MrDankYT
Fish Fanatic
About maybe a month ago i emptied my 100 gallon aquarium to make it into a paludarium, to make it i took plastic sheets and cut them out into the rough shape the islands would be like, after that i took spray foam and made a background on the aquarium and foamed the final shape of the islands.
After the foam cured i painted the foam black with spray paint (no need to comment if it's safe i did a lot of research and picked the right one which is safe) after that had dried i took aquarium safe silicone and covered the entire foam in it, for the part where there would be water i first threw some pebbles on the foam and then sand, i would then press the sand up into the silicone so it would get a good grip then grab a new clean vacuum bag and sucked up all of the lose sand and pebbles, then emptied out the vacuum bag to reuse the sand and pebbles later.
For the part there would be air i first took coco husk chips and threw some on then the dirt you usually have when making terrariums that come in blocks which you soak in water, and pressed it down so it would stick, then sucked up the loose bits with the vacuum.
Before i foamed the tank i put a plastic tube along the back of the tank leading to where the waterfall would be, this would be connected to the output of my canister filter.
After this i took the two big plants of Asparagus Plumosus, now for the other plants there are polypodium vulgare that grow naturally on the sides of mountains and hills in Sweden, they are mainly popular for use in survival foraging food as the roots are very sweet and kind of resemble liquorice.
They actually look really tropical so i thought they would fit in well with the other asparagus plumosus since it matches the colors really good, for the moss i also took it from the side of mountains here in Sweden, it's really thick moss and looks really good with the other plants, and yes i did take all the necessary precautions needed when taking stuff from outside to take into your aquarium/paludarium/terrarium/vivarium so no need to comment about that either.
For substrate in the tank i used sand which i already had, this sand is really recommended in Sweden to use in aquariums and it's called blasting sand, costs about 7$ for a 25kg sack, and i only used about 10-15kg i also used pebbles from before which i took from another aquarium i have, i also used some larger rocks that i also had laying around.
I also built a cave for my synodontis catfish (synodontis eupterus) out of shale, but for some reason he only likes to hang out under the wave maker. after this i just filled up the tank and let it cycle, and after that i put in the fish, which did really great and it all looks really beautiful now.
I also noticed the amano shrimp i have climbing up into the waterfall and sitting in the currents, but now that she released her batch of eggs she stopped doing that, so that might have just been an attempt to spread the zoe's out more, cool!
Another problem i have is the loads of Malaysian trumpet snails that keep trying to and actually succeeding in getting into the filter, they climb up the tube and then into the canister filter which is really annoying, i do think i found a solution for this though which was to put a bit of mosquito netting between the tube and the canister filter.
Approximate cost for everything:
Spray foam, 6 cans: 3.5$ each, 21$ in total.
Spray paint, 1 can: 7$
Silicone, 1 tube: 10$
Sand and pebbles: 10$
Dirt and coco husk: 8$
Stones: 10-20$
Plants: 10$
Aquatic plants: 5$
Plastic sheet: 5$
Price in total: 86-96$
Price for me since i already had some items (sand, pebbles, dirt, coco husk, stones, aquatic plants, and plastic sheet): 56-66$
Inhabitants:
5 Colombian tetras
7 Rummynose tetras
3 Five banded barbs (there used to be 12)
4 Sterbai corydoras
1 Featherfin synodontis
5 kuhli loaches
2 amano shrimps
2 Hypancistrus Sp. "L066"
3 Lemon Bristlenose Plecos
One of the local pet shops are having a sale now since they are closing down their fish tanks and they have black skirt tetras which i think are really beautiful, 10 for 11$, then i think i should get more five banded barbs now since most of the last ones died out over time.
Should i only go for the five banded barbs or will the black skirt tetras fit as well?
Here are the photos of the finished project:
From the front:
https://i.ibb.co/tKzBKBn/IMG-20191102-170013-9.jpg
The left:
https://i.ibb.co/qsXbLTW/IMG-20191102-170025-0.jpg
The middle:
https://i.ibb.co/tsqK7mP/IMG-20191102-170037-3.jpg
The right:
https://i.ibb.co/x5RhYmL/IMG-20191102-170033-5.jpg
The waterfall:
https://i.ibb.co/px2L7dM/IMG-20191102-170048-0.jpg
The right island:
https://i.ibb.co/NnN94B4/IMG-20191102-170052-3.jpg
The left island:
https://i.ibb.co/mXD09wN/IMG-20191102-170058-9.jpg
View from the left island to the right:
https://i.ibb.co/Mnzhspw/IMG-20191102-170107-9.jpg
The view from above:
https://i.ibb.co/pRLXCRG/IMG-20191102-170202-7.jpg
Everything seen through superview:
https://i.ibb.co/DzT4d45/IMG-20191102-170139-6.jpg
After the foam cured i painted the foam black with spray paint (no need to comment if it's safe i did a lot of research and picked the right one which is safe) after that had dried i took aquarium safe silicone and covered the entire foam in it, for the part where there would be water i first threw some pebbles on the foam and then sand, i would then press the sand up into the silicone so it would get a good grip then grab a new clean vacuum bag and sucked up all of the lose sand and pebbles, then emptied out the vacuum bag to reuse the sand and pebbles later.
For the part there would be air i first took coco husk chips and threw some on then the dirt you usually have when making terrariums that come in blocks which you soak in water, and pressed it down so it would stick, then sucked up the loose bits with the vacuum.
Before i foamed the tank i put a plastic tube along the back of the tank leading to where the waterfall would be, this would be connected to the output of my canister filter.
After this i took the two big plants of Asparagus Plumosus, now for the other plants there are polypodium vulgare that grow naturally on the sides of mountains and hills in Sweden, they are mainly popular for use in survival foraging food as the roots are very sweet and kind of resemble liquorice.
They actually look really tropical so i thought they would fit in well with the other asparagus plumosus since it matches the colors really good, for the moss i also took it from the side of mountains here in Sweden, it's really thick moss and looks really good with the other plants, and yes i did take all the necessary precautions needed when taking stuff from outside to take into your aquarium/paludarium/terrarium/vivarium so no need to comment about that either.
For substrate in the tank i used sand which i already had, this sand is really recommended in Sweden to use in aquariums and it's called blasting sand, costs about 7$ for a 25kg sack, and i only used about 10-15kg i also used pebbles from before which i took from another aquarium i have, i also used some larger rocks that i also had laying around.
I also built a cave for my synodontis catfish (synodontis eupterus) out of shale, but for some reason he only likes to hang out under the wave maker. after this i just filled up the tank and let it cycle, and after that i put in the fish, which did really great and it all looks really beautiful now.
I also noticed the amano shrimp i have climbing up into the waterfall and sitting in the currents, but now that she released her batch of eggs she stopped doing that, so that might have just been an attempt to spread the zoe's out more, cool!
Another problem i have is the loads of Malaysian trumpet snails that keep trying to and actually succeeding in getting into the filter, they climb up the tube and then into the canister filter which is really annoying, i do think i found a solution for this though which was to put a bit of mosquito netting between the tube and the canister filter.
Approximate cost for everything:
Spray foam, 6 cans: 3.5$ each, 21$ in total.
Spray paint, 1 can: 7$
Silicone, 1 tube: 10$
Sand and pebbles: 10$
Dirt and coco husk: 8$
Stones: 10-20$
Plants: 10$
Aquatic plants: 5$
Plastic sheet: 5$
Price in total: 86-96$
Price for me since i already had some items (sand, pebbles, dirt, coco husk, stones, aquatic plants, and plastic sheet): 56-66$
Inhabitants:
5 Colombian tetras
7 Rummynose tetras
3 Five banded barbs (there used to be 12)
4 Sterbai corydoras
1 Featherfin synodontis
5 kuhli loaches
2 amano shrimps
2 Hypancistrus Sp. "L066"
3 Lemon Bristlenose Plecos
One of the local pet shops are having a sale now since they are closing down their fish tanks and they have black skirt tetras which i think are really beautiful, 10 for 11$, then i think i should get more five banded barbs now since most of the last ones died out over time.
Should i only go for the five banded barbs or will the black skirt tetras fit as well?
Here are the photos of the finished project:
From the front:
https://i.ibb.co/tKzBKBn/IMG-20191102-170013-9.jpg
The left:
https://i.ibb.co/qsXbLTW/IMG-20191102-170025-0.jpg
The middle:
https://i.ibb.co/tsqK7mP/IMG-20191102-170037-3.jpg
The right:
https://i.ibb.co/x5RhYmL/IMG-20191102-170033-5.jpg
The waterfall:
https://i.ibb.co/px2L7dM/IMG-20191102-170048-0.jpg
The right island:
https://i.ibb.co/NnN94B4/IMG-20191102-170052-3.jpg
The left island:
https://i.ibb.co/mXD09wN/IMG-20191102-170058-9.jpg
View from the left island to the right:
https://i.ibb.co/Mnzhspw/IMG-20191102-170107-9.jpg
The view from above:
https://i.ibb.co/pRLXCRG/IMG-20191102-170202-7.jpg
Everything seen through superview:
https://i.ibb.co/DzT4d45/IMG-20191102-170139-6.jpg
