FishForums.com - View Single Post - My "All-Star" Tank... Will it Work?

John · 04-20-2005, 11:31 PM

Hopefully over the next two months I'll be recieving, setting up, and cycling my 60 gallon tank. That'll be the biggest tank I've ever had, 55 gallons being in second. Although not considered very big in aquarium standards, 60 gallons is like a dream for me!

So, naturally, I want sure that I've got a very good set up before I make the commitment.

The reason I'm calling it my "All-Star Tank" is because I want to host a wide variety of animals in it. The environment will be semi-aquatic (paludarium A.K.A. aquaterrarium A.K.A. Vivarium), so I will have aquatic, terrestrial, and semi-aquatic animals in it. One of my goals is to have at least one reptile, amphibian, and fish in the tank.

The tank itself is rectangular (but the width is wide enough that it's almost square), 60 gallons, and pretty tall. I have a diagram which I'll post pretty soon that shows how I am thinking of setting the tank up.

Basically, the tank will be 3/5 aquatic. The aquatic section will be in the middle. There will be two terrestrial sections; one on each side of the water.

The one on the left side will be the "amphibian" section. It will be divided from the water with a modified aquarium divider that will extend just above the edge of the bank of the land, made to look natural with sloping gravel. This section will be filled with gravel all the way to the bottom of the tank. It will feature a stream with a waterfall, natural plants, and pipes beneath the substrate. For the stream, a Whisper 20 Gallon external power filter will take the water out of the edge of the aquatic part and dump it out right next door onto the land part into a stream made to look natural with gravel covering up pond liner with holes poked through to naturally filtrate water into the gravel. The "stream" will meander around and have a small "lake" area of slow moving water divided off by a couple of aquatic plants. The stream will continue after that along the bank of the land area and finally curve into a natural waterfall over the edge back into the main tank. Right before the waterfall, a small grate will be placed at the end of the stream to ensure that the feeder guppies, which will live in the lake and stream only, stay in their section. There will be a couple of actual gravel land sections next to the stream a few terrestrial plants will live in these sections. As mentioned before, a few PVC pipes will extend from the main aquatic section into the face of the land section, blocking out gravel will caps on the ends. These pipes will serve as caves to some of the animals.

The terrestrial section on the right side of the tank (opposite of the amphibian terrestrial section) will be home to the anole(s) and tree frog(s). It will take full advantage of the 8 or so inches of height above the aquatic section required for the two terrestrial sections, because it will be arboreal - it'll have tall "trees," which the tree frogs and anoles will like. In actuallity, the trees will just be plants, of course. The two main differences of this terrestrial area from the amphibian one are 1. The substrate will be bark chips, not gravel, and 2. This section's substrate will not extend all the way to the bottom of the tank. Instead, the entire section will just be on a commercial ledge, attached to the glass with suction cups, housed an inch or so above the water level. Hollow logs and sticks will be placed here and there to give the anoles and tree frogs more room to go about their business. I will try to help ensure that the tree frogs and anoles do not fall into the aquatic area by placing slate plates along the edge of the territory. Also, I'll have a few sticks extending over the surface of the water in case the do fall in, so they have a better chance of getting back on land.

The aquatic section, which will be the largest section, will be placed in the middle of the tank, between the amphibian territory and the anole/tree frog territory. It will be filtered by not only the Whisper 20 External Power Filter which will dump the water into the stream on amphibian territory as mentioned above, but also by a much larger filter that has the capacity for a 60 gallon tank. It will be heated by a regular heater. This section will feature areas of heavy planting, a corner full of slate that will form an intricate cave for the cichlids to breed (hopefully), and a couple of nice large rock ornaments for the fish to swim in and around.

So here's my list of creatures right now:
__________________________________________________ ______________
AQUATIC:

some peaceful Cichlids (5-10 or more)
a school of tetras (10 or more)
plus other community fish (around 5)
some Feeder Guppies (around 5 - for the "lake and stream" section only
large aquatic Snails (2 or more)

SEMI-AQUATIC:

Mudskipper (1 at first)
Fire-Bellied Newts (4 or more)
Fiddler Crabs (3 or more)

TERRESTRIAL:

White's Tree Frog (1 at first)
Green Anole (1 at first)
__________________________________________________ ______________

There are a few obvious chances for problems. One is housing the anole and tree frog with all the aquatic animals. Although tree frogs do like to submerse themselves in bowls of water, they do not like to get a lot over their head and will likely drown if they do so according to my research. Same for the anoles, but that's more obvious. I will take measures to help make sure the anoles and tree frogs will stay on land though. Also, the newts and the anoles produce different oils on their skins, and are not recommended to be kept close by as they can poison each other possibly. However, their main habitats are in different parts of the tank, and although I know animals will naturally explore their surroundings, I doubt the Newts will go up in the trees with the anoles and might not even like the bark chips anyways. Another problem is heating. Overall, most of the animals are compatible, but the anoles might prove to be an exception. They might need a reptile heat lamp (the bulbs are usually red while the UVs are usually violet). They definitely do need the UV, but since basically everthing else needs it too that's fine. I will probably modify the hood to allow a heat lamp to sit above the area with anoles with a screen to keep all the animals still in. I'll make sure they also get a cooler area though since they are said to like having one. At night, the anoles like to be heated still, so I'll have a heating pad underneath the whole tank. I will fiddle with the regular aquatic heater (If it is needed) until it delivers the right temperature with the heat pad. Tree frogs are pretty adaptable, so as long as they don't get in the aquatic section no problem there. I doubt the fiddler crabs will be able to catch the tree frogs or anoles, so probably no conflict either way. I guess the only big question is the mudskipper (there's a good chance I won't try one at all). They are pretty different than most of the animals, and I have no idea if anyone's ever tried keeping a mudskipper with newts or fiddler crabs or anoles or snails or tree frogs before, but I hope if I get a small enough species I won't have a problem. Another concern I have is for the newts and mudskipper, because I am worried that if they find there way onto the anole/tree frog side that the bark chips might irritate their wet skin. I think that if the chips are moistened, which they will usually be, the newts and mudskipper won't mind them too much.

I know this sounds like a lot to do with only a 60 gallon tank. But I've looked at it from just about every angle, and it seems like it may work. I will start with only one male anole as a test, and if he doesn't live well in the environment I'll remove him right away to a separate terrarium. If he does die, which I don't think will happen, since I'll remove him as soon as I see bad signs, I'll redeem myself in part by posting my experiment findings online and warning if it did fail extravagantly not to try it yourself.

So, that's my plan. Hopefully somebody will read through all that, lol. I'll post a diagram pretty soon.

Comments or suggestions or warnings will be deeply appreciated, thanks.

04-20-2005, 11:31 PM	#1
John Rationalist Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin Age: 18 Posts: 218	My "All-Star" Tank... Will it Work? Hopefully over the next two months I'll be recieving, setting up, and cycling my 60 gallon tank. That'll be the biggest tank I've ever had, 55 gallons being in second. Although not considered very big in aquarium standards, 60 gallons is like a dream for me! So, naturally, I want sure that I've got a very good set up before I make the commitment. The reason I'm calling it my "All-Star Tank" is because I want to host a wide variety of animals in it. The environment will be semi-aquatic (paludarium A.K.A. aquaterrarium A.K.A. Vivarium), so I will have aquatic, terrestrial, and semi-aquatic animals in it. One of my goals is to have at least one reptile, amphibian, and fish in the tank. The tank itself is rectangular (but the width is wide enough that it's almost square), 60 gallons, and pretty tall. I have a diagram which I'll post pretty soon that shows how I am thinking of setting the tank up. Basically, the tank will be 3/5 aquatic. The aquatic section will be in the middle. There will be two terrestrial sections; one on each side of the water. The one on the left side will be the "amphibian" section. It will be divided from the water with a modified aquarium divider that will extend just above the edge of the bank of the land, made to look natural with sloping gravel. This section will be filled with gravel all the way to the bottom of the tank. It will feature a stream with a waterfall, natural plants, and pipes beneath the substrate. For the stream, a Whisper 20 Gallon external power filter will take the water out of the edge of the aquatic part and dump it out right next door onto the land part into a stream made to look natural with gravel covering up pond liner with holes poked through to naturally filtrate water into the gravel. The "stream" will meander around and have a small "lake" area of slow moving water divided off by a couple of aquatic plants. The stream will continue after that along the bank of the land area and finally curve into a natural waterfall over the edge back into the main tank. Right before the waterfall, a small grate will be placed at the end of the stream to ensure that the feeder guppies, which will live in the lake and stream only, stay in their section. There will be a couple of actual gravel land sections next to the stream a few terrestrial plants will live in these sections. As mentioned before, a few PVC pipes will extend from the main aquatic section into the face of the land section, blocking out gravel will caps on the ends. These pipes will serve as caves to some of the animals. The terrestrial section on the right side of the tank (opposite of the amphibian terrestrial section) will be home to the anole(s) and tree frog(s). It will take full advantage of the 8 or so inches of height above the aquatic section required for the two terrestrial sections, because it will be arboreal - it'll have tall "trees," which the tree frogs and anoles will like. In actuallity, the trees will just be plants, of course. The two main differences of this terrestrial area from the amphibian one are 1. The substrate will be bark chips, not gravel, and 2. This section's substrate will not extend all the way to the bottom of the tank. Instead, the entire section will just be on a commercial ledge, attached to the glass with suction cups, housed an inch or so above the water level. Hollow logs and sticks will be placed here and there to give the anoles and tree frogs more room to go about their business. I will try to help ensure that the tree frogs and anoles do not fall into the aquatic area by placing slate plates along the edge of the territory. Also, I'll have a few sticks extending over the surface of the water in case the do fall in, so they have a better chance of getting back on land. The aquatic section, which will be the largest section, will be placed in the middle of the tank, between the amphibian territory and the anole/tree frog territory. It will be filtered by not only the Whisper 20 External Power Filter which will dump the water into the stream on amphibian territory as mentioned above, but also by a much larger filter that has the capacity for a 60 gallon tank. It will be heated by a regular heater. This section will feature areas of heavy planting, a corner full of slate that will form an intricate cave for the cichlids to breed (hopefully), and a couple of nice large rock ornaments for the fish to swim in and around. So here's my list of creatures right now: __________________________________________________ ______________ AQUATIC: some peaceful Cichlids (5-10 or more) a school of tetras (10 or more) plus other community fish (around 5) some Feeder Guppies (around 5 - for the "lake and stream" section only large aquatic Snails (2 or more) SEMI-AQUATIC: Mudskipper (1 at first) Fire-Bellied Newts (4 or more) Fiddler Crabs (3 or more) TERRESTRIAL: White's Tree Frog (1 at first) Green Anole (1 at first) __________________________________________________ ______________ There are a few obvious chances for problems. One is housing the anole and tree frog with all the aquatic animals. Although tree frogs do like to submerse themselves in bowls of water, they do not like to get a lot over their head and will likely drown if they do so according to my research. Same for the anoles, but that's more obvious. I will take measures to help make sure the anoles and tree frogs will stay on land though. Also, the newts and the anoles produce different oils on their skins, and are not recommended to be kept close by as they can poison each other possibly. However, their main habitats are in different parts of the tank, and although I know animals will naturally explore their surroundings, I doubt the Newts will go up in the trees with the anoles and might not even like the bark chips anyways. Another problem is heating. Overall, most of the animals are compatible, but the anoles might prove to be an exception. They might need a reptile heat lamp (the bulbs are usually red while the UVs are usually violet). They definitely do need the UV, but since basically everthing else needs it too that's fine. I will probably modify the hood to allow a heat lamp to sit above the area with anoles with a screen to keep all the animals still in. I'll make sure they also get a cooler area though since they are said to like having one. At night, the anoles like to be heated still, so I'll have a heating pad underneath the whole tank. I will fiddle with the regular aquatic heater (If it is needed) until it delivers the right temperature with the heat pad. Tree frogs are pretty adaptable, so as long as they don't get in the aquatic section no problem there. I doubt the fiddler crabs will be able to catch the tree frogs or anoles, so probably no conflict either way. I guess the only big question is the mudskipper (there's a good chance I won't try one at all). They are pretty different than most of the animals, and I have no idea if anyone's ever tried keeping a mudskipper with newts or fiddler crabs or anoles or snails or tree frogs before, but I hope if I get a small enough species I won't have a problem. Another concern I have is for the newts and mudskipper, because I am worried that if they find there way onto the anole/tree frog side that the bark chips might irritate their wet skin. I think that if the chips are moistened, which they will usually be, the newts and mudskipper won't mind them too much. I know this sounds like a lot to do with only a 60 gallon tank. But I've looked at it from just about every angle, and it seems like it may work. I will start with only one male anole as a test, and if he doesn't live well in the environment I'll remove him right away to a separate terrarium. If he does die, which I don't think will happen, since I'll remove him as soon as I see bad signs, I'll redeem myself in part by posting my experiment findings online and warning if it did fail extravagantly not to try it yourself. So, that's my plan. Hopefully somebody will read through all that, lol. I'll post a diagram pretty soon. Comments or suggestions or warnings will be deeply appreciated, thanks.