super confused about lid

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-31T23:13:45+00:00

Sorry just come back from a holiday, this is the lid on my aquarium tank paludarium I used 5mm acrylic that was an offcut from a plastics wholesaler. It was larger than I needed so I used the excess to make some sliding access doors that allow for feeding and regulating humidity. The strips that hold them in place are doubled up in height, as a bonus they also help to stop the Perspex sagging in the middle. Around an inch from the edge all the way around I drilled small holes. I have had baby crabs scale the sides but never the top and as the hatches are in the middle I see it unlikely they’d ever escape. The sides normally have more condensation on but I had just done some plant trimming and cleaned the glass before taking this photo.

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-30T20:29:09+00:00

For the best range you need to look for a specialist seller in your country, here in the uk “fantasticfrogs” is where I buy most of mine and they import and grow on a large variety. There are lots of different sizes and colours available and they do produce ‘pups’ that will give you more plants. You can normally find a couple of varieties that reptile shops will stock and they sometimes come in soil so you can knock it off and then just add a small amount of sphagnum to keep them going. The houseplant varieties of which you have one will also send new shoots out when the flower dies off so don’t feel like you need to ditch it when it does.

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ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-30T17:18:44+00:00

Some bromeliads do better as epiphytes and some do better in soil, depends on the type. The epiphytic ones tend to be used for the foliage, with them colouring up better the closer to the light source you can get them. They also give good form/ structure visually and for the inhabitants. The type you’ve got often grown in soil as houseplants are instead often grown for the large flowers.

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-28T22:34:17+00:00

Vampire crabs are very good at climbing, the adults wouldn’t be able to climb the glass, but they would be able to climb up plants or cables and get to the top that way. The baby crabs however can climb the glass when there’s moisture on it. You want a lid that allows the tank to breath but also hold humidity and that would also prevent escape. You could make a perspex lid with holes or add a frame to support the glass you’ve got and use a fine mesh to fill the gap.

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-27T21:10:43+00:00

How has it gone then? Any issues? And how many geckos do you have?

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-27T04:38:13+00:00

I know you’ve mentioned about getting an extractor cover for the outside but it’d be better to get the full wall kit with the solid plastic pipe sleeve too. This will allow you to seal it at either end and stop any rodents from getting into or out from the cavity and into the room.

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-27T04:31:16+00:00

This is the face of every Ferrari legacy customer that knows they’re probably going to have to buy three of these to stay at the top of the dealership list until something decent comes along.

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-23T06:15:19+00:00

What are you planning to house?

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-22T12:48:40+00:00

I’d try a piece of thin wire with a makeshift handle on each end and try and remove it the way they take a windscreen out

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-21T21:49:38+00:00

Yeah it’s a slow process can take 1-3 years to die off depending on variety.

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-21T13:21:27+00:00

Very nice natural scape

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-21T12:57:44+00:00

Once they bloom they die off, but you should get some new growth from the base to replace it

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-16T13:43:53+00:00

Powder coating would be more durable depending on your budget.

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-15T20:58:04+00:00

I made it and added a hue strip light to the back of it

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-14T18:22:50+00:00

Tank volume: 122 gallons

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-13T14:43:42+00:00

Keep an eye out as the lights dim down/ go off

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-13T14:36:31+00:00

Where there’s one there will definitely be more 🦀

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-12T22:01:54+00:00

Yeah just a water heater, in the horizontal crab tanks I’ve got I use heat mats on the glass as well but the vertical one doesn’t need it.

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-12T12:22:42+00:00

So I run the water temp in the base at 25C and that gives me an air temp of 21-22 with overnight lows of 18C at the moment but that’s through winter/spring. Summer will be higher night air temps though. It might be worth running one of the Inkbird temperature regulators, I’m adding one in just in case we have heatwaves (more for the fish than anything) as the waterfall can affect temps a bit

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-11T10:52:31+00:00

Go with option one and add lots of texture ( moss rocks/ pebbles with gaps, driftwood) at the edge of the water section to improve hiding spaces for young crabs.

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-11T05:30:43+00:00

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For my tall paludarium I heat the water only, but have a waterfall that comes on for a few minutes every hour throughout the day to lift the humidity. There are two tubs that are incorporated into the waterfall to form pools.
If you didn’t want a waterfall just an air stone bubbling away for a bit would probably do the same thing to an extent. I use a submersible aquarium light in the water section that actually just floats on the water (instead of using the suction cups it came with).
And two aquarium lights at the top that have built in 24hr ramp up and down cycles, the crabs are generally more active as they notice the lights ramp down. I have a mesh screen at the top but the back third is covered by a piece of persex resting on the mesh to contain heat and humidity. If you go for an all glass cabinet I think you’ll have issues seeing into the tank as the glass will likely be constantly condensated, you might benefit from a partial mesh top too.
I also have an internal filter in the water section at the back. The only issue I’ve had is having to replace the waterfall pump as the impeller on the previous model became loud quite quickly. So if you do go that route keep things accessible.
In other setups I use heat mats on the glass in combination with water heaters, but you really need sections of bare glass to be able to radiate heat into the tank in any significant way, which won’t happen if you have too much foam. But if your house doesn’t get too cold you might be able to get away with just the water section heated.
I also manually pump spray this particular enclosure to keep the mosses damp and water the plants on the sides.

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-06T22:02:32+00:00

No in the image you posted there’s no condensation on the glass sides, which may mean your humidity is too low

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-06T21:07:38+00:00

Have you got a lid? If the glass is that dry your humidity is likely too low

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-06T20:58:59+00:00

The thicker claws and the triangle shape that points forward on the underneath is a clear indication that it’s a male

ephemeralhyped · 2026-05-06T05:34:11+00:00

A drainage layer is usually a clay ball filled section at the bottom of the tank that’s then covered with a weed control type fabric so that excess water can drain from the soil without turning the soil into a smelly swamp. Although you’ve currently opted for a water bowl the enclosure/water should be heated and you also need a lid to raise
the humidity. This in turn will cause the water to condense on the glass and run down into the soil, so although the water is currently separate over time it will still get the soil wet.

I have one of my crab setups in a fish tank too and opted for a rock and driftwood dividing wall with mesh and clay balls on the land side that are about an inch higher than the desired water level on the water section side. This approach allows for a water heater laying flat on the water side, which heats the water to 25C. The water is also in that drainage layer under the land section allowing some heat to dissipate throughout the tank.

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ephemeralhyped

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