# 56g paluderium



## skimedic (Jun 24, 2011)

Hi Folks

I am new to this whole world and am just finished the build of my first paluderium. It is a 56g tank that has about 20g of water in. 

I have two questions. What marine life would you recommend I place in the tank? The top will be planted with ferns, mosses and orchids. I know nothing about the marine aspect of it. I would like some vibrant colors both in the plants and animals. I'm not afraid of having to do upkeep. In fact the more work I have to do the better. 

Second, I have a waterfall in the tank that has quite a bit of flow. Do you think I would still need to have an air pump or would this be enough? I only plan to run the waterfall from 8am-9pm. Should I get a pump to run at night?

Cheers and thanks in advance!


----------



## skimedic (Jun 24, 2011)

Ignore the hoses for now and hopefully it wont take too much longer to settle


----------



## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

First of all, congrats! (I LOVE paluderums and ripariums!!!! I soooo want to do one eventually!) You MUST put pics up of each stage of the build!!

Is your Paluderium going to have "area specific" plants? For example, all Amazonian plants? Or all African plants? If you were going to do plants from one area, then I would do fish from that area too, that way you've got a biotope going on.

If the plants are from all different areas then I guess you could do fish from any where. Do you like schooling fish or fish that are more separate? (That will narrow down the types you can have.)

Maybe if you can answer these questions we can help you pick out some cool fish! (Just don't want to pick something you don't like or that wouldn't be appropriate, that's why I asked those questions.)

As for the air pump..... it may depend on the kind of fish you get as to whether or not you need one going 24/7.


----------



## skimedic (Jun 24, 2011)

Thanks for the reply.

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of me actually building the rocks and false floor. However, the company I bought my casting compound from has asked me to do a feature for their website so I will be putting a "How To" guide together soon. 

The plants are mostly orchids from Thiland (1 from Africa) with some other fillers mixed in. There is 20g of water in the tank but only about 2/3 of that is usable by the fish, the rest is under the false floor and is screened off from the rest of the tank. You can get an idea of what I mean from the pics above. 

I want small schooling fish as well as some "cleaning crew" fish/snails. Someone also suggested African Dwarf Frogs? What do you think?

Thanks!


----------



## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

I've got 2 of them, and they are super cute! You need around 2-5 gallons per frog, so you'd be fine with 2-4. They are completely aquatic and will just dart to the surface to breathe, then go back down to the bottom and swim around. They need foods like blood worms, brine shrimp and glass worms (frozen or live - freeze dried can cause impaction.) And you can also give them HBH Frog and Tadpole bites. They usually need to be fed on a small plate at the bottom of the tank - or by hand with 10" tweezers, which is what I do. They can only see shadows, so they can't just 'search' for food. They also do not eat at the surface like fish do. They eat at the bottom of the tank. Hand feeding, or feeding them on a plate, will make it so you can monitor how much they are eating.

Fish are fine with ADF's. I've got Red Cherry shrimp, Black Diamond shrimp, Oto cats and Chilli Rasboras (tiny!) with mine and they are all fine.

Let me know if you have any more questions about the ADF's! I love them! They each have their own personality!!


----------

