I Made a Paludarium for Vampire Crabs, Here’s How!

in this video I'm going to make a flowing stream ecosystem paludarium for these stunning vampire crabs let's get straight into it I'll be using this tank which I made from scrap glass for this build I'll leave links to all the materials I'll be using in the description below if you want to try doing something like this yourself I'm going to start with the drainage layer I want to use something which is extremely lightweight while still allowing water to freely pass through this coarse filter foam is the obvious choice it will also have the added benefit of filtering the water as it gets pulled up through the pump let me quickly explain the plans for this build I want to have an open water section on the left side with a stream that flows into it all the way from the right side this is mainly inspired by the flowing stream terrarium I made a few months ago but on a much larger scale before I do anything I'm going to use this whiteboard pen to draw a tapered line on the back of the gloss this will come in really handy when constructing the stream as it will give me a good guideline to follow before I can start building the stream I need to shape the left side of the foam I'm using some scissors to cut out the desired shape and ensuring it slopes into the water it's certainly not the neatest but it'll be covered up later anyway now I'm taking some leftover foam and building up some height following the tapered line I drew earlier this definitely doesn't have to be neat as it's just a temporary base which I'm going to start building the string on the main thing is that it follows the tapered line on the glass to construct the stream I'm going to use these small pieces of black lava rock piece by piece I'm placing in the rocks and slowly building the outline of the string this process was time consuming and did take a lot of trial and error but it'll be worth it in the end with the majority of the rocks in place it's time to start locking them together with the super glue and tissue method all I'm going to do is take a small amount of tissue and wedge it in between two rocks I'm then soaking it in super glue and letting it dry for a few minutes the result is a strong bond which is 100 safe for live plants and creatures for even more strength I'm adding the third piece which will sit on top and add another point of contact this will also help it look even more detailed and natural I'm going to go ahead and continue the same process here's one of the walls of the stream all glued together and it's even strong and sturdy enough to be held it really doesn't look like much at the moment but believe me it is going to start coming together shortly I'm going to repeat the same process for the back of the Stream with both halves of the stream done I need a way to temporarily lock them together to do this I'm going to take some cocktail sticks and temporarily attach them in place with some hot glue these will act as braces and with enough of them the stream can be removed as one entire piece as you can see they hold two sides together really well the next thing I'm going to do is take some more leftover filter foam and wedge it in between the two pieces shortly I'm going to be covering the base in expanding foam and doing this will help prevent the foam getting into areas we don't want it now that the sensor is covered I'm going to flip it over and start applying the expanding foam after a good Shake I'm carefully applying it onto the base the main thing here is that both sides of the Lava Rock are in contact with the expanding foam try not to get carried away and apply too much as it does expand a lot as you may have guessed after about 10 to 15 minutes the surface of the foam has dried enough to the point where it can be touched and shaped here's how it looks after it's been shaped in my opinion this is much easier than carving the foam before it's fully cured I'm going to go ahead and pull out the filter foam down the center here's how it looks with all the filter foam pulled out and the expanding foam fully cured at this point it's time to remove the wooden braces I'm really impressed with just how sturdy it is after placing it back inside the tank you can get a good look of just how the stream is going to flow and function the water will flow down the stream into the open area of water get pulled through the filter foam into the pump and then repeat the next thing I'm going to do is use more black lava rocks to build out the open end of the string I'll lock them in place with the super glue and tissue method I did also add some more expanding foam to the bottom off camera to make sure that the water flows down over the Rocks instead of just falling through the gaps and cracks now it's time to cover up the ugly foam down the center and make it look a little more natural I'm going to cover it up with silicone and crushed lava rock it's very important that you use 100 silicone or silicone that's advertised as aquarium or fish safe I'm applying the silicone small patches at a time and using my finger to spread it out over the foam I'm then pouring on a generous amount of crushed lava rock and pushing it down into place the excess can then be removed and as you can see it covers up the foam really well I'm going to repeat the same process for the rest of the exposed foam as you can see I've covered up all the foam and left it to dry for 24 hours I'm really liking how the stream's starting to look and it looks even better sitting inside the paludarian let's move on and talk about the pump I'm going to use for the stream it's a small brushless pump similar to the one I used in my flying waterfall terrarium which has been growing really well it's got a small plug which can easily fit through a hole in the top of the tank so I haven't got to cut any wires originally I was going to place it in the corner right underneath the stream but I decided against this as I would never be able to access the pump and replace it if it ever stopped working instead I'll use some tubing to direct the flow from where it is now I'm cutting out a square in the filter foam for the pump to sitting and making sure to cut out a section for the intake as well I used some 10 millimeter tubing to create this output which will pump water into the stream it's definitely not the neatest but it'll do the job [Music] I'm going to use some black lava rocks to help cover up the output a little better once again I'll attach these with super glue that looks much better but the stream definitely has an eyesore which is these white super glue marks to cover them up I'm going to use more super glue and crushed lava rock I'm simply applying a small amount of super glue on the area I want to cover and then sprinkle in some lava rock on top I can then remove the excess and the result is a seamless joint between the two lava rocks I'll continue the same process until all the glue marks have been covered up now everything's covered I absolutely love how the stream's starting to look defeating the wire of the pump through the hole I now want to add a foam mat on the bottom of the tank this will protect the glass from any uneven surfaces now I can put all the components back inside and get ready for a test run [Music] thank you after turning the pump on it flowed really well but it was a bit stronger than I expected to reduce the flow what I'm going to do is trim the output a little bit and then place a thin bit of black filter foam in front this will help diffuse the water and slow it down a bit it worked perfectly and this flows a lot more manageable and it's what I was looking for [Music] now I'm going to use some more filter foam to cover up the pump this will stop unwanted things like soil from getting into it now the pump's covered up I want to place in this big piece of lava rock I want this to act as a focal point and although it looks a little bit out of place at the moment once the rest of the hardscape's in I think it'll look great [Music] now I've got a few different pieces of Driftwood which I'm going to place throughout the paludarium I'm making sure to look at their natural lines and textures and placing them accordingly [Music] I'm going to attach them to the lava rock with the super glue and tissue method I added a few more pieces and I really like how this Hardscape has came together now I'm going to take some Leica and pour it under the Gap underneath the string at the moment it's got a bit of give which is not ideal long term the narrow gaps in The Hardscape made it really difficult to get the leaker in and behind Escape once I got it in I pushed it under the stream and it created a nice Foundation which stopped it from moving now I'm going to move my attention to the open section of water and plug any gaps with Filter foam and black lava rock it's very important I do this as I don't want any creatures to get trapped in places that they can't get out [Music] with that done it's finally time to add the substrate in the foreground for this I'm going to use this three-year-old Aqua soil I chose this over new Aqua soil as it won't be buffering the water at all or at least it'll do it slightly the reason this is important is because the creatures that are going to go in here ideally shouldn't be kept in water that is too soft this substrate has been in about three or four aquariums in its lifetime so it's very unlikely that it'll buffer the pH obviously the negative to use in three-year-old substrate is that it will have very little nutrients but I'm not too worried about this as I'm only really planning on using moss in the foreground anyway with the aqua saw in I'm now going to place in some window screen mesh to sit on top of the leaker in the back this will stop the substroke from getting down through the leaker and being in constant contact with the flowing water my regular terrarium substrate mix wouldn't be suitable for this build as it's going to be fully saturated most of the time this will cause it to stagnate which is certainly not ideal instead I came up with this mix which should work a lot better now the substrate is in and done I'm going to place in a few bits of spider wood to add some detail and interest something as simple as a few branches here and there can really take The Hardscape of any build to another level I didn't place in too many but I'm really liking how it looks obviously I made sure to secure them down in place I'm not going to worry too much about covering up the exposed glue as this will be easy enough with some Moss implants so now I'm going to start working on the Water Area I'm going to start by pouring in a fine layer of sand I'm going for a fairly light color as I think it contrasts the black lava rock quite well after pouring in the sand and spreading it out I'm now going to add some small pieces of lava rock to create a more natural transition [Music] I definitely think it helps the light sand fit into the rest of the Hardscape now it's finally time for the plants I've got a wide variety of different moss and plant species which I'll be using for this build one thing that they've all got in common is that their aquatic plants that grow great in terrarium and paludarium conditions this here's a nice dense carpet of Christmas Moss which I've grown myself I think it will look great all across the foreground on top of the aqua soil to plant it all I'm doing is pulling out chunks and then gently pressing it down onto the aqua soil growing your own moss and plants is a great way to save on money for builds like this I have made a video on plant propagation in the past but let me know in the comments if you would like to see a specific video on propagating moss in tubs like this now let's start to get some plants in before planting them I'm removing all the rock wall and splitting them up into multiple pieces with that done they can now be planted inside the tank these plants here are epithetes and should not be planted into the substrate instead I'm wedging them in gaps and cracks throughout the paludarium [Music] and with just a few plants the Escape has already been brought to life next I'm going to plant some small anubias throughout the tank I really like its small Leaf size and think it will bring a good level of detail [Music] I'm applying a small amount of super glue to this wood and attaching some anubias this won't hurt the plant at all but try not to use too much glue I made sure to spray the tank down every now and then to keep the plants from drying out I'm going to plant these cribs in the background just behind the Driftwood this can be planted directly into the substrate and once it gets bigger it should bring a nice pop of pink into the background now I'm going to add some more detail with these booster phalanges which are attached to some rocks the first one I want to place in this Gap here beneath the Driftwood to cover up all the glue marks to get it in place I'm using a small amount of super glue I'll list all the Moss and plants I've used in the description below along with some links at this point the scape is really coming together but I've got a few more plants that I want to add this is a really small crib species and I think it will look great grown in the foreground in and amongst the Moss I'm using some tweezers to dig a small hole into the aqua soil and then plant in some clumps inside they don't look the best right now but once they're established I think they'll be a great addition as they're an aquatic plant I am actually going to plant a couple down in the water section as well now I've got some weeping moss and I'm going to tear off a few patches and place them throughout the paludarium this is one of my favorite species to use in setups like this as it's fast growing stays low and Compact and it's a beautiful vibrant green to take this scape to the next level I'm going to add some Botanicals I've got some Indian almond leaves some Acorn caps and some Twisted seed pods these leaves are a little too big for the scale of this scape so I'm going to break them up into smaller pieces I'm now going to place a good amount of them throughout the background of the paludarium although I won't be able to see these ones the crabs will definitely appreciate them being there now I'm going to take some Twisted pods and some Acorn caps and place them on top of the Moss throughout the foreground [Music] I absolutely love the look of these Botanicals and think they add a great level of detail to the foreground of this scope I also want to add some to the water section but first they need to be prepared I place the ones I want to use in a tub and I've microwaved them for a couple minutes this makes them instantly waterlogged meaning they won't float on the surface and they'll stay on the bottom it also helps remove the tannins as you can see by the color of the water I haven't placed in too many but I really like how they look [Music] after another light spray down it's time to fill up the paludarium with water I'm placing in a small section of paper towel to stop the water from disrupting the sand and the Botanicals in my opinion the water is definitely in need of some floating plants I'm going to take some out of my flow and waterfall paludarium which has been grown really well I think these two species would be perfect for this tank they are fast Growers so I will have to stay on top of them now let's finally turn on the Stream [Music] the pump is pretty much silent and I really love how the water flows down the stream into the open section of water this certainly wouldn't be an ecosystem without springtails these tiny bugs would keep the paludarium clean and healthy by eating things like mold and decaying matter they'll also serve as a food source for the vampire crabs [Music] before adding any more life I'm going to let the tank grow in for five weeks [Music] five weeks have passed and the paludarium is thriving there have been a couple plants die off but other than that everything has been growing really well my favorite thing has definitely got to be the dense carpet of moss grown in the foreground now I think it's about time to introduce the crabs these here are three stunning tri-color vampire crabs they're a freshwater species of crab that thrive in a paludarium setup full with live plants and Moss this ecosystem I've created will be perfect for them I'm placing them in one by one and they get exploring right away this one here found its way straight to the stream for a refreshing dip despite their slow moving appearance they're actually really quite fast when they want to be and it's quite amazing watching them chase and catch springtails around the tank although they're fairly active in the day they are nocturnal so they do most of their hunting at night vampire crabs are omnivores and they'll eat pretty much anything they can find inside the tank I'll be feeding them a varied diet along with the food they find themselves throughout the paludarium one food they absolutely love is crickets and this one here didn't stand a chance it really amazes me just how precise they are with their claws I'm really happy with the result of this paladarium and it's definitely got to be one of my favorite so far let me know in the comments what you think give this video a like if you enjoyed it and be sure to subscribe as I'm definitely going to be doing updates on this tank as it grows and evolves [Music]

Channel: Terrarium Designs

Views: 2,790,240

Keywords: Paludarium, Beginner paludarium, How to make a paludarium, Mini ecosystem, How to make a ecosystem, Vampire crab tank, Vampire crab build, Vampire crab terrarium, Vampire crab paludarium, Bioactive terrarium, Ecosystem paludarium, Flowing stream paludarium, Waterfall paludarium, River paludarium, Emerged aquatic plants

Id: B3jv-uRZYYg

Length: 16min 23sec (983 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 30 2023