South African Paludarium

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C

COG Commando

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 19, 2011
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West Bend, WI
I haven't posted in a while, so I figured I'd show what I've been working on; my 55 gallon vertical paludarium. I started by siliconing a piece of glass to the underside of the top of the tank, soon to be the bottom right side of the tank, (if that makes any sense haha). I built a "rock" background carved out of styrofoam and coated in cement for texture and stability. Then I painted the background with 4 coats of Drylok in order to waterproof it and add some color detail to it. The background consists of a rock waterfall, a rock potter, and a sandy stream bank.

I have 3 African Clawed Frogs (Xenopus laevis) that I plan on housing in the water portion of the tank, but I'm still looking for a suitable inhabitant for the upper portion of the tank though. I was thinking of getting a pair of Bibron's Geckos (Pachydactylus bibronii). If I do get the geckos, I will get two females so that I don't have to worry about mating. The background of the tank will have Java moss and Riccia growing on it. In the water portion I will be growing Anubias; hastifolia, barteri 'nana', and congensis. I also have a few rabbit foot's ferns that will be in the potter part of the background. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Here's two pictures of the potter, before the cement was put on.
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Add a little cement and Drylok:
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I then added some color to the rocks, and siliconed the background to the 55 gallon tank.
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Installed the branches and some of the corkbark to the sides of the tank.
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Here's a close shot of the rock and vine detail.
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Mad About Cichlids said:
Looking good.

How heavy is everything inside? Do you think the tank's glasses will be ok holding everything?
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The background is extremely lightweight, consisting almost entirely of styrofoam, so I think the tank should be able to hold the weight well. Also, the entire tank, (including the new panel I installed into the bottom half of the tank), are all tempered glass, and I've already tested the water holding capacity for 3 weeks with no leaks. I can't wait until I get some more cork bark so I can finsh the background and get the waterfall running.
 
Cool idea. Looks like it will turn out nice
 
Looks nice, but for three african clawed frogs, I think you'd want the water area to be pretty well filtered and at least 30 gallons worth. Just my two cents.
 
snakefin said:
I think you'd want the water area to be pretty well filtered and at least 30 gallons worth. Just my two cents.
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Yeah I know they can be messy sometimes hahaha, but I've been keeping and breeding this species for over 18 years, so I have a pretty good idea of their filtration needs haha. I feed them earthworms and crickets, instead of messy pellets, so even with minimal filtration, my water stays very clear. The water section will hold about 16 gallons of water. I just tested out the waterfall section today and it works perfectly smooth. Part of the tubing in the waterfall consists of a removable section that contains filter floss and polishing pads. I want the rest of the filtration for the tank to be entirely plant filtration.
 
Looks very nice, dont see a reason why it shouldnt work. You should include if possible a few plants and some dirt to give the geckos places to lay their eggs.
 
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