# Thoughts on Paludariums



## Mywebbedtoes (Jul 2, 2007)

I have given thought to building a Paludarium many times over the years. I recognize there is debate, sometimes much debate, over the practicality of such tanks. What are your thoughts? Have you built one, do you currently have one? I recognize the possible difficulty in keeping frogs in a paludarium (drownings, wasted land mass). Is it worth it if the proper precautions are taken, say in a tank of 60+ gallons and with a pair of frogs? Or, will this lead down a path of frustration? I am curious to hear thoughts as I know some of you have these tanks and others have HAD them in the past.

Regards,
Wayne


----------



## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

i dont' currently have one, but have ketp them in the past, if you are gonna house any frogs in them, the best frogs to keep would be some thumbnails as they generally hang out in the top half of the tank. But they are great to keep along with some differ fish.


----------



## NathalieB (Apr 23, 2007)

My azureus live in a paludarium for some years now. I know a lot of people with paludaria and I have never heard of someone’s frog drowning. I think when the frogs are healthy they will always be able to get out of the water. ( I did hear of frogs dieing in very little amounts of water but that’s because they tend to go sit in the water when they have certain diseases)
I did have one problem when the two males that were in the tank started to fight. One of the males would push the other one in the water. Every time he got out of the water he got pushed in again. I can imagine this being a problem as the one being pushed in could get very tired and drown after a while. I then put much more “obstacles” in the middle of the water for the frogs to sit on so they wouldn’t have to climb to the land area, but could just sit and take a rest on the rocks and pieces of wood in the water. I haven’t seen this behavior since (the one frog being bullied keeps out of the way of the “alfa male”).
The paludarium I have has a water part in front with a biological filter under the land part. The pump is also under the land-part and this can get a little bit frustrating when there is something wrong with the pump. For this reason I now only build tanks with an external biological filter (but that’s a personal choice: many people don’t want holes in their tanks). I also think it is very difficult to get enough light in your water-part. Unless you have a huge water-part, the plants and your land area will block out most of the light, making your water area the least attractive part of the tank. You should keep this in consideration when designing your “light-plan”.
I have kept many different fishes in the water part but I have now cut it down to some “crystal red shrimps” (which are great to look at… funny little animals) and some neontetra’s.
Here are some pictures of paludariums with big water-parts I really like:
http://www.gifkikkers.be/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1934&highlight=
http://www.gifkikkers.be/forum/viewtopic.php?t=978&highlight=
(the text is in Dutch but the pictures speak for themselves I think)

kind regards,
Nathalie


----------



## Alex007 (Apr 15, 2007)

*Hello*

I have a similiar Paludarium set-up if you want to call it but I guess its more like a pond, lake, river feature. There is good and bad about this types of set-ups. Bad meaning that you could get a drown frog like I learned from experience and would not make the same mistake again. It would depend on the type of frog the more bold means he would be out and about experiencing his evironment. Had a reticulatus that was in this set-up with only about seven inches of height 10 inches in width and about 19 inches length and found him drown one morning. And this reticulatus was in this set-up for over a year. I also had Amazon frogbits and Riccia in the water portion so it can climb and jump over the land part but probably missed it and could not find it way back up the water. The good I guess that you have the best of both worlds. I actually have a pair of South American Chilids (dawrfs) that breeded in my tank. The only reason I put these type of fish was because of the locality of continent almost to the dartfrog and probably interact in the real world. You would also have to consider lighting and type of plants you would be using in order for them all to stay alive. If you just looking for a showy tank with fish I would go that way. But I would not put frogs personally anymore. I would say plan your tank ahead take your time and sketch it ahead and let your mine do the rest. Good luck Oh I forgot do alot of research on mixing frogs and other amphibians and fish.


----------



## Mywebbedtoes (Jul 2, 2007)

Thank you for the input guys.

Julio - That was what I was thinking, a pair or group of thumbs if any at all.

NathalieB - Thank you for the advice on the lighting. I think I would prefer a set up where the water does not go under the land mass at all. And as far as fish,


> “crystal red shrimps” (which are great to look at… funny little animals) and some neontetra’s.


, I was thinking something similar to what you were saying. The picture links you posted did not work, as I am not a member of that board, sorry, but thank you for the effort.

Alex007 - Frog drwoning is my number one concern. For that reason I do not know if I would even do frogs, but certainly not a mixed tank, or even a crowded tank for that matter. And as far as fish, I really do not even want anything more than a few schooling fish. But you are right, planning is everything. I would design it to be excape friendly, with nothing a frog could get stuck under.

Any other thoughts anyone?


----------



## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

the only time you really have to worry about drowning in such a tank is not from the frogs not being able to get out, but from males or females wrestling one another to submission.


----------



## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

I think that the only real drawback to a Paludarium setup is that you need a either a very large tank or frogs that don't spend much time on the ground to make it work.

I picked up a pair of standard lamasi from Darren Meyer at the NWCBE last weekend and was thinking about making a setup similar to the one that was on the Black Jungle's web page, IE with no real land area (but plenty of wood coming up out of the water).


----------



## Mywebbedtoes (Jul 2, 2007)

I always wondered if Blackjungle had frogs in that tank, seeing as there is no land area at all. I love that look though. But you are right, I think the key is proper wood use and frogs that are not going to need massive amounts of land, although if I did one I would still have a land mass comparable to a 20 gallon or so.


----------



## sports_doc (Nov 15, 2004)

they have a large breeding group of tricolors in that tank.

S


----------



## Mywebbedtoes (Jul 2, 2007)

Oh wow, thanks Shawn. Now I know. Luck frogs, I would live in that thing.


----------



## Tasiamay (Sep 4, 2006)

I've got a group of 5 female Galacts living in an 80 gallon Paludarium. It's been setup for just over a year now. The water section is only about 15 gallons, with the rest being devoted to land for the frogs.

The water section is divided from the land part by black acrylic. A black acryilic overflow box w/ draining teeth cut just below the top of the divider provides drainage to the Magnum (which holds carbon). The Magnum returns the flow to water part via two water features. It also directs water to a UV sterilizer.

The Galacts are fully grown and explore every inch of the land part. I've never had an issue with them getting in the water. The drop off is pretty steep and they completely avoid the edge all together. I do have 3 access points (one on each end and the middle) that provide easy exits should the frogs get in the water.

This is when I was setting it up to show you the basic design of the tank. You can see the main black acrylic divider & the overflow is under the vertical pieces of wood on the right.



















This is what it looks like today


----------



## Mywebbedtoes (Jul 2, 2007)

I was glad to see you post Kristin. To be honest, I have had your paludarium on my computer desktop at work, it is beautiful to look at, and one of the inspirations to do my own, I hope you do not mind. If/when I do one I may contact you for some details. I am glad to see someone running such a pretty tank for over a year with great success. Again, amazing tank!


----------



## housevibe7 (Sep 24, 2006)

I have to agree. This has probably always been my favorite paludarium I have seen.


----------

