# Planted Tanks > Vivariums >  15g Paludarium journal

## gy960

There's an error, cant upload any pics. Not sure how to delete this thread

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## gy960

Siliconed the corkbark to the tank.


Used a combination of cable ties and light diffuser grid to create a raised platform for my driftwood.


Siliconed extra grid to the bottom as a support for the cork later on.


Back view.


Siliconed a few driftwood branches to the cork wall.


Initial hardscape.

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## gy960

Initial planting. Took some wild plants from a nearby drain.

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## David

WOW!!! NICE!!! what kind of plants are you having in the tank? Is there any kind of aquatic soil in there? If there isn't, how does the plant get their nutrients?

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## gy960

Some of the wild plants and ferns melted due to a change in conditions. The ones that survived were doing great. Due to a lack of misting (Cant possibly mist the tank every hour), most of the moss and fern wilted. Thus, I changed the filter intake and made a rainbar for the outflow. As a result, I have created a drip wall (more like a waterfall), which opens up new spaces for planting  :Smile: 


After 2 weeks of not growing and not dying, I came home from school one day to find a new leave  :Very Happy: 


After a few days. Everyweek, a new leave is put out now  :Very Happy: 


Added a Crispy Wave fern, and did a rescape.


Full tank shot (12 September 2013)


Top View


Pink Cryptanthus aquiring a stronger pink colouration.


Added mondo grass.



Added Brazilian pennywort.


Cultivating emersed water sprite.


Trying to adapt my Downoi into emersed form.


Christmas moss getting lush.


Christmas moss growing emerse. It's so small and cute  :Very Happy: 


The star moss turned brown and soggy, but came back to life.

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## gy960

> WOW!!! NICE!!! what kind of plants are you having in the tank? Is there any kind of aquatic soil in there? If there isn't, how does the plant get their nutrients?


Yeah, the substrate is ADA Amazonia, ANS Substrate, and some leftover H.E.L.P plant soil.

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## gy960

I was shocked to find that my nitrate levels were off the roof (>200ppm). Because with the drip wall, water enters the substrate and flows out into the water column via small pores in my cork partition (I did not waterproof it back then). Thus, I added a few fast growing plants and did regular water changes to curb this problem until the system stabilizes itself. I'm quite surprised that my otos, ember tetras, and cories survived 2 weeks of dangerously high nitrate levels  :Sad:  Gonna buy treats for them after this is over.

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## thebaldingaquarist

very nice paludarium!

I cannot really tell how the water flows in the tank. does the water fall hit the soil and then floods the soil column, which then the water overflows and goes into the pool below?

The nitrate levels are low right now? when the fast growing plants are removed, does it come back up?

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## blue33

Actually if you DIY a rainbar with less holes and water behind the cork bark will be better, the moist will absorb to the front of the cork bark, the moss will not be so wet and they will grow much nicer, too wet it'll get burn by the lighting, just like sun goes thru a magnifying glass on a object.

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## gy960

Nope, the land area doesn't overflow. As the cork is separated into different pieces in order to achieve the curved shaped, there are small holes in the gaps between the cork pieces, which allows water from the land area to drain into the water column. The nitrates are still quite high as I've only added water sprite not long ago.

Yeah, I didn't think that I would add a rain bar before. My original plan was to mist the cork occasionally, but it dries up too fast (Didn't want a closed tank because too hot). 
I didn't notice any sign of burn on the moss so far, but keeping my fingers crossed :X

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## eddy planer

Hi gy960

I must confess..you did it very well  :Well done:  I love it so much . Now you had already given me the right inspiration to set up another one ..smaller version lah.
blue33 is right about moss will sunburn, however it would even better if you close the tank opening with either an acrylic plate or glass plate . you will improve with a better humid control and environment ( no sun burn)for your flora to bloom with full colour. Dont worry about about your tank getting too hot. Remember the temperature of the vivarium and paludarium , is normally 38 to 40 deg c but the RH will remain 80 to 90. And with the help of your rain bar will continue to moist your cork bark, moss and all the flora with a very healthy manner like the stream wriggle along the humid jungle..oh my I really fall in love with your set up!

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## gy960

Ooh thanks  :Smile:  Haha its so weird, my inspiration came from one of your huge vivarium or paludarium!! Pity it was torn down  :Sad:  
There are better ways to set up my tank though, as there is a high chance for mine to develop anaerobic pockets deep in the land area.

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## AQMS

Beautiful!!  :Well done:  :Well done:

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## Zenith82

Beautifully designed and setup! Do note the bird nest fern is going to grow very big in time to come. Also note the Pink Cryptanthus roots will rot if the soil is soaking wet.
Overall aesthetically nice!

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## cdckjn

Well Done on a Nice Paludarium

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## eddy planer

Dear me...it's really a great pity that a beautiful setup torn down...you should have put up for sale, and I am willing to buy it from you...so when are you going to set up another project? BTW, do try another tank like Exo Terra, from there you will be able to advance yourself to next adventure.

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## gy960

> Beautifully designed and setup! Do note the bird nest fern is going to grow very big in time to come. Also note the Pink Cryptanthus roots will rot if the soil is soaking wet.
> Overall aesthetically nice!


Oh, the crispy wave variety would not reach the mammoth size of the common bird nest fern, would only max at 25 cm across, and it would take a longggg time. 
I wouldn't worry about the cryptanthus on the right side as it is way above the water table, and has been there quite a while. But I would probably relocate or prop up the one on the left.




> Dear me...it's really a great pity that a beautiful setup torn down...you should have put up for sale, and I am willing to buy it from you...so when are you going to set up another project? BTW, do try another tank like Exo Terra, from there you will be able to advance yourself to next adventure.


Eh? Oh I was referring to your huge tank that was torn down (I think). Mine is still with me to date  :Very Happy: 
But I'm worried about my paludarium's maintenance as I will be going for NS in less than 2 years time.

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## gy960

This was my previous tank before I tore it down, and used the same tank to create my current paludarium. 
Quite a pity though, as it was a submission for AGA 2012  :Sad:

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## eddy planer

LOL! :Razz:  Oops didn't read it probably.. :Embarassed: 

Yeah , I'm soon going to set up another one but not now, however my plan is to hire two Bangla to clear the termites infested woods and everything first .Then I will have to order more 3kg cork barks, 40-50 kg of gravel and 70kg lava rocks to create like this picture

From there I will build waterfall to flow down the DIY buttressroot

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## eddy planer

hi gy960

oops sorry i didn't able to upload this picture in my posting earlier..

Like i say earlier the water fall will flow down the like this DIY buttress root

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## gy960

Looking awesome already  :Very Happy:  I can imagine plants protruding out here and there.

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## fatmax

> hi gy960
> 
> oops sorry i didn't able to upload this picture in my posting earlier..
> 
> Like i say earlier the water fall will flow down the like this DIY buttress root


Helloo eddy. Thank you for all your sharing. May I now ask how do you diy this massive root? Are the roots fake and sculpted from something?

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## Zenith82

> hi gy960
> 
> oops sorry i didn't able to upload this picture in my posting earlier..
> 
> Like i say earlier the water fall will flow down the like this DIY buttress root


Wow, Eddy did you DIY this piece of background? I want one too... when free come share share.

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## gy960

FTS: October 2013.
Siliconed more cork bark to the left side of glass to create one more drip wall.

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## TS168

It a beautiful scape. Thanks for sharing.  :Well done:

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## kennethc

Beautiful set up  :Smile: 
Quite successful i must say. Are you planning to add land fauna?

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## gy960

Thanks  :Smile: 

Kennethc: Not planning to add land fauna because I'm not a fan of covered tanks  :Opps:

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## Merviso

Very nice setup! Really give me lots of inspiration to setup my new tank...  :Grin:

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## kennethc

May i ask you where did you get the thin pieces of driftwood?

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## gy960

I bought them from East Ocean Aquarium at 22 Havelock Rd, used to be Keong Seong Fish Shop

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## Aventador

Really nice setup. Need alot of creativity and patience to plan the landscape. Well done!

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## Mystikboy

May I know how you contained the soil for the land area..? Thanks!

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## gy960

For the boundary, siliconed cork bark flats to the bottom tank, reinforced with eggcrate. Then I added a layer of 5 cm pebbles for the bottom so that i no need to use so much substrate. Substrate is alternating layers of gravel and ada amazonia and ans aquatic plant soil. I didnt use any bags to contain the soil, just treated the land area as a container.

For the raised area on the right, I used terrace method using corkbark to hold upper substrate.

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## Mystikboy

Thanks for the reply! May I ask, wouldn't the soil leak out from between the cork bark gaps..?

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## gy960

Nope, I used silicone to fill up the gaps btw each cork flat. There are tiny holes here and there, which are too big for the soil granules to pass through, but large enough for excess water on land area to drain off into water body. Thats why I only used aquarium soil. 
Its been a few months alr, so far no cloudy water caused by that.

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## ananthan

Really amazing. Lots of patience and hardwork. Awesome pal.

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## gy960

*FTS (7 December 2013)
*Added beach area on left. Redid the rockwork and also added more driftwood that I've bought from Hong Kong's Goldfish street.




The "beach"

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## gy960

*FTS (14 December 2013)* 
Removed the fern on the top left. Covered the lighting on both ends to create shade for the cryptanthus.

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## AQMS

Beautiful... :Well done:

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## aquanick

very nice.. i really liked the way water sprite was growing in the water column.. why did you take it off?  :Very Happy:

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## gy960

I could never grow water sprite immersed, tried many times haha. It would always melt in the end even after adaptation, while the rest of the plants are doing fine, even the asian ambulia.

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## serialain

Your tank is inspiring me to do one myself one day. May I know how you attached the moss to the cork wall? Looks really nice and natural. Also, do you have to keep the rainbar on all the time, or only for a set period each day? I feel like transplanting some moss from my garden haha. Thanks!

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## gy960

> Your tank is inspiring me to do one myself one day. May I know how you attached the moss to the cork wall? Looks really nice and natural. Also, do you have to keep the rainbar on all the time, or only for a set period each day? I feel like transplanting some moss from my garden haha. Thanks!


Thanks haha. I just stuff a tiny piece of moss into some nooks and crannies on the corkbark. Then it spreaded very quickly. 

Yeah, the rainbar is on 24/7, because I want some sort of flow in the tank. So the corkbark is like a 'waterfall' on the back and sides. 

Btw, I drilled the holes myself, bought the solid tubes from c328. I used a hammer and thick needles. Holes at the back tube are fewer and smaller compared to the sides. Quite easy to bore the holes actually.

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## gy960

Sadly, I am selling this set up away as I will be away for national service soon, no more time for maintainance.

Link to ad Posting:
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ludarium-Setup

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## neontiger92

where did you get the cripsy wave fern?

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