# From planted aquarium to 90 gallon paludarium



## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

This is hopefully going to be a picture heavy construction journal of my 90 gallon paludarium. I have had a hi-tech 75 gallon planted tank for the last 5 years and I decided it was time to try something different. I know everyone says not to mess with water features in your first build, but after tons of research, planning, and my planted tank experience, I am confident I can pull it off. With a newborn at home and being a medical resident, this is going to be a slow build with the goal of having this planted and running by Christmas.

Here are some pictures of my 75 gallon planted tank over the years. I am going to use the same stand and canopy of the 90 gallon. I will also use of the canister filters to filter the tank and drive the water feature. I have a custom built high output LED setup I will be using that is controlled by a bluefish mini controller. The manzanita from the tank will also be cleaned and re-purposed for the paludarium












T5 retrofit will be removed from the current canopy 


















Sad to see it go, but time to try something different. And onto the new....

Here is the start of the waterfall/partition between the water and land. Carved from foam sheets then sealed with redguard. Next step is to put 3 coats of grout/mortor over it then pain with drylok and acrylic paint. It will be raised 1/2" off the glass and has cutouts in the middle so water can flow from one side of the tank to the other. Water will be about 3" deep.





And here is my 40 gallon breeder growout tank with various plants growing under LEDs







More to come soon


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

Grout/mortar 3 coats complete. Next step drylok then get plumbing complete


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

Looks like this will be an interesting build, flyfshrmn98. I look forward to seeing how it turns out. I can't tell you how happy I am that the rocks didn't stay orange ;-) That is a really nice tank, too. I wish mine looked like that. I have had my planted tank for over 10 years and I am still "getting it dialed in."  I wish you success in your build. Hope it turns out just how you want it to.

Mark


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

Drylok complete, now just need to dry brush to make it look more realistic


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## B-Lans (Aug 11, 2016)

This has been an interesting thread so far. What kind of frogs are you thinking about keeping?


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

B-Lans said:


> This has been an interesting thread so far. What kind of frogs are you thinking about keeping?



I haven't decided yet. I wanted to get everything completed and see how it turns out first. I was thinking leucs and maybe a couple mourning geckos possibly


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

Dry brushing of the rocks/waterfall complete. Not 100% satisfied, but I think they look fairly realistic and good enough.


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## sminarski (Oct 21, 2014)

Rocks look fantastic, nice work.


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## SteppingStones (Dec 30, 2013)

Interested to see how it progresses! I think I've seen your old tank on TPT, so I'm looking forward to seeing how you make this look.


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

Not the greatest pictures but more progress being made slowly. The canister filter output was secured under the false bottom next to the waterfall feature and will be directed towards the other end of the tank where the canister filter intake will be. 





Waterfall also plumbed and sealed in the back.


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

More progress made. Everything put in, plumbing complete, and everything works without leaks. There is about 10 gallons of water under the false bottom. Canister filter is an eheim 2217 that powers everything. The waterfall feature works and drips more so than "falls." I think it will be fine, but might add some ball valves and see if I can change up the flow a bit. Most of the flow goes to the spray bar which is under the false bottom. This will prevent the water from getting stagnant and help keep everything a constant temp since the heater is in the water. Overall, I'm happy with it so far and can finalize the plumbing so I can start on the background and hard-scape. 

Plumbing splitter



Poor photo, but can see waterfall feature with the water



Heater and canister intake under false bottom



Spray bar


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## laborelch (Jul 21, 2012)

love it! coming from planted freshwater tanks myself - have you considered using an inline heater (e.g. hydor Heater for External Canister Filters, Heaters, Technical Products – HYDOR components for aquariums) instead of having one submerged under the false bottom? Just wondering how you'll get to it in case it fails or need to adjust the temperature? Even with an access hatch to the false bottom - once you got the substrate and hardscape in - is still a pain to get to...


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

laborelch said:


> love it! coming from planted freshwater tanks myself - have you considered using an inline heater (e.g. hydor Heater for External Canister Filters, Heaters, Technical Products – HYDOR components for aquariums) instead of having one submerged under the false bottom? Just wondering how you'll get to it in case it fails or need to adjust the temperature? Even with an access hatch to the false bottom - once you got the substrate and hardscape in - is still a pain to get to...


If it fails at least it won't fail high and roast everything; it's hooked up to a reef keeper and set to 78 so it will auto shutoff. But yes of it does fail I won't be able to get to it, wiukd have to do on-line. The heater is set to like 82 so I can adjust the reef keeper to control it as needed


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

Some slow progress being made on everything. This weekend got the lights out of the canopy, cleaned up, and repainted inside ready for the 90. Got the hardscape finished and the back completely foamed. Now just need to foam the right side and carve everything, then the least fun part, cover with silicone and peat/coco

Poor cellphone pic with some glare from the glass.


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

Tank is in its final resting place and ready to be planted.

Got my custom LED light I built finished as well. Its 2x 18" Rapid LED heatsinks with high power bridgelux cool and warm white and red, blue, violet, and cyan channels all controlled by a bluefish mini controller. Looking forward to being able to simulate sunrise and sunset and tons of other features.

















Bluefish controller interface



Evening mode



All Red



All violet



All blue



All cyan



Hopefully will be getting all the substrate and water in tomorrow and get some plants in also. Open to suggestions for planting ideas


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

Water and substrate in, now time for some plants


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## lj916 (Nov 12, 2016)

Great backgrpund and lightning!


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## KommentBox (Aug 26, 2016)

It looks great! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Your aquarium was amazing, too bad it's gone! 
This your tank has great potential...
Keep us updated


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## digphx (Aug 25, 2016)

Very cool... water features are so time consuming!!


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

Got some planting done, mainly stuff around water feature.

Plant list so far includes:
Monte carlo
Java moss
Anubias nana
Anubias nana petite
Episcia Silver Skies
Various peperomias
Rabbit foot fern
Philodendron Verucosum
Pellionia repens
Marcgravia suriname


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## KommentBox (Aug 26, 2016)

digphx said:


> Very cool... water features are so time consuming!!




I agree they are, but the sound of the running water is 76% of the reason I wanted to build a paludarium/vivarium in the first place! Now that I've been exposed to dart frogs... I have a new reason. I might need to start a second tank. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## KommentBox (Aug 26, 2016)

flyfshrmn98 said:


> Got some planting done, mainly stuff around water feature.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Looking great! Where did you get your plants? All the local places seem to be out here until march... and the shipping costs online combined with cold weather make me wary that anything will arrive alive. 


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

KommentBox said:


> Looking great! Where did you get your plants? All the local places seem to be out here until march... and the shipping costs online combined with cold weather make me wary that anything will arrive alive.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


All the aquatic ones I've had from my aquariums. The others I've purchased from members on here and facebook over the last couple of months and grown in a 40 gallon breeder grow out tank until now


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## The Drunken Gnome (Dec 10, 2016)

That light is very nice, (so is the scape) thanks for the bluefish info..... if you want it done right i guess you have to go DIY!


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

The bluefish is great, the ONLY bad thing is as of right now the moonlights stay on until the morning cycle kicks on, but supposedly with the next update there will be a stand alone moon cycle. DIY is great, its not that difficult if you can do some basic soldering and its not that expensive considering the outcome is usually better than some expensive lights. There are some very high output, high CRI LEDs these days that are not very expensive. The ones I used are about 3 years old since I originally purchased them to build a light for my planted tank.


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## mtbrutger (Jun 5, 2015)

looking good! Can't wait to see this grow in!


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## lj916 (Nov 12, 2016)

Great layout on the viv, the old aquarium looked great, gives me some inspiration for my soon to come fish tank!


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

Got most of the plants in for the time being. I'm sure some changes will be made after things start to get established. Still need to get some moss to grow on the driftwood and walls. Also open to suggestions and constructive criticism about things. Fans seem to do a decent job keeping front glass clear, but might have to angle them down a little more and maybe get slightly more powerful ones.


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Good job, but I would add some climbing plant and moss to the background


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

rigel10 said:


> Good job, but I would add some climbing plant and moss to the background


I've got some oak leaf fig and marcgravias that will hopefully establish and cover the background some. But yes, moss is in the plans for the background now that I've got my mistking setup. Any recommendations for a certain kind?


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## khaku2 (Jun 27, 2015)

Any updates? This is beautiful.


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

khaku2 said:


> Any updates? This is beautiful.



Not much has changed in the last 2 weeks, just letting plants grow in and establish. Got the mistking hooked up and going and also seeded with springs


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## khaku2 (Jun 27, 2015)

flyfshrmn98 said:


> Not much has changed in the last 2 weeks, just letting plants grow in and establish. Got the mistking hooked up and going and also seeded with springs


How is your marcgravia growing? I find mine grow slowly - could be related to the temperature of the house, which hovers around 62-65F.


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## SteppingStones (Dec 30, 2013)

Any inhabitants going into the aquatic portion (i.e. shrimp)? Looks great by the way!!


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

SteppingStones said:


> Any inhabitants going into the aquatic portion (i.e. shrimp)? Looks great by the way!!


Possibly some cherry red shrimp if the water parameters are stable enough. Or maybe a couple tiny fish that live in puddles


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## DorisSlammington (Jan 12, 2014)

Love it! I would love an update soon.


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## smmee (Dec 31, 2016)

I love the wood!


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## Hunlock (Feb 9, 2016)

Oh man! This build is very nice. I can't wait to see what livestock you get in there!


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

Here are a few updated tank shots from my cell phone. Not the greatest but can see some progress. Pictures are fairly warm due to the lights being in evening mode


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## carnzayne (Jan 3, 2017)

anything that you wish you would of done differently?


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

carnzayne said:


> anything that you wish you would of done differently?


Put a few pots in the background to grow plants in and have better ventilation, but that's a work in progress. Front glass stays pretty foggy a lot of the time, but I have bigger fans to put in


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## gorr (Feb 20, 2010)

Nice transformation


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## Justin Vining (Dec 30, 2016)

Looks great. Did you use peat moss for the background? What are the longer pieces of wood? Thanks.


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

Justin Vining said:


> Looks great. Did you use peat moss for the background? What are the longer pieces of wood? Thanks.


Peat/coco/tree fern background and the wood is manzanita I had leftover from my aquarium


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## FlyFishRI (Jan 15, 2017)

Awesome build! Can't wait to see how it grows out. I see we have another hobby in common, awesome!


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

Got some inhabitants for the setup finally today. Was going back and forth between leucs, auratus, or thumbs, and ended up deciding on 6 leucs due to their boldness and ease for beginners. They have only been in the tank about 6 hours and already out exploring and eating fruit flies and springs. They are definitely fun to watch. They are 4-8 months old.


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

Update time. Had the frogs about a month now and all are doing great. Out exploring all the time around the entire tank, including the mistking nozzles and fans on the top. Some plants have died back and others have done well. Added some ficus pumilla to hopefully cover the background. The philodendrons verucosum is doing awesome and needing trimmed as is the begonia manus. Lost a couple broms from either light burn or water sitting on leaves or a combo of the 2. Will probably add a few more in the future. Also, building a new LED fixture that will have more spread and not be quite as intense as the current.

On my glass cleaner, way above the water feature. Haven't seen anyone take a plunge yet


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

Got my new light built with a different heatsink that spans the entire tank unlike the previous. Also instead of COB leds, the warm and cool whites are new bridgelux EB strips which should provide a more even light spread and no hot spots. Everything is still controlled by my bluefish mini controller and there still are red, blue, cyan, and violet LEDs as well.


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## rjs5134 (Feb 1, 2017)

Tank looks fantastic. Can't wait to see updated pics as it matures. Can you tell me where you got your LED supplies from? A custom fixture is on my to-do list.

Thanks


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## flyfshrmn98 (Mar 23, 2012)

rjs5134 said:


> Tank looks fantastic. Can't wait to see updated pics as it matures. Can you tell me where you got your LED supplies from? A custom fixture is on my to-do list.
> 
> Thanks


The parts were pieced together from multiple places over time. Rapidled.com and ledgroupbuy.com are both good sites. But here is my parts list...

Makers slim heatsink directly from makers
Bridgelux EB strips from digikey.com
3 watt colored LEDs from ebay (cheap from china)
Meanwell LDD drivers from ledsupply.com
Bluefish mini controller from Rapidled.com
Driver board for LDDs and bluefish from a member on plantedtank who builds them
48V power supply to power system on Amazon.

You can buy all this stuff from Rapidled.com but I bought multiple items over a couple years for different builds and it was cheaper from other places.


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