Exo Terra saltwater paludarium

[Metalreefer]

While the silicon cures I made some jungle vines from a rope covered with silicone and cocoa coir.

 

[Metalreefer]

when the silicon cured and the excessive cocoa removed. Time to hook up the mist maker and the pump and look for leaks before finishing the bottom part. applying silicone isn't easy, parts can be missed.Also the expanding foam moved the structure a bit here and there. i can check the waterfall if its splashing water over the place. Dont mind the background noise please xd its not a promo video yet.

 

[Metalreefer]

so there were few leaks. After fixing them with silicone and the foam being built back, i covered the bottom part with instant cement.so I can paint it after it dries. I painted it first but the foam soaked the paint in and it was full of holes. so I decided to spread the cement to get a smooth surface. its gonna be pretty beginner level work BUT i never built anything like this before so lets see the final look at the end

 

[SaltySteve]

Props for your originality. I started with reptiles and amphibians and always naturally gravitate to dynamic biome- type displays. I'm sure there are ways to integrate the dry land portion with the saltwater portion so it is beneficial to both, maybe you can start a new lagoon-type trend. Looking forward to your progress!

 

[Hornet]

Looking good so far. I like the Exo terra terrariums a lot.
I had a dart frog with vampire crab terrarium (120 cm wide x 160 high and 60 deep, not exoterra but with sliding doors) with a water part and waterfall over a huge wooden part. (That things was heavy!) I never could get anything to stay in the sillicone if there was water running over it. When I used elastopur it worked better (no clue if it has another name in English). Hope this turns out how you hoped it would!

Can you still take out the mistmaker for cleaning? I used an external one cause they would get pretty dirty and sometimes made a lot of noise.

 

[Metalreefer]

Props for your originality. I started with reptiles and amphibians and always naturally gravitate to dynamic biome- type displays. I'm sure there are ways to integrate the dry land portion with the saltwater portion so it is beneficial to both, maybe you can start a new lagoon-type trend. Looking forward to your progress!

I will have a tiny bit of dry land part over the reef, a small ledge with sand. I will post that part later on. I have another project in mind but i cannot afford that one right now about certain reasons. Lets say what I am doing is the "small" version of it making the minimal what i wanted to create. I wish i will start a trend with this that would be amazing.

 

[SaltySteve]

I'd imagine maybe using as much reef rock as possible for the ledge (epoxied to the back glass), could even drill a hole or a few through the ledge of rock and slip mangroves through the holes so the roots are exposed to water and are also above land. Dunno, you seem to be on a good track.

 

[Metalreefer]

Looking good so far. I like the Exo terra terrariums a lot.
I had a dart frog with vampire crab terrarium (120 cm wide x 160 high and 60 deep, not exoterra but with sliding doors) with a water part and waterfall over a huge wooden part. (That things was heavy!) I never could get anything to stay in the sillicone if there was water running over it. When I used elastopur it worked better (no clue if it has another name in English). Hope this turns out how you hoped it would!

Can you still take out the mistmaker for cleaning? I used an external one cause they would get pretty dirty and sometimes made a lot of noise.

Thanks! I had no problem with the silicone so far. Except that its hard to work with it to seal everything properly As a beginner i struggled a LOT to make the water part waterproof. But I did it. And yes. I can remove the mist maker and the pump as well.

 

[Metalreefer]

I'd imagine maybe using as much reef rock as possible for the ledge (epoxied to the back glass), could even drill a hole or a few through the ledge of rock and slip mangroves through the holes so the roots are exposed to water and are also above land. Dunno, you seem to be on a good track.

Thank you.Really good idea actually. I was planning to put a mangrove or 2 inside but nothing about how exactly. The background is done already. i made some ledges on it. I can glue the mangrove to it at water level so it will grow the roots into the water.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

This is going to be so cool!

 

[Metalreefer]

Next step is painting the cement. I used black,white,red,yellow acrylic paint to create this authentic look. The bottom is very light because that's where the water is demolishing the rock making more layer exposed. Then going upwards find the more Gray stone formation When I was on holiday in Asia i seen this colour combination everywhere.

 

[EagleEye121]

Following along! I have an 18x18x36 viv for a group of red eyed’s that used to be a paludarium, now fully terrestrial. Turned out to be more maintenance than I was willing to keep up with but it looked great. Really excited to see how this turns out with the reef element!

 

[Metalreefer]

So here is the background I made from foam. I spread silicone on on top then sprinkled it with sand.

 

[Metalreefer]

with only white lights.

And with whites and blue.

The bottom background looks so out of place. It doesn't mach the middle part colour theme. It doesn't look right to me and i don't like that.But i still kinda like it because it's black and brings out more colour from the corals when i put them in front.It also gives some natural vibe because of the sprinkled sand. The water level will be on the top of the straight white tape, on the right side of the glass. The main reason I want background in the first place to hide the equipment because i don't want a sump for sure. What do you think how i could make the background better.Or leave it as it is.

 

[Sharir]

Man that is amazing... I am glad you had the guts to "fight the norm" @Metalreefer. For inspiration you should check out veitnam pictures of their jungles in the sea.

 

[Metalreefer]

Man that is amazing... I am glad you had the guts to "fight the norm" @Metalreefer. For inspiration you should check out veitnam pictures of their jungles in the sea.

Thank you! I been in Thailand last year so i was able to see those kind of islands pretty close. I was watching my pictures i took when i painted the middle part

 

[Metalreefer]

So i did some changes to blend the look more together.I painted the bottom of rock-work to the colour of the sand i'm using. Then I covered the top of background with sand and added a bit of extra part to get this between water and land zone part. I think this way the 3 part doesn't look that separated than before. The next job will be to seal the paint on the middle part so it wont leach into the water.

 

[Metalreefer]

i covered the background with cling film and bin bag. leavening the middle part out only. then I sprayed around 4 layers of plastidip to seal the paint as much as i can. I cold have used epoxy too but i chose the spray because its easier to apply.

 

[Metalreefer]

After a good cleaning. I filled the top of the ledge with aquarium gravel. it will hide the pump cable and the other parts without any decoration.

 

[Metalreefer]

The plants I'am going to use for the first round will be:
Ficus pumila 'variegata'
polystichum tsus-simense
Nepenthes 'Bloody mary'
Drosera Capensis
various mosses I collected