Terrarium set-up questions

[deranged chipmunk]

There are a bunch of threads about doing a vertical conversion. I'm at work, so posting links is kinda tough, but do a forum search and you should find it. As far as running a mister from the water reservoir, i would say if the water is filtered, then it should be fine to use, quality wise. I think the problem is logistics of placing the equipment. I know a lot of people use distilled water in their misters to prevent water spots, i runn dechlorinated water in mine. I never have a problem with water spots, but i am anal when it comes to my tanks and wipe them down every evening. As far as cables, hoses and such goes, i always build a "maintenance tunnel" so i have access to important stuff. Check my paludarium build thread, one of the last pics you can see the tunnel and the hoses exiting it. Making removable items is helpful, whether it be a trap door or a rock covering a hole will work. Be creative, take your time and plan well. And most importantly, choose the species first then build to suit.

[Disco]

Thanks Bill Will be planning very carefully, really love the idea of a paludarium... that was something I wanted to do but didn't know if people did it. Friend is giving me a little tank so we're going to build an animal free practice tank first and see how that goes Off to research paludariums...

[Disco]

Alright next question... Heaters! Looking more towards golden bell frogs now as they would appreciate more water (really liking the paludarium idea), so they need to be kept a little warm and have not thought too much about fish yet but i do like tetras, which will need heaters also as my house is cold... In this situation can you get one heater to heat both the water and terrestrial environment? An undergravel heater maybe? Would keeping the water warm and having a light emitting a little bit of heat be enough?

[deranged chipmunk]

I can't really comment on undergravel heaters. They aren't very popular in the U.S. i saw one at a local fish store but i keep debating trying it. Warm water will heat the air above it, but the air will be cooler than the water. You may have to do some testing. If your water temp is spot on for the fish (i keep all my tanks at 78° F) and your air temp is still low, you can try supplementing with an under tank heater affixed to the side of the enclosure. Just remember, set your water temp first, then go from there.