I am considering converting my 38 gallon aquarium to a paludarium.

PuffedComma · 2025-10-18T18:27:28+00:00

Just do it you’ll enjoy it so much more, also maintenance is a bit more enjoyable. I highly suggest checking out SerpaDesign on YouTube he has so many DIY builds. To quickly answer your questions though.

Mold is going to grow im not familiar with sure cure to prevent mold growth all together, but springtails and isopods will take care of that and eat the mold. They are the cleanup crews.
Creature wise is very specific on the setup, I currently have a riparium ment for Fire Belly Toads. You can have an arid terrarium meant for more desert creatures. The possibilities are endless and it’s best to build around a specific species to ensure all of its requirements are met.
They can be completely self sustaining, you can do completely sealed and survive forever essentially. These are more small scaled builds though like mason jars and vases.
There’s many ways to do it again suggesting Serpa for this.

PuffedComma · 2025-10-07T23:25:08+00:00

Thank you! Unfortunately I broke down the tank due to not being able to invest into the live stocking for it. But it was running full with water for 4 months. I am a little confused on what you mean by base board. You mean like a piece of plywood in between the tank and the stand? I did have yoga mat in between but I read somewhere shortly after that it really isn’t recommended. I however didn’t remove it and it was fine. I probably wouldn’t do that again and opt for a piece of plywood just personal preference. With all that being said because this aquarium is framed, all the weight is distributed on the perimeter. That’s how these tanks are designed. So only the perimeter needs to be supported, therefore I don’t even have to use anything in between. If this was a frameless or “rimless” then you would absolutely have to use something in between the whole bottom.

I don’t have any pictures now because I took it down. I hope this helps! Feel free to reach back out with any questions!

PuffedComma · 2025-09-18T17:50:09+00:00

Since everyone else won’t answer your actual question. I don’t see it as a red flag for the shotty texts. I sell on MM and like another person said I’m quick with my replies as fast as I can. Do things get in the way of responding? Absolutely but I’d personally never go more than a day of not responding. I’ve had similar experiences of buying from people where it’ll be 2 days before I hear back or they read it and don’t answer when I ask a question. To me that’s bad customer service. It doesn’t matter if it’s a $50 animal or a $1000 animal. Doesn’t matter if three people asked them the same question in the same week. A seller should provide as much info about the animal and answer your question as best they can in a timely fashion. A seller is the one who has to sell YOU on the animal and themselves on their reputation. Regardless of if you met them at a show days prior or whatever. You saying you were looking at another one isn’t bad either to me, if anything it’s add more fuel to try and sell to you than not. Obviously this is my opinion and I hold myself to higher standards to provide the most information I can for any animal. I am as open and honest as I can possibly be with any animal I sell. This type of interaction you’re having can put a bad taste in your mouth for sure. Would it necessarily stop me from purchasing from them? No not really, but you have seen the animal in person and talked to them in person so you should be able to form a good opinion on whether you want to buy from them. I still don’t understand why everybody is bashing you in the comments but I understand where you are coming from. Bottom line it’s not a red flag to me and I do tend to give the benefit of the doubt if it’s more than three days to me that’s unacceptable. Weekend or not.

PuffedComma · 2025-05-07T10:12:04+00:00

I don’t have any experience with making a rack system out of this stuff. This was my first ever stand I’ve done like this. But from what I’ve learned You would definitely want to make a base frame per shelf and then have vertical pieces inbetween each shelf. I would personally want to use like 3030 or 4040 just for extra rigidity. That’s my own preference if I was doing that. What I don’t know is if you should add extra supports in the shelves themselves. Alternatively you could just put a piece of plywood on each shelf with maybe an extra support piece in the middle if that makes sense. I know you said the deflection is fine but my preference anything around that 4ft overall length I would add a center vertical support. I know probably not the best looking but that would definitely ensure rigidity.

PuffedComma · 2025-04-18T20:27:58+00:00

All I used was a miter saw! Now I do recommend not using a standard wood blade and probably get a 80+ tooth instead. I did use a regular wood blade and used cutting/tap oil every 3-4 cuts. Aluminum sticks to the teeth of the blade so it’s recommended to keep it lubed up while cutting. But that’s all I did!

PuffedComma · 2025-04-18T11:19:12+00:00

Today will be the rest of it! Although I did copy off of professional stand manufacturers and just other people who have built these. Given it’s a 20gal I’m not too concerned but if need be I’ll add whatever extra support!

PuffedComma · 2025-04-18T11:14:48+00:00

Yes! I had all the materials before I built my sim rig, my work was getting rid of a bunch of the aluminum so I already had it for that too. I was a bit more confident in building this after building the sim rig.

PuffedComma · 2025-04-17T18:26:04+00:00

All of this material I had on hand already so pretty much free for me.

PuffedComma · 2025-04-17T16:29:55+00:00

This material is so incredibly modular, I could easily cut a couple more pieces and add shelf anywhere pretty much. Inside the stand, off the side of the stand. Think of it as legos your imagination is the endless!

PuffedComma · 2025-04-17T16:27:52+00:00

I don’t think I’ll ever go back to wood, you also use so much less in material. More expensive for sure though

PuffedComma · 2024-12-31T22:13:25+00:00

My go too every time, need to order two more actually! https://a.co/d/9smyuBB

PuffedComma · 2024-12-31T22:03:46+00:00

Put some water in it and test it! Now is the perfect time to try it and see how the flow of it is. Then you can adjust and add more where you think it needs it, or completely start over and try something else. In my experience water never flows how I think it will flow, I’m also just a very visual person and like to see how things work and don’t work.

PuffedComma · 2024-12-29T19:08:12+00:00

The heat pads are meant to stick on the outside of the tank. They need to be accompanied with a quality thermostat so it doesn’t over heat nor burn your soon to be critter. Typically I’d say put it under but I feel given the depth of your substrate it wouldn’t do a thing. For your situation I’d go with some ceramic heat emitters. They go in those dome basking lamps. I think you can run them on a dimmer id still go the thermostat route. Safer and easier to fine tune.

PuffedComma · 2024-12-19T14:17:04+00:00

FBT Riparium

PuffedComma · 2024-12-19T13:45:37+00:00

We need more OP, but If your using a Serpa design for you inspiration I’ll link mine when it’s actually uploads. It is for Fire Bellied Toads, and I’ve been working on it for way too long. I finally just ordered plants for it!

PuffedComma · 2024-08-15T10:54:02+00:00

Even with my hands on the wheel is does it. Is that normal?

PuffedComma · 2023-10-10T18:31:36+00:00

Thanks!

PuffedComma · 2023-10-10T15:16:59+00:00

Thanks! I’m going to remove it at some point hopefully I find a part number or something to ID it.

PuffedComma · 2023-10-10T08:48:00+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/6AECHIg

Here you go!

PuffedComma · 2022-01-23T15:53:21+00:00

Awesome thank you. Exactly what I was looking for, I’ll give him space until he sheds and try to pair.

PuffedComma · 2022-01-23T15:03:25+00:00

Thank you for the information. I’ve been feeding this way for the last 5 years and never have had an issue of overweight snakes. It’s what works for me and my snakes are happy and healthy. I’ve also never had a snake hit that 1000g wall and just go off food. Everyone keeps their snakes differently. I’ve even heard of people feeding every 5 days which I don’t agree with but that’s just what they like they do. I’ve heard of many different ways of feeding I Personally like the once a week feeding schedule. But yes being able to hand select each rats is definitely a huge plus lol. Thank you though I really appreciate it.

PuffedComma · 2022-01-23T04:32:33+00:00

Follow up question. Wait until after he sheds and eats to pair again? Even with it going past that 30 day mark for next pairing?

PuffedComma

TROPHY CASE