paludarium (half aquarium half terrarium) diy

[mrairportjunke]

about my paludarium design, im gonna make a background.  DIY ideas off of internet for the background.  but for a filter for the aquarium part,  i wanna do something different.  i was thihnking about gettin a pump that i could hide in the bottom of the aquarium, and pipe the water up to the top of the tank, buiild a eclipse style filter system outta some plexiglass, and pour the water back into the tank via a water fall to add to the humidity and looks of the tank.  I am planing on putting a circulation fan in to help prevent condensation.  i am also gonna build some levels with plexiglass again onto the background so i  can put some soil and grow live plants like a terrarium.   as for the top of the tank,  i want to put a chameleon in and in the bottom just some neon tetra or guppsy something like that.  but its gonna depend on the tank i use and how much water i have in the bottom and how much room for chameleon on top.  what yall think.  ?? ¿¿¿

[mrairportjunke]

Re: paludarium (half aquarium half terrarium) diy

if someone has an eclipse aquarium with the mini biowheel and all,  could i talk you into taking a picture of it from the top so i can get a beter idea of the water flow.  i konw it pumps in , over a filter pad with carbon built in the pad, then does it go under the wall to the biowheel and out the spout or does it go over the wall and to the biowheel and out the spout?'  thanks.  dont know body turn me in for copyin there design.  lol.  i wanna build one to fit a specific setup thats for me only.  no sellin.   :badsmiley:

[armthehomeless]

Re: paludarium (half aquarium half terrarium) diy

http://www.aquahobby.com/products/img/eclipse_hood.jpg

It goes over the wall.

[mrairportjunke]

Re: paludarium (half aquarium half terrarium) diy

nice no pic. lol.  so it goes over the wall. so is there 3 chambers.  one to go through the filter under the wall fill up say through carbon or something, and then over the top of the next to go over the bio wheel and out to the tank?  if so that wouldnt be to hard to do with some plexi glass and silicon.  well in my mind it shouldnt but in reality,  probably a pain in the rear

[armthehomeless]

Re: paludarium (half aquarium half terrarium) diy

There you go. The link should work now.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: paludarium (half aquarium half terrarium) diy

If you plan on building the background maybe look into the foam that you can mold? That way you can get it to form crevices,bowls etc and it will retain water as well to some extent. Also another idea is to mold a spray bar into it or small dia. pvc and have holes drilled into it so that the water will flow out throughout the background and trickle down the background. With the foam you could get ferns and moss to attach much easier and it would give it a more natural look.

Could probably mold a river/waterfall into it as well and have it drain off into the bottom. I tossed the idea around once or twice but in the end never really went through with it. I would mold piping in the background and have it drain out the front....looks much cooler!

Having the top of the tank cluttered for the filter will be distracting and will also take away the additional space which could be used for different lighting....Heat lamps/plant lamps and lamps for special effects.

For the pumps you could use a something like the aqua lifter pump and make your own canister and just have it trickle water back into the tank or get a small powerhead and seal it into a pickle jar to make it into a canister.

[mrairportjunke]

Re: paludarium (half aquarium half terrarium) diy

the powerhead in the pickel jar.  i though about that but i figured id make a box around it like an over flow outta plexiglass and have a mini wetdry thing.  but yeah those are some great ideas.  i wonder where and what the foam is called??

[eklikewhoa]

Re: paludarium (half aquarium half terrarium) diy

Check over on MarshReef.com or maybe even Reefcentral.com I have seen lots of them use it in their Reef tanks.

[mrairportjunke]

Re: paludarium (half aquarium half terrarium) diy

thanks.

[mrairportjunke]

Re: paludarium (half aquarium half terrarium) diy

i did a search on molding foam for an aquarium on google and first page check this out. this guy had my idea. or well i have his idea.  my skeetches that i have drawn out for my custom filter box look like his kinda.  his page is sweet cause it gives me ideas better on how to hide the sttuff too.  sweet

[Grace]

Re: paludarium (half aquarium half terrarium) diy

Hey mrairportjunke keep us up to date. I may be doing a paludarium set up real soon  Here are a two sites i found with some tips.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/epollak/Viv2005/viv_construction.htm

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/vivarium/vivarium.html

[mrairportjunke]

Re: paludarium (half aquarium half terrarium) diy

hey thanks that first site is awesome

[mahoro]

Re: paludarium (half aquarium half terrarium) diy

so any updates on this?

[mrairportjunke]

Re: paludarium (half aquarium half terrarium) diy

sorry took me so long to respond to the update question.  no  i havent gotten anywhere.  new baby in the house.  I havent had time to do anything.  been enjoyin the baby.  when i do ill post.

[mahoro]

Re: paludarium (half aquarium half terrarium) diy

i was thinking about setting up a paludarium.. but it will end up costing a bit more then what i can pay for...i was thinking about using this http://youtube.com/watch?v=MDIT67OXJ...eature=related     and connect the outgoing tube to a waterfall or a river....