# Planted Tanks > Vivariums >  Just to share my Paludarium

## real

Was inspired by the amazing vivariums/paludariums in this forum that i started a Paludarium project last Aug 2005. I reused my 3"x2"x2" marine tank for the setup.

I used these black textured styrophoam as the background.

For the land/raised area, I cut these kitchen trays into an "L" shape to fit into my tank overflow section

Then I fill the trays with clay beads for better water drainage

The next step is to fill the substrate with fine river gravels. The powerhead/pump is hidden under one of the tray, it will suck water up the tube and distribute towards the waterfall sections on top.

These are granite rocks of various shapes purchased from Mainland Tropical Fish Farm. Very heavy and expensive (charged by per kg). I especially love the long shaped rock, which looks like a steep cliff when erected.

The 3 big rocks formed the main landscape/rockscape of the tank. Later water will flow down this rocks to create a waterfall effect.

This is the initial completed setup of the tank. Water still brownish due to the garden soil. Need several rounds of water changes to keep it crystal clear.

This is a closeup of the left side rockscape. Love this cute little crab, but could not keep it alive in the long run after several tries. Anyone can advise? I wanted to hide/cover the water tubing with some moss/plants, but could not find suitable ones. Any advice?

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## |squee|

Man, why 9 posts all with attachments?  :Smile:  Try to put stuff in a single post, much easier to read. Consult Justikanz please.

I feel the brownish water tint makes it all the more natural-looking. I assume you're going to plant up the right side?

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## real

This is the tank today, which is six months later. Not well maintained, I could have done better if my momentum were to keep up, but my lovely baby boy arrived and I have to switch priorities  :Smile: 

Sorry for the multiple posts. First time doing this, don't know how to upload multiple pictures. Only realise after your advise ;P

That's all I have folks.

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## Fei Miao

Welcome to AQ, nice , you were off to a good start and could have done so much more with this tank  :Roll Eyes:  hope to see this tank flourish again  :Smile:

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## real

Many thanks to Justikanz for consolidating my posts. Will try to find time to enhance the paludarium  :Smile:

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## gorilla83

think it'll look really nice when it's matured =)
nice crab  :Cool:

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## iver74

Nice job. Lots of potential.

1 question: Will that red crab mess up your plants?

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## planted86

wow.. nice tank... will the crab go into the water and catch the fishes?? :Huh?:

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## real

actually the crab don't like to stay in water, it likes to climb on the rocks & background. Somehow I have no luck keeping this type of crab, I have tried several times but failed to keep them. Gave up now. Anyone have good experience with this cutie crab?

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## planted86

think its mangrove crab...

by the way... is the potted plant in the tank?? or is it behind the tank??

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## richietay

nice setup u have there, guess be more natural look once matured! maybe if your mangrove crab not able to make it, 'Touchwood!'

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## planted86

hmmm... what crab is that??

maybe you would want to do a research on the crab first before you try it again??

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## chayedan

i find the tank setup very cool... simulates a natural cliff-scape very well. and u're absolutely right - the long piece of rock DOES resemble a steep cliff very much  :Smile:  imagine getting some hardier crabs to populate ur tank! it'll look so beautiful!

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## dnomyaj

if i'm not wrong this crab is a salt water crab,so it doesnt survive on fresh water,i think so

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## aquarius

Your base or "foundation" looks good but it'll be very much better if you can add more veggitation in it. What happened to your plant that was tied to the wood that's in the water area? I thought that looks really good with it! I prefer the pic which has more veggitation on it.

As for the crab, if i'm not wrong it's a fiddler crab (salt water). Go look for a freshwater crab.

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## budak

It's a fiddler crab... they live on muddy shores and dig holes in the mud to hide in. Also require marine water conditions.

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## Synthesia

The tank looks cool but the crab looks lonely =/

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## real

It has been almost one year since I last updated my tank on this thread. I was browsing the previous posts, and felt really appreciative of the encouragement you guys provided even though my tank was so bare and boring back then  :Razz:  

Hence I thought I should share my joy & fun with you guys since I am super free this week. In the last 12 months, I have added more flora into my paludarium, and most of them have strived very well for quite some time already. I also kept some froggies and a fire-belly newt in it. In order to provide more hunting ground for the froggies, I added another dry land or island section on the front right of the tank. You can see a picture of the wetland look before the island was added.

I have become quite crazy for froggies nowadays  :Jump for joy:  Currently in the paludarium, there are 1 dumpy, 1 pair of copper-cheek and 1 four-lined tree frog. Hope to add other species if chances arrived  :Evil:  

Enjoy and please give me your advice as usual !!!

WetLand look before adding another dry land:


Side View from Left


Side View from Right


Front View

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## real

More froggies pics  :Jump for joy:  

Moderators - I hit 1MB attachments limit, so could not upload more pics even after deleting older pics. Anyway I can upload more attachments?

Ok, let me try to link to AQ's gallery:

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## David Moses Heng

Cool Man!!! :Shocked:  

By the way, what are the plants that you use in there? Are they ready available?

Cheers!!

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## Justikanz

You can upload your pictures at the AQ gallery. Read this: http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=17940

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## Fei Miao

well done, the tank looks great! :Well done:  how big are the copper cheeks and four lines?

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## real

> well done, the tank looks great! how big are the copper cheeks and four lines?


thanks bro. The female copper-cheek is about 6cm, male copper-cheek about 4cm, and four-lined about 5cm. I suspect the female copper-cheek is pregnant as her tummy look really big lately, not sure though, no experience  :Razz: . Anyone knows how long is the gestation period of tree frogs before giving birth to tadpoles?




> Cool Man!!! 
> 
> By the way, what are the plants that you use in there? Are they ready available?
> 
> Cheers!!


thanks bro. Yes the plants I used are readily available either bought from florist farms or harvested from gardens/parks.

I am pretty poor at identifying plants. Here is a list of some emersed plants I used to the best of my knowledge:

- Fossiden moss
- Mini moss
- Pink StarLite bromeliad
- Green bromeliad (???)
- Birdnest fern (mini)
- Staghorn fern (mini)
- Airplant (???)
- Orchid (???)
- Pickerel Weed (???)
- Palm Tree (mini)
- Nanas 
- local creeper ferns (???)

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## Justikanz

> Anyone knows how long is the gestation period of tree frogs before giving birth to tadpoles?


Frogs lay eggs.

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## real

:Laughing:   :Laughing:   :Laughing:  I guess I am too much into seahorse breeding last time, still thinking of pregnant seahorse carrying unborn babies during gestation.

ok let me rephrase my question - does frog with heavy tummy (assuming it is not due to overfeeding) indicate that it is going to lay egg soon? If so, how long before it starts laying eggs. And how long does it takes for the eggs to hatch into tadpoles  :Razz:  

thanks.

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## subundaortus

Beautiful! I applaud your efforts. Keep us updated on your progress.

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## DIA

Nice setup.

Currently planning to convert to paludarium. How do you create your curve dry land?

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## chiaki23

just wondering where can we can four line tree frogs in singapore. and what other frogs are available

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## Justikanz

Chiaki23, 4-lined tree frogs are local frogs but they are not in the AVA approved list of amphibian pets. Please check the list before asking the question. Thank you.

Please note that the population of 4-lined tree frogs are decreasing and illegal poaching for such frogs are not encouraged and is illegal in Singapore.

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## blackBRUSHalgae

Is your 4-lined tree frog under the species name Hyperolius marmoratus? I read from the web that it needs full spectrum UV light to bring out its colours.

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