intelsuit

I have been looking at the boards for a while now and I have decided to create my own 55 gallon paludarium. I started with the backgound tonight and we will see how it evolves.
On a recent camping trip I brought back a lot of tree bark to use as my background. I started by taping off the top 2 inches and the bottom 7 inches with painters tape. I then laid my tank on its back and laid out my tree bark. I cut the bark to fit using a saw. The sides of the tank are vertical just the way normal bark is on the tree. But, I had several long pieces so I decided to lay out the bark horizontally across the back to give the crabs a place to run across the back of the tank. I then mixed up some spagum moss, coco fiber and some misc shavings sawdust and other small cuttings from the tree, in a bucket. I then sprayed the great stuff foam evenly across the back of the tank and placed my tree bark into it. when i was done I sprinkled the coco fiber mix across the exposed foam and pressed it into the cracks. I am hopeing that I did it right but only time will tell. I was going to post pictures but I have to upload them to another website first. wish me luck.

mudboots

Sounds like an awesome project; can't wait to see it. Natural products seem to really make the scape come alive, and there always seems to be little critters that sneak in somehow, which adds to the natural appeal of the whole set up. This sounds like a really cool project!

bumpman

Would love to see pics of your 55gal. when it's all done. In my ecology class my students have to create an aquatic micro-ecosystem and most use a gallon glass or plastic jar. Their systems have to be sealed air-tight yet survive for extended time. One group of kids used a spare 55 gallon tank and made a paludarium last year. Its been going for a year now completely sealed. Looks OK but not super, but everything's still alive (including snails and aquatic invertebrates.