38 Gallon FBT Paludarium

[megamax42]

Some Experimenting with coco fiber and grout:





Here's some pictures of the tank after the first coat of sealer dried. Still haven't fully sealed the tank because there's more grouting and great stuff work to be done so there's no fts yet but here's some closeups of it











The light I purchased for the tank, blue night LED's are at the end.






Getting very close:












The heater:




I ran into a couple problems when I filled it up, the little pool to the left of the water feature (which slowly feeds the pool) had a low spot in the back where it was hard to reach. When it started filling up the water would drain backwards onto the platform instead of into the water portion, an obstacle I had for some reason not thought of when I was designing it. Thought I fixed it, filled it back up and there's still water back there! However it stayed the same level, so I tried draining the water portion and sure enough it drained from the platform, so there's a hole somewhere on it. I have it partially drained right now trying to dry out the platform so I can smother it in black silicone, since there will be soil over it anyways. Yesterday I added some of the flourite as well, will post pictures when everything settles.

Bottom of the tank; when I first started and used black great stuff I ended up spraying normal great stuff on top of it while it was still wet because I ran out of the dyed G.S., that black streak along the bottom is the black G.S. expanding underneath the white. I was mindblown at first to come to the tank the next day and see black G.S. oozing out of normal G.S. about a foot from where I sprayed it lol.





Flourite original and dark, original seems a little too light, dark seems a little too dark, hopefully combined it should just about match the grout.






Heater and filter, really love the quick disconnects that came with the eheim, ball valves so I can adjust the flow to the water feature if need be.





Girlfriend lost the camera charger so in the meantime here's a crappy cell phone pic. The plant decisions/placement are not finalized yet and I still need to find some very high light plants that will be suitable for the upper planters.

Planted some dwarf baby tears in the little pool next to the waterfall in the hopes that they switch to an emersed state and form a carpet poking out of the water.

The plant on the right is a peace lily, not sure if this will stay but in the meantime it takes up some space.

The vals in the front will not be staying, I just threw em in there for cycling purposes.

That ivy-esque plant (species unknown, however it resembles Ficus pumila var. minima) on the left doesn't have a permanent location yet. I like where it is on the ramp, however I don't want it stopping the toads from climbing back on to land. I would be ecstatic if it started creeping up the planter on the left (the coco fiber thrown into the grout should be great for it to grab a hold of), however I also want some to remain hanging in the water. The white clouds (the only occupant of this tank at the moment) really enjoy them in the water and can very often be seen swimming through the leaves, an awesome effect with the backdrop of bright green and the fish so close to the surface.

I got the moss from my lfs a couple days ago, a huge patch I managed to cover most of the lower platform with for only $3. However the moss between the left cave and shallow pool isn't doing so well. I'm assuming it's the light intensity because the moss on the far left and right is doing fantastic, and they're shaded by the planter ledges. Fortunately there's a bunch of low light, medium light, and high light zones, so I'm just gonna let them do their own thing. Hopefully the different zones will do some landscaping/aquascaping for me.

As for the construction, I'm generally quite pleased with it. The only negative aspect I'm seeing is the sealer turning cloudy after being submerged. Though hopefully over time bacteria and algae will have grown and died repeatedly on it until it's no longer noticeable. If you look at the water feature where it dumps into the aquarium portion you can see it's already turned from milky colored to a dark greenish-brown.

[megamax42]

Good news everyone!
Found my gf's camera charger, let the pic deluge begin. First off with some pics of a hitchhiker snail that found his way up the waterfall and into the upper pool.. and the very high surface tension that's up there.




Next up, some pics of the ivy grabbing a hold of the lower platform and the ramp. Also the moss that I collected for free outside my door, which is flourishing compared to the 'frog moss' I paid $3 for. Last is the entrance to one of their caves with a moss entry rug (they wouldn't wanna get dirt on their nice dirt floor), with some of the ivy's roots creeping in from the left.












Here's a pic of a baby snail that rode on its parents back all the way up to the tiny pool next to the waterfall, at first I thought it just had a large growth.





The next project I'm starting on (out of impatience waiting for the touchscreen and sensors to get here from Hong Kong for the 5 gallon project) is the DIY fogger for the paludarium. Just bought a humidifier earlier today, I'll post some pics up tomorrow once I've finished rigging it up.

[megamax42]

Found a very large shrimp in the little pool next to the waterfall the other day. I still have no idea how he got up there but he was just chilling in the baby tears. Then I moved the light to take a picture and he darted under the ledge, so this was the best picture I could get:






The vine has been doing incredibly well. I should probably get in there and do some trimming soon.








Here's some pics to illustrate how much the sealer has changed color as it gets grown over with random life. Also it appears the shrimp are now breeding in full force.

[megamax42]

Earlier today I bought an Arduino board for the paludarium, a mega 2560 just like the one I have on the 5 gallon shrimp tank. My first goal is to implement a ventilation system that is switchable between an open and closed system, with some temperature/humidity sensors integrated into it. There's also an inexpensive flow sensor I've had my eye on for some time. Rather pointless for the 5 gallon, but with how the water feature works in the paludarium I wouldn't mind getting some feedback on the flow rate. Maybe programming a couple small LEDs to give me a green light for good flow, yellow for adequate, and red for poor flow; at least until I can get a LCD screen for this tank as well.

[IrishRonin]

This came out really good, does the pond (black) gs stay water proof after you carve it?

[megamax42]

Thanks! Unfortunately the G.S. is closed cell foam on the outside, and very waterproof; however once the outer layer has been compromised it is an open cell foam. To work around this I coated it in grout, and then coated the grout with a clear 100% non-toxic sealer. This sealer turned white when submerged, however it's been established for so long now that algae and other stuff has grown on it and the white is hardly noticeable, disappearing more every day.

[IrishRonin]

Ok few more?... How long did you let the grout dry? What kind of sealer did you use? What did you use the fluorite for?

[megamax42]

The grout dried for about a month and a half, but that was while I was waiting for the sealer. If I had the sealer on hand I would've probably given it a week or so.
This is what I used:
Waterproof Sealer for wood,masonry,roofs,metal

The fluorite is the aquatic substrate, as this tank also houses white cloud minnows and red cherry shrimp.
Although for my next project I intend on mixing the aquatic substrate in with the grout, this way the theme is consistent throughout.

[megamax42]

I also will look for a better sealer, as it would be nice to have one that didn't discolor, even if it does eventually grow over with algae.