Finally get a chance to set up a paludarium - Need suggestions

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rudukai13

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 29, 2010
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Colorado
So I'm going to be living on my own here for a while and finally have the time/money to devote to setting up the paludarium that I've been wanting for a long time now. I've settled on the size - the Exo-Terra 18x18x12 terrarium. I'll have it filled with water up to the door line. The dry area will be created using various large pieces of driftwood that emerge from the water, and I plan to do my best to create a naturalistic look using live plants. Now I just need to figure out what I'd like to keep in it. I know I would like something that will utilize both the aquatic and land portions of the tank, so it should be something semi-aquatic. I looked at newts, but I can't really find one that I like very much, so those are out. Here's the ideas I've had so far:

Fire belly toads

A mud snake (if I can find one)

And...That's about it. So I'm looking for some other suggestions for what I might be able to keep. It definitely needs to be something that won't outgrow the 18x18x12 terrarium, and it should be relatively aquatic to take advantage of how much water will be provided. So...Thoughts?
 
Mossy frogs, Crocodile skink, leopard frogs, mandarin newts are pretty cool, tiger salamanders. I have a checkered garter snake in a 5 gallon paludarium. I'm planning on upgrading him to a 10 eventually but he's still pretty little for now. Also check out tomato frogs.


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I have reconsidered. Go with a mossy frog or crock skink
 
Keep in mind that if you go with a mud snake you will have to find amphiumas and sirens to feed it. Croc skinks are cool but if you want any sort of plant to live you will need something smaller that will not trample them to death. Mossy frogs would be a good bet. So would day geckos, small tetras, most other tree frogs, and small arboreal snakes if you have lots of study vines and pick out more resilient plants like pothos, vicus pumilla, dracenia, etc.

Have you figured out how you are going to do the filtration system yet?
 
Filtration will just be a small submersible filter in the water. It won't look perfectly organic, but it's a small concession to make. I don't have the time/resources/skill to hide it, but I'm not going to exclude something that will maintain the health of the animals just for aesthetic reasons.

I was thinking doing some smaller schooling fish in the water and two or three red eyed tree frogs in the branches above would make a nice effect too.
 
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