The back wall of the tank is what you will be seeing the most of when you look into your paludarium. You can use that cheesy paper background or the colored foil sold in aquarium stores, but if you want a realistic, natural look you have to use real materials.

The best thing to use is slate. It is light weight, it will not change the water chemistry, and will not discolor or absorb moisture. I went to a building supply place and bought about $10 worth of broken slate shingles, which did the trick. You can also try landscape supply houses or construction materials suppliers. You want to get it as thin as possible to keep the weight down. The slate shingles I used were about 1/2-inch thick. It's fairly easy to shape slate, as it breaks cleanly using a hammer and cold chisel.

After shaping into irregular pieces, I glued each piece of rock to the background glass of the aquarium using silicone sealant. I used approximately one and one-half tubes of sealant. This material is very common and available at most hardware stores. The sealant cost me $4.39 per tube. Do not buy sealant that contains a mildew inhibitor. Make sure the label says 100% silicone sealant which when cured, is potable and safe for all aquatic life.

Be sure to wipe the slate and the glass with rubbing alcohol and let it dry before applying the sealant so you get a clean adhesive bond. You might want to lay the bigger pieces of slate down first (without glue) to see how things fit. It's kind of like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Use a hammer and chisel to shape the last pieces and make a complete fit. Slate breaks surprisingly easy, so it doesn't take much force to make straight cuts. Also, you don't need to glue any slate below the dirt level on the back wall, since the area will be covered from view anyway. Simply squirt a bead of glue on the back of each piece of slate and push it down on the glass.

The sealant will "skin over" in about an hour, but will take a full week to cure. Do not disturb the tank during this time. You may want to ventilate the area, because there will be a strong smell of vinegar as the sealant cures. This is normal. When the odor of vinegar in the tank is gone, the silicone sealant is fully cured.

The next step in the process is to fill the cracks between the pieces of slate so that the glue and glass do not show through. This is the process of applying mortar. Though we will not be using real cement based mortar, but common garden soil.

I used regular old dirt straight from the garden. I live in Southern California, where the dirt has a high clay content- perfect for this application. Gather some dry dirt in a pail, then pack it into all the cracks and crevices between the slate pieces. Use a toothbrush, stick, or small spackling knife to jam the dirt between and under the slate. Then, heavily mist down the entire surface with water using a general-purpose spray bottle. You will have a kind of slurry, muddy mess. This is okay. Continue pushing and adding more dry dirt into the cracks and crevices until no more dirt can be added. Let the whole mess dry overnight.

The next day, sweep away the loose dirt with a dust pan brush. You can now stand the tank upright. The photo shown to the left is the result. By the way, the photo doesn't do this justice. The three dimensional look of the slate and mortar looks like some ancient cave wall. I'm also hoping that in time, I can get a tropical vine to climb along the wall and root in the dirt mortar. I have also thought about adding ground cover seed to the dirt mortar before packing it in the crevices. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who tries this alternate method.

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