# Not your average ten gallon vert



## Organics (Jan 17, 2020)

Hello, I've been a long time lurker and received a free ten gallon tank and figured it was time to set up my first vivarium. Most vivariums i see have doors, seams, etc blocking the view of the vivarium so my main goal with this project was to create a unobstructed window into the jungle. 










Tank - 20" x 20" x 6"(Coral tank)

Lighting - 27 watt DIY LED with Yuji COBs

Background - I used the "German method" which involves mixing sphagnum peat moss with casting latex. I choose this for a couple reasons.
First, I haven't seen anyone in the US use this method(I'm sucker for the weird).
Secondly, I prefer the highly texture look over the typical great stuff backgrounds.
Lastly, because the latex binds the peat into a web giving the background the ability to wick and hold water. Hopefully this will limit how often i need to mist to maintain humidity.

Substrate - I followed Pumilo recipe for his clay based substrate. It was far more labor intensive than i had anticipated but this substrate is incredibly interesting. 

Plants - Neoregelia 'Chiquita Linda', Neoregelia 'Royal Burgundy x Fireball', Neoregelia 'Red Bird', Neoregelia 'Angel Face x Midget', Ficus pumila, Ficus pumila variegata, Begonia thelmae, Hydnophytum papuanum(Papua ant plant), Nepenthes alata(Asian pitcher plant), various ferns, and i used Dusk Moss Mix(only just started sprouting).

Inhabitants - None, likely going to get a thumbnail species. 

Hope y'all enjoy, and many thank to all member on here who have provided detailed information on how to go about constructing a vivarium.


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## hp192 (Feb 28, 2016)

Looks great


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## macg (Apr 19, 2018)

Do you have a link to more details on the German method you used?


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## Organics (Jan 17, 2020)

hp192 said:


> Looks great



Thank you appreciate that.



macg said:


> Do you have a link to more details on the German method you used?


 
Yes, https://youtu.be/WDkjZ6mzsSE

That was the only English video I could find and also was the most detailed. Some notes, I found his ratios of 3:1 weren’t achieving a good result. I ended up using 300ml of liquid latex to 750ml of sphagnum peat moss. Also I altered the method a bit and was much happier with the result. 

1) Dye the liquid latex(I used cal-tint universal tint, needs to be a latex dye. You need very little, <5%)
2) Mix 200ml of latex with 750ml of peat, this will form chunks. Let them dry for 5-15minutes then rip the chunks in smaller pieces.
3) Mix an addition 100ml of latex with these chunks to bind them together 
4) Press together the chunks on the surface you want the background.
5) Let dry for a few days(beware with the chunk method you may experience slight shrinkage, so you may need to do a touch up on the edges).
5) Remove the panel and secure in place with silicone. 

Some additional notes, I used a large 500ml syringe to measure the latex. Before I was using a small measuring cup and dipping into the latex which led to a lot of waste. I used about a gallon to cover 640 square inches(so this is definitely heavier than most other backgrounds people use). The chunks create a lot of crevices perfect for micro fauna and plant roots. The latex you are looking for is liquid casting latex(for making masks). Sphagnum peat moss is not the long strands you would use for ABG mix but dark brown with the consistency’s of coco coir. 

Hope this was helpful.


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## Broseph (Dec 5, 2011)

Bookmarking this page. Thanks. 

Any closer/higher resolution shots of the background?


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## Organics (Jan 17, 2020)

Broseph said:


> Bookmarking this page. Thanks.
> 
> 
> 
> Any closer/higher resolution shots of the background?



Sure thing



















Hopefully you can see the crevices, second photo the background is a different color due using less tint in the latex. 


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## Broseph (Dec 5, 2011)

I'm loving the nooks and crannies, which are usually missing from the usual peat moss/silicone backgrounds. 

It looks like you got your hands on some good textured peat moss though, which probably helps. It almost looks like a mix of peat and milled long fiber sphagnum.


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## Organics (Jan 17, 2020)

Broseph said:


> I'm loving the nooks and crannies, which are usually missing from the usual peat moss/silicone backgrounds.
> 
> 
> 
> It looks like you got your hands on some good textured peat moss though, which probably helps. It almost looks like a mix of peat and milled long fiber sphagnum.



I’m really excited to see how the micro fauna and plant roots interact with background.

Here’s the product if your interested.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Fafard-3-c...VG5vnmt8prl7vn1LPDuV8VrwiLOvM6hMaAgOXEALw_wcB


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## Troia (Nov 17, 2019)

Looks like they only sell the peat in california sadly I live in Nebraska.


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## Organics (Jan 17, 2020)

Troia said:


> Looks like they only sell the peat in california sadly I live in Nebraska.




If your willing to pay shipping here’s a company that’ll ship smaller quantities, they are also located some what close to you(Nebraska).

https://www.idealtruevalue.com/stor...NeEMZKdrJ0HkbAD9hqhB3fOePRbqCYkhoCNOsQAvD_BwE

Amazon also carries some smaller quantities 


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## FrogLove1961 (Jul 4, 2018)

Isn't this method similar to the Tite Bond III method in place of latex, you did a great job the vivarium looks great.


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## Organics (Jan 17, 2020)

FrogLove1961 said:


> Isn't this method similar to the Tite Bond III method in place of latex, you did a great job the vivarium looks great.




Thank you. I hadn’t heard of that method before. I wonder if you could tint the glue as well and which method would hold up longer. The latex is rather expensive so it may be worth running a test on this alternative method. 


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## Organics (Jan 17, 2020)

Updates 

Got a possible pair of Renitomeya Fantastica “True Nominal” a few weeks back.



















Also got a couple new broms as well as some crypts, most of the broms either have a pup or soon will. All the plants have colored up insanely well. Most of the moss has died as I cut back on misting to maintain an appropriate humidity level for the frogs. Except for the moss on the driftwood which is doing extremely well since the wood seems to stay quite moist. Unfortunately the background doesn’t hold and release moisture as I hoped. 


















While the frogs are getting bit more bold they are definitely still quite shy. The general consensus seems to be shy frogs = not enough cover. I have 2-3” of leaf litter, a large and small “cave”, any plants with larger leaves you guys could recommend that can grow epiphytically? 

FTS











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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Great frogs and a wonderful tank .

The frogs might end up getting a bit more bold after they settle in. They haven't been in there very long . 

The lighting makes your plants "pop"


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Looks good. Love the texture of the background. Very interesting dimensions. Personally, I like to Fantastica more floor space. To me, it looks better suited to imitators, variabilis, or amazonica. 

You might take a look at Rhaphidophora korthalsii, or Rhaphidophora hongkongensis. These are both larger leafed shinglers that will climb your background and cling tightly to it. I forget which one has bigger leaves. Both would be good, but the larger, round leafed one was always a favorite hide for my thumbs. Don't try the R. cryptantha. Beautiful, but it's smaller leaves won't give the cover you are looking for.
I think your viv screams out for a Margravia or 7. Marcgravia are smaller leafed shinglers. They will grow very controllably, clinging very tightly to your background. Their smaller leaves, controllable growth rate, and their tight, skinny, overall shape won't hog your background. It'll still let your background shine through.
Be careful with the creeping fig. They can be very invasive. That can be a plant that could completely obscure your background in a very short amount of time. When you try to trim it back or remove it, every little scrap you miss will come back. 
Margravia can typically be carefully peeled right off the background when you need to trim it, and then you've got some nice trade material to try and get your next rare plant. Marcgravia rectiflora has become much more common in the hobby. Finding a piece of rectiflora would be cheaper than the others, but her trimmings won't be worth nearly as much. Marcgravias and Rhaphs are really what started my rare plant obsession.

Are you aware that Cryptanthus is typically a terrestrial plant? It would typically be grown on the ground.


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## Organics (Jan 17, 2020)

Pumilo said:


> Looks good. Love the texture of the background. Very interesting dimensions. Personally, I like to Fantastica more floor space. To me, it looks better suited to imitators, variabilis, or amazonica.
> 
> You might take a look at Rhaphidophora korthalsii, or Rhaphidophora hongkongensis. These are both larger leafed shinglers that will climb your background and cling tightly to it. I forget which one has bigger leaves. Both would be good, but the larger, round leafed one was always a favorite hide for my thumbs. Don't try the R. cryptantha. Beautiful, but it's smaller leaves won't give the cover you are looking for.
> I think your viv screams out for a Margravia or 7. Marcgravia are smaller leafed shinglers. They will grow very controllably, clinging very tightly to your background. Their smaller leaves, controllable growth rate, and their tight, skinny, overall shape won't hog your background. It'll still let your background shine through.
> ...


Overall I'm very pleased with how this background turned out, very convenient to simply stick a prom cutting in to it and I find springstails all in the crevices of it. I'm trying to devise a way to encourage even more springtail interaction with the background, plenty of crevices for reproduction but the issues seems to be an effective way to provide food in those crevices. In the beginning I did spray the background with a mycellium inoculant i used for the clay substrate, but I'm unsure if this actually took hold and if it did I'm unsure if it actually provides any usable nutrition for the springtails. 

Yes the tank is an odd dimension that's why it isn't your "average" ten gallon vert lol, its a coral tank i had received for free. 

I'll take the enclosure recommendation into account. I'm in the midst of setting up a 40b vert, I may move them into that set up.

I'll check out those plants personally I'm not that into the high end plants like margravia(and orchids), they look rather unassuming. Especially at that price point. Being able to see some returns on plant cuttings would be good, not being just a sink hole of my disposable income lol. I'll definitely check out those broad leaf climber though. On the ficus pumila I quite like its fast growth, I'll be happy to trim it as i have few projects I'm working on that a fast growing vine would be the desired plant, all though I like its white leafed variant more and it seems to be doing better than the ficus pumila(I suspect because its on the wood which seems to retain moisture better than the background). Yes I am aware that cryptanthus is grown terrestrially, unfortunately with the placement of my wood means nothing will grow on the ground. It has colored up nicely(all though I don't think this is a marker for how well its growing just a repsonse to light intensity(I think)), it hasn't lost any leaves so far(going on three weeks), so for now I'll leave it be. All though as I type this I realize it may be a good idea to add some substrate in the crevices for it. If it starts going south i'll remove and place it on a pot for windowsill. 

Fishingguy - Thank you. I'm not known for being a patient person lol, but I'll give them some more time and see how they are acting. Yes I'm very pleased with how the light turned out, I was concerned i wouldn't get the coloring up i was hoping for but man that was far from the case. The "red bird" brom has turned just about purple!!


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Your cryptanthus should do fine on the wall, as long as you keep in mind that crypts like more root moisture than broms. If you include the sphag that you would normally drop on a brom, it should do fine. Watch for signs of paling from too much light.
We put plants where we want them sometimes. I've played with growing a few terrestrials on the wall, myself. 

Seems like I knew something about growing corals, once upon a time.


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