# Microfauna Micro Vivarium #1



## Umbra (Nov 29, 2013)

So some of you might have seen my thread over in the General Discussion subforum on the more common nemertean/flatworm species that somehow manage to hitchhike into our vivariums. While I'm sure they're entirely unwelcome in most of your enclosures, I've taken an interest in them and have decided to dedicate several small enclosures specifically to these "pests". 

This thread is documenting the build of the very first of these enclosures which is also likely to be the smallest. This will be more of a work in progress and I'd greatly appreciate any advice you may have to offer on suitable plant choices. This vivarium is not simply going to be a jar with some soil and random moss, it's going to have a false bottom and be properly scaped with miniature flora. The other (slightly) larger enclosures I have planned for the future will incorporate tiny fans and water features - the largest may end up being a paludarium. 

Let's get on to the basic specs:

*Enclosure*: Ikea BRÖDHULT tea light lantern, ~18x9 cm, after false bottom closer to 12x9 cm, so REALLY micro sized.


















*Lighting*: Undecided, if I'm feeling ambitious I'll build a small custom fixture into the lid for the vivarium using some Crees or just going with a high powered LED lamp over top. I'll update this as the build progresses.

*Flora*: _Reserved_

*Fauna*: _Rhynchodemus sylvaticus_


So the first thing that needed to be addressed were the holes in the bottom of the lantern, presumably to vent heat from the tea light. Since that basin will function as the false bottom water receptacle, the holes had to be filled. A quick soldering did the trick - excuse the sloppy work, getting a proper seal was more important than aesthetics for a part that won't be visible. I taped the outside and soldered from the inside to make it as neat as possible when viewed from the outside. I could have filled it with other substances but I wanted to make do with things I had lying around at home so I could spend money on other more important parts like lighting and inhabitants.










I roughly filled the outside with some leftover Bondo spot putty I had lying around from a car project and sanded it to get a slightly more uniform surface on the outside.










I sealed the soldered bits on the inside with epoxy and silicone and the exterior is now primed and waiting to be sanded down before getting the next step of decoration. I'll post what it actually is when it's finished and I can move onto the next step which will hopefully be a bit more exciting than just this.

If anyone has any plant ideas I'm all ears! There are a few moss and liverwort species I'm entertaining but I'd ideally like something that flowers as well. Air circulation will probably be minimal as I couldn't justify spending $30-40 on one of those 8x8mm micro fans so keep that in mind 

Once again thanks for dropping by! Hopefully updates will be frequent!


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Neat, maybe try some micro sinningia and maybe some mini orchids


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## Umbra (Nov 29, 2013)

I still have a _Sinningia muscicola_ seed pod kicking around somewhere so that's always a possibility. I would have loved a micro orchid but I don't know how well it'd do without much air flow. Also, temps will probably be hovering around the low to mid 70's pretty constantly without any significant drops at night.


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## Destroyer551 (Sep 7, 2013)

Very neat. I'd love to do something like this.

Have you gotten ahold of some nemerteans yet?


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## Umbra (Nov 29, 2013)

Destroyer551 said:


> Very neat. I'd love to do something like this.
> 
> Have you gotten ahold of some nemerteans yet?


I got a few worms that appear to be _Rhynchodemus sylvaticus_, although I might have seen a _Microplana terrestris_ in there as well. So far no nemertean worms, just the above mentioned flatworms. It appears that true nemerteans are significantly less common in vivs than these flatworms. A fellow hobbyist is supposed to bring me a bunch more at an upcoming expo so hopefully that goes through and I'll have some more specimens to work with. I might have a small update later tonight as I've finished the exterior of the base and got some supplies to start building the lid. 

I've decided to build a single LED fixture into the lid, I'm going with the Cree XM-L2. I just need to decide on warm, neutral or cool white. I know ideally I'd have a mixture but because of the limited space of this enclosure I only have space for a single LED. Any suggestions on what colour temperature I should be shooting for if I can only have 1?


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Umbra said:


> I got a few worms that appear to be _Rhynchodemus sylvaticus_, although I might have seen a _Microplana terrestris_ in there as well. So far no nemertean worms, just the above mentioned flatworms. It appears that true nemerteans are significantly less common in vivs than these flatworms. A fellow hobbyist is supposed to bring me a bunch more at an upcoming expo so hopefully that goes through and I'll have some more specimens to work with. I might have a small update later tonight as I've finished the exterior of the base and got some supplies to start building the lid.
> 
> I've decided to build a single LED fixture into the lid, I'm going with the Cree XM-L2. I just need to decide on warm, neutral or cool white. I know ideally I'd have a mixture but because of the limited space of this enclosure I only have space for a single LED. Any suggestions on what colour temperature I should be shooting for if I can only have 1?


5000-7000k... 6500ish will be the most common you find in that range, but occasionally manufactures do 6000k, 5500k, etc...etc... Basically "full spectrum" "daylight" is what you're looking for and those are usually in that kelvin range.


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## Umbra (Nov 29, 2013)

Thanks Dave! The Cree XM-L2 comes in 5000, 5700, 6200 and 6500... I guess I can't really go wrong with either the 5700 or 6200 can I?


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Umbra said:


> Thanks Dave! The Cree XM-L2 comes in 5000, 5700, 6200 and 6500... I guess I can't really go wrong with either the 5700 or 6200 can I?


You might try the 5700. That will be a bit more towards the red/orange spectrum but still look like "white light". You'd probably only really notice it if you had that viv sitting next to one lit with 6500k bulbs, otherwise without something to compare it to you probably won't notice the difference to much.

Plants like that red spectrum though and while they also like blue spectrum the "daylight" or "full spectrum" bulbs usually have plenty of blue and are lacking more in the red area (I think). So basically It seems like going for something around 5500-6000k is maybe just a little better then 6500-7000k.


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## Umbra (Nov 29, 2013)

Update:

Primer, sanded down then gold leaf with liquid copper leaf brushed on then dabbed with a sponge to give it a burnished finish:










I then had to make a watertight seal for the glass piece so I covered the ledge the glass sits on with brown silicone:










I then put some saran wrap on the glass piece and placed it into the silicone:










This way the silicone will form a tight seal with the glass without actually adhering to the glass itself. After it's fully cured I'll remove the saran wrap and trim the silicone to clean it up. 

I made a small order for the lighting system that will hopefully arrive soon so I can post an update on the "canopy" soon enough. I also have some plants heading my way so the good stuff is coming!


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