cephalotus

Hi! I have been thinking of making a paludarium for a while, although I have only just recently learned that that was the name for it. My goal is to have a terrestrial habitat and an aquatic habitat. Of the many ways to go about this, I don't think that having a wall in the back or floating platforms would be enough for me; I want a more developed terrestrial habitat that would be able to support a gecko (phelsuma grandis or giant day gecko to be precise). Also, I feel that a traditional slope wastes area to build up the land that could be better used aquatically. Therefore, I wanted to know if there was anything I had overlooked that would accomplish my goals. Also, I had a design I had thought of that might work - a shelf that could hold up the land over the water creating an artificial cave in a forty gallon tank (half land and half water). I have attached a rough drawing of it. I'd appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

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yoink

This is how I would go about it. Good idea with the shelf, I too think a slopped bank takes away too much water.
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/46g_construct.htm

andrew__

Make sure you have at least some sort of a ledge though so that your gecko can get out of the water if it falls in or there would be a risk of drowning (you can still do the cave idea, but just have a small ramp around the edge for the gecko rather than a wall)

cephalotus

Thanks

Dryn

Interesting. I like the "cave" idea. Your definitely could make it work very well. There is another free site that is good for these questions (sorry APC). www.DendroBoard.com On that site, there is a very, very cool DIY rock-wall construction by StevenBonheim that involves styrofoam and tile grout. It is very realistic. Check it out, if has answered a ton of my own questions.