# Separating land and water



## xTimx (Mar 14, 2013)

I have a situation. and i know my options..vaguely... 

I am making a paludarium for a Tarantula that is both a burrower and can go into and underneath the water. I currently have a 40 gal terrarium. my original plan had a piece of glass siliconed in and it was straight up and down. but the more i looked at it, it was just not proportionate to the tank. and I didnt like seeing silicone on the front glass. i took the glass out. and am starting over. 

I was hoping to do more of a naturalistic transition from water to land. using aquarium gravel and sand to build up a mound if you will. and for the land, it would have the hydroballs underneath, screen mesh and a thick layer of substrate for it to burrow into. 

i really dont want the water to seep through but i dont want to have silicone showing on the front glass. 

i also built a cabinet for the tank, so all u would be seeing is the front glass looking in. the sides and back would be covered by back drops. 

my other idea was......well.......sacrifice myself to having silicone showing on the front glass by making a fake rock formation from styrofoam and GS. in fact i even tried making one from GS but apparently it shrunk from the glass. i was then going to grout it and then paint it and then coat it and smear it with silicone and seal it on the front and back portions of the glass. (silicone showing on the glass) 

what other options do i have here? the look of the tank would be a placement of the pond on the left of the tank and the land on the right of the tank. i was also given an option of making a front pond portion and a back portion for land. 

i know also of the egg crate idea. which is a great idea.....but you have to keep in mind that the tarantula is a burrower and i need as much susbtrate as possible but i have to keep in mind of the height restrictions of the tank! 

(pulls out hair) help me guys! i'm about to cry here! hahaha

cheers! 

tim


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

What I have done to hide the false bottom construction is build the face of the false bottom back 2" (more or less) from the front and sides of the glass or in case of a pond or water feature on 3 sides and then fill the area in between with a natural gravel that continues on as the pond bottom. So the only thing you see is gravel. Imagine looking from above your tank and seeing a smaller rectangle with a corner cut out of it--if that makes sense. You can build a dam to hold the soil back with an attractive piece of driftwood. I hope that makes sense.


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

I took a couple of photos of one of my tanks to illustrate. There is a false bottom behind the gravel and a large piece of rock and piece of driftwood that forms a dam to hold the soil back.


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## xTimx (Mar 14, 2013)

i was thinking about that too! but if i was going to be painting it and then sealing/siliconing it, it'd be a tough way to get into that. and another thing is my pump/filter wouldnt be able to push that awkward water.  assuming we're on the right page here for the layout.

the P shape would be the water. and the smaller rectangle would be the land right?


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## xTimx (Mar 14, 2013)

TDK said:


> I took a couple of photos of one of my tanks to illustrate. There is a false bottom behind the gravel and a large piece of rock and piece of driftwood that forms a dam to hold the soil back.


Really appreciate the photos! but its rather hard to see with all the growth going on! hahaha.


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

I hope this makes sense. Top detail is of front of tank showng substrate and detail below is of looking down from top woithout substrate showing your false bottom location and how you might construt it. This will hide your false bottom and you can stick a pump in the false bottom for circulation and have a small drip onto a rock or small waterfall type feature.


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## xTimx (Mar 14, 2013)

haha awesome drawing  

i should also point out that my pond will be about 4"s deep. i dont think i can afford to put a sub-floor of egg crate and then putting at least 6"s of substrate for the T to burrow. and then not to mention foliage and decoration such as drift wood. the height of the tank is a real restriction! kinda makes me mad about it.


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

You'll figure it out. I have 3 Brazilian Salmon Pink Birdeaters (Lasiodora parahybana) I'm starting to work with my only Tarantulas.


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## xTimx (Mar 14, 2013)

TDK do you need a pump for the pond? will a small "Elite mini" underwater filter do the trick? cause i will be putting underwater plants in as well too!


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

No, you don't have to have a pump. I've got tanks both ways. The pump adds a nice feature and circulates the water through a filter I have hidden and keeps the water fresher, but you still need to change some sometime. When I use a pump it's usually a small one and I set it to just drip water onto a rock of piece of wood and then drip into the pond--just a trickle to stir the water up and again for effect. If you just have a pond you can just change the water when needed. A Tarantula like anything else needs fresh water.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

I appreciate the head scratching going on...I'm trying to replicate something like you are...but throw in the extra of water, mud, and "land" for treefrogs..for frogs that burrow/breed/and tadpole development... Am considering using good quality carbon for water quality...a couple of layers of actual no-see-um material to prevent any possible eggs from being sucked into a pump...some aquatic/emergent grasses....and then the biggie: how to keep the burrowing area which, like yours, clean and seperate from the water??? My brain hurts.


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## xTimx (Mar 14, 2013)

judy my brain has been hurting for the past week hahaha. but ultimately in the end, i just went with pink foam and cut it out to look like flagstone. at least i know its not going to shrink from the sides of the tank like my spray foam did. then i can go ahead and coat it in grout, paint it, seal it, then smear it all over with silicone. 

i still have to do the backdrop for the sides and back of the tank yet. and i am going to be making that out of spray foam for sure.


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