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OK, I was premature in posting pictures of my new CFBN paludarium. I kept having a seep into the land side of the tank; the plants were living in a bog! Last week I finally took out the newt (he's in a plastic box w/ his filter, rocks, log and plants), and the dirt and plants. In the process of taking out the divider (made of acrylic siliconed in place) I cracked a pane of glass, so now it's at the glass guy's store getting fixed. I don't want to switch tanks, because I glued in all that cork bark. BUT--my question is, why did it leak? A guy at the LFS told me acrylic and glass won't seal, that this will be a continuous problem. Has anyone else found this to be true? I used thin (1/4 " acrylic; should I try heavier stuff? Or should I give up and use glass, which won't be curved and quite as attractive? I need to act pretty fast, because the plastic box is a bit warm for the newt.... Advice is appreciated!

Thanks, Jan

Hi, I had exactly the same problem when I had a glass plate glued in as a divider. It was not leakage! The problem was "wicking". Any time there is water anywhere near a bit of the substrate or even a bit of plant or cork bark, the water will "wick" over into the land area. Intuitively, this seems like it would never be enough to fill the dirt area with water, but believe me it does! As long as you have the cork bark there, the water will wick over. Either you have to keep the water level much lower than the land, or devise a way to suck the water out periodically. I simply gave up on this type of setup! Here is what I did instead:
Before: http://members.cox.net/jpmacke/5050tank1.JPG
AFter: http://members.cox.net/jpmacke/hilotank.JPG

>>OK, I was premature in posting pictures of my new CFBN paludarium. I kept having a seep into the land side of the tank; the plants were living in a bog! Last week I finally took out the newt (he's in a plastic box w/ his filter, rocks, log and plants), and the dirt and plants. In the process of taking out the divider (made of acrylic siliconed in place) I cracked a pane of glass, so now it's at the glass guy's store getting fixed. I don't want to switch tanks, because I glued in all that cork bark. BUT--my question is, why did it leak? A guy at the LFS told me acrylic and glass won't seal, that this will be a continuous problem. Has anyone else found this to be true? I used thin (1/4 " acrylic; should I try heavier stuff? Or should I give up and use glass, which won't be curved and quite as attractive? I need to act pretty fast, because the plastic box is a bit warm for the newt.... Advice is appreciated!
>>
>>Thanks, Jan
>>

Jenn,

Thanks for the reply! I can see that you ended up with an island, instead of separated portions of the tank, and I've been considering that. I think I'll try the divider one more time. The water wasn't actually in contact with the cork bark, but the log was looming out of the water onto the land, so maybe that's the problem. But the thing that makes me think there realy was a leak, is that I resealed the top of the divider, then leaned the tank at an angle (the dirt was still in it) to use a fan to evacuate the fumes. A few hours later I came home, and there was water in the lower corners of the tank. It couldn't have come over the top of the divider...there wasn't enough...so I think it must have seeped under the divider. We shall see!

Thanks!
Jan

I've got a Paludarium up and running for over a year, without leaking. I used 1/4" plexiglass, that I heated and formed, then siliconed into place. I did not skimp on the the silicone and made sure that all surfaces were clean and dry.

Tim

Picture of the underside of the tank.

Tim,

Thanks for the reply! That is an INCREDIBLE looking vivarium/paludarium/whatever you want to call it! wow! I notice on the bottom view, you have a hose running out of the bottom of the tank. I assume that is on the land side? Does that run to the filter? I have replaced the original acrylic in the tank (not easy with the cork bark already there) and siliconed it to death; it has cured two days, and I have filled it with water today--so far no leaks. We will see; I really want to get the newt back in there; he looks miserable in a plastic box.

By the way, what lives in your beautiful viv?

Thanks!
Jan

Jan,

I've posted more information on my set up in the Arrow Frogs Forum. They will have yesterdays and todays dates.

Tim