Paludarium version 1 - testing,testing

Discussion in 'Members Systems' started by azurekoi, Dec 16, 2010.

  1. azurekoi

    azurekoi Loaches & Gobies

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    Had this old corner tank lying round and spent the day carving polystyrene for it to be turned into a little test paludarium(messy...) - this is the "basics"... Decided to carve the thick flat base land area into a 3 legged cave,anchoring it to the base of the aquarium - do that on the weekend... Will give the White clouds that it will house more swimming space and about double the initial 10liters of aquarium(water) space... Got a nice deep planting pocket on the land base as well as a little waterfall and stream bed(that will act as the filter....Couldnt find a internal filter small enough for it... )
    Lighting will initialy be by CFL,but might upgrade to T5's later if needed...



    F-fish suggested to spraypaint the poly as I hate the white look - do that in a brown with green highlights - will soon be covered in terestrial mosses any way...
    Any thoughts from you lot? Let it rip...

    16Dec2010 034.jpg

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    16Dec2010 033.jpg
     
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  3. Vis

    Vis Gerhard

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    Interesting start. With what did you carve the polystyrene? Did you use normal spray paint?
    How are you keeping the polystyrene down?

    Cool looking hard scape so far.
    Gerhard
     
  4. OP
    azurekoi

    azurekoi Loaches & Gobies

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    The 3 piecesof the base 1st got siliconed together and left to dry - used sheet if 75mm x 3 for this...
    want to carve it into a 3 legged pillar tonight after work + then spraypaint it... the back is from old TV packaging...

    Used a knife first,then burned it with a lighter and touched up with a soldering iron...
     
  5. WaRn00b

    WaRn00b

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    Wow.. very interesting Mr. azurekoi!!

    Please keep us updated!! :D
     
  6. OP
    azurekoi

    azurekoi Loaches & Gobies

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    Will do Warnoob - off to Builders during lunch hour to sort out lights and get some paint... bit more carving tonight and then the painting...should be ready for planting by the weekend...
     
  7. Whipme

    Whipme Microsword

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    Looks cool, and should shape up nicely once the caves are carved and the scape is painted.
     
  8. OP
    azurekoi

    azurekoi Loaches & Gobies

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    O.k .... hard day at work but got time to nip out to Builders and grab the spraypaint and got a nifty all-in-one T4 4200K light unit for like R120.... carved the "cave" and spraypainted the sucker... Must still do touch ups wit 2 colours green and a lighter brown craft paint to give it a more "aged" look....

    Happy with the lowish Kelvin rating 'cos both aquatic(Java fern and moss) and terrestrial(Bromeliad spc and moss) dont demand high light anyway... Cave came out pretty cool - even though you cant see it all that well in the photos...

    @f-fish ... spray paint realy came through awesomely dude,thanx... Just a quick question: How long does the curing take and how did you do it? In tank with carbon or just leave it for a coupla weeks?

    Much happier with it tonight,chomping at the bit to get it up and running now,but 3 decades of fishkeeping has taught me SOME patients ....lol

    Some pics...crappy,I know - but I'm a biologist,not an award winning nature photographer(yet...lol)
    First one shows the light unit @ top of pic and second what it looks like when it is on.....
    Getting "dik" excited about this.... off to Safari on Monday for some of the terestrial plants... cant wait!!

    17Dec 012.jpg

    17Dec 008.jpg
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 2, 2016
  9. Firefly

    Firefly Pleco

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    Looks good man. What spray paint did you use?
     
  10. f-fish

    f-fish #unspecified

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    Good job ... really like the 3 pillars. Curing should not be to much of a problem - give it a good wash in the shower then dump it in the tank .. run it for a while with some extra carbon just in case.

    Later Ferdie
     
  11. OP
    azurekoi

    azurekoi Loaches & Gobies

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    @Firefly ...thanx dude... Got it from Builders... called Spray Mate.... Seems to be the only kind that doesnt glitter or glow-in -the dark that the Zambezi branch stocks...

    @f-fish: +1 on this one mate...worked like a charm... never had a shower with anything from my myriad tanks in the past,but hey,love new experiences....lol. Got a new bag of Boyu carbon to pop in with it once I touch up with some craft paint tomorrow eve...
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 2, 2016
  12. Vis

    Vis Gerhard

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    Really nice Azurekoi,glad you doing it first so I can follow with my 3ft.
    Did you use only a brown?
     
  13. OP
    azurekoi

    azurekoi Loaches & Gobies

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    He,he, Gerhard - so Im the lab rat...like it...

    Spray painted it last night and it stank to high heaven...dropped it on the shower floor this morning and much better...
    So far only used one colour brown - gonna touch up tonight after work with a lighter brown and 2 greens - using a non toxic craft paint(Plaka) for that....

    Running round the nursery this morning pulling bits of moss of moss off the cycads.... Settled on a Bromeliad species for the planting pocket + gonna see if I can get some "Peace in the home" going...mosses on the wall...

    Underwater planting will just be Java moss and the Willow type of Java fern....

    @Vis ... You asked how I'm gonna keep the polystyrene down - good ol Aquarium silicone on floor and walls of tank.... Poly touches everywhere,so should hold and not float(I hope...)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 2, 2016
  14. Vis

    Vis Gerhard

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    Well the title does say testing :)
     
  15. OP
    azurekoi

    azurekoi Loaches & Gobies

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    Yip,that is the idea....Sort of like a test run for the bigger(75 x 50w x 1m high - water depth round 30cm...) - want to eliminate snags with 1 or 2 smaller ones before tackling the big guy.... Obviously,the big guy will cost a bit,so dont want it to be a disaster from the word go...

    Some of my more scarce Nepenthes orchids will be going in this one,so want to get it RIGHT from the word go...Looking at installing a small aircon unit to controll the humidity and a profilux II aquarium controler to regulate it...
     
  16. Vis

    Vis Gerhard

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    1m ? Should be very interesting.

    Also getting the last bits together for my 3ft paludarium so want to see
    how you progress and then just adapt for mine.

    Going to use sundews so will be running the humidity a bit high. Will use a sonic fogger to achieve this
    and it ads a very cool effect. You should have a look maybe you can use one 2.

    Gerhard
     
  17. WaRn00b

    WaRn00b

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    Woo-hoo!!! That looks damn nice mr. azurekoi!!!

    Will be following this thread closely!! I'm watchin you dave!! :p :bigsmile:

    [​IMG]
     
  18. OP
    azurekoi

    azurekoi Loaches & Gobies

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    @Vis ... Youre gonna have the same headache as me with the sundews how to keep the nutrient rich aquarium water away from the carniverous plants... I am adament that i want a watrfall in the build,gonna be quite tricky to keep this away from the carniverous plants...

    Luckily my Nepenthes can almost be grown epiphyticly,so came up with the idea of weaving loose pots out of Willow branches and filling them with the coconut chunks and planting them in there - then suspend them between crosswise bendy branches of Sekelbos - will look like jungle vines criss crossing up into the hights.... + have got a bit of "old mans beard" to complete the effect...

    Tried sonic foggers - should work well with your Sundews,as it forms a misty layer at the bottom of the tank - however with the Monkey cups suspended so high up (and the exact temp/humidity changes that they need between day and night) - will need something a bit more "controllable"...
     
  19. Vis

    Vis Gerhard

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    Also want a waterfall but on a small scale and kind of figured out how to keep
    the water a way from the sundews. Have to keep the waterfall below the planted area.
    This will work in my idea(scape) but would be a propblem otherwise.
     
  20. WaRn00b

    WaRn00b

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    Yo dude..

    Here's some inspiration for you!! :bigsmile:

    [​IMG]
     
  21. OP
    azurekoi

    azurekoi Loaches & Gobies

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    Hey,like my little guy - just supersized...lol

    Putting the final paint touches on this morning and siliconing the poly in place today... + going plant shopping this afternoon...yipee!!!
     

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