[flyingSquirrel]

Hey guys, actually I just posted my questions from the above post into a new thread here: http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/73126-paludarium-partition-issue-false-bottom-leca-etc-post644241.html#post644241

thanks

 

[Judy S]

how about this for a wacky idea that would solve ALL your issues about water...since you are already working with acrylic, why not make yourself a "pot" that would snugly fit into the viv...it would be a self-contained unit just for the water elements...having a section in the land area for water accumulation and drawing off is still necessary, but the water area will have your curves...and it's own sides and bottom if you are skilled enough to make curves, you can certainly do this, and seal the acrylic with its own "glue" You'd have essentially a fish tank in a viv tank...!!

 

[flyingSquirrel]

how about this for a wacky idea that would solve ALL your issues about water...since you are already working with acrylic, why not make yourself a "pot" that would snugly fit into the viv...it would be a self-contained unit just for the water elements...having a section in the land area for water accumulation and drawing off is still necessary, but the water area will have your curves...and it's own sides and bottom if you are skilled enough to make curves, you can certainly do this, and seal the acrylic with its own "glue" You'd have essentially a fish tank in a viv tank...!!

Hmmm sounds interesting. My main concern with that idea is since it's a paludarium, I need to have most of the front open to see underwater for viewing the aquatic plants, newt, landscaping. So I'd need the plexi "water container" to have a flat front up against the front glass of the aquarium tank. I think it would look weird having plexi against the glass and it would probably get dirty and grow algae in between. And even if I could somehow prevent that I think it would still be distorted somewhat to view underwater through both layers. Too bad I don't just have a big sexy acrylic tank Thanks for suggestion. I am letting everybody's advice/ideas sink in and we'll see what direction I go.

 

[Steverd]

My room has been pretty hot all summer, tell me more about your Portable Air Conditioner? Does it need to be vented outside? Or more like a swamp cooler?

My windows do not open to put in an AC vent, don't think my wife would let me cut a vent hole into the wall....

Steve

 

[flyingSquirrel]

My room has been pretty hot all summer, tell me more about your Portable Air Conditioner? Does it need to be vented outside? Or more like a swamp cooler?

My windows do not open to put in an AC vent, don't think my wife would let me cut a vent hole into the wall....

Steve

Steve, yeah the AC has to be vented to the outside. And you mentioned the two options- window installation or hole in the wall. The pic I posted of the AC was showing it not installed yet. It's installed now and I have the duct hose going to the window. I had to customize the window panel because it was not tall enough.

I love the AC unit I got, which is the Whynter ARC-12s. It is super nice and works great. The only problem is that I didn't realize how much power it draws when the cooling pump starts up. It is maxing out the circuit panel when it turns on so the lights dim and the other power outlets in the room drop power...good thing I have a very good battery backup surge protector on my computer. The AC draws 15amps when the coolant pump kicks on and the room it's in is wired at 15amps...so yeah, bad idea but I didn't research it first so it's my fault. Anyway it works great and is nice looking and pretty quiet for an AC.

 

[Judy S]

I had to get a portable AC as well...my computer burned out from the heat, so I had a legitimate reason to force my husband into accepting it. It could not be vented outside, so the hose with its flexible hose just runs "wild" out into the kitchen and a fan blows the heated air out of the surrounding area. It's the only solution that I was able to come up with...

 

[Steverd]

I had to get a portable AC as well...my computer burned out from the heat, so I had a legitimate reason to force my husband into accepting it. It could not be vented outside, so the hose with its flexible hose just runs "wild" out into the kitchen and a fan blows the heated air out of the surrounding area. It's the only solution that I was able to come up with...

I might have to do this also, vs cutting a hole in the wall. Or replace the window with a new one that actually opens. Mine are planted and screwed shut with some crazy springs. The house was built in 1959 and these might be the original. BUT I could get a real long hose and run it down the hall and out into the kitchen or living room..

How much does it heat up your kitchen by doing this? My terrariums are also in my computer room. So between the computers and terrariums the room is usually 80+'f in the summer. My central air can't cut it. But maybe I can install another AC vent in that room. But that might be as expensive as replacing a window?

thoughs on cooling?
steve

 

[gnod]

really liking this set up. i'm only doing a 5.5G and resorted to... well plastic containers...

i did the initial set up right now but, may redo it if i can find better supporting foundations.

 

[DragonSpirit1185]

really liking this set up. i'm only doing a 5.5G and resorted to... well plastic containers...

i did the initial set up right now but, may redo it if i can find better supporting foundations.

You're doing a 5½ gallon tank? Or is that a typo?
If it wasn't a typo then why would you be doing a tank so small?

 

[flyingSquirrel]

... The house was built in 1959 ...

Steve, this may be a silly question on my part, but I assume your house's electrical system and breaker panel has been updated to a modern and safe setup? Seeing as the house was build in '59. I am sure it's modern but I am just checking...like I said the AC draws a ton of power.

Good luck with cooling, I hope Judy can offer more insight into the tube out the room method

 

[Judy S]

The hose is expandable...stretches out quite a bit and at the very end I have a pretty hefty fan on the floor which directs the hot air toward the front door. It made me chuckle reading about the 1950's house...ours is a very old, 1800's log house..so there is NO way to make a window through the logs just for my computer and frogs.. The room I'm cooling is only about 8' x 12' so the area is small...and in the winter I have to use a supplementary source of heat...since the only place where there is heat is in the kitchen, over the furnace, with a grate cut into the floor...the "pioneers" were a hardy lot...

 

[flyingSquirrel]

Greetings friends, I am back with more random pics and ideas, but first an update on the partition situation.

I DID drill holes in the partitions, but the holes are not as large as I'd like. The problem was the larger the hole the more the plexi cracked and splintered. I am still debating whether or not to just rip out the partitions or to leave them in and mask them with natural objects. (if you are asking yourself if I am insane enough to drill the plexi while it's siliconed into the aquarium tank, yes, yes I am ..I did put wood behind the plexi each time I drilled so I wouldn't punch through and hit the glass) I like the partitions merely because they provide an easier way to keep the land area "in place" and in the shape I want. But I dislike them because they will be difficult to mask and will probably make it a pain in the arse to arrange rocks and wood. I am letting all these things float around in my mind but I am definitely going to gather up a bunch of nice rocks from my garden.

Once I have the rocks I will experiment with placement and see how they work with the partition. The result of that experimentation will be what pushes me one way or the other regarding the yay or nay on keeping the partition. (In my newt's current paludarium I just have a crapload of rocks and wood built up to lock in some land area. It's mostly a bog and very mucky, but it works and looks pretty good)

I have added a layer of silicone to the inside of the back and sides of the tank where I will be spraying GS foam. So, things are progressing, albeit slowly.

Well, this is embarrassing but now I am doubting whether I want to use the tree root that I've been showing since the beginning.
It IS nice and looks cool...

....... but ........

THESE ARE WAAAAY COOLER!!!

The mopani on the left is new but the rest of the wood there I have had for many years in a few aquariums. In fact I have another sweet piece of bogwood in the current paludarium. I think I will take it out and disinfect it to use in the new build. So, I am torn between my idea of the original tree root in the corner of the tank vs using a few of these awesome pieces on the background and a few in the water section (and maybe emerging from the water up to the land area). I would probably do the mopani wood on the background and the bogwood type submerged. I definitely cannot use the "original" tree root shown earlier AND this wood in the same build because they look so different. Opinions on the new wood choice vs original tree root? (warning, I really really like the new wood pieces )

Got some hydroton at a local nursery for a decent price, probably would have paid the same on the internet after shipping is added.

Also at said nursery I saw a few cool plants. I've never seen a brom this small, I want it so bad. I think it's Vriesea racinae? Either way I will probably not have broms in my paludarium because I am limited on vertical planting area and it's only a 29 Gallon

Also saw this orchid which was absurdly large and of course would not be for a viv. I didn't know orchids could be this large

And finally for those that are interested, the AC installed

 

[FrogFever]

hate to rain on your parade...but silicone will eventually fail...you can't silicone "plastic" to glass...they are incompatible...so having a sort of false bottom under the land mass will be an end run for the eventual deterioration...and you can suck the extra water out of the land portion by following previous posts on how to do that...the only way to really have a dedicated water portion is to just have a 100 % seperate "container" for all the water/pump, waterfall, etc. and have the water spray contained within that water area...I learned all the hard way...

Judy I'm wondering.... would it be okay for him to use glass as the dividing barrier instead of the acrylic? I mean would the silicone properly seal glass to glass and not leak?
I like your "tank inside of a tank" idea btw... I can see that one working out correctly if you were able to find the perfect sized/ shaped bowl.

 

[Judy S]

that might be a possibility...but I think his original configuration involved angles...so unless it were a "geometric" shape, it would probably be too difficult. Might be an interesting experiment with a smaller tank...let me know how it works for you...lol...

 

[flyingSquirrel]

Hey guys, it's been a while, but yes I am still alive . I have a bazillion pics to show and a novel's worth of story to write up, so I will have to do it in chunks. I will tease you though and tell you that the background of the build is already done and curing! It still smells a bit like a toxic waste dump so hopefully that will clear up soon.

I thought I'd start off showing you a few pics of the * OLD * paludarium that my newt is currently still in.

Again, this is the OLD one, not the one in this build.

How about this for a deal...aquatic plant fertilizer bottles for 82 cents per bottle instead of $13 per bottle!!!! I bought all 6 bottles lol yay! I wll of course check first to make sure they are safe to use in my newt tank, but I suspect that it should be ok if I use tiny bits of it pushed into the substrate...it is fish safe after all.

Bought some insane pieces of mopani wood and soaked em for a few days, changing the water each day to remove tannins and junk.

Here is the beginning of the false-bottom build. In this paludarium the water will flow under the land area, and some of the substrate will be soaking wet since it's not tall enough to allow me to fully have the substrate above the water table. The main purpose of the false-bottom in this build is to allow better flow of water so it doesn't get stagnant beneath the land area.

Used some beefy wire cutters to cut the light diffuser "egg-crate" and they worked beautifully.

I drilled some holes in the pvc risers for zip-ties and notched the bottoms to allow water flow. I used an air tool with a grinding bit to create the nice clean notch shape, then used a knife to remove the ragged pvc shreds (lol it looks like I missed a shred in the pic below). Then I zip-tied everything together as you can see in the pics below.

I'll try to post more soon, as there is tons to share with you and I am super pumped about this build. Hope you are enjoying this thread!

 

[DragonSpirit1185]

whats this tank for again?
that's now much land at all.
I thought you was gonna lay a false bottom across the entire back of the tank.

 

[DragonSpirit1185]

I'm wondering.... would it be okay for him to use glass as the dividing barrier instead of the acrylic? I mean would the silicone properly seal glass to glass and not leak?
I like your "tank inside of a tank" idea btw... I can see that one working out correctly if you were able to find the perfect sized/ shaped bowl.

yes you can use glass it's actually preferred over acrylic.
the acrylic will warp but the glass won't..
also tho it depends if you're splitting a tank vertically or horizontal.
I haven't seen anyone take like a 55g and split it into 2 vert.
I kinda want to but lighting would be a pain...

but yeah I would use glass cause te acrylic or plexiglass will eventually warp. i made somewhat of a paludarium for my green tree frogs and the plexiglass eventually warped and developed a small leak.

eventually the water started filling up the land side where my false bottom was

 

[flyingSquirrel]

whats this tank for again?
that's now much land at all.
I thought you was gonna lay a false bottom across the entire back of the tank.

This is a paludarium, and it will be housing my 99% aquatic newt. I thought I was going to have land at the back as well but as time went on it evolved.

 

[DragonSpirit1185]

This is a paludarium, and it will be housing my 99% aquatic newt. I thought I was going to have land at the back as well but as time went on it evolved.

if i'm not mistaken your newt is large?

 

[flyingSquirrel]

if i'm not mistaken your newt is large?

Not really. About 4" long.