Paludarium

Luxuriant plant life above and below the water surface.

What is a Paludarium?

Put simply, a Paludarium is a display that combines elements of aquatic and terrestrial environments. There are several ways of achieving this effect, for instance: a river bank, mangrove swamp biotope, flooded forest, beach environment or even a vertical 'cliff' meeting the water. This display is based on an Amazonian river bank, complete with trailing tree roots, lush vegetation and South American fish.

The word Paludarium comes from the latin words Palustris - meaning 'pertaining to marshes', and Arium - meaning 'confined area for'.

Technical Specification

Decor and Construction

I have opted for a 'silver sand' substrate, with a fine sprinkling of very small-sized gravel. I have always found that silver sand is a very 'forgiving' substrate as far as scavenging catfish are concerned. Given the Amazonian theme of this display, and my inevitable desire to house a small shoal of Corydoras catfish, sand was an obvious choice! Additionally it makes a superb substrate for most plants.

Decor consists of natural 'Mopani Vines', arranged so as to resemble trailing tree roots digging into the substrate. The vines also extend above the waterline to the very top of the aquarium. I have also stocked the aquarium with various aquatic and 'hybrid' plants, as detailed below. For more details on how the display was constructed, please refer to the 'How to... Set up a Paludarium' section from the menu on the left of this page.

Fish and Plants Stocked

The terrestrial plants are attached to the mopani vines just above the water surface, so that the roots are trailing into the water, but the vast majority of the plant remains above the water level. The paludarium has a well-fitting condensation cover, so the terrestrial section of the display is constantly warm and humid. The conditions appear to suit the terrestrial plants very well, as many have developed enormous submerged root systems, and the Spathiphyllum and Anubias flower on a regular basis.

The plants are attached to the near-vertical mopani vines by means of a loosely-attached elastic band, or occasionally cotton thread. These are gently cut off once the plant has firmly attached itself to the wood. I have also kept African water Hyacinth, Eichornia crassipes, in the Paludarium where it happily produced several 'offspring'.

Feeding and Maintenance

The fish are fed twice daily - one small feed of either 'TetraMin' flake food or 'TetraPrima' mini granules, and one feed of one of the following frozen foods: Red Mosquito larvae (bloodworm), Tubifex, Artemia (brineshrimp), Daphnia, 'Tropical Mix' (a mixture of all the above). Every few days I will also add a few 'Hikari Sinking Wafer' tablets for the catfish to eat. There is always plenty of food available for the catfish that the other fish have missed! There is always some natural algae growing on the glass and mopani vines for the Otocinclus to eat.

I do not use any soluble plant fertilisers at all. Every few months I bury a few 'Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Root Tabs' in the substrate near the base of any of the plants that look like they could do with a 'boost'. The idea of these tablets is that they slowly release Iron near the root system of the plant, so that it is taken up gradually. They seem to work very well!

I carry out a 20% water change every 1-2 weeks, to keep nitrates under control. Every other water change incorporates a filter sponge clean, using the water removed from the tank.

Pictures

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