Category Archives: Paludarium

Some major surgery – Cracked glass, the sequel… (part 1/2)

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Erik Zandboer| Leave a comment

After I applied the fix to the cracked glass divider inside the paludarium, I noticed… Another crack in the same divider, but now on the other side. I had had enough. More drastic measures were needed… But how to go about that? Luckily, the supplier that built the glass paludarium stepped up and offered to help!

How to fix this issue for good

I figured it would be virtually impossible to remove the glass divider and glue in a new one. I needed more knowledgeable advice. So I contacted the supplier of the paludarium that originally built it for me, Terrariumhuis in Rotterdam. They gave me some good advice on how to apply a fix, but even better: They offered me to replace the glass divider free of charge! Read more »

Posted in Glass structure, Paludarium

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Paludarium Feed-throughs mounted

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Erik Zandboer| Leave a comment

After the cracked glass of the paludarium was fixed, I could continue to mount the feed-throughs. This is a vital part to build before any water can be put into the paludarium, as right now there are some huge holes drilled in the glass bottom :O

Different types of Feed-through

There are several types of feed-throughs planned for the paludarium:

  1. Feed-throughs feeding through the back that will run into the waterfall (3x);
  2. Feed-through feeding through the back for cabling;
  3. Feed-through in the bottom where the filter will draw dirty water from;
  4. Feed-through in the bottom where waist water will stream from into the sewer.

All the feed-throughs have rubber rings in order to make them watertight. I applied some vaseline to the rubber rings which will help to make them waterproof. Read more »

Posted in landmass physics, Paludarium, Water physics

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Cracked glass fixed!

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Erik Zandboer| 2 Comments

In a previous post I showed the crack in the glass that had appeared spontaneously. In time the crack has extended fully upward to the top of the glass separator. Today I decided it was time to fix the issue!

Why the glass cracked

As the glass cracked through fully to the top of the separator, it became clear Read more »

Posted in Glass structure, Paludarium

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Finally: The aquatic background arrived!

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Erik Zandboer| Leave a comment

After going to a local store, I found an aquatic background I immediately fell in love with. It had to be ordered in the right size, and the delivery of the background has been delayed then more delayed. Today, finally… It arrived!



The background

This is the new background for the aquatic part:

Artificial aquatic background for the paludarium

Artificial aquatic background for the paludarium

This background is manufactured by akwaline. I looked at all the available types they had. Knowing what river sides in the Amazon look like (thanks to our great trip to the Guyana jungle in 2006) I selected the closest match… Surprise surprise… It was the “Amazon” type. Obviously they did their homework 🙂

Posted in Artificial Rock and Wood, Paludarium

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Minor disaster: Cracked glass

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Erik Zandboer| 1 Comment

After working on the paludarium, all of a sudden I discovered a big crack in the inner glass separator. It is a little hard to see, but the crack is around 15 centimeters long:

Minor Disaster - Huge crack in the inner separator!

Minor Disaster – Huge crack in the inner separator!

At first I kind of panicked… If this glass can crack just like that, the same thing might happen to one of the external glass right?? After looking closer, there has propably been some tension in the glass combined with a bad cut on the edge of this particular piece.

More work… There is no way I can replace the glass separator. Because it is 48cm high, and it sits only 10 cm in from of the rear glass, I can never ever replace the entire separator without taking the whole thing apart… I decided I will glue a piece of glass over the crack and hope for the best. There is no real force from the water on this piece, as both sides of the separator will have 40-48cm of water.

Posted in Glass structure, Paludarium

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Paludarium software – Need a little help here!

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Erik Zandboer| Leave a comment

The old Paludarium had a kind of down-to-basics way it was controlled. It did have an application server and a webserver, but everything was very much in “nineties style”. Now I am planning to modernize everything. I want an INTERACTIVE website. An iPhone app. You name it. And I need your help – I know a lot about C and assembly, but java? REST? Spring? I wish I knew more!

How the old system works

The old system was quite simple, and as a result it worked perfectly. But also, it had a lot of limitations: No buttons on the website. No configurable graphs on the website. No search, no preview of tomorrow or look back to yesterday. This is a schematic of how it all ticked: Read more »

Posted in Automation, Paludarium

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The Paludarium v2.0 is here!

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Erik Zandboer| 1 Comment

Two weeks after the order, the glass got delivered today. I was psyched! Two guys carried the immense thing inside. Weighing in at 80 kilos, quite an accomplishment. And they did not even hit anything in the house.

The Paludarium is here!

The paludarium is now sitting neatly onto his reserved spot. Everything seems to be perfectly in order (size and construction-wise). Here it is: Read more »

Posted in Glass structure, Paludarium

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Paludarium to be delivered… Tomorrow!

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Erik Zandboer| Leave a comment

I got an email today, and guess what… The paludarium will be delivered tomorrow!

I just finished prepping the place it should sit:

The protective base where the glass of the paludarium will sit on. Everything is prepped… Let’s hope I drilled the holes at the correct position.

The kitchen cabinet now has holes drilled at the exact position where the sewer drain and the filter drain will sit. These holes to all the way through the wooden top. AT the back of the top plate I removed a strip of material as you can see. Through this strip I will feed any pipes and wires I need to go in and out of the paludarium.

On top of all there is a protective rubber layer. This will prevent the glass from breaking if the plating is not 100% flat (or has any irregularities).

I am fully prepared for the arrival of the paludarium!

Posted in Cabinet, Glass structure, Paludarium

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Glass has been ordered!

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Erik Zandboer| Leave a comment

The word is out… The glass is ordered! Measures are now final, I am very thrilled to see the finished product! I ended up ordering at www.terrariumhuis.nl after visiting the shop where they actually glue at all together. It is a very small shop, yet it delivers most of the terrariums and paludariums in Dutch shops.

They were very interested in building my “special” (as they mostly build standard sizes). At one time I ordered a paludarium from the same shop which was of acceptable quality. Since then they have improved a lot I was told, so I cannot wait to receive the order and building out the Paludarium 2.0! The measures are an exact match to the drawings posted in the Definite glass specs.

As soon as the glass arrives I will post pictures on this blog, and of course all the steps required to build it will be documented here as well! Can’t wait!

Posted in Glass structure, Paludarium

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Paludarium 2.0 definite glass specs

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Erik Zandboer| 1 Comment

After checking, evaluating, changing, re-evaluating and changing again, I finally came up with the final design of the glass paludarium. I had already put up preliminary specs in the older blog post “Paludarium 2.0: Ordering glass“, but now specs have changed and are definitive. Bring forth the offers from different paludarium building companies!

Changes in the new design

Some adjustments were made in when finalizing the design for the glass. The most important changes: Read more »

Posted in Glass structure, Paludarium

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