20 gallon rimless mish mash...paludarium?

[KFryman]

I love the look, I have never seen anything like it! Anubias is used in a lot of rainforest tanks out of the water, and I believe that it may grow next to rivers so in the wet season it grows underwater, but don't hold that to me. I like the bare substrate as well.

I think that some Pothos would look really good as it is kind of a viney type plant and you can trim it easily and replant.

[bitFUUL]

Really nice setup! Keep us posted with tons of pics when the plants start to grow in.

[tharsis]

Originally Posted by diwu13

Wow this looks awesome. Where do you come up with all those anubias haha. Got like 100 in each tank!

Careful with the back platform. Not sure if the lack of rim might make the silicon weaker.

thanks haha, all of my anubias are sourced back to one purchase several years ago...they just grew like gangbusters!

I actually built the back portion last week, it isn't resting on the tank itself, it is basically just a sloped shelf that slides in between the tank and the wall. I have since loaded it up with mosses and weeds from my yard, it looks pretty good so-far.

I can't find my camera and my other camera has a stupid lens error so I am without pics unfortunately.

Originally Posted by KFryman

I love the look, I have never seen anything like it! Anubias is used in a lot of rainforest tanks out of the water, and I believe that it may grow next to rivers so in the wet season it grows underwater, but don't hold that to me. I like the bare substrate as well.

I think that some Pothos would look really good as it is kind of a viney type plant and you can trim it easily and replant.

Thanks! The exposed anubias is actually growing really well. I mist it pretty regularly and it is sprouting new leaves.

I decided to keep the bare substrate but I added a few stems into the mix...wish I had a camera haha.

Originally Posted by bitFUUL

Really nice setup! Keep us posted with tons of pics when the plants start to grow in.

thanks! Will do!

[tharsis]

OK well I really wanted to share some pics since I am pretty happy with how it turned out. They are really crappy pics from a camcorder but I think you can get an idea of what I was going for.

It basically turned into a full on paludarium that is climbing out of the tank haha. I am really loving the mix of land and water, and there are so many cool things you can do along the shoreline. I really would love to do another one fully enclosed in a tank so I could keep some cool animals like frogs and newts etc. I think I have the paludarium bug haha.

Anyways here some crappy pics:



Everything seems to be growing well, I am slowly adding cool plants when I find them on my walks with the dogs in the mornings. I plan on adding some tall plants in the back against the wall...not sure what yet.

[diwu13]

WOW! Great job making that background. I was worried you would actually attach something to the glass :P. Any thoughts on fish (or shrimp) for this tank? Where are you getting all these terrestial mosses and plants too haha?

Did you divert the water to come out the top of that mound? Or will you have to mist it daily? Will that be a problem for the wall?

[tharsis]

Thanks

Yeah I already felt i was taking a bit of risk by using this tank (no top or bottom rim) so adding a hanging rack on the back was nowhere close to happening lol

I have 6 different terrestrial mosses, 4 different runners and a bunch of various plants weeds...most are taken from my backyard but I have been keeping my eyes to the ground on my daily walks through the woods. If I see something with a neat texture/leaf shape I will put it in my pocket. There are so many interesting stem plants that I have been seeing on my walks as well. I would love to make a terrestrial stem terrarium and scape it like an aquatic tank

Have a moss foreground, some grasses for the midground and then some tall steams and leafy weeds as the background. I think I may try that next haha.

I kept the filter as is, so the mosses need some misting. I mist them heavily 3 times a day: in the morning, when I get home from work and when I go to bed. It is ok for now but I may get a little mister system from petco to automate it. As it is now, the mosses and soil are staying moist and I am getting new growth so it seems everything is happy.

[diwu13]

Think humidity against the wall or the wood rack will ever be a problem?

[tharsis]

Probably

This tank is in my semi-finished basement though so it is just a concrete wall at the moment and I am not too concerned about moisture.

The wood rack will definitely be affected though. I used small tupperwares to hold most of the mosses and plants, which will cut down on the water coming in contact with the shelf. An added benefit of the tupperware is it results in a modular arrangement and I can change the plants/mosses as I want.

[tharsis]

Here are some more recent pics, I changed things around a bit it is mostly the same.

Still no fauna added... soon though.

[diwu13]

Everything look so healthy :O!

Any issues with bugs or anything?

[tharsis]

Thanks, yeah the plants seem to be pretty happy in this environment. I am misting alot, it is getting a little tiresome haha, need to get an auto mister.

I am really wanting to upgrade to a bigger tank and do a real paludarium.

I haven't had any major issues with bugs. One of the plants had some sort of inch worm that was eating the leaves but they were quickly eliminated. I actually found an earth worm in one of my planters that surprised me a little, but I figured it wasn't going to hurt anything to leave him in there.

I really like this arrangement because it is completely modular. I have a bunch of planters (tupperware and cut plastic bottles) that I can put together in different arrangements and cover with moss to eliminate any seams. It works really well.

[diwu13]

How often are you misting everyday? Twice?

[fishykid1]

Originally Posted by diwu13

How often are you misting everyday? Twice?

OP said 3 times per day - morning- home from work - bed time