Paludarium Construction Photo Journal

[TimsViv]

I've been getting a lot of "how'ed you build that" questions, so I thought I would post a construction journal.

The finished product.

Tim

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Dry Fit.

The plexiglass has been curved and siliconed into place.
A shelf has been cut and fitted onto the plexiglass to create a cave area
(to maximize the land and water areas).

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Cork Bark

Cork Bark has been siliconed to the back wall of the tank above the water line.
Rocks, gravel, and bog wood have been siliconed to the back wall under the water line.

I routered out a channel in the bottom of some Ghost wood to fit on top of the plexiglass.
The only place the plexiglass is visable is the front of the tank.
The wood also allows for easy egress, should any of the land dwellers fall in the water.

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Rear View of Tank

Rear view of the tank, showing P-glass, Cork Bark, Wood, Gravel, and Rocks silconed to rear wall.

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Bottom View

This is the bottom view of the tank. Notice silicone was not spared, except on the front viewable portition of the tank.

The tank was predrilled with two (2) holes on one side. In hindsight, I would have gotten a tank drilled on both sides,
one side to drain the land side and one side for an overflow drain on the water side.

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Water Supply Line

Notice the perferated water supply tubing running along the rear of the tank and through the cave area.
The idea is to flush out detris from behind the rocks and cave area.

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Overflow Drain

Having an overflow drain was necessary in maintaining a constant water level.
Notice the overflow drain (right rear), running through the land/water divider and through the tank bottom.
This is the reason, I should have bought a tank that was drilled in both corners.
I made it work but it could have been far easier.

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Sump and Filters

The Sump made a lot of since once I got more involved with the project.
I use the Sump to house the filters and 2 water heaters.
The water from the overflow drains into a home built filter box.
I, also, use an Eheim canister filter to fine polish the water.
Then I planted the sump to help with water quality control.

The sump lights are also on timers opposite the display tank.
The sump is lit at night while the display is dark and vise/versa.
My original thinking was at night the sump plants would give off Oxygen for the display tank,
while the display plants created CO2 that would be pumped into the sump.
However, I now believe there is too much water agitation to maintain CO2.
It does, however stabilize the PH levels very well.

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Waterfall and Lagoon.

Close-up of the right side of the tank.
Flexable water line was concealed in the corkbark background and plumbed to this waterfall.
It keeps the back wall wet and allows for lush plant growth.

The cork bark curl in the right rear corner conceals the water supply line and the Eheim supply line.

[TimsViv]

Tank & Sump

Here is an overview of the entire operating system.

All of the lights are on timers (the sump and display lights are scheduled opposite of one another).
The lights on the display tank are, also, timed to light gradually, simulating dawn and dusk.

A UPS backup system is used for the pumps, only, in case of a power outage.

The mag drive pump pumps the water to 4 valves,
one operates the perforated supply line that runs along the back wall of the tank,
two operate 2 different waterfalls in the tank and the 4th is for a "Rain Bar" in the hood over the land area.
I use the rain bar for water changes, just open the valve, rain on the land area, then refill the sump.

The valved line in the left rear corner under the tank (in the cabinet) is a drain for the land side.
It allows me to drain the land side to prevent the substraight from becoming water logged.