Semi Aquatic aquarium plans!

I've been wondering about this idea for some time now. I've researched a lot but since I haven't found much on the internet I came here to ask everyone on their opinions. My idea is to have a semI aquatic 55 gallon tank - 29 gallons water, the rest a planted above-water garden/insect home thingy. I'm not sure if it will work so please answer!

NOTES: Sorry mods if this is in the wrong place. I thought aquascaping seemed appropriate.
Also, the pictures I've attached can be enlarged quite a bit by clicking, I advise that

Plans

1: Dimensions

This is the empty tank, a 55 gallon 48x21x13inch one.




2: Divider

The black is a glass divider, 18 inches high, 15 inches from left side stuck on with silicone. The red is the waterline, 18 inches above bottom. I prefer to have a few inches from the top of the tank, 21-3=18

What's on the left of the divider is going to be the above water part. The right is the aquarium part, I'll come on to both later.



3: Soil

So the idea is to have the left with soil up to 18 inches, 18x13x15 (around 60 litres). This was my main concern - I've heard of soil rotting or getting mould in aquariums but this is protected and waterproofed by the glass so would it be a problem? I'll add rocks at the bottom, something I didn't include in the pictures.

As for the left, I'll make a slope of soil and rocks to make it look slightly better and more realistic. Again, comments for that are appreciated because I want it as steep as possible but still covering the glass.




4: Finishing

This is just aquascaping the aquarium, with plants substrate, ground etc. It's also putting fertiliser/compost on the top of the soil and planting a few seeds, adding insects and making it look nice. Advice and tips please




So thanks for reading. I'll get on to the main questions:
Is this a good idea? It's kind of unique from what I've seen, so any problems could be harder to solve. And is there an easier way of making this, like do I really need the divider?

Then there are the minor questions - what fish do you recommend? I was thinking a school of 10 danios, some cory cats/bottom dwellers and maybe a fantail or two. If you have any more suggestions I'll be happy to hear them
And are insects a good idea for the soil part? If I could go outside and find a few ants, millipedes, earthworms and snails or something would that poison the water or have any negative effects?

I'm really sorry for all these questions and thanks for reading. If I get the green light I'll try to get it started in a couple of years but because my parents don't want another aquarium I could be waiting longer, although the quicker I post this the better

 

If I did something like this I don't think I would dirt it. I would do a wall that allows water flow and place egg crate or something similar across the top for the plants to root into. The plants roots could go directly into the water. Hydroponics. You could even then put a better or something else in the area under the plants.

I say go for it the way you have it though. I'd be very interested in how it works out. I've also been considering something like this. Although mine would be more like a freshwater refugium. Like a siphoned hose going down to a flower pot or flower bed with small pebbles, then pump it back into the tank. This would remove the nitrates and feed/water the plants for me.

 

If I did something like this I don't think I would dirt it. I would do a wall that allows water flow and place egg crate or something similar across the top for the plants to root into. The plants roots could go directly into the water. Hydroponics. You could even then put a better or something else in the area under the plants.

I say go for it the way you have it though. I'd be very interested in how it works out. I've also been considering something like this. Although mine would be more like a freshwater refugium. Like a siphoned hose going down to a flower pot or flower bed with small pebbles, then pump it back into the tank. This would remove the nitrates and feed/water the plants for me.

Nice idea! I like the refugium idea but I don't think it would work for me, I'll be interested to see if you do it. The egg box idea is nice too, I might have a trial run as I'm currently tested how cress grows in waterlogged and dryer environments.

 

This sounds like a lot of fun! I can't comment on the specifics because I had to read your post too quickly, but it sounds like a "riparium" or "paludarium". Can't wait to see pictures!

 

This sounds like a lot of fun! I can't comment on the specifics because I had to read your post too quickly, but it sounds like a "riparium" or "paludarium". Can't wait to see pictures!

Thanks so much for giving me those words! I typed in riparium and I got a few more ideas It;s possible that I add the divider along the length to make it look better

 

Can't wait to see pics of this! Good luck!

 

Yeah, technically your sketches are for a paludarium. I'm fascinated with them, too, and have been doing a lot of research myself. I haven't gotten the chance to try one for real, though.

The major problem I see right away is that your land portion has no drainage -- when you water the plants, the water can't drain away easily and will rot the roots of many species as the dirt becomes waterlogged.

I've seen a few different solutions to this, including RandomZoid's idea. There are other ideas out there, though, and a search for paludarium how-to's will turn up a lot of info.

By the way, eggcrate isn't an egg crate... crazy English language, right? It's a PVC grid that's used as light diffusers in ceiling lights. You can get it at big hardware/home improvement stores.

 

Yeah, technically your sketches are for a paludarium. I'm fascinated with them, too, and have been doing a lot of research myself. I haven't gotten the chance to try one for real, though.

The major problem I see right away is that your land portion has no drainage -- when you water the plants, the water can't drain away easily and will rot the roots of many species as the dirt becomes waterlogged.

I've seen a few different solutions to this, including RandomZoid's idea. There are other ideas out there, though, and a search for paludarium how-to's will turn up a lot of info.

By the way, eggcrate isn't an egg crate... crazy English language, right? It's a PVC grid that's used as light diffusers in ceiling lights. You can get it at big hardware/home improvement stores.

Yeah, I think I'll base my ideas from a paludarium or riparium as they seem to match what I want. For the drainage I must say that hadn't occurred to me, would an undertank heater from a vivarium do well to evaporate the water? Root rot would be awful

And my bad for the egg box. I thought they meant grow plants in a submersed egg cube above the water lol

Thanks!

 

A friend of mine did this but on the divider was slots. And on the planted side he had an in the tank filter that would pull the water up and back into the tank. Was very cool and worked good.

 

When I kept papyrus in closed pots, I placed horticultural charcoal at the bottom, about 2 inches (5-6 cm?) Drainage is always preferable to having to do this, but the horticultural charcoal keeps the base water that remains relatively free of contaminants.

That is, of course, assuming you're using "water plants" such as papyrus (cyperus and the like.

 

A friend of mine did this but on the divider was slots. And on the planted side he had an in the tank filter that would pull the water up and back into the tank. Was very cool and worked good.

Yes I like this, if the tank was able to "overflow" into the dirted area and then drain back to the tank at the bottom. This would solve the problem of the water rot on the roots as well as help to filter the tank water. This sounds awesome.

I have some more questions involving my original idea but I'm about to post a new thread as to not jack this one

 

Some really great ideas going on in here. I might want to try this but with a 10 gallon first and see how it works out for me.

 

These are really very nice even if there are no fish involved, heaven forbid. LOL!

 

Great ideas everyone! I just want to cleaar a few things up:
I was planning on putting small garden plants in the soil but now you mention it root rot would be a serious problem. Has anyone got any ideas for plants or drainage ideas? I'll look into the charcoal one but does it require to be changed for new charcoal after a while?

 

And another question - is it possible to have a long sheet of glass/plastic/plexiglass and change the shape with something like a blowtorch? I've been looking around and have had an idea but the divider needs to be bent into shape.

 

I'm not 100% sure whether charcoal would be a good long-term solution; I haven't seen any paludarium setups that use it in this way. Then again, I'm always learning new things.

Any solution that allows water to drain through soil and back into the main tank area is likely to leech soil out into the aquatic part and give you dirty (and possibly deadly) water.

I think one solution that I've seen that is supposed to avoid this is to have a false bottom made out of eggcrate or similar grid supporting a coco coir (coconut fiber) mat that holds up the dirt and stops most of it from leeching through... but I'm thinking that the false bottom has to be above water level. I might be wrong.

One possible solution is to just use pea gravel instead of dirt, choose water-loving plants, and use a pump or airlift tube to constantly cycle water over the divider, where it will flow down through the gravel and out through slots at the bottom. This limits you a bit in the types of plants you can use, though.

Some people drill the tank under their land portion and just have a drainage tube coming out of the bottom. This is not for the faint of heart, and you'd better be 110% confident in how well your partition is sealed, or the aquatic part won't be aquatic very long!

Others have small pumps in like a PVC or plastic chamber down under the soil, prefiltered so the pump chamber doesn't fill with dirt, and when the water level covers the pump they just pump the water out.

A simpler version would be to have a piece of PVC pipe going down to the bottom with a prefilter on the end. When the water starts to accumulate, you just stick a hose down and suck the water out. Figuring out how to suck it out without actually sucking it into your mouth could be interesting. A turkey baster might do it.

I'm sure there are other solutions out there. I haven't been researching this question as much, because when I build mine, I'm going to have a false bottom above (or just slightly under) water level supporting a gravel layer for bog plants and emersed aquarium plants to grow in... basically a whole different direction from yours.

I have seen custom-made bent plexI dividers. I'm not sure whether you want a blowtorch or a heat gun. Sounds awesome, though.

 

I'm not 100% sure whether charcoal would be a good long-term solution; I haven't seen any paludarium setups that use it in this way. Then again, I'm always learning new things.

Any solution that allows water to drain through soil and back into the main tank area is likely to leech soil out into the aquatic part and give you dirty (and possibly deadly) water.

I think one solution that I've seen that is supposed to avoid this is to have a false bottom made out of eggcrate or similar grid supporting a coco coir (coconut fiber) mat that holds up the dirt and stops most of it from leeching through... but I'm thinking that the false bottom has to be above water level. I might be wrong.

One possible solution is to just use pea gravel instead of dirt, choose water-loving plants, and use a pump or airlift tube to constantly cycle water over the divider, where it will flow down through the gravel and out through slots at the bottom. This limits you a bit in the types of plants you can use, though.

Some people drill the tank under their land portion and just have a drainage tube coming out of the bottom. This is not for the faint of heart, and you'd better be 110% confident in how well your partition is sealed, or the aquatic part won't be aquatic very long!

Others have small pumps in like a PVC or plastic chamber down under the soil, prefiltered so the pump chamber doesn't fill with dirt, and when the water level covers the pump they just pump the water out.

A simpler version would be to have a piece of PVC pipe going down to the bottom with a prefilter on the end. When the water starts to accumulate, you just stick a hose down and suck the water out. Figuring out how to suck it out without actually sucking it into your mouth could be interesting. A turkey baster might do it.

I'm sure there are other solutions out there. I haven't been researching this question as much, because when I build mine, I'm going to have a false bottom above (or just slightly under) water level supporting a gravel layer for bog plants and emersed aquarium plants to grow in... basically a whole different direction from yours.

I have seen custom-made bent plexI dividers. I'm not sure whether you want a blowtorch or a heat gun. Sounds awesome, though.

Thanks! I'll now look up false bottoms