Paludarium for Taricha granulosa. Work in progress

[Terroricha]

Bit of background:
I have been trying to get my grubby mits on T. granulosa for years. The part of TX I live in has very little in terms of specialized herp stores or anything like that. In fact, there is nothing, and amphibians get short shrift in the shows that come through. As a result, I have to order. Now, last year, I ordered a pair, but ended up getting a pair of Paramesotriton chinensis instead. Apparantly the supplier for the place I ordered from was U.S. Global Exotics... so that explains why there was a bad ID, and why they arrived in such poor condition. I managed to save one, and fell in love with her (so to speak). So, not so bad. Still, wrong species.

Well, I have tried again. No idea what sex (not that I care), but the Newt gets here on Tuesday.

What I have planned is a fully living Paludarium. Complete with in-tank invert cultures. Copepods and the like.

Here are the photos of what I have done so far. I need to wait a while for the aquarium sealant to cure.

I have a decorative Reptofilter in the back, and the tank divider is raised a little bit above the floor of the tank. This will allow the filter to draw water from the aquatic section through the terrestrial section. The substrate I am using has a pre-established colony of nitrifying bacteria, and I use all live plants.

More to come.

 

[Terroricha]

Once the silicone was stable, I added the stream, which was accomplished through the creative use of a piece of Al rain gutter, cut to the appropriate size and sealed around the edges with silicone, with rocks for support and decoration. Most of this will be filled with the same size pebbles. The goal here is to create less of a waterfall, and more of a spring fed seep. I will probably put duckweed in there for extra filtration of nitrogenous compounds.

 

[Ken Worthington]

Keep up the good work, can't wait to see it finished :happy:

Have you read this? http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Taricha/T_granulosa.shtml

PS. I have no experience of the species, only a soft spot for pretty little amphibians

 

[Terroricha]

A little bit of work left to do, but it is mostly done (I under-estimated the amount of gravel I would need for the aquatic section)

 

[RobM]

Looking good! How deep is the gravel at its deepest? are you likely to get trapped debris?

 

[Terroricha]

It is about 4-5 inches deep, plus the soil. I may get a little bit of soil or something trapped in the filter intake, but the notch for that runs a quarter inch by 14 inches. I am not too worried about that, and if it happens I can just use a finger to sweep it out of place.

 

[kay]

Very nice, creative tank set-up! Gives me wonderful ideas.