# Sweden calling



## Guest (Jan 9, 2006)

Hi all!

Just wanted to introduce me a little. First of all you have to excuse me if a word or so is misspelled.
Im from Sweden and have kept Dendros from time to time over the past 15 years. Right now I don't have any frogs because of my working situation. 
One thing I do have is plants and especially Orchids. Around 600 different species. I have constructed some 150 vivariums over the years. From tiny ones to realy big. So that is a thing a know realy well.

You might have seen some of my viv's here. Khamul1of9 posted links to some photos a time ago here. http://www.rv-orchidworks.com/orchidtal ... #post31658

Feel free to ask if you have any questions about lights, climation, plants and so on.

Regards

Mikael


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Mikael,

Welcome to the Dendroboard. Your vivs are truly objects of beauty.

Bill


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## Jordan B (Oct 8, 2004)

elmoisfive said:


> Mikael,
> 
> Welcome to the Dendroboard. Your vivs are truly objects of beauty.
> 
> Bill


I'll second that! Are you currently keeping any frogs? Welcome!
Jordan


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## Frank H (Nov 3, 2005)

I checked out your vivs before, I really like them, very unique.

Welcome to the board! I hope you give in and get yourself some PDFs for those Vivariums- Im sure theyd be very happy.

-Frank


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## Guest (Jan 10, 2006)

Welcome Mikael,

Very glad to have you here. I hope you don't mind if I post your pics here. I think everyone needs to see what you have done. Truly Fabulous!!!

Lepanthes saltatrix









Dendrobium lanyaiae









Here are one of my "cold cases"...


















Warm vivarium









Nano vivarium with warm growing Pleurothallids.









Another warm vivarium. Size 20 x 20 x 40 inch. Different tropic plants and orchids.









Interior wiew of a larger warm vivarium. In front a Elaphoglossum fern.


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## jsagcincy (May 2, 2005)

Very nice. Each one looks like a piece of art. 

What type of soil do you use? Peat bricks?

Thanks for sharing.

Jeff


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## nburns (May 3, 2005)

Mikael,

As mentioned before these are stunning pieces of art. Great job and welcome to Dendroboard!


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## Guest (Jan 10, 2006)

Thanx for all kind words  

Most of the substrate and back walls in the terrariums are done with Epiweb. EpiWeb is a new non decomposable material made to imitate the structure and caracters of tree fern (xaxim) It comes in panels and as granulate. 
It beats peat bricks, Flevopol and coco panels by far!

Here are the home page http://www.dusk.se/epiweb.html

I started to use Macrolon plastic instead of glass recently. In that way you are more free to do rounded viv's etc. The plastic is extremely strong and the price are about the same as glass. 
On my big cold viv you can se the rounded shape where the "doors" swoop around the shape of the bottom and top. By using this tecnique the cabinet opens up totaly and you can axcess everywhere.
In a more classic terrarium the sides of the cabinet stops you from attending most parts on the sides and back.

Regards

Mikael


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## TimStout (Feb 16, 2004)

Mikael,
Can we purchase this epiweb in the US?


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

I am uncomfortable with part of their description - "Has a repelling effect on snails"

How does it repell them? Because it is not a "natural" decomposing substance? Or is there something in the plastic that repells them? This makes me very nervous, esepcially if anything was added to the plastic for this purpose.

Some people in the US are using treefern panels in an experimental "compost tank" design, where the treefern panel acts much like a membrane where small arthorpods and what not are free to move thru the panel from the compost side to the tank side. Would EpiWeb be able to so the same thing? I'm not sure if its solid or just fibers much like the tree fern.

This sounds like a nice alternative to an abused resource.


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## yuri (Feb 18, 2004)

I am wondering this too. Ever since I read about and then saw in person Ben Eiben's compost tank, I wanted to make something similar.

So, will this allow small arthropods (even Drosophila melanogaster?) to pass through freely?



> Some people in the US are using treefern panels in an experimental "compost tank" design, where the treefern panel acts much like a membrane where small arthorpods and what not are free to move thru the panel from the compost side to the tank side. Would EpiWeb be able to so the same thing? I'm not sure if its solid or just fibers much like the tree fern.
> 
> This sounds like a nice alternative to an abused resource.


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## Alan (Jan 12, 2005)

Corey: I am not familliar with EpiWeb but I wouldn't be surprised that the reference to _"Has a repelling effect on snails"_ could mean that the spun PET fibers have a texture that is uncomfortable to the foot of a snail (speculation on my part).... kind of like using DE in the garden. The PET thread seems to have a black/dark coating with micro-granules of gravel stuck to it.

Image 11 (from the dusk.de website) *seems* to show a material with some rough micro-texture:

http://dusk.se/picture11.html

I wonder if it is any more rough than treefern(?). A web search did not turn-up a US source for EpiWeb. If anyone locates a US source let me know and I'll buy some for study. I have used treefern fiber and would be open to another material that doesn't have "issues". I'll be interested to see what the cost per panel the EpiWeb comes in at.

Regards,
Alan


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## kleinhanz (Oct 18, 2004)

> Here are the home page http://www.dusk.se/epiweb.html


There is no price list, do you really have to e-mail this guy to obtain one? Has anybody received pricing for the slabs?


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

Could you describe how your fiberoctics work? And how pricy it is to set up such a system?

Ryan

Simply amazing Vivs...


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## Guest (Jan 11, 2006)

Ryan - The Fiber optic system consists of a 150W metalhalide projector located outside the viv. 10 fibers spliting the light to 10 light points in the viv. 
The fiber optic system I used for the Viv on the picture cost roughly 2000$ here in Sweden. I don't know if the prices are better in the US.








Thats the projector and the fiber bunches on top of the Viv.

EpiWeb has the repelling effect just as Alan Zimmerman said. The snails feel uncomfortable with the coarse structure. No chemicals are added for that effect. 
The price for a slab (250*120*20 mm) in Sweden is US$ 2,40. A square meter is US$ 77


I know for a fact that fruitflies and others easily can pass thru the Epiweb.


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

Way pricey for me, verry cool how you did that. I wonder how hard it is to get taht plastic and the EpiWeb. Maybe its not too much.


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## nburns (May 3, 2005)

Mikael,

Do you buy these tanks pre-shaped or do you shape them yourself? If you do them yourself how do you go about shaping them and getting a uniform shape that is even and square? There have been a couple posts lately with rounded or circular tanks and I really like the idea. Thanks.


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## Guest (Jan 11, 2006)

Hi,

I build them all by myself. The plastic is very easy to work with and it's much more easy to drill holes etc, than with glass. 
The cylindrical ones is easy to make and you can make them fast. Perhaps not the best form and solution for frogs (if you don't make som kind of smart door.)
In the US i think Macrolon have the name Lexan also.


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## nburns (May 3, 2005)

I should have been clearer on my questions. I take it you heat it up with a torch or heat gun. Do you shape it by hand or use something similiar in shape as a form. I think the round tanks would be worth a try and would give a good 360 degree view. Thanks!


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## Guest (Jan 12, 2006)

I dont heat the plastic at all. The Macrolon is possibel to form when it's cold.
The doors on the big viv is not shaped at all. The are just fixed to the shape of top and bottom.


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## nburns (May 3, 2005)

That is pretty interesting. What thickness do you work with and I take it this holds up to normal viv. uses and heat.


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## Paul E. Wog (Jan 2, 2005)

Here's a site about lexan for anyone interested. I noticed that you can order a sample on the site, but I am not sure about the requirements for the sample request is e.g. dealers license. 

http://www.gestructuredproducts.com/sp1/gesp_amer/index.jsp


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## Guest (Jan 15, 2006)

*Home Depot Sells Lexan*

Home Depot sells Lexan. It is about twice as expensive as Plexiglas, but it is a lot stonger and scratch resistant. It also doesn't yellow over time. I have been using it under my lights, and as my door for a while and it works great. I never thought of just bending it in an oval like that. It sure looks great.


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## Paul E. Wog (Jan 2, 2005)

Not really farmiliar with the product. Does anyone have a good link about cold formong it?


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## Guest (Jan 15, 2006)

Hi all,

About Lexan. Just wanted to make it clear that the doors on the wall mounted and the cold viv is not bent at all. It is just 1 mm thick Lexan that follows the shape of the ground structure of the viv.

I have bent up to 6 mm thick cold Lexan without problems. You have to calculate to bend it a bit more than the actual angle you want because it bends back a little itself.
When you have cut it with a saw the edges are matte. If you want them clear and smooth you use a heat blowgun (i hope that is the right name) and heat the edge up until it smoothens and becomes completely clear.
Do this before on the picec before you bend or glue them (otherwise you risk to damage other parts with the heat in the corners etc.)









Here you can se the door solution. It is fixed on one side as you can see. You could choose to have 2 doors also.
One from each side.
The back part and top and bottom are bent from one piece. As you can see on the picture its strong enough to hold water in the bottom without any consoles.


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## Paul E. Wog (Jan 2, 2005)

So if I am understanding you correctly, you start off with a flat sheet of lexan that you attach to one end of the viv and then bend it around and latch it closed. Then when you open the door for maintanance, it goes back into a *straight* sheet again, allowing you full access to the viv and then is bent back again when you close it? If so, Do you ever have to worry about stress fractures from repetedly opening and closing of the viv when the lexan bends and then goes straight over and over again?


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## Guest (Jan 15, 2006)

Thats excactly how it's done! There is no risk at all for any stress of the material even if I would open it a million times I think. Thats how strong this plastic is.


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## Paul E. Wog (Jan 2, 2005)

That is totally awsome. I gotta make one of these. Thanks a lot Epi.
Do you have a construction journal or how too on these tanks? I was trying to understand the construction of the black metal frame around the edge.


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## Paul E. Wog (Jan 2, 2005)

epi said:


> You have to calculate to bend it a bit more than the actual angle you want because it bends back a little itself.


I assume by this that you mean that you have to cut the peice longer than the radius of the top and bottom because you lose length on the lexan as it wraps around the frame due to thikness. Hypothetically (not working with exact essurements here, just plugging in nubers) if the radius of the frame was 36", you would have to cut the lexan a little longer than that like 40" to make it wrap all the way around? Again, I am just guessing on these numbers.


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## Guest (Jan 15, 2006)

What I meant by that was: When you bend thick pieces like the back and top/bottom, the material "flex" back a little. 
Of course you have to calculate with some effects like the one you mention too.


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## Paul E. Wog (Jan 2, 2005)

Thaks for the quick response Epi


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