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Critique my aquascape Dean's Trigon 350

dean

Member
Joined
6 Apr 2012
Messages
1,541
Location
Warrington, Cheshire
Hi all now that the decorating is nearly finished time to turn my attention to my old mate whose been in our lounge about 10 years it's been many things in the past including general community all the way through to a lake tangyanika tank, all have been fish first, plants if possible second,
With me fish will always come first but now plants are more than something fry hide in they are a necessity

So far I've ripped the tank to pieces and removed everything including the lid

I've painted the backs with black acrylic paint as it's easy to remove with a scrapper if I ever wanted to, then I've sealed it with a coat of pva just to stop it coming off by mistake, both were very easy to apply with a mini paint roller

My idea is to make this as simple as possible to maintain, gone are the annoying canister filters, pulling them out of the cabinet to clean was a chore that only got done when needed as it was a pain in the but

So I've bought an Eheim Compact+ 3000 pump that will supply a trickle tower filter situated above the tank

Lighting is going to be supplied by cheap led security lights

Substrate I'm going with Tim's soil mix 50/50 pond soil & Irish moss peat (both made by Westland) topped with fine gravel

Decor is going to be some big pieces of wood which they sell for vivariums which I've had soaking for the past 6 months as they would take a tonne of weight to keep them down

Then I want to plant up with crypts, ferns and moss plus other stuff that catches my eye

Then the exciting part is going to be having plants above the water line Riparium style these will hide the trickle tower and make the whole corner of the room a slice of nature

I've been looking for ideas for absolutely ages and then after numerous web searches for inspiration I came across this photo that hit the right spot with me
Her indoors also thinks it's nice that's the first time we've ever agreed on a tank layout I usually don't consult her

ef5a939cb44c56f2bc6f76e421b79303.jpg



I'm thinking off extending the two back walls up so the plants aren't attached to the walls and causing damp problems etc etc
I'll probably use acrylic so that I can build the trickle tower Into it

I'm not sure whether I'm placing the pump inside or outside the aquarium yet

Can anyone spot any likely problems or pitfalls to avoid ?

Photos to come as I start
At present it's just a tank that's been cleaned




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That's an amazing inspiration photo, it'd be fantastic if you could achieve something even half as good, which no doubt you will; and bonus "her in doors" likes it too;)
Looking forward to the journal this will be an interesting build.

P.S. I don't suppose you've got the original image link to share have you?
 
Loving the inspiration as well as looking forward to seeing your progress. Are my eyes deceiving me or is there a bird on that branch?
 
Loving the inspiration as well as looking forward to seeing your progress. Are my eyes deceiving me or is there a bird on that branch?

Omg yeah I never noticed the bird
If you look there's a mess on the back of s light and a nest on the left hand side
What an amazing idea


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Anyone any tips on how to grow the immersed plants ?

I've a few ideas
1. Use multiple rows of guttering filled with Leca so it's my filter too

2. Use a foam the create a gentle slope and insert plastic cups for planting

Was going to use acrylic as the backing but I don't think it will be strong enough unless it's very thick (= expensive) so it's looking like plywood sealed with varnish


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An amazing looking set up, certainly inspiring, i wonder what the maintenance schedule is like . The bird looks like a hecks grass finch, could be wrong but there seems to be a nest situated at the left rear of the tank, i wonder how practical it is to have free range finches flying around your living room

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Hi!

Your project is about a Paludarium. I am workind to a similar one and the link from bellow is what I like very much.
I am studing this domeain from over 6 months and I read and learn about plants thet can be used in emerged side
of Paludarium as well as the aqvarium plants that can be rised out of water or at the limit of the water.

The main problem in a Paludarium is position and filtration.

The position is close related with the fact that you need natural light for emersed plants but witout influencing the submersed
part, avoiding this way the algae problems. So, first of all, find a proper place for Paludarium. There are some studies regarding
led system for emerged plants but not with very clear results.

Filtration is different than in an aqvarium. The emersed part of Paludarium will collect a lot of dust, death leaves and other particles that,
washed by the "waterfall" will go in the water, and so on ... So the best solution is a strong mechanical filtration together with
biological filtration, but separate one from another. The best one is a sump with fluid filtration or two external filters and mechanical
pre-filtration (this is my solution).

Regarding the plants, I finished studying so far HC, Marsilea, Helferi, Bucephalandra, Ludwigia and a few more.
Bucephalandra looks very attractive to me because of the nice flowers she made. Also Anubias ...

This is the link, hope to be OK.

 
Hi!

Your project is about a Paludarium. I am workind to a similar one and the link from bellow is what I like very much.
I am studing this domeain from over 6 months and I read and learn about plants thet can be used in emerged side
of Paludarium as well as the aqvarium plants that can be rised out of water or at the limit of the water.

The main problem in a Paludarium is position and filtration.

The position is close related with the fact that you need natural light for emersed plants but witout influencing the submersed
part, avoiding this way the algae problems. So, first of all, find a proper place for Paludarium. There are some studies regarding
led system for emerged plants but not with very clear results.

Filtration is different than in an aqvarium. The emersed part of Paludarium will collect a lot of dust, death leaves and other particles that,
washed by the "waterfall" will go in the water, and so on ... So the best solution is a strong mechanical filtration together with
biological filtration, but separate one from another. The best one is a sump with fluid filtration or two external filters and mechanical
pre-filtration (this is my solution).

Regarding the plants, I finished studying so far HC, Marsilea, Helferi, Bucephalandra, Ludwigia and a few more.
Bucephalandra looks very attractive to me because of the nice flowers she made. Also Anubias ...

This is the link, hope to be OK.



The paludarium in the video is the best one I've ever seen. Cheers for the share it was nice and relaxing, especially with that tune.
 
I am glad you like it.
This is the clasic Paludarium, that I want to do. There are three kind of Paludarium :
1. Open : a Paludarium that have at least 50% over the water and totaly exposed to external environment. This have the advantage of the combination of the different type of plants and is very nice to keep in your house, in the office, ...
2. Semi-open : a Paludarium in an aqvarium, sometimes with cover. ... somthing like a Wabi Kusa in first stage. This have the advantage of being easy to control filtration, inside conditions, ...
3. Closed : a Paludarium that is totaly isolated from external environment, in a large hermetic aqvarium, where a special biotop is reproduced (with rain and cloudy weather). OK, this is already a very complicated greenhouse that need special equipments. Nevertheless, many people like it to have.

In this video is one from first type. This is what I like most.
 
Silviu Man thank you for sharing that
It's a very relaxing video
I hope you share your build with us

Some of the problems I'm trying to work through at the moment are
1. How to contain the water within the area I want it and how to protect the house walls - I'm thinking of either acrylic sheet or ply fixed to the wall and sealed with an appropriate sealer / varnish

2. I've placed the trigon so that it's (4")100mm away from the wall on both sides - I'll bridge this space the same way as I solve number 1. This gives me room to pass pipes/ cables behind the trigon plus I can then work on making the background slope upwards

3. Filtration I've bought a eheim pump with an output of 3000 litres per hour, this will handle the head and still give me a good flow. I want to build in a trickle tower above the trigon and hide it within the background, if I fill it with course foam the weight will be minimised and it will be easy to pull out to clean if I ever need to do so, most of the pumps output will go to this and the remainder can then be used to water the emerged plants. I will profiler the water by having a foam block strainer before the pump, somehow

I'm also having thoughts along the aquaponics route, a rigid pipe that starts at the top and goes along both walls and snakes down a level when it reaches the ends, drill this with holes in the top side big enough to take standard aquarium plant pots so I can just pop them in and even move them around or maybe try growing some herbs or veg in it . I'm thinking of then covering it all with sphagnum moss and netting to make it look more attractive

Lighting- I'm going to use led security lights- some will just point at the paludarium part for 12 hours a day

Interior tank design - a basic low tech layout - I'm thinking along the lines of a river bed so rounded boulders and a couple of big pieces of wood

Substrate debating soil capped with 2-3mm river gravel (90% sure if this)

Plants - epiphytes on the wood and maybe a short vallisineria species or hair grass in selected spots

Fish - totally undecided at present


I'm open to any suggestions, comments on any of the above so please let me know what you think



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Well this must be a record for the slowest scape ever

So I’ve restarted this after a long time

I’ve bought an eheim pump and made a housing for it and the stainless steel heater
Inside it will have 4” of coarse grade foam above the filter to act mostly as a mechanical filter.
I’ve not yet decided if to have a trickle tower situated above the tank or whether the emerald plants will be enough

There’s approx 35-40mm soil substrate capped with the same amount of fine gravel

Just starting playing with the hardscape - big pieces of wood that’s all it’s having
c21b1bc9f85e8b789f7e50d8e8414d0d.jpg


This is an arias view
fbf1c01170ccff298ca449a06c3792a2.jpg


Here’s the pump housing and the wall that holds back the substrate so that it can be lifted free for maintenance
149fd1561acbc84c47a8b52e37236426.jpg



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a12e8f92974b800ff9252710939e7bd5.jpg


Playing about with lighting
This is the current height that the background above the tank will be not the final positioning of the lights they will be level with the front curve of the tank so minimising light pollution to the rest of the room

Thinking of using some ply to follow the curve of the tank and fitting it directly above the glass level with the top of the background

These are 10watt 4000k LED security lights only £5 each
I have a few more of these in 4000k & 6400k so have lots of scope



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You have been busy:)

Sorry if I missed it but is the front to remain completely open?
 
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