Updated pics of N.v.d paludarium

Hi,

Just wanted to post some updated pics of my paludarium. Here's the original build thread:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=56888

It's grown in quite a bit since then... maybe too much

Anyway, here are some shots of the aquatic plants. I'm not really sure what I've got in there (besides the elodea and java fern), but pretty much everything is growing like crazy. I'm in a constant battle with that duckweed. It's super annoying because when the water feature is on they get pushed down and stuck on the aquatic plants where they rot. It's all my husband's fault - he put the duckweed in the tank because he thought it looked 'nice'. Arrrrhhh!







Besides the plants, there are tons of cool freshwater inverts: limpets, snails, at least two types of hydra, some burrowing worms, tons of little copepod type things, and water mites. I haven't been trimming the water plants back much because the females are currently laying eggs so everything is very jungle-y.

Some shots of the top and the 'land' portion, which is tiny. It's basically just a little shelf above that piece of drifwood with a little soil and some mosses and a fern. The other ferns are all epiphytic and tacked to the great stuff background:







One of the females out exploring, and (I'm assuming) taking a break from the male newt:



And a blurry shot of the whole thing:



Thanks for looking :happy:

Nice work!
I looks really natural.

Regards/Tomas

The land area is sexy!

nice. would like to something like that

it looks realy natural( waht I think is very important) and I specialy like the way you used the space. beautifull, congrats:wacko:!!!

man i loved it! really nice and natural. gd job!

I have to say your setup looks stunning. I Love how you gave them a bit of both of both worlds and made it look so natural and clean.

You have given me great motivation to finish my own natural tank with both land and water sections to look as flawless as this!

Great job!

Mitch

Thanks all!

The newts seem to really like it - they actually do use the land portion, though very rarely. I should probably post some updated update pics soon because the plants have grown in a lot since these were taken, both in the water and on the land.

What about the newts what can you tell me about theme?
I am planing to make a paludarium and put some newts in there I was just serching wich ones...

That is such a great tank. Im gonna steal the idea when I get some Marbled Newts

Very natural looking.
Congratulations!

my axie007 said:

What about the newts what can you tell me about theme?
I am planing to make a paludarium and put some newts in there I was just serching wich ones...

Click to expand...

They are Notophthalmus viridescens. This species doesn't actually need the land space - maybe only a log or rock at the surface. I've kept them fully aquatic mostly and they only very rarely leave the water.

I'm actually having a big problem with hair algae right now. I hate the stuff Trying to remove it with a toothbrush mostly results in me uprooting all my plants. It doesn't look so bad, but I've seen the newts get tangled in it occassionally and I want to avoid a horrible accident.

Anyone have any good hair algae solutions?

Here are some updated updated pics. I went crazy trimming back the plants (which turned out to be a mistake because my newts started laying eggs again right after I did that) and my grass-like plant has pretty much taken over the tank. It looks nice, so I don't mind.











The moss on the land portion is growing slowly but steadily, and I'm very surprised to find that the resurrection fern is still doing well. The cypress wood is holding up to being submerged - no rotting, no mold, just some moss and algae growing on it. I think it's been a fairly successful tank so far

Here's the whole set-up in the newt room/office. The little tank next door is Sneaky's cage (the offsrpring):

Yes the plants growed it looks even better now XD. I was planing to make paludarium with a land area like yours so I think your thread will be very usefull thanks for sharing.comps

I really love the land area. In fact,everythingin there looks awesome. And I hate duckweeds too. Always getting stuck under the driftwoods.

Thanks for the replies!

The duckweed was more of a problem when my filter wasn't as clogged: as the flow decreased, the water started cascading down the submerged log instead of pouring off the edge. So less duckweed gets pushed under water.

I'm actually surprised at how well the land plants are doing - I figured the light wouldn't be bright enough. And I was very sure the resurrection fern wouldn't make it because I'd heard they were hard to keep alive in a viv. But they're doing great and making new fronds. The various mosses are also doing well and growing slowly but steadily.

I think this first plant is something called 'spike moss', but I'm not sure:



Some resurrection fern. I actually really like it because the fronds stay small, it does great when it's tacked up on the background, and lack of constant moisture won't hurt it so I can leave the tank lid open for ventilation.



Some moss spreading onto a log:



A little fern frond:



Some more ferns and mosses. The more ladder-like fern is something that came in with the moss - I'm not sure what it is.

I got some cypress wood it is a quite beautifull pioece of wood and I was planing to use it in a cynops orientalis paludárium but I heard it had a toxic resine that could be dangerous to newts. I just wanted to know about youre xperience, I got my drift wood of the woods. Did you buy yours?

Hi!

I bought mine from some crazy wood dealer So far, everything in my tank is fine.

I think cypress is safe to use if it's either (a) old, or (b) bogwood - so been sitting in water for a while. I believe you can test whether or not your wood will be safe by letting it soak in water for a few days (maybe a week) and then testing the pH of the water. Any toxins from the wood will make the water more basic (higher pH), I think.

Update time again!

Wow! This paludarium has gone through a lot of changes over the past year or so. We moved to a new house and the lighting here is not the best. I've had to swap out some plant species for others as the conditions changed.

Here are some photos from today. The water's a little cloudy because I was messing around with the sand. Normally I don't have this much Anarchis in there, but the females are laying.





My newt is not normally this fat, I swear! She just ate too much today.

The cloudiness cleared out a little so I took some more pics: