How to Build a Paludarium

A paludarium is a variant of vivarium that incorporates both land and aquatic features. This can be done for aesthetic purposes or to incorporate plants/animals that require a body of water as a space to grow or swim. It also naturally raises the moisture and humidity inside which is great for tropical plants and fauna. For my setup, I am going to be using a 29 gallon tank to house the paludarium, but you can scale up or down in size depending on what you have available to you. Also be aware that my purpose for making the paludarium is not to house any aquatic animals, so be sure to research the best water temperatures and level of water filtration for your desired creature before continuing onto the guide.

• Tank/ sealable container ($20-$200)
• Drainage substrate such as LECA ($12 for 10 Liters)
• Activated charcoal (~$14)
• Coconut Husk/Fiber (~$10)
• Potting soil (~$8)
• Perlite (~$5)
• Mesh screen (~$9)
• Submersible water pump ($13)
• Flora (Large range)

The lowest layer of substrate will be the drainage layer which is going to be the layer in contact with the aquatic section. For my paludarium, I chose to use Leca as it will provide adequate draining for the soil above it and because they are larger clays spheres, they wont be able to seep into the water as easily. Here is where I used the mesh screen as a sort of frame for the Leca. I cut the mesh into pieces larger than what would cover the land portions so that I could fold it under the Leca and use the weight of it to hold the mesh pieces in place. This can prove difficult to do as my substrate has a tendency to move around a lot so making sure everything is in place just how you want it will take a bit of patience.

Before filling my drainage layer all the way, I made a hole near the edge of where the land and water will meet and I put in my submersible water pump. The pump has suction cups on it that I used to stick onto the bottom of the glass tank before covering it back up with Leca. This will keep the pump hidden under the Leca while still having total access to the water that it is pumping. I then cut the tube attached to the pump to a more desirable length for my paludarium. Lastly, I set the strength of the water pump as it will be harder to do so later on when its more covered.

Right above the drainage layer, I lay down a thin layer of activated carbon/charcoal to act as a filtration layer that is going to keep the water clear and filter out toxins produced in the enclosure. This will help prevent molding due to having water constantly flowing through the paludarium. For the topsoil that the flora will be growing on, I am making a mix of coconut husk, perlite, orchid bark and a generic indoor potting soil. The coconut husk will absorb some water into itself to keep it moist but the perlite and orchid bark have good drainage that will keep the soil from getting too wet and causing root rot or over watering for the plants. These will be mixed into an indoor potting mix that will be soft enough that roots can grow through it easily. The spider wood was put in to give the appearance of a tree but is not required at all.

In order to make the bottom of the aquatic section look nicer, I put in a thin layer of river rocks. This is just for aesthetics before filling the tank with water. When pouring the water in make sure to do it slowly to not disturb the river rocks from laying flat. Give it some time and the particles floating in the water will all settle on the ground.

Placing the moss in the paludarium is extremely simple. It does not grow roots so all one needs to do is place it on top of the soil and press it down lightly. I purchased half of a gallon of moss locally in Eugene for 15$ and this covered a good amount of the surface area. It will grow into the empty spaces overtime and this also leaves me space to plant other flora later on. I have tied moss onto the branches of the spider wood with yarn in hopes that it will start to stick on and grow along the branches. Another method of adhering moss onto surfaces is to make a paste out of crushed moss and buttermilk then placing the fresh moss on top.

For the final step, it is time to pick out the additional plants that you want to grow in your paludarium. It is imperative however that you do adequate research on the ideal growing conditions of the plants that you want. Paludarium's get very humid and the soil does not get a lot of chances to fully dry out so look for anything that likes a lot of humidity. Also be aware of how much direct and indirect light your paludarium is getting from either a nearby window or a grow light. Ideally for my paludariums location, I need plants that prefer bright indirect/medium to low light requirements. The plants that I have purchased/decided to put into my paludarium are a white nerve plant (Fittonia Albivenis), a pepper face peperonia (Peperonia Obtusifolia), and propogation cuttings of both an asparagus fern (Asparagus Setaceus) and a silver lace fern (Pteris Ensiformis).

This was a project that was pretty intimidating to start but once I got into it, I really enjoyed the process of building this little environment. The most difficult parts were the initial cost of supplies and building up the drainage layer. It ended up costing just under $200 for what I needed but I had some materials already due to me growing other plants outside of the paludarium. This project can be done for less but the size of my tank meant that I had to buy everything in larger volumes. The issues with making the drainage layer was just that it required a bit of trial and error. Getting all of the substrate to sit how I wanted it to and keep it all contained in the mesh screen was pretty frustrating but once I got it done the rest of the process was really enjoyable and relaxing. I hope that others can find the same enjoyment out of building a paludarium that I have.