The ULTIMATE Fire-Bellied Toad Paludarium

hey everyone here's a video that i know a lot of you have patiently waited for it's been in the works for a long time and i too have been patient with it before we get started i just want to say that it's very important to be patient with these types of setups i know that's easier said than done but anytime that i rush something goes wrong to make sure everything went smoothly with this one i took my good old time anyways let's jump right into the ultimate 40 gallon fire belly toad pallidarium one of the main things that i wanted to accomplish with this setup was to create a nice waterfall i wasn't thinking something super crazy just a nice steady flow in order to do so i'll be using a repto filter these are pretty cheap and quite reliable so i thought it would be the perfect choice with the filter selected i then proceeded to fill up the aquarium in doing so i wanted to determine the minimum depth at which the filter could run properly afterward i marked the aquarium with a china marker from there i drained the aquarium and began taking some measurements using these measurements i marked some insulation from with a marker and cut it down to size then i secured them with some masking tape and labeled them accordingly next i turned all of the pieces over and scored them with a utility blade this will create more surface area for the silicone that will be added shortly now we'll clean the back of the aquarium using rubbing alcohol and a paper towel i thoroughly scrub the back of the aquarium where the foam will be attached this will create the optimal surface for the silicone to adhere to after prepping the aquarium i dry fit all of the pieces and got some ge silicone one from there i turned each piece over applied a generous amount of silicone and placed them back in the aquarium weights were then put on top of the thumb to apply pressure while the silicone cured after letting the silicone cure i removed all of the weights next i got a piece of egg crate light diffuser and cut it down with some wire cutters [Music] after getting it cut down slightly i placed a large piece of spider wood in the aquarium for reference then i proceeded to downsize the rest of the egg crate next i placed the egg crate in the aquarium and cut out a section for the filter [Music] afterward i began constructing the false bottom structure to do so i used zip ties to attach a few strips of egg crate to the larger piece from there i tested the structure to ensure that it fit properly and i snipped off the excess zip ties [Music] then i used more zip ties to attach a sheet of carbon fiberglass windows green mesh to the outside of the egg crate [Music] next i used more zip ties to attach a piece of weed control fabric to the top of the structure the reason that i used two different meshes is because i wanted water to pass freely through the sides while the top would retain all the substrate without letting anything fall through into the water feature [Music] after getting everything together i snipped off the excess with scissors [Music] the structure was then placed back into the aquarium along with the spider wood now let's get the water feature in order to start i trace the outline of the filter onto a larger piece of foam and cut out a hole [Music] then i used this and other pieces of foam to get a general idea of what i was going to do with the water feature [Music] with this addressed i applied a bead of silicone to the underside of the egg crate structure and firmly placed it into the aquarium another bead of silicone was ran around the structure and smoothed out with my finger [Music] afterward i smeared silicone all over the bottom of the aquarium using a brush normally i wouldn't do this but since the setup will be filled with water i wanted to give the expanding foam a better surface to adhere to next i got a length of pvc pipe and siliconed it to the background just above the filter this will allow me to disconnect or replace the filter if need be while simultaneously providing good cord management after allowing all the silicone to cure i removed the filter so we could finish the waterfall like before i trace the outline of the filter onto various pieces of foam and cut out a section for the back of the filter [Music] after getting the pieces cut out i placed everything into the aquarium drew some rock formations on the foam and cut out the pieces accordingly this ended up being more work than necessary but it still worked out when i was pleased with the foam layout i took them out of the tank and carved some finer details afterward i attached all the pieces together using more silicone once the silicone cured i got a small section of pond liner lucky for me i was building a pond and had some extra liner on hand alternatively you could use a tarp or some other type of waterproof plastic from there i used a bit of cyanoacrylate super glue to attach the liner to the foam it's worth mentioning that the glue will melt the foam a bit but with some tinkering you can get the liner attached quite well once the liner was completely attached i trimmed off the excess making sure to leave a good section on the false bottom itself from there i attached a few sheets of cocoa fiber liner to the front of the false bottom next i got a can of expanding foam and applied it to the waterfall section as well as the front of the false bottom once i got a nice look i let the foam cure for 24 hours afterward i used a razor scraper to carve out the foam and add some nice details carving the foam so that it looks like a sponge also provides a better surface for the silicone to adhere to after carving out most of the waterfall i filled up the aquarium to test for any leaks all was well so i moved on [Music] i attached another piece of cocoa fiber liner onto the side of the false bottom and applied some more expanding foam in doing so i created a lip that will keep the substrate from falling into the water area next i placed the spider wood back in the enclosure and applied more expanding foam after letting all the foam cure i meticulously cut it out like before using a razor scraper [Music] from there i turned the aquarium on its side and used great stuff gaps and cracks expanding foam to build up the background a little bit more after letting it cure i carved it out like before only this time i was carving for shape not detail then i attached sections of cocoa fiber liner to the background using silicone clamps and weights after letting everything cure i smeared some silicone all over the background and carved sections of the foam using a paint brush once the silicone was smeared just right i covered everything with some orchid bark and cocoa fiber the trick here is to firmly press everything into the silicone if you don't it will more readily fall off over time [Music] at this point i had to let the aquarium sit for another 24 hours so the silicone could cure after waiting i used a shop vac to remove all the excess cocoa fiber and orchid bark from there i attached some diy jungle vines to everything using some super glue if you're curious i'll leave a link down in the video description showing how i made these to do so you simply get a length of cotton rope cover it in silicone and then coco fiber trust me you'll end up with a beautiful vine every time my goal with these vines was to really bring the design together and make a more cohesive aesthetic overall [Music] [Music] next i filled the aquarium back up with water and turned on the filter then using pieces of slight stone i built up the waterfall it took a long time to get everything looking how i wanted but i think the end result is quite nice now we'll add the substrate to the land area as i typically would with a setup like this i'm using my standard abg mix i'll leave a card up above and a link in the video description showing you how i make it i also used some pieces of cork bark to help build up the landscape and make a more interesting aesthetic overall flat ground would have been fine but we want something with a lot of depth and using objects to break up the land is a great way to do so [Music] then i begin planting the terrestrial area of the paludarium rather than run off all the names i'll just put a list down in the video description however in case you're curious i'm primarily using just plain old java moss for this part as i'm going through this portion of the build keep in mind that all of the plants look really good however they took a beating during the acclimation process and are only now starting to look good i should also mention that this part of the build was filmed nearly two months ago again the reason that i'm saying any of this is that it takes time and patience to create something like [Music] this [Music] now we'll move on to the aquatic plants which consist of anubius lancifulia anubius barterite anubius nana petit a special thanks to h2o plants for sending me these plants and the spiderwood from earlier i have a coupon code down in the video description in case you're looking for some quality aquatic plants and other aquarium supplies anyways let's start setting up the water area to begin i sprinkled some gravel into the front of the setup [Music] then i added some fluval stratum into the back corners of the setup and worked in some more gravel [Music] with both of these in place i added some pool filter sand in the front and once again worked in some more gravel [Music] afterward i filled the aquarium up and added a few slide stones to the water area [Music] then using a combination of terrestrial plants and aquatic plants i planted the water area it's worth saying that most plants sold as aquarium plants and terrestrial plants that like soggy soil or grow near wetlands in nature will work very well for this type of setting that said expect a long acclamation period with plants grown like this [Music] now let's fast forward a few months to the tank set up in my new house during this time period the plants took a beating but everything is finally coming together however i felt that the scape needed something else fortunately for me i had a spare piece of manzanita wood lying around the house that fit in just perfectly [Music] from here i proceeded to plant some more of the setup using various terrestrial [Music] plants [Music] after doing so i really wanted to take this setup to the next level and add some leaf litter and other botanicals to the water and land areas i think this really helped bring everything together and made the setup look truly natural from there i continued to plant the setup until i was pleased with the overall aesthetic [Music] now we'll add the cleanup crew and make this setup bioactive to start we'll add some isopods including skirted isopods and dwarf purple isopods [Music] next i added a few cups full of springtails to various locations throughout the setup lastly we of course have to add the fire belly toads this is their home after all [Music] [Music] oh [Music] do [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] overall i really like how this paludarium turned out although there are a few things i would have changed had i done this again i really do think this is the perfect setup to highlight the fire belly toads i also can't wait to see how it's going to look all grown in i really did want to wait longer to put this video out there but i know that a lot of you have been patiently waiting for it so i figured i would finally put it out there plus i was kind of dragging my feet on it to be honest anyways let me know down in the comments what you think about the final product if you're not yet subscribed and you want to see more projects like this for my other frogs then stay tuned i also have two other 40 gallon breeders that are being turned into paludarium similar to this one also if you liked the video and hadn't done so already i'd appreciate it if you go down below and give me a thumbs up as it greatly helps me do what i do as always i thank you for watching and i'll see you next time peace

Channel: SerpaDesign

Views: 2,204,402

Rating: 4.9249325 out of 5

Keywords: paludarium, fire bellied toad, fire bellied toad paludarium, vivarium waterfall, water feature, terrarium, vivarium, bioactive, live planted, aquarium, diy, do it yourself

Id: PVRlXXhdD7U

Length: 23min 12sec (1392 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 20 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/BitKix]

That's Serpa Design Paludarium !!

[u/namnshadow]

that is beautiful...