# Tropical Redwood Forest Stream build log



## knd (Jun 28, 2012)

Remodeling the new house, the first question that my bf asked was, do we really need a basement? Can't we just fill it with a 2000sf reef that we could SCUBA dive in?

Being the level headed-practical one, I assured him that the 9' long 800g paludarium we're putting in the living room will be 'big enough'. After reading Energy's and medicineman's build logs, I've come to the realization that there's an off chance that I am mistaken about this.

I'm going to try my best to share our progress through this long process, but of course, I fully expect life to get in the way. Please bear with us.

Here's the backstory:
This build is the opposite of a biotope. It is an imaginary place where Redwood trees grow along the bank of a stream that is stocked with Discus. 

In preparation for this build we have a number of tanks going, where we are experimenting with different aspects of the environment. Our show tank is a 55g planted with 6 frisky discus, seven glowline tetras, and a declining population of ghost shrimp (mostly living in the sump). in the back bedroom we're hiding a 125g planted tank with fourteen cardinals, seventeen embers, and a nice breeding stock of RCS.

I've been struggling with a 30g hex that is half full. I've got some half submerged Malaysian wood and I'm doing a poor job at growing phalenopsis on it. The feeder guppies are breeding, of course, but the wood is getting mold, and the phals are not thriving. 

Just last week we set up a 20g glass with a platform, and we planted a nice yellow brom. Unfortunately the tank is being over-run with 4-leaf clovers, and red clover mites. He wants to hang netting and put in some ladybugs, but I've been eying a sundew, and wondering if a newt will eat mites. 

For almost 4 months I was successfully breeding tubifex worms in a 5g but I started depleting my stock and brought home a new batch from my LFS which turned out to be rotten. They destroyed the ecosystem of the tank and after three weeks of 100% water changes, they're all dead. I've got a batch of california blackworms on order to start over with. 

Photos coming soon.


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## jermajestyg (Jan 28, 2012)

Stoked to see how this turns out. Just remember, a tank will not look good just because it is big. I know Energy plans and continues to change his pretty regularly.

Are you going to be using the baby redwood trees and then replacing them? Or large redwood logs? Just curious.

Also, any terrestrial animals like frogs, lizards or snakes??

Good luck

-Jeremy


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## BethInAK (Jul 12, 2011)

> This build is the opposite of a biotope. It is an imaginary place where Redwood trees grow along the bank of a stream that is stocked with Discus.


this made me laugh. it sounds fantastic.
I'll be watching!!


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

knd said:


> Here's the backstory:
> This build is the opposite of a biotope. It is an imaginary place where Redwood trees grow along the bank of a stream that is stocked with Discus.





knd said:


> Just last week we set up a 20g glass with a platform, and we planted a nice yellow brom. Unfortunately the tank is being over-run with 4-leaf clovers, and red clover mites. He wants to hang netting and put in some ladybugs, but I've been eying a sundew, and wondering if a newt will eat mites.


Newts require fairly cool temperatures to thrive, generally under 70 F which is going to be an issue for the dendrobatids. In addition, due to the risk of novel pathogen exposures and escape into the enviroment, keeping non-zoogeographically correct amphibians and/or reptiles really should be avoided. We have seen escapes of pathogens in the wild (ranavirus, mycoplasma) including the fact that the reason chytrid developed it's virulence from more than one strain being able to come into contact with one another due to this issue (and there is a petition before USF&W to ban import and interstate transport of amphibians, thier larve or thier eggs, unless certified to be free of chytrid (so it is a major threat to the hobby). So I strongly suggest paying attention to the risk of novel pathogen exposure. 

Many small newts will eat mites but if you have "4 leafed clover" then you probably have a weedy oxalis species and the newts will be unable to keep up with the number of the mites. 

Some comments,

Ed


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## knd (Jun 28, 2012)

Thank you Ed, that was fantastic information. And just to show my appreciation for your insight and recommendation, here's a couple shots of the 125 hiding in the back bedroom, I thought you might enjoy these. 










http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=32180&stc=1&d=1343804498


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Very nice. 

Ed


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## knd (Jun 28, 2012)

It appears my earlier comment about turning the basement into a gigantic pond wasn't far off. We're not too surprised, but well it leaks. A lot. 

So the paludarium part of the construction goes on hold a while longer. But in the meantime we've been continuing our set of preparation experiments. I added a large sword to the 125g and have been trianing it to grow out of the top. It's pretty happy now, so it's time to propigate it. I'll need a lot more of these to populate the pal.


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## knd (Jun 28, 2012)

Using flourite red 2:1 with flourite dark to get the color of the redwood floor. Have some petrified wood for effect. Still in progress.


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## skanderson (Aug 25, 2011)

following with interest. if you have any questions about that size i might be of help as my viv is a 9 footer. best advice to to read alot of threads here and keep us all supplied with lots of pics.


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## knd (Jun 28, 2012)

Hit a snag that some of you might really appreciate.
In the new scaled-back design, we've got a 100gal show tank on top of a 50gal sump. There's an Aqua Via 2600 running at a 3' head height, and we use 3" ABS to build an in tank overflow.


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## knd (Jun 28, 2012)

We've got a 1.5" U-bend siphoning the water out of the tank into a 2" ABS hang-on. This in turn overflows into the sump.

The problem we hit was a classic case of poorly balanced flow rate calculations.
The formula for the flow rate through a 2" pipe minus the area of the 1.5" U-bend should have been enough to balance the Aqua Via but... we failed to take into account the increased resistance of the irregular shape.

*sigh* when we turned it on, the display tank filled to within 1/8" of overflowing, and then it stabilized. Just as I was tripping the GFI the thing stopped! Amazing how stuff like that happens.

Of course we don't trust it, so we can only leave it running when we are sitting there watching it. In the meantime we have to rebuild the hang-on overflow in 3" ABS.


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## knd (Jun 28, 2012)

Here's the 3" version sitting on the stove to dry.


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## sanderdm (Jun 12, 2013)

any updates?


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