DIY - Projects & Ideas • New project 75g paludarium

[Steve C]

Been a while since I started a new project. Decided to get working on something new now. Going to try my hand at building a paludarium out of a 75g drilled tank I picked up last week. Decided to take out the 3d foam rock wall I built about 3 yrs ago where I use to have an in wall 75g tank. I'm removing that wall and then framing in a new area that will recess back and create a new area of space that will be around 25-30sqft.

Planning on doing a very tropical style paludarium with at least one/two waterfalls, about 6" of water, ultrasonic fogger, lots of plants and also plan to use a couple of my tropical bonsai trees in the build and have them stick up over the rim of the tank. The tank I got is a drilled 75g that is in "ok" shape so I plan to reseal that so it looks better as well as remove the upper and lower trim so it will be trim-less.

Got a little done today. Thank God for the new hammer drill, that thing is a life saver for drilling into concrete.

[Deeda]

Looking forward to the new build as it sounds interesting!!

[Chasmodes]

Wow, this sounds like an exciting project. I will be following along!

[Steve C]

Got a little more time to work on this project today. Got all the framing in done, so picked up some drywall and got that all roughed in. Still have to do the ceiling, tape&mud then sand and paint then I can do the floor and the new area will be done so then I can start working on the actual paludarium tank itself then.

[Steve C]

New area for the Paludarium project is done now. Finished up the framing & drywall a couple weeks ago, so spent the past few days doing the sanding, painting, flooring and lighting. Went with a color called Sandy Sage which I thought would have a real natural / earthy look to it which should go well with the heavily planted tank. Wanted a contrast for the floor so went with a white/cream pattern to help designate the area better so it didn't just run all together with the rest of the shop/office. Now I can start working on the tank itself soon.

[Deeda]

I like it!! I think having that separate area for the paludarium will look great.

[Steve C]

Thanks Deeda. I wasn't sure if making it look so separate was going to be the right choice at first, but now that it's done I think I like it like this. Been doing some work on the tank this morning. Paludariums always look much nicer rimless so just got done removing the tip trim. Next will be cleaning it up and resealing.

[Chasmodes]

Looking good! What kind of critters/fish are you thinking of for your stocking list?

[Steve C]

Not 100% sure yet. Some sort of small fish like tetra's and maybe guppies or something like that. Also been looking at fire bellied newts which I have never had before but they really caught my interest so been doing a little reading up on them lately.

[Steve C]

A lot of the nicer looking paludariums usually have a custom front panel that is cut much lower than the rest to give unobstructed view of the plants and land area above the water line. So my plans are to take this bottom panel from an old 55g that I have and get it cut down to 8" height. I've already gave it to ol' polarized glasses/LCD screen test to see if it was tempered and it does not seem to be so should be cut-able. Took quite a while to clean it up though. Part of it was painted and spent a couple hours with vinegar & razors to get it as clean as I possibly could so it cuts without issues.

[Steve C]

Took the 12" x 4*" piece today to the harware. Not only lucked out that its not tempered, but the cost for them cutting it down to 8x48? $2.00.....BOOM!

[Chasmodes]

Cool. You can't beat that!

[Steve C]

Been workin on the paludarium tank a bit more lately. Got the top and bottom trim removed so it will be rimless, removed the front glass and replaced it with a piece of glass I had cut down to 8". Scraped out all the old silicone and cleaned it all up and just resealed the tank so just curing up now. Slowly but surely.

[Deeda]

Looking good!

[Steve C]

Thanks Deeda. I lucked out on that piece of glass. I looked online and most places wanted $75 for a 48x8 piece new. Thankfully that bottom panel of the 55g was not tempered so that really saved me a lot of cash there. Gonna wait till morning and then leak test it and then I can start the actual in tank work then.