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Building Large Planted aquarium/terrarium/paludarium 10x11 Feet

64K views 125 replies 55 participants last post by  Wilderman204 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi construction of my dream large planted tank + terrarium has started..its a part of our living room in our new home(under construction).lit by natural sunlight..looking forward for ur valuable suggestions..posting pics below
Details : the length of tank would be 10 feet
width would be 11 feet(total water area + land)....
height of water area -3 feet

Water area (front area) - 7 feet on right side, 4 feet on left side...total 3500L approx..

Towards back planning terrestrial plants, block on left side for filter chamber...backside would be filled with large rocks, ferro cement work with space for plants in between .....and waterfall from the height of filter chamber

Water area planned to be filled with hardy plants + large driftwood protruding out of water....

Work starting nxt week...hoping for ur suggestions


 
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#28 · (Edited)
latest development pic

Wood Art Gas Visual arts Working animal


the work is going on....the side walls are getting shape...using ferro cement....th cavities you see are for plants...with drainage...the whole thing has be carved into as mountain stones....which will be done as it reaches final stage...the front side glass has to be fitted in....left top corner will be waterfall area...
 

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#30 ·
@ scotty b.thanks!!....the front area would be water....planted....thinking of large school of neons, scalar angels and discuss....not much in favour of dart frogs because front being open into living room...risk of them jumping inside home....ya thinking of a misting/rain system....bt th constrain being front is open
 
#35 · (Edited)
Structure completed ( yet to b painted )

Hi all,
the structure has been completed, its yet to be painted... its curing time for a week...wil b painted after that....planning to paint using different shades of black n grey...then the front glass has to be fixed..the steel rod in middle wld b removed...after which gt to check for any leaks...planting and scaping follows...How does it look altogether??? it turned out to be a little different from th intial plan though...does theartifical wines look odd r misplaced??





 
#36 ·
I almost dont lime the vines on the back wall it looks a bit to perfect. I would try maybe keeping the one loop on the left of the pic and remove the right side one and make vine look more like the roots of a tree that go into the cracks and reapear out another crack below and kind of continue it into the pond maybe make it branch off a bit so it is not so hose like. Think Cambodian ruins that is what it reminds me of from when i visited there. The ficus trees are now holding the structures together in some places. If you pm me your email I can shoot you some pics. i think it would make more sense than me trying to type it lol. But really it is looking amazing. Once you get plants in there and moss it will be great. If you are planning on having misting systems java and or other mosses on the vines would be great. You could actually wrap long fiber spaghnum moss around the vine with fish line and then wrap that in moss. This would help keep the moss stay moist and get a good foot hold and it would cover it fast. Cant wait to see it when its done great job. When you are done you can come build me one lol ;)
 
#37 · (Edited)
Waterfall plan

Hi friends, its been quiet sometime...the work is progressing slow as we plan to complete it alongwith th home being constructed...the rock work is over, next is th painting and front glass fixing. The front glass will be 19mm thick toughen glass....



Meanwhile let me show you the plan of waterfall....there will be water pumbed up and collected at middle area as shown that will flow back as waterfalls....

 
#38 ·
Plz do give feedback, advice/suggestions on problems i may face....how does the set up look.....cz it was not actually how i planned it to be.....i wanted to build it with natural rocks...th contractor came up with this telling me of the problems using natural rocks...
 
#44 ·
Watering System

Hi all,
there was a major decision to be made regarding the watering of the plants above water level. Thought of manual watering at first then realized wont be feasible in the long run. Then thought of having a sprinkler system at top, but there was still problem of water not reaching evenly.
Then came up with this idea(shown in pics below).
A pipe runs through the whole sides where ever there are burrows to plant the plants. The pipe is pierced at each burrow and an extension pipe put. the flow of water into each burrow can be set easily just by turning the blue end you see..this idea seemed more efficient to me in the long run
the pipes u see in the first pics were hidden using the cement work merging into rock, leaving only the tip pipe out as u see in the 5th and 6th pic. that too would be eventually hidden as plants come.Pls give ur comments. Next lies painting of the rocks and front glass fixing. then testing for leaks and finally planting











 
#46 ·
Painted Set up

Hi..the work had been going at a slow pace...as its going along with the house construction...

The Paludarium set up got painted...the paint used was the one used to paint ships(as it can last forever with constant water contact)....colour used was Matte Black, with various shades used. ...Gilt was used to get a look of sparkle ....the hanging roots were painted brown....

Posting below the updated painted pics..
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#52 ·
Wow I've not seen such big scale work except public aquariums/zoos, that's so awesome that its in your house in a common area where you can enjoy it alot!! Look forward to seeing this planted and running! Do you have a plant list yet of what you are going to add? What animals will you put in here?
 
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