# land/water dividers



## Moe (Feb 15, 2004)

I was wondering if anyone has other ideas for seperating land from water, other than the standard glass splitters.

M.N

edit: i meant to put this in the parts section. mods can you move this there


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## Spar (Mar 27, 2004)

use egg-crate (also called light grating). can get it at home depot or anything similar.

cover the egg-crate with fiberglass mesh, and then lay the substrate on top of it.

assuming this is what you meant by "seperating".


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## Moe (Feb 15, 2004)

I mean seperating the back from the front. Meaning to have a land area in the back, and water in the front.

Eggcrate would work, but i was going for more a natural look. Maybe by slate pieces, or even wood. Has anyone sprayed a foam layer between the middle of the tank? How did that work out.

M.N


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## Guest (Jun 11, 2005)

Find a nice piece of curved driftwood, and silicone the hell out of it.


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## verbal (Sep 8, 2004)

I've tried a great stuff divider. Siliconed the hell out of it, leak tested it and it seemed OK. Two or three days later, after having planted the tank, I could tell it was leaking, as the substrate got soaked. THe foam must have shifted/shrunk/expanded to lifted the silicone.

If you want to try it, I recommend curing the hell out of the greatstuff first, then covering the whole thing with silicone, then sealing the space between it and the glass with lots of silicone.

Since then, I've tried a glass divider, and that worked OK. Still, I think trying to cinfine water in a viv is a pain in the butt, with no great, reliable answer out there.


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## MarkJ (Feb 15, 2004)

This is what I did on my 46 bowfront, to avoid having to cut the shape of the glass I left the eggcrate in a rectangle shape
http://www.frognet.org/gallery/MarkJemi ... t/HPIM0300
I then put the regular fiberglass screening overtop of the eggcrate, but had it drape down over the front of it and siliconed it down to the bottom of the tank.
Then to hide the eggcrate, screening and create a pond I put in the slate and sand.
http://www.frognet.org/gallery/MarkJemi ... t/HPIM0313
It works great, now java moss has taken it over and it looks awesome. I have had my azureus drop tads in there tons of times. And there isn't really any worry about drowning if my 2 females go at it because at the deepest it's about a quarter of an inch of standing water, underneath it all is a huge layer of java moss.
-Mark


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## Mantellaprince20 (Aug 25, 2004)

why divide??? Just make a false bottom that is cut out in the front so you can have the land raised above the water, then slope the land down towards the water. THen you don't worry about water seeping into the substrate, cuz the substrate is on top . This is the only method I do now, because I was sick of killing plants once the divider sprung a leak. If you need pics, I may be able to get some decent ones, take care,

Ed Parker


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## themann42 (Apr 12, 2005)

i have great stuff with coco bedding siliconed to it. works good for me. i like the look of driftwood as the divider.


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## Guest (Jun 11, 2005)

We used acrylic and then got a heat source (ie blowtorch, we used a creme brule torch) to bend the acrylic to the shape we wanted. It was relatively easy. We have a 75g paludarium. Front half is water, back is land.


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## Guest (Jun 12, 2005)

Hi all. New to this forum. 
THought I 'd post up.
I used a long slender peice of stone and just siliconed it to prevent leaks. I used brown colored silicone so it blended in with the substrate in the front of the tank. I 've had no probs with it.
Peace.
E


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## SLEDDER23 (Mar 17, 2005)

MarkJ

That bowfront is really nice looking. I really like the time progression of your photos as the moss and plants grow in.

Had a couple ?s for you if you don't mind. What is the moss that you have on the land, as in photo 27 of 30? It looks really nice. Also, I'm assuming the moss in the water is java, is that correct?

BTW, what's with the hardware cloth on the background, is that for plants to grow on? I haven't seen that before...

Thx, and again, nice looking tank.

BTW, to add, and not just hijack, I think slate would look nice, and is easy to cut/work with. I'm assuming that's the idea, natural, and easy to work with.


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## Moe (Feb 15, 2004)

Thanks guys. I was asking, so i can find an easier way to install an overflow system (paludarium tank), with a return pipe leading to a mist system. If that doesnt work, it would lead to a waterfall. 

By using eggcrate, as the water would flow down the overflow, the eggcrate would be visible and therefore would look weird. Any way to seperate the land/water is what im trying to accomplish, however would like to be able to still use an overflow.

Or i can ditch the land part altogether, which would make this project considerably easier. I think thats what i'll do.

M.N


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## SLEDDER23 (Mar 17, 2005)

I think you could do this, no problem. As for an overflow, I don't think you need to have one as in a normal aquarium, but could get away with doing a standpipe, underneath the land section. Say your land section is 4 inches off the bottom, have a standpipe be 3 1/2 inches off the bottom, so that the total water height would always be 3 1/2 in the tank, and the pipe could lead to your sump. Obviously the height could be what you choose. I think the only issue with this is the sound of cavitation that you may get from the water going down the standpipe. 

Also, I would make DARN sure that there is NO way for anything to get into your pipe and clog it. I was about 5 seconds from leaving my house once when I got the idea to check on a snail that had been in my overflow. Good thing I checked, he had just been sucked into my Durso standpipe and the sump was being emptied into my tank while the stand pipe was clogged with the snail. I was able to get him out and avoid disaster, but since this will be under the land section for you, I would recommend putting a mesh or sponge filter over the end of your stand pipe.

I hope that makes sense. If not, feel free to PM me, and I'll try to find an illustration, or perhaps someone else can provide pix.


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## Moe (Feb 15, 2004)

Yes, it makes sense. But are you talking about drilling the bottom, or the back? Im not sure if drilling the back would work, or if it would soak the substrate. The bottom is tempered also.

I dont think only using a mist system would have the need for a sump, so i think i'll do returns going for both the misting system/waterfall. (seperate pumps ofcourse)

Do you think this diagram would work out...


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## SLEDDER23 (Mar 17, 2005)

I think that would work fine, assuming you can get that hole in the back where you want it. Make sure you put some thought into that!! Looks to me at least like you're on the right track.


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## MarkJ (Feb 15, 2004)

The moss on land was some moss that I bought from a guy online who said it was tropical moss. It did great until the java choked it out. And yes, the hardware cloth was for plants to grow on, none really took probably because I put all the plants in at once. If I would have put the fig in first or some other crawlers it would have worked.


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## Moe (Feb 15, 2004)

SLEDDER23 said:


> I think that would work fine, assuming you can get that hole in the back where you want it. Make sure you put some thought into that!! Looks to me at least like you're on the right track.


Thanks, do you think the durso standpipe would work in this situation? I know the input to the sump wont be as powerful as water filled aquariums; so is there even a need for a standpipe (to reduce noise)?

M.N


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## Moe (Feb 15, 2004)

bump. Is there need for a standpipe?

M.N


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