# Ideas for my 55 gallon paludarium



## Fish_lover0591 (Dec 16, 2006)

Heres a little Diagram i made on sketchup.








Click it to view text properly.

I am planning on making this for some newts .The tank is a 55 gallon tank
i was thinking of creating a large water fall like the one seen here








and have it end up into a river . I want to see underwater but then again covering up the front would allow me to surround the river with moss and etc. I was thinking of drilling two holes in the 55 gallon on both sides of the bottom yes i know its tempered but someone has done this with success for a fish tank full of water. The hole on the right would allow the water to fall into the sump from there the water will flow through the media i put in there then the pump will send the water back up to the waterfall. Does this sound correct ? Theres a heater in the sump right infront of the intake for the pump. To create a humid climate i will use a humidifer to create fog and the tube coming from it will go under the water fall (not under the water actually) to create a natural effect 

I 'm just confused on if the land portion should be floating or solid. Also on how i should create the waterfall. I need to find a place to buy rocks from also. So lets hear your ideas. i did start an old thread before but now i'm actually going to do it.


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## titan501x (Dec 7, 2006)

i wouldn't put frogs in that unless they were aquatic or semi-aquatic


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## Fish_lover0591 (Dec 16, 2006)

I was planning on putting newts in there.. Read the whole post next time


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## titan501x (Dec 7, 2006)

Fish_lover0591 said:


> I was planning on putting newts in there.. Read the whole post next time


sorry, i was skimming over the text.  yea, newts would love it, just be careful about drilling, tanks that big are expensive, and i think that tank can come predrilled, but with only one hole. here is a website that provides a lot of popular pet stores with tanks http://www.all-glass.com/products/aquariums/index.html

i was thinking about getting an AGA 55 tank a while back, i emailed and asked if it could be drilled. here is the email.


AGA employee:

Yes, this would be a tempered tank.



Thank you for your interest in our products.



Dorothy Baker

Central Aquatics

Customer Service

800-255-4527






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: clark [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 9:37 PM
To: All-Glass Info
Subject: tempered glass?







Is your 55 gallon tank tempered glass?


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

I'd call a place that makes tanks, like glasscages.com, and have them make a 55 for you and drill it. That way you don't have to worry about drilling the tank. By the time you buy the tank and the bit, you're going to be spending as much if not more to have someone build and drill a tank for you. Plus if it cracks, it's on them, not you. 

I'd make the land portion solid. I could see a floating land part being a nice place for a newt to get stuck and die. 

I would not place the heater directly in front of the intake of the pump. Because the water is moving past the heater quickly, it's not going to be efficient in heating the water. 

Water falls are easy provided you break up the flow of water coming from the pump. You can do this pretty easily by placing rocks over the outlet of the pump so the water hits them before going down your waterfall. If you don't break up the water, you get a nice solid column of water.


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## Fish_lover0591 (Dec 16, 2006)

Hmm so only the bottom is tempered right ? so how about drilling the back i don't want to have a custom tank made or have to buy a new one right now. Hmm I might re consider the newts but i had another idea if i was going to put frogs in it. What frogs are less noisy ? this tank will be in my living room and i don't want to disturb people while they are in there.
Thanks for the info.


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## slaytonp (Nov 14, 2004)

HeeHee-- You must know where we'll all go here, since this is a dart forum. Darts aren't the least bit "noisy." Most of us are thrilled if we can even hear them call at all. Believe me, any noise they might make, will bother no one.


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## Fish_lover0591 (Dec 16, 2006)

lol well i might consider them but i will need my mom to agree first. As For my second idea there will be a big mountain on the right side then a stream will run down the mountain throughout the tank and end up in a pond. I can't really make a good diagram like the first one. I might still go with the sump but what should i do to prevent the water from siphoning out ? i'm not sure how much water will be flowing through it but it shouldn't be much. Also i would drill the back not the bottom does this sound like a good idea ? And i might need to get 2 pumps not just 1 to get the water in and out of the tank.


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## Fish_lover0591 (Dec 16, 2006)

this forum is starting to bug me. you people just stare and don't reply can i get some anwsers please. :roll:


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## titan501x (Dec 7, 2006)

Fish_lover0591 said:


> this forum is starting to bug me. you people just stare and don't reply can i get some anwsers please. :roll:


Get some luecs in there, they would look sweet in a 55. but you would have to change the design a little.


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## Fish_lover0591 (Dec 16, 2006)

thats why i want to know about the mountain with a stream running down it into a pond or something. so should i drill the back and use 2 pumps in the sump to get water out and into the tank? Also what should i do in case theres a power outage ? should i just get a sump thats bigger than the actual water volume in the tank ?


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## slaytonp (Nov 14, 2004)

Please don't be too impatient with us. We don't live on the forum, although sometimes I wonder about that. :? 

Have you looked into doing a false bottom and having all of the water contained within the tank underneath the substrate? I should think this would work for newts as well as darts. There are many ways of doing this so that the animals don't get trapped under the land above the false bottom. With a single relatively small pump like a Rio 600 or Maxi-jet, you could have your falls, a pool, whatever you want without drilling and creating an outside sump.

In case of a power outage, the falls just stop working for a while. The water just sits there in the false bottom until it starts circulating again. This happens a lot with all of my tanks that I have water features in, and it's no big deal. The water in the false bottom might get a bit high and soak the substrate a little, but this is temporary, and once it's going again, 
everything returns to normal.


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## Fish_lover0591 (Dec 16, 2006)

yes there will be a false bottom and i know you don't live on the forum lol but there was alot of views and no replys .i just want to keep most of the equipment out of the tank thats why i want to use a sump. i was going to drill the back on both sides and put a bulkhead fitting then an elbow that almost touches the bottom of the tank to make sure no water stays under the false bottom . the one on the right will drain into the sump and the one on the left will be attached to the top of the mountain / stream with a flexible piece of tubing. also for the humidifier i will drill a hole in the back for it.


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## slaytonp (Nov 14, 2004)

Duh, I think I'm getting it now. What you are calling a "false bottom" will actually be a drainage area under the substrate, and will be securely separated from your river and pool? Will you do this with vertical glass, or another method? I have one 135 gallon paludarium with aquarium, river run, lagoon, two water falls, separated from the land area by vertical glass I had cut to fit the design and secured in with silicone. The water levels go from 14 inches in the main section, fed by falls, down over river "rapids, in the front, to 10 inches, then 8 inches, where it broadens to the back again in a "lagoon," with another falls feeding into that, to 6 inches where the end pump (merely hidden by a rock) takes up the water to recirculate it over the two main falls again. The land areas on either side of the middle "lagoon" merely have a drainage area underneath, which I manually sump out with some airline tubing occasionally, when it needs it. The really fun part of this design has been that the land area behind the river run, actually slopes from a "mountain" down to below the water surface in front of it, so it gives the illusion of a stream bank when looking through the front river run. One can see the frogs down there on occasion as well, through the water and vertical glass barrier. This is a little tricky to keep clear and clean from the frogs' side, as they tend to drag dirt over it, but over-all, it's a neat effect. 

I'm now doing a 180 gallon, and plan on using the outside canister filter I had for it when it was a fish tank, for the water circulation, so I'm really interested in how you progress with yours, to get some fresh ideas for myself.


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## Fish_lover0591 (Dec 16, 2006)

Double post oops


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## Fish_lover0591 (Dec 16, 2006)

Yup you got it  Its really simple so once i start working on it you will know. Your 135 gallon sounds pretty cool 



slaytonp said:


> The land areas on either side of the middle "lagoon" merely have a drainage area underneath, which I manually sump out with some airline tubing occasionally, when it needs it.


thats pretty simple but i can't drill my tank's bottom . The mountain and pond was going to be directly connected to the pumps in the sump but then i will have a problem with drainage under the false bottom so thats the whole point of the elbow connected to the bulkhead fitting almost touching the bottom so any water thats down there will continue to circulate around the tank.


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## slaytonp (Nov 14, 2004)

I'm beginning to get the picture. But I just drain my drainage area over the top by inserting an aquarium bubbler tube into the bottom on one corner, where I have a kind of permanent larger, but very short tube insert to the bottom, that it just fits into, so I don't have to dig a hole every time, and just siphon it off with the help of a 60cc cannula syringe to start the process--much like stealing gas from a car tank. It doesn't have to be done often enough in my experience to warrant anything more mechanical than that, and is just a part of the regular trimming, glass cleaning and general maintenance. Unless you have leaks into the substrate from the main water source, you don't have to do this very often. 

The falls, especially when they become overgrown with vines, mosses and various plants, will sometimes leak into the substrate by wicking, and until you get the falls flowing just right, they will do a lot of splashing, which has to be sumped out, and the used up aquarium water replaced. It's also a sign that the tank needs a trim job, anyway. I've never worried about much automation, but then I also have more leisure time on my hands than younger people who are going to school and/or have demanding jobs.


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## Thinair (Aug 27, 2005)

Can you still drill the sides or back of the tank? Sometimes, in tanks smaller and including 55 gallons, only the bottom is tempered... Just have the outlet below the waterline. Hard to adjust the flow, perhaps... 
Are you set on using the sump? Sounds fun...and complicated. I've seen a friend's (mack) 55 gallon with a beautiful waterfall into a small pond -- achieved with a medium-sized canister filter - using holes in the back and side.
Having two pumps (or more?) sounds risky. You're asking for a lot of water on the floor at three in the morning or when you're out of town.  

--Carlos
[/quote]


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## Fish_lover0591 (Dec 16, 2006)

Alright i Think I Have this planned out now  

Things I will Need:

3-4 Cans OF GS
2-3 Sheets of Egg Crate 
10 Gallon tank
(2)2 x 40 flourescent fixtures.
Some Pvc pipe / and tubing.
Humidifier
Water Pump
2-3 tubes of Silicone
Wood to build canopy.
2 x 24" All-Glass hoods
Glass Drill Bit hmm i might have to borrow one from someone.. 
Plants lots of them lol
coco fiber 
some type of substrate mix 
Rocks and driftwood of some sort
Frogs later on.
Lots of free time and imagination
and i think thats it for now.
I need to start saving up lol.
I'm only 15 right now so this isn't going to progress quickly.

As for what i'm actually going to do wait for the next post


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## Fish_lover0591 (Dec 16, 2006)

well i got 2 tubes of silicone and 2 cans of GS i didn't know i would run out so quickly though lol so i might need 1 more can. also i learned that GS is REALLY messy and its hard to take off anything. once it's done expanding and curing i will take a pic of my horrible work


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