Front Yard Garden

Minimalist Mountain Islands Paludarium (Rock Filtered)



I’ve been considering a minimalist paludarium or aquascape for awhile now. After dismantling a few setups and realizing that the structure from the Fern Rock Planter would be perfect for a build, like this, I got to work. I think this was a great way to reuse previous assets and create some cool. What do you think?

I realize a minimal type design is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I thick it’s pretty neat and adds variety to the animal room. As I said in the video, there’s something about the open/negative space that makes everything else pop, which makes it very interesting to observe… In my opinion at least.

Let me know what you think in the comments and enjoy the video!

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0:00 My Idea For This Paludarium
1:18 Creating the Mountain Islands
2:12 Addressing Water-Flow and Filtration
3:58 Adding Plants to the Formations
5:18 Testing the Pump for Flow
5:46 Filling the Bottom with Sand
6:25 A Closer Look at the Scape
6:53 Adding the Fish
7:16 The Completed Design

#paludarium #aquascape #serpadesign

28 Comments

  1. This one's a little different, but I really like how it turned out! What do you think of minimal designs, like this? I also think the Glowlight Danios are a great choice for this scape. I'm curious, though, what else do you think would go well in this setup? Let me know! I want to do more with this once I move it to the new animal room, so you're suggestions are appreciated.

    Also, I feel like I should say that the footage of the fish schooling at the end is played in real-time. They're super fast, so it appears to be sped up, but that's just how fast they are. I knew they would school well, but I didn't expect them to be this energetic. Definitely, a great option if you're looking for a pretty, tight-schooling fish.

    Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the video, and have a great weekend SerpaSquad!

  2. Nice work! Feels like a Thailand tropical sea vibe) I would also ad smaller black rocks around the big ones for more cohesive and natural look and maybe some small shels as well.

  3. Random idea Tanner – creating a themed scape, like Mario world, LOTR scape, Harry Potter scape, something with the buildings and figures in there that the fish or animals swim / move around in. lol would be sick

  4. Great video I enjoyed it. The rock islands are prefect as are the schooling fish. It's a challenge to think of how to improve this build.

  5. I really like this. I think I can use the idea to make a scape for my plant eating cichlids. Lava rock should be light enough to build with and it will look nicer than drilling holes in the side of the 100 gallon tub and just hanging the plants on the side.

  6. I'm a big fan of setups overflowing with plants and hardscape, but this minimalist aquascape is surprisingly pretty!

  7. Very nice work, Tanner. You were right about the impact of dark rock and white sand. And the quick-moving, tight-schooling fish moving through this minimalist waterscape are almost hypnotic. Being able to shift your approach to suit the project is a mark of the professional. But you still bring an artist's eye to the composition.

  8. I absolutely love this build. Very tropical beach feel and the schooling fish just tie it all together. This is actually one of my favorites. Awesome job.

  9. I love watching your videos – honestly I don't know how you manage to maintain everything so well! I had a large tank for a single Betta some time ago and keeping it all looking clean and ensuring the fish was well looked after was so time consuming, so I really admire what you do! Amazing work 🙂

  10. Love this! Only thing I would add would be one smaller rock in the foreground to bring in the rule of three. I think having just 2 islands and nothing else can look a little too 'placed'. But otherwise I love the simplicity!

  11. Less is more indeed. I love your elaborate stuff, but this hits different, very modernist Scandinavian vibe.

  12. I really like the high contrast of it. I think how minimalistic it is draws your eyes more to the fish and it’s mesmerizing to watch them school

  13. Hey I had a idea for a vivarium pop into my head but I don't have the space for it but thought I could share it here incase anyone might want to use it (if so let me know how it goes). A terrarium that has all types of feeders from crickets to dubias to mealworms and maybe even waxworms and hornworms and is able to sustain a population of them. It probalby won't house a lot of plants if any but it can look nice with just sticks and rocks. you can dump leftovers in in from dinner like the green parts of carrots or lettuce stems. you could just have one tank that you can grab feeders out of and you have something nice to look at.

    edit: I posted it here because I thought what the hell maybe mr serpadesign himself might give it a whirl.

  14. I love this one. I almost always think you put too much into the different projects. That being said, I always like how they look, so there you go.

  15. Magnificient small build, love it! If I was to keep this, I'd add some shrimps and snails tho, maybe floating plants (just to not encourage algae growth – at least with @MDFishtanks he got algae with bright sand and bright lights) But what do I know about tanks, really, I never had one 🙃
    Congrats on the new house!💚💚💚

  16. I notice you use Creeping Fig a lot in your builds…but I have had a really difficult time finding it here in Ontario, Canada. Maybe one day I'll get my hands on some. You really are a master of your craft!

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