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I was looking at some palludariums and decided I might try one some day. I had some questions though. How do you make the landscape(the terrain, e.g. the hills and indentions for the pools)? Do you get like a cut out and fill it with soil in any pattern you wish? Is it all soil and just packed together? I was also wondering if you can keep tropical fish in a lower heated pool or if that should be used for coldwater amphibians like newts.

Also, should I have posted this here or in the planted forum?

EDIT: Would 65 watts be considered high wattage for a 29 gallon tank, or would it qualify as medium light?

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I like Led Zeppelin.

Paludariums can be done in a number of ways.

1. Pile the gravel or sand on one side of the tank, or use a large rock or piece of driftwood that'll stick out of the water. This simple form of paludarium can't really support much in the way of plant life on the land portion. Furthermore, piled-up gravel or sand probably won't stay up well. On top of that, such conditions can create anaerobic pockets that allow anaerobic bacteria to form. Anaerobic bacteria are a nasty kind that you want to stay out of your tank.

2. Get some sort of floating thing. Technically those floating turtle docks create a land portion, though of course equally uninhabitable by land plants short of putting flower pots on the land portion or resorting to hydroponics.

3. Silicon pieces of glass onto their aquarium together to make an area that will contain the land. This basically creates a built-in flower pot of sorts. A land portion can be filled with gravel and soil and then planted, and the glass would keep it separate from the aquatic portion. Of course, amphibious species would be able to climb onto the land if the distance from the water level to the land isn't too much for them. Though the most difficult form of paludarium to get set up and working, the end of effect can be one of the most rewarding.

4. Buy one of those ready-made paludarium set-ups from the fish store or pet store. Some of these come even have little waterfalls. Definitely the easiest way to get an effective paludarium, but the plastic-ness might not be as natural as wished.

There may be other ways to acheive paludariums, but those are the ones I can think of.

Paludariums can be tropical or coldwater, depending on what you want to keep. However, they cannot, of course, be both.

My final warning is to think about the land or the fish in terms of jumping behavior. You don't want them hitting the land portion and basically being a fish out of water.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.