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AquariumGuy 
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 Topic: nano saltwater paludarium
Posted: October 13 2013 at 9:12pm |
Seattle reefer looking for suggestions. I worked in the Utah aquarium scene for many years and have always enjoyed aquariums. With my newest job I have only been able to have a 25g planted aquarium for the last few years. Well after working an event in one of my favorite fish stores in portland I had a vision of what I wanted to do for my next salt tank. I'm looking for suggestions on how to make this work properly. I'm looking to do a nano paludarium. I'm basing it off this FW paludarium I'm obsessed with.  I've looked online and haven't had much luck other then this.  This is the tank I have to try to create this vision. It's 18"x12"x18" tall.  My thoughts are to secure liverock up the back wall and have a canister filter pull from the tank filter the water and with a spray bar dump it across the wall of rocks. I'm thinking the only option for plants on the wall out of water will be mangroves. Under the water line I will attach zoos shrooms and other soft easy corals. Only 2 clowns, crabs snails and other cleaners along with corals will inhabit this aquarium. My questions. Are there any other plants that will live in air with saltwater feeding the roots. What other ideas or suggestions do you think will work Will black expandable foam hold up under salt water? I look forward to your suggestions. Mike
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�A black belt only covers two inches of your ass. You have to cover the rest.� - Royce Gracie
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tileman
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Posted: October 13 2013 at 10:17pm |
Hey Mike. Great to see you here. Hope all is well and you love your job and new home. I don't have any suggestions, just wanted to say HI.  |
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335G Reef
TOTM.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2015/2/aquarium
ReefKeepers TOTM Feb. 2012
http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index....k-of-the-month
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sh2007
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Posted: October 14 2013 at 8:48am |
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sand water fall feature would be awesome.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: October 14 2013 at 8:55am |
Aloha and welcome back, Gorilla Glue works great in saltwater. Many people have used it to sand and rock the back of a glass tank. As it expands with moisture, it forms a rough looking surface. Because it is permanent, I would actually take a different approach. I would make a structure out of Utah Rock or Marco Rock using black or gray PVC pipe or Acrylic rod, zip ties and Gorilla Glue to hold two or three sections together. I would then set those sections in that tank. I dislike the hoses that run out the top of tanks so I would use a powerhead at the bottom with a sponge filter pointing forward for easy removal and cleaning. The powerhead would be strong enough to push a lot of water up through a hose spilt into 3 top branches spilling over the rock. Mangroves are among just a very few terrestrial trees/bushes that can live with their roots in saltwater, but there is a plethora of tidal algae, including Sargassum and Ulva that attach to rocks in the full sun. The tidal algae would grow and cover the exposed rock. Over time salt spray from the falling water would lessen because of the algae growth. Hope these pics and link give you some ideas:   These are Green Star Polyps opened up in the splash zone.    Click here for more images of rocky shore, tidal zone algae like this image of Ulva/Sea Lettuce: 
Edited by Mark Peterson - October 14 2013 at 9:30am
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AquariumGuy
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Posted: April 13 2014 at 7:25pm |
Back to the build.
After another move this time from Seattle To Boise i am finally setting up this aquarium.
Tank is a Aquatop Paludarium
Using a Zoomed Canister Filter
CaribSea Purple Rock Rubble
I decided to use Gorilla Glue and expandable foam.
I attached the rock with GG first. The black PVC is where i will insert the intake of the filter.
After it cured i then filled in the back with the foam. It expanded way way way more then i thought. I carved off as much excess as i felt was needed.
Now i have questions.
Can i leave the foam as is or should i cover it in sand attaching it with a 2 part epoxy. any pros or cons if i leave it as is?
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�A black belt only covers two inches of your ass. You have to cover the rest.� - Royce Gracie
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: April 13 2014 at 8:09pm |
Welcome back, again. Looks pretty cool. Looks like half of the rock wall will be out of the water. Planning to trickle water down the wall? Sand sticks to Gorilla Glue and to waterfall foam. Coralline algae loves growing on black surfaces. A canister filter needs to be cleaned often to keep it from becoming a 'Nitrate Factory'. Nerite Snails like being out of the water so those may be good for controlling algae on the wall. Aloha 
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Mike Savage
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Posted: April 13 2014 at 8:54pm |
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I covered mine in sand and really like the look. The places where I can see the foam I don't even notice though. Good luck with your decision.
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Matt
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Posted: April 13 2014 at 9:19pm |
So I used egg crate then the expanding pond foam with rocks. I then used 2 part epoxy to cover the remaining black foam with sand. 
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Matt Savage
"Tattoos and Street Bikes"
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bstuver
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Posted: April 14 2014 at 2:44pm |
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Can't wait to see this take shape, looks like it will be a great build!
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Jackie Stuver
"wait these aren't the happy Hawaiians oompa doompa godly heaven on your face zoas? I dont want them then. lol!" Ksmart
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AquariumGuy
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Posted: April 30 2014 at 11:43pm |
Im really impressed with my ability to take my time on this build and do the way i want to with out cutting corners.
So i carved out more of the expanding foam and applied a 2 part epoxy to what i though was the all exposed foam. I also sprinkled some crushed coral on the epoxy and let it set.
As i waited for my filter to arrive i filled it with fresh water and hooked it up to a maxi jet pump.i wanted to see how the water would flow down the rock face.
after a few tweaks i feel i am happy with the look.
My filter from Zoomed and surface skimmer from Ehime arrived today along with a mini Koralia. I got it all hooked up and am doing another freshwater test to insure i am happy with the noise level and water flow.
Ehime surface skimmer
Zoomed filter
final setting.
I will let it run for another 24 hours to work out any bugs and then I'll put some sand and saltwater in it.
I have a new light on its way this week. It is the Orbit Marine LED by Current. it will work well for what i'm planning
I will only be doing 2-3 fish in this tank with hand full of LPS/Zoo's/Mushrooms. It will have many critters that can go both in and out of water to help no let the back wall turn into a massive algae scrubber.
I will say i am really lucky to work in an industry that allows me to get everything i have used on this build for free. I am lucky to have made friends across the whole industry and the many fish shops i service.
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�A black belt only covers two inches of your ass. You have to cover the rest.� - Royce Gracie
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Mike Savage
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Posted: May 01 2014 at 5:35am |
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That is looking great, I really like how you did the back wall.
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AquariumGuy
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Posted: May 05 2014 at 7:43pm |
Sand and salt water are in!!! I'm really happy with the outcome. I cant get the video to upload to photo bucket for some reason, it really shows how well the water movement is down the wall and into the tank. Its evaporating a good amount of water as expected i will be adding a Hydor Smart level to it as soon as it shows up.
But for now its a waiting game for it to start cycling.
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�A black belt only covers two inches of your ass. You have to cover the rest.� - Royce Gracie
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: May 05 2014 at 11:59pm |
 AquariumGuy wrote:
But for now its a waiting game for it to start cycling. |
You have heard, of course, that "cycling" is a thing of the past, right? 
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AquariumGuy
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Posted: May 31 2014 at 8:26pm |
Latest update, the new light and ATO unit have arrived and are installed. sure makes a big difference on how the tank looks and preforms.
I have added a ton of Nerite snails and Hermit crabs along with a sally lightfoot crab, Clown fish, Frogspawn, Mini Maxi Anemone, Green Nephthea Leather, Candy Cane, GSP, and a Chalice frag.
The Snails and crabs are working out perfectly going up and down the rock wall controlling the diatoms. i will be adding a few more choice corals and possibly 1 or 2 more small fish.
Hard to see but the snails and crabs are out of the water cleaning up.
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�A black belt only covers two inches of your ass. You have to cover the rest.� - Royce Gracie
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Mike Savage
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Posted: May 31 2014 at 10:22pm |
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Very nice!
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: June 01 2014 at 7:08am |
A perfect environment for the Nerites and Sally Lightfoots. They live in the tidal zone at the fringe of water and air. The whole thing is looking awesome. It's hard to see the soft algae on the surfaces. I'm curious. Could you describe how the surface algae progressed? Also, did you have to do anything to minimize water splashing off the rocks? Aloha
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AquariumGuy
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Posted: July 14 2014 at 12:17am |
This will be my last post on this tank. Im at a spot where i am really happy with the look and will just wait to see how it grows in. I decided to scrap the idea of any plants growing down the face of the waterfall as it just seems like it would be a pain to attach it and to find some hard good looking algae that will work. I will be starting my new tank this month its a 58g oceanic reef ready tank that i will be going all out on. Cabinetry by Driftwood sump by Elite and all the fancy equipment i can get my hands on. most likely a LPS dominated tank focusing on the high end corals and just a few nice fish.
my new plate coral. Sure looks better online then in person.
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�A black belt only covers two inches of your ass. You have to cover the rest.� - Royce Gracie
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Reefboy4life
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Posted: July 14 2014 at 12:03pm |
That is cool 
Edited by Reefboy4life - July 14 2014 at 12:05pm
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90 gallon mixed reef
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AquariumGuy
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Posted: September 16 2014 at 5:50pm |
I just can not stop fiddling with this tank.
I should change the name of the tank to a waterfall tank because there are zero plants other then some algae on the rocks out of the water.
I removed the plate coral because the levels are just way to inconsistent and it started to look rough. I have a LFS holding it and a few of my nice corals until my 65g tanks is complete.
i have added a few new corals and a few fish but mostly it is the same. Its been a great little tank and i am happy with the outcome thus far.
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�A black belt only covers two inches of your ass. You have to cover the rest.� - Royce Gracie
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