Envirobro's Paludarium- DIY 3D Background

Lol it's ok man, was just very confused for minute

 

This is my first time keeping an Oscar Maria and I love it. Yeah I totally agree with you on being a full time aquatic scientist travelling the world and studying different aquatic ecosystems... the dream I am actually about to complete my Masters in Science degree in the next couple months so I need to choose what to do next! I could easily go into consulting but that would mean staying in Jhb and I think I would be very keen to travel a bit first but I need money haha.

 

Thanks @Reedfish. I started the project nearly 3 years ago! I read through the whole thread this morning and I think it is very interesting to see how much my vision for it changed. Initially I wanted Tangs, then I ended up 'adopting' the loaches which changed my plans, then I got the CA and SA cichlids which were awesome until they got too big and finally I had to decide which of the cichlids to keep and I ended up choosing the Oscar and Nicuagra cichlid. I'm not planning on changing it now.

 

An excellent project @EnvironmentalBro! The hard work definitely yielded great results. Looking forward to more updates over time and any future projects. Unfortunately I need to wait for some stability in my living arrangements to setup a truly long-term tank project.

As a PhD student in freshwater river ecology, it's good to see other students doing such great work with aquaria. I'm definitely working towards that dream of working with fish full-time

I know how you feel with regards to best-laid plans as to what you'll do with a tank, and then you "adopt" some homeless fish and you need to accommodate them...

 

Thanks @Nirv my specialty is actually in urban ecology and sustainability so I bow down to your superior knowledge on aquatic ecology. What is your research title? I have the same issue regarding stability in my living situation. I would love to start on some new tank projects but I just don't know what my career plans are yet. Thinking of trying to get some international experience before going into environmental consulting in South Africa. The drought issues in SA also give me some pause when planning these massive projects... big aquarium = big water changes :/ What setup/s are you running currently?

 

I'm still in the early stages but provisionally the project is on functional ecology and species interactions in the Olifants river system, broadly speaking. Looking at understanding our vulnerable/endangered native cyprinids mostly. Lots more detail and specifics to be decided

Environmental consulting is definitely an option, I know some people who have or are working at C4 Eco Solutions, which you should be well-suited to given your qualifications I imagine. Having the urban aspect is probably good to broaden your options rather than focusing on the wilds only

The drought situation is definitely not good for our hobby. I've been making extra efforts to save water where I can to keep maintaining my tanks as part of the 50l/day budget and trying to keep the tanks in a low - maintenance state, but it's not easy.

I used to have many aquaria with a bias towards South American biotopes, but I've had to scale down to one 100l with rescue fish and very old fish that have lived through it all. Striped talking catfish, silver dollars, Pearl gourami, blue acara, torpedo barbs and a driftwood catfish.
I've got a smaller tank for growing out plants and maybe some shrimp or a nano setup is about the most ambitious my plans can get!

I do have big plans for my mothballed 250l and bigger tanks, but they have to wait for now.

 

@Nirv Ah I see, was your Msc. on a similar topic? Good luck with the proposal!

Yeah that is exactly why I chose urban ecology. With the current rate of urbanisation in South Africa, it is becoming more critical to develop sustainable development and biodiversity conservation strategies. My research for the past 4 years has been on urban ecological corridors and testing their functionality. It's really difficult to quantify though because of the complex interactions of urban impacts on 'native' habitat patches. So many factors to take into consideration and none of them easy to understand. I use spatial mapping, vegetation, and mammal analyses to assess potential corridors between protected areas and other habitat fragments in Jhb. It's really interesting and I think completely viable but every time I meet with government to discuss it they always talk about a lack of budget to implement anything right now :/

I just had a look at the C4 EcoSolutions website and I must say it sounds like a great company. Pity it is based in Cpt... I'm really hoping to find something in Jhb. I haven't approached anyone yet. Just focusing on finalising my thesis first.

I can only imagine how tough it is with the drought in Cpt! At least your tanks are relatively small so WC's are not too bad. My Paludarium is at about 550l incl. the sump so not too bad.

 

I actually worked on intertidal (marine) fish thermal physiology and interactions with behavioural traits, so it was much more experimental/lab focused while my current work is very much fieldwork based. I've always wanted to work in freshwater ecosystems, but I really enjoyed my marine fieldwork and keeping fish healthy in lab conditions was good experience.

My undergrad was in Biodiversity and Ecology, so we got training and seminars on urban ecology and conservation topics, especially at Honours level. There's definitely demand for you somewhere

 

Awesome setup @EnvironmentalBro.
I want to do this too but I need to get the right tank for that first. I would probably save money and use Habitat Black to create my background since it will allow me a lot more creativity.
And I would do nano fish or/and Sumurai Gouramis. I love large schools of fish but Sumuria Gourami is my biggest dream fish now.

 

I definitely prefer fieldwork! Yeah if you have worked with marine systems then FW is a breeze. I had a reef aquarium for a couple months and I loved learning more about the water parameters, coral and different organisms that existed within the ecosystem but after awhile the constant algae management and SW WC's got a bit difficult to maintain. Not to mention the costs of getting SW every week. I still want to keep a SW predator tank at some stage but then I will make sure I make it as easy to maintain as possible.

 

What tank do you have in mind @Ladysphinx ? I just did some reading on Habitat Black and it looks really cool! I want to do some touch up work on my paludarium at some stage and this stuff looks perfect for that. I'll have to practice my sculpting skills first though I also want to build an overflow box and will need to cover to match the background. They actually have tutorial on how to do it on their website ().

 

@Reedfish Haha "the Dark Side"... It really depends on what you would like to keep I guess. Some of the hardier (and less expensive) SW predators would be no problem for anyone to look after in a FO or FOWLR setup. A reef is completely different story. I would be incredibly nervous of leaving an inexperienced person in charge of a reef system. Which species would you like to keep?

 

@Reedfish Yeah Lionfish are really easy but feeding an eel with tongs might be a problem for some people. I am a scuba diver so I get to see so many different species SW species in their natural habitat and some of the best predators are just too big to keep in an aquarium unless you can afford a massive one I dived with a full sized Zebra Shark recently and it was absolutely beautiful! I would feel bad putting a species like that in an aquarium. On the other hand some species like Eels and Lionfish generally stick to a very small area on the reef so keeping them in an aquarium is perfect.

 

Me too @Reedfish Patience is definitely part of this hobby! One day...

 

Haha @Reedfish I think I did that myself with my conversation on conservation with @Nirv. Nothing new planned on the paludarium for now so its fine

 

I have a 1.5m x 85cm L x 60cm W, 700l tank. It was custom made but glass wasn't cut neatly so a paludarium with side panels and corner strips might be good to hide the ugly. Side panel was cracked and fix by just placing another glass panel over it. The bottom bracing also won't work for barebottom so my original discus tank Idea is being questioned. I got the tank for next to nothing so I'm not going to complain about it.

I've always wanted to do a paludarium so this tank is the perfect excuse to actually do it.