this is my very first paludarium and bioactive enclosure. i feel like i severely screwed up and im not sure what i can do to fix it? my drainage layer is only 1 inch and is filled with water. i don’t know if thats how its supposed to be? i spent a lot of money putting this all together and i really don’t know what to do. any advice is appreciated. this is going to be for vampire crabs.
by Squishy-Yasha
1 Comment
One inch is pretty short for drainage- you need it to be your desired depth of water plus a bit of margin so water doesn’t wick up too badly.
The drainage layer is supposed to be full of water. That’s its job. Vampire crabs don’t need very deep water but only the half to 3/4 inch you’ll be able to get here is pushing it, especially after you add some substrate at the bottom of the water section.
I’d pull out your soil and add more drainage layer until it’s as high as the front wall of your tank. That way you can fill up as much water as it can reasonably hold and still not be leaching too much soil gunk into your water. Accept that the soil will be constantly wet and pick plants that like that.
Do you have a pump or filter for your water or are you just planning on doing water changes often so it doesn’t stagnate?