# 46 gallon bowfront update now Costa Rica



## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

from the front right.









Cruddy photo of water section. Pardon the Bacopa as it was just planted yesterday.









Taiwan moss growing up the manzanita...and beyond!

Plant list so far(with as much as possible native to CR). I know it is a bit of a feeble attempt but hopefully within months to come it will look better. Need to apply what I see in the photos to this tank!
Begonia glabra
Syngonium rayii
Microgramma percussa
Cissus rhombifolia(growing root system, yet to take off)
Episcia lilacina?
Anthurium pentaphyllum(sitting and doing nothing)
Peperomia sp. 'Costa Rica'
Peperomia pellucida(goner now, bad placement in tank)
Taiwan moss
moneywort(Bacopa monnieri)
Selaginella umbrosa

As for frogs, I am not completely decided yet. I have plans to make a 3rd wall for the left sideof this tank, and also add more plants. Any suggestions would be great!


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## sammycai (Oct 13, 2006)

Nice tank.


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## sbreland (May 4, 2006)

I really like your design. The only suggestion I would make for a more natural look, and to help in the comfort of any frogs you put in, would be to add a nice layer of leaf litter on the bottom and let it look like the plants grew up out of the litter. Other than that, I think it looks great. BTW, where did you get your Syngonium rayii? I have been looking for some, but other than going through BJ and paying double, I haven't found too many options. PM me if you don't want to post it.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Sbreland: That was one of my other plans for this tank...was thinking of using magnolia leaves or similar. I got the Syngonium from andersonii on the boards, but he hasn't posted much lately. It is growing pretty well and shooting out runners everywhere for me though, so I may offer some up myself soon. 

Thanks!
Any other suggestions would be appreciated.


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## sbreland (May 4, 2006)

OK, cool, that's who I get mine from too. You could even mix a few types of the leaf litter to make it a little more natural. One of my favorite mixes for a more natural look is a mixture of oak or live oak and some whole and some broken magnolia leaves. The only other suggestion I would give is something you probably are already working on... a few broms.


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## Guest (Feb 5, 2007)

Great tank! Looks like a true jungle in there! Excellent work.


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## vignolo (Mar 9, 2005)

Hi

I agree with others, it looks natural and I love the lighting.

Thanks
PL


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Thanks all for the compliments. I was hoping to mimic the natural look of a few other tanks I've seen on these forums.

Sbreland: Thanks for the suggestions! Have you ever thought of a houseplant that could be grown outside of the viv and its leaves used as leaflitter for the viviarium. So far, what little leaflitter there is simply came from trimmings of the plants in the viv.

On broms, I've thought about it...but I'm not sure how realistic it is to include them in this tank. Only Costarican brom I know of available is Achmea nudicaulis, which gets pretty big and probably grows high up in trees naturally. I will admit I find tanks concentrated mainly on broms not quite as attractive as those with a variety of creeping type plants and rosette plants. But this may be because I've never seen bromelaids in the wild.


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## morphious (Jul 9, 2006)

Great tank


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## tyler (Feb 23, 2006)

Looks real natural. I agree with the leaf litter. Nice tank.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Did some work on the background and now it looks like this. Will need somemore plants for the slope.

The white stuff is some mushrooms sold at 99 ranch we had laying in the fridge for a bit too long. Springtails love em and they come with a bit of the roots too. I doubt they will grow in this tank however.

bad closeup photo


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

I have added in a few plants. Monstera obliqua, Selaginella plana(too hard to find any Costarican species), Codonanthe gracilis(to be removed, who wants it?), Columnea microphylla, Pilea microphylla,Anthurium gracile, and Utricularia longifolia(similar species occurs in CR).











Taiwan moss growth on the shoreline. It is also growing up the manzanita branch sticking into the water.









Begonia glabra. The fastest growing plant in this viv right now, cept for maybe the new Pilea. It is also sending out aerial roots since I started misting.









A rather funny looking Anthurium gracile. It is sending up leaves  









Artillery plant. This thing is growing like crazy already









U. longifolia experiment. With sphagnum and misting with RO will it take?


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## tyler (Feb 23, 2006)

Very nice. I think a nice large brom on the left side and some more leaf litter would make this tank even better. Just my opinion, great tank though.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Thanks! Hopefully the Anthurium gracile will fill in and assume that role over their on the left.


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## gotham229 (Dec 30, 2006)

hey what happened to the mushrooms  .... Oh you live in Cali...Where?? I live near Sac.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

The shrooms rotted/molded out...the springtails ate em up! We'll see if any of the "roots" survived or any spores. But I kind of doubt that cork oak or any other wood I have in there is really suitable for them to survive in.

I a good ways South of where you live.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Begonia glabra, Pilea microphylla, Anthurium gracile, Selaginella plana(dried up, hopefully it is rooting down there somewhere) and Syngonium rayii. This is the left side.









Peperomia scandens and Begonia glabra. Microgramma percussa, Anthurium pentaphyllum, Bacopa monnieri, Syngonium rayii, Anthurium gracile, and Monstera obliqua are also visible. The Anthurium pentaphyllum seems to be doing very poorly and is just sitting there. This is a shot into the center from the left.









Taiwan moss, Utricularia longifolia, Bacopa monnieri and what is probably Begonia thelmae that didn't get completely removed. Pond margin on the right looking down.


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Lookin' good. As slow as they are, watching plants grow is fun to me.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Antone: Very true, even with no frogs, this viv is still quite interesting.









How it looks as of yesterday. I took a few trimmings of the Begonia which really needs trimming to add to my froglet sweater boxes.

And two species have bloomed...this Episcia and the Begonia glabra

















A bad photo of one of the future inhabitants. Due to a mix up the other two were DOA but the seller has agreed to replace them, and with his reputation I'm sure that will go with no problems.


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