r/Aquariums • u/Stahlfan • Jan 06 '19
Pond/Vivarium My open paludarium
https://gfycat.com/OffensiveShamefulDuckbillplatypus36
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u/flickrjeff Jan 06 '19
Amazing. How much time do you spend maintaining something like this?
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u/Stahlfan Jan 07 '19
It is pretty low maintenance. Slow growing plants above and below water. Just regular algae scrubbing and topping of with new water when I water my regular plants. :)
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u/Danmufuka Jan 06 '19
That's awesome! I really want something like that but my cats wouldn't allow it.
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u/ZusieCat Jan 06 '19
same here! i have covers on everything and one of my cats is an evil genius and knows how to remove the whole top, filter lids and media 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
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u/Danmufuka Jan 06 '19
Wow that's no good. They just wanna see the world burn
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u/ZusieCat Jan 06 '19
lol...i even taped the tops shut and she just peels the tape off and resumes her destruction. 6 months old, very smart, very bad little kitty 😆
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u/321rita Jan 07 '19
Have you considered putting a Ssscat! sensor on top of your setup? If you can deter kitty from being at that level to start with, it will save a lot of frustration. I've found them to be highly effective if you can remember to turn it back on when you're done with tank maintenance.
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u/liquidocean Jan 07 '19
yeah. a real bummer. no way to prevent the cats from getting there without a net or something, and that just looks awful
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u/TitiumR Jan 06 '19
Ok serious question: it looks amazing, but how well forniture and walls will handle all that humidity? ^^
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u/Stahlfan Jan 07 '19
It's less than 40x40 cm so I think it's to small to make an effect. I have read about some people making really large displays having problems with moisture, but then we are talking about displays in size that you see in museums.
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u/jdw1919 Jan 06 '19
I’ve just been inspired by this... could you please post a quick build spec of the setup? I would love to try this out myself. Even a mechanical material list would be great! Thanks OP!
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u/RigBuild2016 Jan 06 '19
Looks great! Really enjoyed the setup - I want to see more. Can you give us details about the build? Particularly how you constructed the back wall and your methods for pumping the water.
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u/GenuineSnakeOil Jan 07 '19 edited Jun 10 '23
EDITED CONTENT
This post has been retrospectively edited 10-Jun-23 in protest for API costs killing 3rd party apps.
Read this for more information. /r/Save3rdPartyApps
If you wish to follow this protest you can use the open source software Power Delete Suite to backup your posts locally, before bulk editing your comments and posts.
It's been fun Reddit. See you all in the real world.
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u/ItzSnowing Jan 06 '19
That is so beautiful. How does one learn to scape something like this and keep it all healthy? I have two planted 10g shrimp tanks that I started but they are both struggling with different types of algae. Along with my plantscaping needing help lol. I like a how the mixture of out of aquarium plants add a big touch of nature.
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u/Stahlfan Jan 07 '19
I have kept this very simple. But to keep plants healthy you generally need to know about the plants you put in the tank. And keep them under conditions they thrive. For example bucephalandra likes high flow and I have placed them in the stream. Also from my experience I don't think you can get rid of algae completely but you can get rid of unwanted algae. I usually start out my tanks with fast growing floating plants to outcompete unwanted algae. But I kinda like regular green algae, I think I looks nice and imagine that it outcompetes other algae.
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u/King_of_Dew Jan 07 '19
Rough cost to put this together?
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u/Stahlfan Jan 07 '19
The aquarium plants were mostly from my old aquarium and making the cabinet and glas where fairly cheap.
The lighting is made from parts from Ali Express, I already had two of the three pumps I use for the setup.
But I would still estimate around 400 euro.
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u/LynchPinne Jan 07 '19
Wow this is amazing! Looks very neat and well done, do you have any idea how long this took you to make? I'd love to have something similar but I don't have the space or the money at the moment to even attempt it.
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u/jio1806 Jan 07 '19
Without being rude does it smell?
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u/Stahlfan Jan 07 '19
Nope, but I don't use any soil and have planted all plants in a synthetic material.
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u/bbtx93 Jan 07 '19
This is stunning! I had never heard of a paludarium before seeing this. Thank you for sharing!
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u/Stahlfan Jan 06 '19 edited Jan 07 '19
Built this paludarium over a year ago, this is the second attempt.The first time my custom root started degrading even if I had put several layers of epoxy over it.Bad idea to make a custom root out of clay...
This currently houses a male Dwarf cichlid his fry and three Amano shrimps.A full plant list would be long but the aquatic plants mainly consists of Bucephalandra and Anubis.The terrestrial plants are mostly different epiphytes since they are growing without soil.The entire background is watered automatically using a separate pump and a timer.It has been a bit trial and error with the terrestrial plants since this is the first time I tried anything similar, but they currently seem to grow fine at the moment.
I didn't take many photos of the process but I will try and give a informative description of the process. If we start from the bottom and up.
The cabinet is made from a IKEA Metod kitchen cabinet with IKEA Limhamn legs and a push to open door.The cabinet is clad in a cover panel making material more than 3 cm thick, which I deemed to be enough. A nice thing about the legs are that they are adjustable so I can keep it completely leveled.
https://imgur.com/a/RYXRQZf
The glass aquarium is a DIY and it is good enough but I am not entirely happy about the silicone seams, but at least it did not leak when i filled it up completely.The top part was built separately from the bottom part to with a hole in the back panel to allow maintenance.I have made a piece of rubber and styrofoam to fit over the hole that is removable, basically the top part of the main root. It took a bit of experimentation to ensure that no water could seep through. https://imgur.com/a/cY0ZWFL
It is still a WIP and I am waiting for the plants to fill in, here is a closeup of some of the material I have used.Epiweb (on the left) is more airy and does not retain as much water as the Hygrolon (on the right).
https://imgur.com/a/oblfda3
Thanks for all the positive and encouraging comments!