# 46G BowFront Paludarium



## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

Hey all !!

I am putting the finishing touches on my newest project 46G Paludarium
For those who don't know what that is check here for more infohttp://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/paludriums/l/blpaludarium.htm
I have about 90% of the rock work done and of course all the drift wood I can handle, marginal plants are all planted (7 species ) and I have a few aquatic plants in place and the water is clearing up nicely. Now for the setup, 46G bowfront (drilled) approx 20G of water 9 inches deep , 10G sump so total water volume is about 29-30G give or take.

Sump:

250W Jager heater water temp in tank 79F

sponge filter

Azoo 1500 powerhead (5 outlets)

Lighting:

Coralife double T5 one 6700K & one full spectrum

I however have no livestock at this time I may start stocking the tank in June when things settle down and all is in place and running well, so my question is if you had this setup what would you put in it ?? I really only want things that eat prepared food ( no bugs ) also the tank is topless so no crazy lizards.

I am looking for unusual fish, something you may never see in a pet shop that will enjoy the setting I have made, looks like a amazon basin.

Looking for shrimp, 100% freshwater aqautic crabs ( maybe ) and of course fish..

So post your thoughts, I will be taking some pictures tonight so that may help..

Thanks


----------



## ranmasatome (Mar 14, 2006)

sweet.. cant wait to see pics..


----------



## chompy (Mar 24, 2006)

I would love to have one of those, they are so versitile. Keep us updated


----------



## WaterWorld (May 7, 2006)

I've seen those before and they're really nice. Regardless with all the work that goes into a project like this you must be having fun putting it together. Can't wait to see some pictures.


----------



## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

Actually, it was a lot of fun..I found it alot easier than aquascaping a full tank, plus without the worry of livestock it made it alot of fun even if I changed my mind on the design ( which I did ).

I will do my best to take some pictures with as much detail as possible and I will also try to provide instructions on how I made it yet keeping costs down. All told I bet I did it for under 300 dollars total  

Thanks for the replies..


----------



## nightowl1350 (Mar 19, 2006)

Post some pics when you can. You got it together pretty quick


----------



## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

nightowl1350 said:


> Post some pics when you can. You got it together pretty quick


Hey, what can I say...when I find a little free time I make the most of it..


----------



## MartinW (Mar 22, 2006)

Wow that's so cool! I can't wait to see it!


----------



## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

I actually plan on taking a picture from the same spot the same day and time ( hopefully ) each month for a 1 year period to monitor the growth patterns of the plants and mosses..

I hope this will get other people to start this type of project !!


----------



## holocron (Mar 12, 2006)

amazing! I always am blown away by these setups. I can't wait to see what you have cookin. 

As for inhabitants, a blue lobster might be pretty amazing, but you couldn't have much else in there. Another neat idea would be having a big school of amazonian fish (cardinals, rummys).

excited to see this!


----------



## chompy (Mar 24, 2006)

Are you planning on putting any reptiles or frogs in there?


----------



## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

chompy said:


> Are you planning on putting any reptiles or frogs in there?


No, I only want things that eat prepared foods, NO BUGS !!

Most likely a school of small fish and shrimp, maybe a crab if I can find one that works ??


----------



## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

*Pictures !!*

First off I suck, and second sorry about the dirty glass.










Front view










This is the overflow setup

the black lines you see feed the waterfalls and general currents, the clear line allows for a constant flow with in the overflow box. the big hole is the drain..Duh










Sump

Pretty simple yet very effective, heater is on the left side directly below the inlet so lots of flow there, Sponge filter for bio filtration, the return pump is slightly seperated by the acrylic and simple covered with a piece of floss to provide mechanical filtration, all this and a addition 9 gallons..

Well that is my first round of pictures I am sure they will get better in time, if there is anything you would like more detail on be sure to ask..

Thanks


----------



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Wonderful grey!

My bf keeps biggin me to do one, he wants the whole sha-bang... ^^ i'll have to come to you to ask about all the fine tuning 

These are my thoughts on the livestock

Too bad you cant go archers... One of my favorite choices for this type of tank but they are brackish and like to have live crickets to shoot at...  

Moon crabs are a nice display crab that wont bother fish, but they need a beach shore style set up.. 

fiddlers and Redclaws dont mix well... And the big male fiddlers can be agressive (as i found out) lol. However... I've had red claws and they didnt seem to bad with the fish. As long as they are fast swimming..

You need to go to the pj's at the pickering mall and find thier tank in the back of fish. They had a mudskipper!! He was out of the water sunbathing... truely adoreable and very very neat blueish eyes.
The tank mates i saw in that tank were... Knives and some other fish i cant name unfortunatly :/

I think holo's choice of fish would be swell... I have a soft spot for rummies.. ^^

I cannot wait to see more!


----------



## ranmasatome (Mar 14, 2006)

Wow!! its so... clean..... looks like its got some maturing to do.. when it gets all dirty and grimy and has moss all over you should take more pictures.. but i think this is a good start.... 
How about some newts?
You thinking of maknig a background for it?
Whats that balck thing that is in the middle?
sorry so many questions..haha...


----------



## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

ranmasatome said:


> Wow!! its so... clean..... looks like its got some maturing to do.. when it gets all dirty and grimy and has moss all over you should take more pictures.. but i think this is a good start....
> How about some newts?
> You thinking of maknig a background for it?
> Whats that balck thing that is in the middle?
> sorry so many questions..haha...


No worries,

It is clean it has only be up and running for 72 hours

Newts..nah they eat bugs and worms, won't work in my house

I have a background, see the blue ??

The black thing in the middle is the over flow box, this tank was originally going to be a SW setup but then I changed my mind, but kept the box to hid the overflow you see in the 2nd of my pictures.

Hope that clears things up


----------



## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

Ciddian said:


> Wonderful grey!
> 
> My bf keeps biggin me to do one, he wants the whole sha-bang... ^^ i'll have to come to you to ask about all the fine tuning
> 
> ...


I like archers to, but this tank was set up to be 100% freshwater so sadly I cannot go with them. Most crabs I know of are good climbers so for them to get out of the water would be no problem, I am only worried about them snipping plants or going after my fish ( when I get some )

I like the school idea, but I already have that going in my 135G so I am still looking for another choice or choices ??

Thanks


----------



## ranmasatome (Mar 14, 2006)

i'm meant an artificial background.. like wood or bark or textured backs?


----------



## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

ranmasatome said:


> i'm meant an artificial background.. like wood or bark or textured backs?


Hmmm, never thought if that, it may be to hard to add that feature, also as the tank matures I am sure less of the blue will be seen..

I'll keep it in mind if I plan on building another ( which I do !! )

Thanks


----------



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

While i was out food shopping i was thinking of what you could keep in your tank. 

I did have a few ideas. I know when i had newts i stuck with one kind and i didnt need to feed bugs. Just bloodworms and or pellets.

How would you feel about butterfly fish? I just adore them and always personally felt you should be able to few them from above. This tank will allow that and to also see them from the side.
but... then you cant really have too much sharing thier water lvl because of thier huge arrowanna like mouths! lol... My fav ^^

You could have some african froggies... Maybe some gobies if you can find some FW ones.

I was trying so hard to think of somthing that would be able to crawl out of the water....i know my fiddlers dont climb too well, and you have a big gap from the top of the tank from the rocks.
I am just concerned about how they would fair in the FW. 
Red claws are good in FW but much better at the climbing.. So as long as you dont have any wires dangling in you should be good. 

An interesting FW crayfish would be cool... Just need to have some fast fish and your planting would be limited... I know my pearl one loved to snack and re-arrange her java ferns..lol

Anywho... Just ideas..


----------



## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

I was thinking of the butterfly fish, they are very cool if I can find some. I also like the idea of a HUGE school of small tetra's maybe mixed in with some african dwarf frogs or something similar..

I am going out today to pick up some fish supplies so I will have to stop and look at the selection the LFS's offer..

Thanks


----------



## nightowl1350 (Mar 19, 2006)

It looks great! Did you give up on putting the blue rams in it? Newts are cool. My brother had some years ago, but when he was in university I had the job of chopping up worms to feed them...yuck! They would take the worm bits right out of my hand.


----------



## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

nightowl1350 said:


> It looks great! Did you give up on putting the blue rams in it? Newts are cool. My brother had some years ago, but when he was in university I had the job of chopping up worms to feed them...yuck! They would take the worm bits right out of my hand.


I wanted to put the rams in, but I would have one heck of a time keeping the temp high enough. right now the tank is at a constant 79F which is a little cool for rams and the heater is the sump is running at 83F to maintain that temp, any higher and the heater would run 24/7..not to cool for the electric bill or if the heater fails..


----------



## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

Went to the LFS's in my area on Sunday, took a LONG look around both stores and sadly did not see anything of enough interest to warrant me spending any money..

I may have to consider looking at local breeders of fish keepers to find what I am looking for, of course it would help if I had any clue as to what I wanted ??

So once again take a look at the pictures and tell me what fish would you like to see swimming in there ??

Thanks


----------



## holocron (Mar 12, 2006)

a big pack of corys!


----------



## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

holocron said:


> a big pack of corys!


I was thinking that, and saw some nice Panda's on sale at BA's yet it has been so long since I bought pet store fish I found it hard to pull the wallet out..

Oh well I like that idea and may go with it, also looking into hachet fish or the like, so many choices...


----------



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Why not some wild bettas...?? LOL i am so bad.. I'll try to push bettas at every chance 

You know, i picked up two Kuli loaches the other day... I forgot how much i loved them


----------



## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

Betta, Nah have some I liek them but not my favorite fish and not what I want for the looks of the tank, I know I am being so picky...

Choices choices

I am now looking through all my fish books for some idea's


----------



## Bigphil (May 18, 2006)

Hey Jamie, how is that overflow working? I thought you were going to use that tank as an aquarium, the paludarium is a cool idea, you can enter AGA contest this year once you get it running.

I don't know if its been said yet, but mudskippers would be cool.


----------



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Yay!! I agree Phil.. ^^

I did mention but grey doesnt like the idea.. >.> Mehehehe


----------



## chompy (Mar 24, 2006)

i think most mud skippers are brackish water fish. i have been truing to push him to try frogs, but I don't think he likes the idea of feeding bugs.


----------



## Grey Legion (Mar 20, 2006)

You Guys.. 

I love all the idea's it is juts I want to be thoughtful of what I choose and not rush into anything, I may actually be rebuilding the tank over the summer I have a few more idea's i want to try out and the way I planted the plants was not the best and they are suffering from it. I want to make it as perfect as possible or at least to my picky standards.

My new idea may actually be a DIY project lesson for the MFC..


----------



## Westender (Mar 24, 2006)

You should put some killies in. They are used to shallow spots. Just make sure you choose some of the not-too-predatory ones!


----------



## Canadiancray (Apr 27, 2006)

If you put a blue crayfish in there it would trash the plants for sure.


----------



## golfers1 (May 17, 2006)

*killi's*

Grey you may want to try killi's, they are perfect in this environment and they may breed for you.


----------

