I'm brainstorming ideas for an empty 55 gallon aquarium that I have. I would really like to do some sort of plaudarium (water/land) type tank and base it on a Madagascar biotope. My problem is I cannot find much information on how leaftails would handle an area of standing water in the enclosure. Ideally I would like to keep mantellas, leaftails and dwarf cichlids in this enclosure. Dwarf cichlids are south american but require water temps perfectly in line with air temps for the leaftails and mantellas.

The water area will be roughly 1/3 of the 55 gal and 7-9" high giving around 8-10 gallons. I plan on having 2-3 submerged plant species along with some rock features and plenty of branches coming out of the water both to provide cover for the fish and escape routes should a gecko fall in.

The water feature would take up the middle area of the aquarium with land on left and right. I will be separating dry/wet areas with acrylic/plexi siliconed into place. This should allow me to slope one of the dry areas downwards (away from the water) providing more vertical space on one end, but I aim to house either satanics or eban's as they are smaller and will supposedly make better use of the horizontal space of the 55 gal. The cichlids require a decent amount of shade so there will be plants and branches suspended/growing over the water which will also provide more climbing areas for the leaftails.

So what are your opinions on having a water feature like this in a leaftail enclosure?

thanks
ac

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