Nano paludariums?

aychamo · 07-30-2004, 11:37 PM

Hey guys!

I've been searching, but haven't been too successful, for people that have nano-paludariums. I'm guessing in the sub 20g sizes. I have a 10g that I'm not doing anything with, but I think the small water level would suck. ... I dunno. Does anyone have any leads?

aychamo · 07-31-2004, 04:25 PM

I was thinking about this .. If you do it like the type where you have a plexi-glass or whatever piece splitting the tank into halves (where the plexiglass is perpendicular to the bottom of the tank), and then only fill the tank half full, that creates less than 5 gallons of water, maybe only 2.5 gallons or so... That is not much water! You couldn't put many fish in that at all (maybe a couple of zebra dainos?)

I was thinking a solution would be to have a piece of plexi cut that would half the size of the bottom of the tank (so like 10" x whatever the width of a 10g is), and silicon that in place about halfway the height of the tank, so that allows a full 5g of water below the half piece of plexi, and then you can plant on top of the plexi.. So you would have basically a half full tank, then a piece of plexi covering half the water, and the other half or whatever would be an in/out for whatever creature.. Perhaps this is lika a "river cutout" type thing.. Is there more likes about those?

I guess the problem is you need the depth for the plants, but maybe this type of solution is in the right direction?

Also... If you were going to get a piece of glass/plexi cut, how much "slack" in the dimentions would you give the cutter? I mean, should I tell the guy like an 1/8 inch or 1/16 smaller size than I need?

Thanks guys, this is sounding very intriging.. I'm still researching.

^iMp^ · 08-01-2004, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aychamo

I was thinking a solution would be to have a piece of plexi cut that would half the size of the bottom of the tank (so like 10" x whatever the width of a 10g is), and silicon that in place about halfway the height of the tank, so that allows a full 5g of water below the half piece of plexi, and then you can plant on top of the plexi.. So you would have basically a half full tank, then a piece of plexi covering half the water, and the other half or whatever would be an in/out for whatever creature.. Perhaps this is lika a "river cutout" type thing.. Is there more likes about those?

It would be impossible to use half of the total volume for the water part. You have to consider depth, width, and length--if you have a 10" x width, then what is the height? At most, half of the tank's height...so you have SOME room for terrestrial plants. This leaves you with 2.5 gallons. Add in gravel and rocks...well, you aren't left with much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aychamo

Also... If you were going to get a piece of glass/plexi cut, how much "slack" in the dimentions would you give the cutter? I mean, should I tell the guy like an 1/8 inch or 1/16 smaller size than I need?

Hmmm...1/8 inch short would be fine (if not 1/4 inch). The silicone will easily make up for the difference. However, it would probably be easiest to cut it a little larger than you need it. You can easily "fit" the piece in there on a slight angle if the piece is a little large.

Overall, I'd say that you have a few options.

1) Shallow water all around the tank with a few "islands" (rocks, driftwood, etc.) with some growth on it. You can plant emersed-growth plants (most aquatics work fine) in the shallow water. Add two firebelly toads. NO FISH.

2) Water about half the depth of the tank, all throughout the tank. The back wall is covered in cork bark (or similar product). Some emersed growth in the water portion, some air plants and vines on the corkbark wall. Maybe add a waterfall along the back wall... Also, could add a small strip of "land" along the back (via a plexi wall) for planting a few terrestrial plants. This setup could support a few small fish or a single newt.

3) Mostly land with a small, shallow pool of water and maybe a stream/waterfall feature. Probably don't want to use plexiglass. See www.blackjungle.com for suggestions on setup.

Overall, I'd say that the amoung of work you'd put in for such a setup. Well, it wouldn't be worth it!

If you can, you should at least go with a 55 gallon tank. I went with a 20g(high) and I regret it.

Well...good luck! Hopefully you prove me wrong.

^iMp^

aychamo · 08-03-2004, 04:20 AM

Hey there!

I agree about the use of a larger aquarium would be better. I looked at 20 highs and 29 normals today. It seems like the 20H is actually "thicker" than the 29s, but the 29 is taller.

I'd like to put in one of those waterfalls you see at the store, with the built in little water pump and mister, but they are so tall, that if I put that in there would be little room (height wise) for water..

How would one construct the first option that you mentioned, ,with the small islands, etc?

mad about fish · 08-03-2004, 07:33 AM

i have just set up a tiny paludarium 45x30x30cm long i first put in a 1 inch layer of graval then i made a wall out of slate to seperate the land from the water. i inserted podliner in the land section to stop the water making the terestrial plants roots rot and then added water i have a aquatics growing out of the water i know it would be two shallow for fish but i like how it looks anyway i might try puting a few shrimp in

GulfCoastAquarian · 08-03-2004, 05:14 PM

I made this simple 5g terrarium out of acrylic. Used a Whisper Micro Internal filter to make a waterfall with some rocks stacked in front of it.

5g Terrarium Journal

The emersed Anubias didn't survive, though. I think I couldn't control the humidity well enough. I replaced it with a creeping fig and it has done marvelously.

aychamo · 08-03-2004, 09:14 PM

What do you guys use on the land side, for planting plants? I mean soil wise? How do you mix soil for plants, with whatever substrate that land animals would need?

Martijn · 08-25-2005, 10:58 AM

I had a 10 g paludarium running for a couple of months.
You can certainly get them to look great but you do need the time to work on it whenever it needs work which is often.
If you are a couple of days late you will often have gone beyond the point of no repair.
Also, because of the small volume you will have a hard time avoiding peaks in water chemistry. Just adding a new plant with just a little too much fertilizer left in the soil between the roots will leave you with the algae bloom from hell.

Same goes for animal habitants. Almost anything will be too much for a tank that small.

Still, it can work and it is fun.
If you use fast growing plants that take up a lot of nutrients and you let them settle before adding anything that helps a lot.
Beware of false light and use a timer. That way you can combat algae a lot better.
Be very strict about using animals. Things like one male betta, maybe three white clouds or just a couple of shrimp will work. But be sure your tank will punish you the second you put in too much.
And feeding must be doen with care. I fed my white clouds one flake at a time to make sure nothing was left to rot.

I had to take the minnows out eventually and soon after it became a mosquitoe breeding pool so I took down the whole thing.
Still..it was a lot of fun and looked very cool while it lasted.

Who said everything has to last forever to be fun?

**sarahbobarah** · 08-25-2005, 03:07 PM

Regarding terrestrial plants, I suggest getting some plants that were grown hydroponically. They'll be in the same pots that aquatic plants come in, and grown emersed, but they're terrestrial tropicals who enjoy humid air, but don't survive being submersed for very long. However, they were cultivated and grown with their roots in water so they are fine in just a fine gravel medium - no soil needed at all.

chinchek787 · 08-31-2005, 01:23 AM

You could just do the entire aquarium partly filled and just use bog plants. Maybe 1/3 full with some branches and possible a rock sticking out along with the bog plants. You would have a couple interesting fish along with a frog.

yoink · 09-05-2005, 04:35 AM

I have a 10 gallon with two fire belly toads. It has a shelf that comes out so that there is room underneath the land area too. I got the idea from Chuck Gadd's paludarium. It's not nearly as nice as his, but my frogs like it.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...m/22248c06.jpg

07-30-2004, 11:37 PM	#1 (permalink)
aychamo Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Stupid Head :) Posts: 161	Nano paludariums? Hey guys! I've been searching, but haven't been too successful, for people that have nano-paludariums. I'm guessing in the sub 20g sizes. I have a 10g that I'm not doing anything with, but I think the small water level would suck. ... I dunno. Does anyone have any leads?

08-03-2004, 05:14 PM	#6 (permalink)
GulfCoastAquarian ///M (View User Tanks) PTrader: (5) Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Winston-Salem, NC Posts: 3,555	I made this simple 5g terrarium out of acrylic. Used a Whisper Micro Internal filter to make a waterfall with some rocks stacked in front of it. 5g Terrarium Journal The emersed Anubias didn't survive, though. I think I couldn't control the humidity well enough. I replaced it with a creeping fig and it has done marvelously. __________________ - Sam P - plantedtanker in limbo - all tanks currently in storage

08-25-2005, 03:07 PM	#9 (permalink)
sarahbobarah LOTR BFME (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1) Join Date: May 2005 Location: South Bay Area Posts: 1,159	Regarding terrestrial plants, I suggest getting some plants that were grown hydroponically. They'll be in the same pots that aquatic plants come in, and grown emersed, but they're terrestrial tropicals who enjoy humid air, but don't survive being submersed for very long. However, they were cultivated and grown with their roots in water so they are fine in just a fine gravel medium - no soil needed at all. __________________ "What do you want to be when you grow up?" "The world's sexiest ichthyologist." - Eheim Madame 172 Best Dressed Member of SVAS, SFBAAPS. (I sit at the cool kids' table)

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07-31-2004, 04:25 PM	#2 (permalink)
aychamo Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Stupid Head :) Posts: 161	I was thinking about this .. If you do it like the type where you have a plexi-glass or whatever piece splitting the tank into halves (where the plexiglass is perpendicular to the bottom of the tank), and then only fill the tank half full, that creates less than 5 gallons of water, maybe only 2.5 gallons or so... That is not much water! You couldn't put many fish in that at all (maybe a couple of zebra dainos?) I was thinking a solution would be to have a piece of plexi cut that would half the size of the bottom of the tank (so like 10" x whatever the width of a 10g is), and silicon that in place about halfway the height of the tank, so that allows a full 5g of water below the half piece of plexi, and then you can plant on top of the plexi.. So you would have basically a half full tank, then a piece of plexi covering half the water, and the other half or whatever would be an in/out for whatever creature.. Perhaps this is lika a "river cutout" type thing.. Is there more likes about those? I guess the problem is you need the depth for the plants, but maybe this type of solution is in the right direction? Also... If you were going to get a piece of glass/plexi cut, how much "slack" in the dimentions would you give the cutter? I mean, should I tell the guy like an 1/8 inch or 1/16 smaller size than I need? Thanks guys, this is sounding very intriging.. I'm still researching.

08-03-2004, 04:20 AM	#4 (permalink)
aychamo Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Stupid Head :) Posts: 161	Hey there! I agree about the use of a larger aquarium would be better. I looked at 20 highs and 29 normals today. It seems like the 20H is actually "thicker" than the 29s, but the 29 is taller. I'd like to put in one of those waterfalls you see at the store, with the built in little water pump and mister, but they are so tall, that if I put that in there would be little room (height wise) for water.. How would one construct the first option that you mentioned, ,with the small islands, etc?

08-03-2004, 07:33 AM	#5 (permalink)
mad about fish Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: London, England Posts: 76	i have just set up a tiny paludarium 45x30x30cm long i first put in a 1 inch layer of graval then i made a wall out of slate to seperate the land from the water. i inserted podliner in the land section to stop the water making the terestrial plants roots rot and then added water i have a aquatics growing out of the water i know it would be two shallow for fish but i like how it looks anyway i might try puting a few shrimp in

08-03-2004, 09:14 PM	#7 (permalink)
aychamo Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Stupid Head :) Posts: 161	What do you guys use on the land side, for planting plants? I mean soil wise? How do you mix soil for plants, with whatever substrate that land animals would need?

08-25-2005, 10:58 AM	#8 (permalink)
Martijn Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: amsterdam Posts: 29	I had a 10 g paludarium running for a couple of months. You can certainly get them to look great but you do need the time to work on it whenever it needs work which is often. If you are a couple of days late you will often have gone beyond the point of no repair. Also, because of the small volume you will have a hard time avoiding peaks in water chemistry. Just adding a new plant with just a little too much fertilizer left in the soil between the roots will leave you with the algae bloom from hell. Same goes for animal habitants. Almost anything will be too much for a tank that small. Still, it can work and it is fun. If you use fast growing plants that take up a lot of nutrients and you let them settle before adding anything that helps a lot. Beware of false light and use a timer. That way you can combat algae a lot better. Be very strict about using animals. Things like one male betta, maybe three white clouds or just a couple of shrimp will work. But be sure your tank will punish you the second you put in too much. And feeding must be doen with care. I fed my white clouds one flake at a time to make sure nothing was left to rot. I had to take the minnows out eventually and soon after it became a mosquitoe breeding pool so I took down the whole thing. Still..it was a lot of fun and looked very cool while it lasted. Who said everything has to last forever to be fun?

08-31-2005, 01:23 AM	#10 (permalink)
chinchek787 Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 87	You could just do the entire aquarium partly filled and just use bog plants. Maybe 1/3 full with some branches and possible a rock sticking out along with the bog plants. You would have a couple interesting fish along with a frog.

09-05-2005, 04:35 AM	#11 (permalink)
yoink Algae Crumpler (View User Tanks) PTrader: (66) Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 1,976	I have a 10 gallon with two fire belly toads. It has a shelf that comes out so that there is room underneath the land area too. I got the idea from Chuck Gadd's paludarium. It's not nearly as nice as his, but my frogs like it. http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...m/22248c06.jpg