Need help planning a swamp-type paludarium

[Morledzep]

when i first saw your description i was thinking 200 gallon or larger, growing real trees and some additional pieces of driftwood or manzanita for either water dragons or some kinda turtle. Maybe a nice sized rock that sticks out of the water for basking.

and in the water some small to medium schooling fish that will also breed and be food for the reptile(s). and an FX5 or similar large canister filter for the water and to create a small amount of current in the water..

 

[WckedMidas]

Ive got basicly what your wanting to do lol. See my thread. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=379015
I asked same question but my habitat is bigger. I decided to go with jurense catfish. gonna do a pair of cichlids and eventualy a chinese watter dragon.
this is the company that made my enclosure http://www.jworlds.net/intro.html maybe u can get some ideas from them

 

[rudukai13]

I had thought about that, but really all of those enclosures are too large for my preferences. The more I think about it though, the more I'm liking the idea of doing a group of fire belly toads and some white cloud minnows. The original idea behind this setup is to create a naturalistic looking enclosure but keeping it relatively simple and clean looking.

 

[rudukai13]

On another forum it was suggested that either a mudpuppy or siren would enjoy this setup as well. If I go with either of those I would also look into getting some tree frogs for the branches above the water...

 

[shells-n-scales]

Here get motivated... or some nice ideas!

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/52841-300gal-paludarium-project-5.html

 

[fishy12]

Um crayfish maybe in a species. But salamanders, and maybe just go to a swamp and collect all the local fish you can. While respecting local rules.

 

[jewbo]

catching local fish isnt a good idea due to parasites...>>

 

[rudukai13]

Shells, that's fairly close to what I'd like to do but I want to keep mine fairly natural in construction, just using various driftwood pieces to create the emersed area over the water.

Fishy12, I don't know of any salamander species that would enjoy the amount of water that would be provided. Newts would be much better suited to what I'm thinking.

 

[rudukai13]

Hmm...If there was enough wood above the water to create a substantial enough land area, would this type of enclosure be at all suitable for a tiger salamander? I really like the way they look, almost prehistoric, but I wouldn't want to keep it in an enclosure that didn't fit it's needs...?

 

[Toby_H]

Have you considered creating a background for this enclosure?

I've made a few Styrofoam background coated with Drylok that turned out quite well.

The foam background could be carved to look like a rock/mud bank. This could easily be modified to include a flat area that would extend the land area. Then a piece or two of Driftwood that extends above the water line to add to the land area.