believe it or not I can have a pet chipmunk here without a license if I wanted.

I am only wanting a couple of each land species. That should leave pleanty of land area for them as some of them will be hiding in various spots. when others are out and about. The sping peeper is a night time frog so it will not even see the skink most likely since they are out in the day. The fish species live in large schools of hundreds or more often mixed together without issue so I figure 2 or three each should be good. when I finish the water section I will see how many gallons fill it up and use the 1 gallon per inch method to figure exactly how many fish to get.

I am also going to check around at the pet stores and NJ laws to see if I can sell any babies to the pet stores or from my home before I build it. If I can't that will change what I do so overcrowding is not an issue.

I am doing all the research I can on these animals, their care ,and so on to make their lives very happy ones without any stress. If that means I have to change what I put in that is fine. or perhaps it will be a reason to build another one to place beside the first one where I can have all that I want with some sort of decoration that seperates the two sections completely but makes it look as if it is one piece.

Thats why I like posting it on here. It gives me ideas and have more experianced people put in their knowledge to make the project more likely to succeed. I already have wheels turning in my head because of your reply