Aquarium tear down for Newt/Frog Paludarium

Hi all.

I've been running a fully planted tropical aquarium for several years with moderate success but I'm kinda bored with it as I can never seem to gain height in the display. So, my intention is to move to a paludarium; housing either newts or frogs (because upkeep will be easier, right? ).

I've 'studied' what I think I'll need but have a few niggling questions before I go ahead and buy stuff.

Below, you'll see my existing tank - a 240l (55gal) which will be stripped down and converted. I've looked at a thousand YouTube vids on how to construct a paludarium and have many items waiting in various baskets across the web ready for me to hit 'buy'. Before I do so, however, I need to get my head around some mechanics.

1. I'll be utilising one of my existing canister filters for the water side of things and I'd like to incorporate a drip wall to keep mosses and plants irrigated adequately, negating the need for constant hand-misting. I've flip-flopped between having a 'plain' expanded foam drip wall (concreted) or one with coco fibre/sphagnum embedded in silicone. Will the drip wall cause erosion of the coco fibre over time? Would I be better off with EpiWeb or Tree Fern tiles?

2. I'd like to have fish in the water part. Not piranha(!), just Galaxy Rasboras (about 1-1.2" long) which should also cope with the lower newt-friendly temperatures. I'd like to keep my Amano and Cherry shrimp too (mainly as cleaning crew). There will still be a sizeable body of water - 80 litres or so after the build. I've heard you shouldn't really keep fish with newts but I figure these will be ok. Any voices of dissent or am I good to go with those?

3. Materials I have in mind for the build include polystyrene board, expanding foam (Touch n' Foam Landscape) cement and G4 pond paint sealer. On top of all this I'll add some 'Seyriu stone' and some substrate. Is there a method to get a matt finish on the fake rockwork after application of the G4 (and is there a cheaper alternative!?). How much substrate do frogs/newts actually need?

4. I haven't fully decided on species yet but as I'm weeks away from the build - and months away from stocking - what features could I build into the paludarium which would provide benefits to either newts or frogs for when I eventually introduce fauna? Does anyone here run enclosures with both?

5. I currently use 1-2mm smooth quartz gravel (see photo). Will this be problematic for newts and frogs and if so, why?

I'll probably think of a few more Qs as this thread progresses!

That's a beautiful tank!

My first piece of advice is decide what you want to keep first and then build around that. Many newt species do not need much land at all, so converting this to half land may be fruitless depending on what you want to keep. I have three alpine newts which are basically 100% aquatic. They have a few cork logs they can climb out onto. If you were converting this tank for alpine newts, all you would have to do is lower the water level a several inches and throw in a piece of floating cork or driftwood.

I keep white cloud mountain minnows with my newts, which seem to be the only fish approved by newt keepers on these forums. I don't know much about the temperament of those rasboras, but I always worry that even small fish can easily harm slow-moving, placid newts.

Newts don't like turbulent water, so a canister filter may be out of the question. The intake would also be dangerously powerful. I use sponge filters.

I only use small-grain play sand as a substrate. Newts feed off the bottom and can ingest substrate. I'd be wary of gravel.

Good luck.

Hey, many thanks. I’ve chewed it over and I’d like to go for frogs. My daughter's in love with them too. So, let’s frame advice for poison darts.

I may now have even less water and incorporate more dry land. Any advice, given the tank I have (which won’t be changing).