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Paludrium help/build log

1K views 13 replies 3 participants last post by  Sharkfood 
#1 ·
Ok , so ive come to love the looks of Paludrium's more than full tanks of water :icon_cry::).
Ive had a 50cm x 50cm x 50cm tank in the garage for a while now and decided to build one on a tight budget , so ive build the stand out of timber i had laying around in my garage , im quite happy with how its coming along.

ill be using a ehiem 2213 filter , in found a couple of big pieces for drift wood that will work nicely for popping plants in , plain river gravel over jbl manado for my currant tank.

Ive yet to decide on my plants but ill move my java ferns to the new tank.
Im thinking ferns and a couple of bromeliads in the dry area.

Fish wise id like:

2x Otocinclus
3x Corydoras Julii
15x Neon Tetra
2x Apistogramma agassizithe

first two i already have the secound two ill buy later,Id also like 3-5 loachs but im not sure what kind will be suitable? 3x clown will be to big? 4x Kuhli Loach ? if i have to lose the agassizi so be it to have the loachs.

Any advise would be great as this is my fist ever attempt :)
 
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#3 ·
I look forward to seeing the build on this.

I think that the species you have listed would work out well. However I am not sure of the aggression levels for Apisto's, if they are territorial, they might need a little more space than your tank can provide.

Anubias Nana, and Crytocoryne Wendtii would be pretty easy to grow, most of the Crypts can be grown out of water and will have very interesting flowers. Some moss both above and below the water could really tie the tank together.

Clown loaches would get a little big. I'm not sure, but I think the Kuhli loaches might uproot plants, I think they are burrowers. That said, you could just go with java ferns, anubias, and moss and have nothing actually rooted in the soil.
 
#4 ·
Try to keep in mind that while that tank may hold 30-35 gallons when full, as a paludrarium in the traditional sense, it likely will not hold more than 10 gallons, and will only have a depth of maybe 10" or less. Try to stock accordingly so that your fish have room to move around.

In my opinion most paludariums look best with half or better of the height of the tank out of the water. Otherwise you may have a difficult time finding small enough plants to use in the tank. Most bromeliads grow pretty big (There are smaller ones, such as cryptanthus bivattatus, which I have almost certainly spelled incorrectly.) so you want to have a pretty good amount of airspace for them.

If you fill the tank much further than halfway, I think it will have more of a riparium feel than paludarium. Either type of tank is fun and aesthetically pleasing, but you can do more playing around with the background and water features in a paludarium.
 
#5 ·
jef721 : thanks for the ideas on aqua plants that will grow out of water :)

Sharkfood : I had thought of a riparium , but liked the look of paludarium more id plan on going half way with the water level and stocking is more a wish list as i think a school of corys and lots of mixed tetra would look best ( ill be stocking slow so will play it by ear ).

I popped round most garden centers in the area today and yip your right i cant find any of the smaller brom's , its going to be alot or trial and error i think as i have limited options here and most LFS cant tell me what all there plants are so ill have to just get a heap and see what grow and what wont out of water.
 
#6 ·
Go check out glasshouseworks.com. They have more terrarium/wardian case plants than any website I have found. They have a pile of different bromeliads also. I do see some of the smaller broms at places like Home Depot also, but it's kind of the wrong season to look for them in these stores presently.
 
#8 ·
I suppose you make up for a lack of distribution with local availability. Living in a temperate climate here in the U.S. we have hundreds, if not thousands of amazing wild plants, but other than grasses, many require a dormant, cold period to be healthy in the long run.
 
#14 ·
You can plud the hollow with expanding foam (Great stuff works but is orange. Tetra waterfall sealer is black.) then carve out a spot for the soil. Depending on how bir the hole is, you could just plug it with coconut fiber also. If it's out of the water, dried moss or peat would probably work (dried moss is sold for terrariums).
 
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