# 15gallon Riparium/Paludarium Hybrid tank



## senor0kun (Sep 3, 2012)

Back into the aquarium hobby after a 5year break. A young family has kept me fully occupied for the past few years, but for birthday and father's day this year I was surprised with a gift from the fam - a gift certificate to the fish gallery here in Houston.

The tank is about 10 weeks up and running at this point. 

The layout is built around a pair of juvenile musk turtles, which is why the setup is a hybrid and not a true riparium. In the center of the display, driftwood and rocks have been arranged to allow for the turtles to come out of the water if need be. This creates a great focal point as the appearance is that of a submerged tree. The perimeter of the tank has planters and floating trellis which host a variety of plants. This setup has allowed me to not only include bog plants, but terrestrial plants as well. the air plant, for example, would not be possible in a traditional riparium setup. 

The tank sits in a shelf system that divides the dining room from the kitchen. In order to maintain a nice aesthetic in both room, I had to be be very particular in creating scene with minimal hardware visible. This not only keeps the focus on the inhabitants exclusively, but also keeps the house looking nice - as nice as it can be with a 5year old and a 22 month old running around. 

I selected a rimless and seamless-front tank, it happened to fit perfectly in the open space between both rooms( I measured the space and chose an aquarium that would fit, but this is an amazing fit) an external cannister filter, and a kessil 150 LED light which is drilled into the cabinet above the tank. 

My hope is that this can not only be a great little getaway for me, but also add some beauty to the house, and act as a teaching tool for the kids.

Here's a picture of the tank from today









Specs:

Livestock:

Plants
Corkscrew - Juncus effusus spiralis
Umbrella Sedge - Cyperus
Variegated Basketgrass - Oplismenus
Ficus - unknown
Venus Flytrap - Dionaea muscipula
Airplant - unknown
Two other plants that I'm not sure of the name

Invertibrates
2 milk snails - Otala lactea
5 nerite snails - Neritina natalensis

Vertibrates
2 Musk Turtles - Sternotherus - a.k.a. Stinkpot
1 Chocolate Gourami - Sphaerichthys osphromenoides
1 Peacock Gudgeon - Tateurndina ocellicauda
1 Juvenile Fish - unknown (aquarium store hitchhiker)
1 Juvenile Toad - unknown (collected as tadpole from rain puddle)

Tank:
15gallon, 50cm wide
All glass, seamless front, rimless 

Lighting:
Kessil A150W LED Amazon Sun 6700K
11.5hour cycle with 30min break 5 hours in - to inhibit algae growth.

Filtration:
ZooMed 501 Turtle Canister Filter

Substrate:
Sand w/ a few small polished stones

Water Changes:
50% Weekly
Top off - up to 1/2 gallon throughout the week

Feeding: 
Fish 
A ground pinch of flake every other day

Turtles
Staple diet: Dried krill, shrimp, and veggie pellets every other day. As much as they can eat in 10 minutes.
Local fare: Tadpoles, mosquito larvae


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## senor0kun (Sep 3, 2012)

That previous shot was from 6 weeks. This is from today. Notice how the umbrella sedge is taking over the space above the tank. The lack of heat that the LED puts off has created an interesting situation with the plants growing right up to the fixture. the only burns occur where the plants touch the green ring of the fixture, everything else is cool to the touch.










Here's some photos of the inhabitants


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## flowerfishs (May 6, 2009)

Nice tank


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## Elppan (Aug 21, 2012)

Oh that looks great! I love how all the plants are growing in! It's looking like a marsh.  
That turtle looks sooo happy to be snacking.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That is really nice! 

Those turtles are super cute! How much bigger will they grow?


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

Very very nice 


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## izabella87 (Apr 21, 2012)

This is actually beautiful !! Make sure the snail doesn't escape !!


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## nightshadebel (May 3, 2012)

Awesome tank!


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## moosenart (Feb 18, 2012)

I love musk turtles! Love the tank!


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## senor0kun (Sep 3, 2012)

hydrophyte said:


> Those turtles are super cute! How much bigger will they grow?


Musk turtles stay between 3-5 inches. Mine are about 2 1/2 inches


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## Elppan (Aug 21, 2012)

senor0kun said:


> Musk turtles stay between 3-5 inches. Mine are about 2 1/2 inches


Oh cute! Teeny turtles. Just watch out for rats teaching them ninjitsu


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## senor0kun (Sep 3, 2012)




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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Wow!


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

senor0kun said:


>


Wow that's awesome I would bust out those shelves and put in a bigger tank 


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## senor0kun (Sep 3, 2012)

Sethjohnson30 said:


> Wow that's awesome I would bust out those shelves and put in a bigger tank
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


If only I wasn't renting...


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## Robotponys (Sep 7, 2011)

Amazing! Adorable turtles too. What camera are you using! The pics are REALLY good. 


Tank journal, please visit and give advise 
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=187460
-Tapatalk


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## senor0kun (Sep 3, 2012)

Robotponys said:


> Amazing! Adorable turtles too. What camera are you using! The pics are REALLY good.
> 
> 
> Tank journal, please visit and give advise
> ...


Thanks, Robotponys. Camera body is a Nikon D90. I shot the full-tank images with a 50mm 1.4 @ f8 1/30sec at ISO 100. The creature pics were taken with a 105mm Macro f2.8 at various configurations.

Check out my flickr page if you'd like to see more pics.


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## senor0kun (Sep 3, 2012)

Here's a few visual updates. it's been about a year, and things are settling in nicely.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Oh my gosh! How did I miss this tank?!

AMAZING WORK!

Please post more!


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

somewhatshocked said:


> Oh my gosh! How did I miss this tank?!
> 
> AMAZING WORK!
> 
> Please post more!


For reals... This is an awesome turtle tank!


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

What an awesome planting in there! 

Is that ficus plant rooted in the water?


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

I love this tank! Great job!


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## senor0kun (Sep 3, 2012)

@Hydrophyte yes, the ficus root ball is just sitting in water. It's not even buried in the substrate.


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## TheFrenchOne (Apr 29, 2013)

Wow it's looks really amazing! Great job!


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## Fuzz (Mar 13, 2011)

Awesome tank, I love these types of hybrids and your critters are cute in it. Great placement within the shelf also, that looks really neat.


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## senor0kun (Sep 3, 2012)




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## senor0kun (Sep 3, 2012)

The ender's guppies have multiplied from 1 to 21. 4 generations in the tank, all from a single female.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That turtle is so cute! If I didn't already have so many projects and things to take care of I would totally get one of those turtles.


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

holy crap. beautiful tank. guppies = fancy food for the turts!


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## harilp (Feb 23, 2013)

eeee!! Turtle <3 Superb 

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## senor0kun (Sep 3, 2012)

Update on this one. I've stripped it down to just sedge plants, sand, rock, and wood. All the sand and rocks/pebbles have been collected around buffalo bayou. this is a much simpler arrangement in terms of care, and looks a lot tighter than the previous setup. fish are jamming, about 40 guppies alongside the two turtles.


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## senor0kun (Sep 3, 2012)

any suggestions on a plant that would do well on the bottom in sand?


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## Veritas (Aug 9, 2013)

The tank looks great.

I don't see a basking lamp or UVB bulb for the turtles though?


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## senor0kun (Sep 3, 2012)

I don't have one. Musk turtles live 100% in the water. I have a 150watt amazon led from kessel, and the tank is close to the window, so that is how they get their vitamins. 3 years in and they are healthy and growing.


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## Veritas (Aug 9, 2013)

I don't want to stir the pot, but that just isn't true. It's a common misconception that aquatic terrapins don't need UV bulbs - but their shell growth will definitely suffer long term if not given access to proper UV radiation. 

http://www.theturtlesource.com/caresheet_mud_musk_turtle.asp

and 

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/shelled-turtles-tortoise/854509-do-musk-turtles-need-uv.html


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## senor0kun (Sep 3, 2012)

I'll check into it. Do you know of UV bulb products that give off no heat?


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## Veritas (Aug 9, 2013)

I used this one for my Diamondback Terrapins

http://www.petco.com/product/111653...ture.aspx?CoreCat=MM_ReptileSupplies_Lighting


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Very lovely set up! Like how the underwater seems brown-ly monochrome and the top green, really nice effect. I can't offer the best advice for plants as I've never kept turtles and don't know what they might eat or just kick up from moving around.. 
I'd offer anubias and java fern as low light low tech plants that are hardy, but their rhizomes (horizontal part that leaves and roots grow from) cannot be buried. They do best tied to hard scape/decor, or if they come with really long healthy roots you can anchor them in the sand only by the roots (have to leave a little room for rhizome, against it cannot be buried even slightly). 
You can try mosses like Christmas, flame, or fissidens, and even riccia on rocks (get a hair net or those net sponge things you use in the shower and take it apart, put moss on rock, put netting over it, tie off below and put in and enjoy) or using fishing line or thread can tie mosses to wood, or even to stainless steal mesh to make a 'carpet' chistmas moss carpet, fissidens matts, ricica fun all over this one. Not sure if turtles will eat that stuff.. btw if you use riccia its the fastest growing and will need trimmed so it doesn't break loose (it has no roots unlike mosses, if it doesn't get enough light shaded parts die and the newer growth breaks loose and floats up). These are also all low light/low tech options, please note it does take time for them to grow into a decent carpet.


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## senor0kun (Sep 3, 2012)

Thanks for the ideas. What about Crypts?


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

senor0kun said:


> Thanks for the ideas. What about Crypts?


Ah yes I always forget crypts (only recently started trying them myself, have more experience with the other plants I mentioned). Crypts are a good idea actually, they are low tech/light, can be buried/planted in sand unlike anubias and java fern, and there are a good variety of sizes, colors, and leaf shape variations. They are slow growers though so if you are are planning a short thick carpet of crypt parva..get a lot of them to start or be very patient. A lot of people mention crypts can melt from transplant, they grow new leaves to adapt to the changed environment. I bought emersed grown and slapped them under water, only had very minor melt of a few leaves (excepted complete meltdown), and they're growing quite well now. Just mentioning it as a heads up, if they loose leaves but roots are not rotted off completely just leave them be, they should have new growth within a few weeks that's perfectly adapted to your tank.


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