# 29 Gallon Paludarium build (post as I go, details, very pic heavy)



## flyingSquirrel

Hi everybody, I'm still pretty new to dendroboard. I don't keep DF's...yet  ... but I am very much into all amphibians and reptiles, as well as plants and vivs.
I'm building a new 29 G paludarium for my japanese firebelly newt and I thought even though it's not a DF viv you might be interested. This thread will be very detailed, step by step as I go...hope it isn't too detailed and boring. My hope is it will keep the pressure on me so I don't slack off too much.  If you are interested, let's get started!

A few years ago a humongous tree fell on my parents house in a storm. My mom and I were about 15 feet away from where the tree came crashing through the roof and destroyed their kitchen among other things! They had a guy grind out the stump; there were some nice roots leftover so I grabbed them (this was years ago!) I stashed them in some bushes back then, planning to use them for a viv build, but never go to it.

Fast forward to a few days ago, I went over there and found the roots still where I left them. I was shocked that they were still in pretty good condition. A few pieces had termite damage and rot, so I discarded them, but the rest looked ok. I scraped the outer layer of "bark" from the roots and brushed them thorughly with a wire brush. Next I baked them in the oven at 250 degrees for an hour, then 275 for a half hour, then 300 for half hour. I raised the temp slowly so I could gauge the effects of the heat and make sure not to damage the wood. I think the process went well. Here are the roots after baking.










I am sure that this wood will rot at some point, but I'm not worried about it. It will give it more character and grow more moss! (I know I am probably crazy)

After scrounging up supplies and materials from years of aquariums and terrariums, as well as multiple trips to lowes and PetSmart, I have the intimidating heap of stuff shown below










I had a 29 G tank sitting empty at my parents house literally for YEARS. The tank was sitting by the door next to the kitchen and the top glass lid had accumulated a thin film of cooking oil from all the times I made fried food and it was splattering all over the place. Below is the cleaning process to restore the glass lid. I used a concoction of vinegar, fresh squeezed lemon, and a squirt of dawn dish soap. After a bit of scrubbing, you can see a comparison of one dirty and one clean.

















The aquarium tank was cleaned the same way as the glass lid. Years ago I painted the outside of the sides and back with some kind of waterproof black paint. I think it was to reduce the sunlight from the window to inhibit extreme algae growth. Below you can see the cleaned tank and the disinfected roots.









I have a relatively clear plan in my mind of how I am going to structure the paludarium layout, but I still need to "brainstorm and experiment" as I go. This was the first time I started trying to fit the roots into the tank. Obviously the chunky piece is a bit too big to fit as you can see below. So I needed to do some trimming; I cut a few of the long bottom pieces that were sticking out in opposite directions, then I made some flat cuts to fit the root against the glass in the corner. I also had to remove quite a bit of the top to fit it vertically where I needed it to be.

























































Again, experimenting with placement options. I will probably break off some of the long lower root, as I don't like how it looks extending so far. I think I will seal the flat top of the chunk with some silicone to slow the rotting process.

















Next step was to start planning the general location, size, and shape of the land areas. I put some painters plastic into the tank and sketched some rough shapes with a marker.









I also added some string across the front to visualize the water level










And then began a prototype out of cardboard, again for visualization. When I decide on a layout I will swap the cardboard out for plastic "egg crate" (white plastic with square grid from the lighting department at lowes)

















Experimenting with a few other root pieces. Not sure on placement yet. When I am ready I will do a bit of silicone to attach the roots roughly and then foam up the back with GreatStuff and encase the top/back part of the roots chunks.










So that's where I'm at so far. I am super busy with life, but this is so fun I will try to fit in as much as I can during the weekdays if possible. If you actually read this far, congrats on toughing it out


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## flyingSquirrel

I also just ordered a minijet 404 pump and some black GE SCS1200 silicone (recommended by Grimm). All that should be here in a few days. I'm so excited!


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## kickedinthevader

loving it so far! that root is going to make an awesome piece, keep it up man! I'll be watching this thread


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## sarahatl

Nice! Will definately follow this thread! What did you use to clean the tank and tree root?


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## flyingSquirrel

sarahatl said:


> Nice! Will definately follow this thread! What did you use to clean the tank and tree root?


Tank: I used a concoction of vinegar, fresh squeezed lemon, and a squirt of dawn dish soap.

Root: All I did was scrape the bark off with a knife then brushed the wood with a wire brush, then baked it.


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## flyingSquirrel

Ok all, I've got tons of new goodies to show you:

A brand new air conditioner. One cannot keep a firebelly newt in a room that is 85 degrees F









A mini-jet 404 pump. It's WAY smaller than I thought it would be, which is a good thing. It's the cutest thing ever! I love everything about it. The vertical orientation of the power cord and outlet is awesome.



















GE SCS1200 black silicone...used by experts! (in the construction industry and the viv industry  )










What's this you say? A box?










A box with a brand spankin' new light fixture setup in it!










Tubing to hook up to the 404 pump for some trickling waterfall action










Ok guys, I'm not gonna lie, I have been struggling with the layout of the paludarium and how I want to set it up in regard to the wet/dry. I finally opted for the partition method as you can see by the picture below of the plexiglass.










Instead of doing the typical straight across partition I think I'll make it sexier (and much, much harder to do  ) by creating bends in the plastic. I plan to use a torch to slowly heat the plastic and then carefully bend it over a pvc pipe or something. Then heat the next spot, bend it, and so on. There will only be a few bends. I believe it is a much better idea to have one solid piece for a divider than a bunch of small flat pieces siliconed together. Stronger, less chance of leaking, etc

Hopefully I'll have some more step by step pics up soon for you guys, where I am actually DOING something lol  I'd really like to get this partition bending process underway tomorrow. I know once I get the partition shaped up and in, the rest is easy (right?)


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## DragonSpirit1185

I'm loving this idea...
/subscribed


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## flyingSquirrel

Ok gang, things are on track. Let's get right into it:

There's been a slight change in layout and plans since the pictures in the first post of this thread. Today I "re-prototyped" the land area dividers. NOTE in the pictures below I used some cardboard that is slightly shorter than the plexiglass, to account for some length that will be lost when the plexi has curves in it. This is far from scientific, I pretty much just 'winged it' the whole way through 




























Safety first!!! (NOTE in the below pictures my brother is not wearing any protective gear whatsoever  ) Also, the two different gloves make a nice fashion statement don't they? 










Bending the plastic. Do only 1 bend at a time. Turn the torch on medium and hold 2" away from plastic. Sweep slowly side to side on the front and back until the plastic starts to bend. Then heat a little more, then SLOWLY and carefully bend it to the desired shape. It will be very floppy and extremely hot as well, so go about it gingerly. Bend it on a flat surface (that can handle the heat) so the edges remain perpendicular. Place board on top with weight until it cools solid again. Repeat proces. Heat and tweak as needed after all bends are made. This is my brother in all the pictures doing the handy work.














































Note the black pen marks at the top and bottom edge. We found that this was a huge help in gauging where to heat and bend.










I found that the preexisting silicone along the aquarium bottom edge interfered with the partition sitting flat, so we did a bit of grinding to seat it over that.










Next I scuffed the surfaces that will be contacted with silicone to improve the grip. I used a very coarse sandpaper, and scratched the plastic gently with a coping saw blade. Below you'll see a side by side comparison of smooth edged vs scuffed.










Next I rinsed the pieces off with the hose and let them dry in the sun.










Here are the partitions, siliconed in. I used 3M 100% silicone Window and Door, clear. I made sure to select a silicone that did not advertise mold resistance ( I do NOT recommend GE type II or anything with "Microban" or other toxic chemicals.) I used the big tube with a caulking gun. It was super messy, sticky, and stinky. Wear eye protection, a mask to reduce fume inhalation, rubber gloves, and do this in a very ventilated area. I put a very thick bead of silicone all the way along the bottom and side edges of the partitions that I scuffed, then carefully seated them into the tank. Then I used my index finger to gently smear the expelled silicone into smooth seal on each side. I also added some extra silicone where my gut said to 





































When this cures I will do the dreaded leak test  . If the water leaks into the dry side, I am pretty much screwed. Putting more silicone onto the cured stuff will not adhere properly, so that would not be a fix (if it leaks, which I'm hoping it does not of course!) 
To be honest, if it leaks I will probably chalk it up as a huge fail and just use plants that are amphibious/marginal and like to be in a bog type habitat. I really would not want to try to fix the leaks (I say that now anyway)

The next step will be to coat the back and sides of the tank with silicone, with the roots in and secured with some tape or something. Then will be the "Great Stuff" foaming. Since I'm a noob I posted a thread for advice on GS foaming and got lots of great advice. I will be doing a test on some cardboard to gauge how the foam comes out and expands. Until next time!


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## flyingSquirrel

Forgot to say some things about the partitions.

First of all, I used the beefy thick plexi, 1/4", as it barely flexes at all and there is more surface area for silicone contact as well. I would certainly never use the 1/8" flexible stuff. It's worth the extra money to get the beefcake one. 

Next, after hearing all of the horror stories of partitions breaking loose or leaking, I was going to do small triangular plexiglass braces on both sides attached with silicone at the same time the partitions were seated. However, after thinking about it, I realized that my partitions are against the side and corners AND are a bit smaller than the water area (and will have less weight in them), which means that the pressure of the water against them will only strengthen the seal against the side of the tank (theoretically  )

I guess we'll see what happens!


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## BethInAK

thats really cool and interesting.
if it leaks, you rip it out, scrape off the silicone and try again.


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## deboardfam

Looking good! Cant wait to see more and to see if the leak test worked..


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## Neontra

You could just use the glass as a barrier, and fill up the land area with hydroton or gravel (gravel might be a bad idea) so if it does leak, it's not an issue.


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## Judy S

hate to rain on your parade...but silicone will eventually fail...you can't silicone "plastic" to glass...they are incompatible...so having a sort of false bottom under the land mass will be an end run for the eventual deterioration...and you can suck the extra water out of the land portion by following previous posts on how to do that...the only way to really have a dedicated water portion is to just have a 100 % seperate "container" for all the water/pump, waterfall, etc. and have the water spray contained within that water area...I learned all the hard way... I have a 30G paladarium with frogs, and the water portion has Endlers Live Bearers...the "land" portion is just aquarium stones over bioballs, and plants that survive/thrive with their water roots...I do water changes--1/4--every week or so...mopani wood as the waterfall, 404 pump...but wish I had a better way to filter the crap before it sticks into those little slots. I had made a circular, plastic netting "tube" into which the pump is inserted..easy to access...will subscribe...have a blast


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## flyingSquirrel

Judy S said:


> hate to rain on your parade...but silicone will eventually fail...you can't silicone "plastic" to glass...they are incompatible...so having a sort of false bottom under the land mass will be an end run for the eventual deterioration...and you can suck the extra water out of the land portion by following previous posts on how to do that...the only way to really have a dedicated water portion is to just have a 100 % seperate "container" for all the water/pump, waterfall, etc. and have the water spray contained within that water area...I learned all the hard way... I have a 30G paladarium with frogs, and the water portion has Endlers Live Bearers...the "land" portion is just aquarium stones over bioballs, and plants that survive/thrive with their water roots...I do water changes--1/4--every week or so...mopani wood as the waterfall, 404 pump...but wish I had a better way to filter the crap before it sticks into those little slots. I had made a circular, plastic netting "tube" into which the pump is inserted..easy to access...will subscribe...have a blast


Thanks for letting me know this info; I just looked it up to see what you were explaining and now I understand. Obviously (and unfortunately) I didn't research that topic enough.  However I don't consider it rain on my parade, I consider it a great learning experience and now I will be able to warn other people about this when I am contributing on forums.

Additionally, from the beginning I had already planned on implementing a combination of the ideas that you and others have posted in this thread so far.

Regardless of whether the partition was going to leak or not, my plan has always been to:

Construct a false bottom inside the land area from plastic grid, elevated several inches on pvc. It will be covered with mesh or weed block fabric. Then a layer of gravel (which now I may plan on using clay balls, which I know nothing about). Then a custom substrate mix (which in light of the fact that the partition will eventually leak I must make the soil above the water line)
I am also going to have a vertical pipe that extends from the top of the land mass down through the substrate, through the false bottom, to just above the bottom of the tank glass. I can then lift off a rock or moss from the top of the tube to gain access so that I can remove stagnant water as needed.

So since I had planned this out all along, things are not looking too bad, even with the partition fail (or near future fail) 

Keeping in mind the fact that I don't need a whole lot of hydroton, does anyone know if this is a good deal? Amazon.com: Hydroton Clay Aggregate Grow Media - 10 Liter Bag - HYD310: Patio, Lawn & Garden

Thanks again for everybody's advice and info. Please keep it coming! I must know everything


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## nguyenp209

Looks great! Can't wait to see then ending tank.


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## Neontra

flyingSquirrel said:


> Thanks for letting me know this info; I just looked it up to see what you were explaining and now I understand. Obviously (and unfortunately) I didn't research that topic enough.  However I don't consider it rain on my parade, I consider it a great learning experience and now I will be able to warn other people about this when I am contributing on forums.
> 
> Additionally, from the beginning I had already planned on implementing a combination of the ideas that you and others have posted in this thread so far.
> 
> Regardless of whether the partition was going to leak or not, my plan has always been to:
> 
> Construct a false bottom inside the land area from plastic grid, elevated several inches on pvc. It will be covered with mesh or weed block fabric. Then a layer of gravel (which now I may plan on using clay balls, which I know nothing about). Then a custom substrate mix (which in light of the fact that the partition will eventually leak I must make the soil above the water line)
> I am also going to have a vertical pipe that extends from the top of the land mass down through the substrate, through the false bottom, to just above the bottom of the tank glass. I can then lift off a rock or moss from the top of the tube to gain access so that I can remove stagnant water as needed.
> 
> So since I had planned this out all along, things are not looking too bad, even with the partition fail (or near future fail)
> 
> Keeping in mind the fact that I don't need a whole lot of hydroton, does anyone know if this is a good deal? Amazon.com: Hydroton Clay Aggregate Grow Media - 10 Liter Bag - HYD310: Patio, Lawn & Garden
> 
> Thanks again for everybody's advice and info. Please keep it coming! I must know everything


That hydroton is a bit expensive. Check out Josh's Frogs - Largest online herps feeders and reptile supplies store they sell 10 litres of hydroton for 11$ and the ABG mix for 11$ (8 quarts). I made my own ABG, it made more than 20 quarts of substrate, but costed more. I bought 1-8 quart bag of Zoo med's forest floor, 1-80 cu. inches of spagnum, 10 quarts of tree fern fibre, already had a 4 cu ft bail of peat moss (No ferts), and finally I bought 11oz of cheapo aquarium charcoal. cost about 35$, but made a lot. More than enough for your tank, in fact, enough for a 40b or a 55g.


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## Judy S

Black Jungle sells a really nice product that is expanded glass, makes for a very, very lightweight substrate/drainage area. The first bags I got were sort of a pink color, but I just kept that in the middle and surrounded it with regular looking Hydro. It has a lot of surface area for the good bacteria to grow on..I've also used washed lava rock...but this stuff is better--and they are good vendors (oops....)


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## sarahatl

Forgive my ignorance but Judy are you saying he should not have a designated area for just water and one for terretrial? It other words he should have a false bottom for the land part (with media under the eggcrate/substrate) and basically the whole bottom be water?


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## Judy S

sorry for any confusion...I'm suggesting that there will be seepage eventually from the water side into the land side because silicone does not form a "permanent" bond to glass...the plexi was what he intends to use as a separation...the force of the water/earth will keep each other from forcing into the other side,but the creep will come at the silicone holding the plexi in place.That's why even in our glass tanks that there can be a failure... My suggestion was that he use a substrate on the land side that could be siphoned off if the water creates a problem...maybe in a month, maybe a year...who knows. But having the substrate with the ability to withdraw the excess and also have a method built in to keep the "earth/land" portion from wicking excess water into the soil...


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## flyingSquirrel

Ok support crew (hope you don't mind that reference, but you guys are great!), I've been thinking a lot about the partition fiasco. I've pondered it, mulled it over, slept on it (not literally), and a bunch of other things.

The conclusion I have come to is that the smart solution is to convert to a hybrid of the partition vs false bottom / water table approach. I have always planned to have a false bottom in the land section, and to drain stagnant water that accumulates beneath the substrate via a vertical pvc pipe. However I am thinking of a crazy and radical idea and I'd like your opinions. After all of the effort to seal off the partition and be fancy schmancy, I have decided I should actually drill holes in the partitions to purposely allow free flow of water throughout. Here's why:
- the partition will eventually leak anyway
- the water under the land area will become stagnant if sealed off
- if the waterfall leaks into the land area it will be bad news
- and other reasons

It makes tons of sense to drill several large holes in each partition. I will have a false bottom within the land area created with "egg crate" and LECA. I'll just make sure the holes have some mesh to exclude my newt from squeezing in and keeping things on their respective sides of the partition. This will allow free flow of water to keep things fresh and eliminate the need to suction out the partitioned land area. Drilling the holes doesn't mean the partition was a waste obviously because it will still keep the shape and general separation I need for the scaping of the paludarium.

Question 1. What do you guys think of the idea of drilling the partition?

Question 2. I am not sure of the order of things that are layered into the land area. Do I go false bottom plastic grid with mesh with nothing beneath it, then LECA, then mesh, then substrate? Or LECA then grid with mesh then substrate? Or multiple layers of LECA below and above? It seems a good idea to have false bottom with nothing under it, to allow maximum water flow. What do you guys recommend? Keep in mind this is a paludarium not a viv.

Question 3. I hear a lot about LECA floating and being a pain in the arse, do you think it will be an issue?

Another "issue" is now that I know the water will inevitably be in both sides of the partition at the same level, I am going to have to have the substrate more shallow and plants higher up than I had originally planned. This is a bummer in a paludarium because you already are limited on vertical space for planting. I'll have to use plants that are ok with wet feet which is not what I wanted, but that's the way the cookie crumbles I suppose. I'll still be able to do some "regular" plants up in the foam wall perhaps.

Anyway I hope you guys can offer some advice/suggestions/opinions on this, then I'll post another installment with another possible change in my setup that I have been thinking about. I'll save that for next time though.

Thanks a lot! And sorry there's no pics or exciting progress


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## flyingSquirrel

Hey guys, actually I just posted my questions from the above post into a new thread here: http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/73126-paludarium-partition-issue-false-bottom-leca-etc-post644241.html#post644241

thanks


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## Judy S

how about this for a wacky idea that would solve ALL your issues about water...since you are already working with acrylic, why not make yourself a "pot" that would snugly fit into the viv...it would be a self-contained unit just for the water elements...having a section in the land area for water accumulation and drawing off is still necessary, but the water area will have your curves...and it's own sides and bottom if you are skilled enough to make curves, you can certainly do this, and seal the acrylic with its own "glue" You'd have essentially a fish tank in a viv tank...!!


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## flyingSquirrel

Judy S said:


> how about this for a wacky idea that would solve ALL your issues about water...since you are already working with acrylic, why not make yourself a "pot" that would snugly fit into the viv...it would be a self-contained unit just for the water elements...having a section in the land area for water accumulation and drawing off is still necessary, but the water area will have your curves...and it's own sides and bottom if you are skilled enough to make curves, you can certainly do this, and seal the acrylic with its own "glue" You'd have essentially a fish tank in a viv tank...!!


Hmmm sounds interesting. My main concern with that idea is since it's a paludarium, I need to have most of the front open to see underwater for viewing the aquatic plants, newt, landscaping. So I'd need the plexi "water container" to have a flat front up against the front glass of the aquarium tank. I think it would look weird having plexi against the glass and it would probably get dirty and grow algae in between. And even if I could somehow prevent that I think it would still be distorted somewhat to view underwater through both layers. Too bad I don't just have a big sexy acrylic tank  Thanks for suggestion. I am letting everybody's advice/ideas sink in and we'll see what direction I go.


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## Steverd

My room has been pretty hot all summer, tell me more about your Portable Air Conditioner? Does it need to be vented outside? Or more like a swamp cooler?

My windows do not open to put in an AC vent, don't think my wife would let me cut a vent hole into the wall....

Steve


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## flyingSquirrel

Steverd said:


> My room has been pretty hot all summer, tell me more about your Portable Air Conditioner? Does it need to be vented outside? Or more like a swamp cooler?
> 
> My windows do not open to put in an AC vent, don't think my wife would let me cut a vent hole into the wall....
> 
> Steve


Steve, yeah the AC has to be vented to the outside. And you mentioned the two options- window installation or hole in the wall. The pic I posted of the AC was showing it not installed yet. It's installed now and I have the duct hose going to the window. I had to customize the window panel because it was not tall enough.

I love the AC unit I got, which is the Whynter ARC-12s. It is super nice and works great. The only problem is that I didn't realize how much power it draws when the cooling pump starts up. It is maxing out the circuit panel when it turns on so the lights dim and the other power outlets in the room drop power...good thing I have a very good battery backup surge protector on my computer. The AC draws 15amps when the coolant pump kicks on and the room it's in is wired at 15amps...so yeah, bad idea but I didn't research it first so it's my fault. Anyway it works great and is nice looking and pretty quiet for an AC.


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## Judy S

I had to get a portable AC as well...my computer burned out from the heat, so I had a legitimate reason to force my husband into accepting it. It could not be vented outside, so the hose with its flexible hose just runs "wild" out into the kitchen and a fan blows the heated air out of the surrounding area. It's the only solution that I was able to come up with...


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## Steverd

Judy S said:


> I had to get a portable AC as well...my computer burned out from the heat, so I had a legitimate reason to force my husband into accepting it. It could not be vented outside, so the hose with its flexible hose just runs "wild" out into the kitchen and a fan blows the heated air out of the surrounding area. It's the only solution that I was able to come up with...


I might have to do this also, vs cutting a hole in the wall. Or replace the window with a new one that actually opens. Mine are planted and screwed shut with some crazy springs. The house was built in 1959 and these might be the original. BUT I could get a real long hose and run it down the hall and out into the kitchen or living room.. 

How much does it heat up your kitchen by doing this? My terrariums are also in my computer room. So between the computers and terrariums the room is usually 80+'f in the summer. My central air can't cut it. But maybe I can install another AC vent in that room. But that might be as expensive as replacing a window?

thoughs on cooling?
steve


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## gnod

really liking this set up. i'm only doing a 5.5G and resorted to... well plastic containers... 

i did the initial set up right now but, may redo it if i can find better supporting foundations.


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## DragonSpirit1185

gnod said:


> really liking this set up. i'm only doing a 5.5G and resorted to... well plastic containers...
> 
> i did the initial set up right now but, may redo it if i can find better supporting foundations.


You're doing a 5½ gallon tank? Or is that a typo?
If it wasn't a typo then why would you be doing a tank so small?


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## flyingSquirrel

Steverd said:


> ... The house was built in 1959 ...


Steve, this may be a silly question on my part, but I assume your house's electrical system and breaker panel has been updated to a modern and safe setup? Seeing as the house was build in '59. I am sure it's modern but I am just checking...like I said the AC draws a ton of power.

Good luck with cooling, I hope Judy can offer more insight into the tube out the room method


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## Judy S

The hose is expandable...stretches out quite a bit and at the very end I have a pretty hefty fan on the floor which directs the hot air toward the front door. It made me chuckle reading about the 1950's house...ours is a very old, 1800's log house..so there is NO way to make a window through the logs just for my computer and frogs.. The room I'm cooling is only about 8' x 12' so the area is small...and in the winter I have to use a supplementary source of heat...since the only place where there is heat is in the kitchen, over the furnace, with a grate cut into the floor...the "pioneers" were a hardy lot...


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## flyingSquirrel

Greetings friends, I am back with more random pics and ideas, but first an update on the partition situation.

I DID drill holes in the partitions, but the holes are not as large as I'd like. The problem was the larger the hole the more the plexi cracked and splintered. I am still debating whether or not to just rip out the partitions or to leave them in and mask them with natural objects. (if you are asking yourself if I am insane enough to drill the plexi while it's siliconed into the aquarium tank, yes, yes I am  ..I did put wood behind the plexi each time I drilled so I wouldn't punch through and hit the glass) I like the partitions merely because they provide an easier way to keep the land area "in place" and in the shape I want. But I dislike them because they will be difficult to mask and will probably make it a pain in the arse to arrange rocks and wood. I am letting all these things float around in my mind but I am definitely going to gather up a bunch of nice rocks from my garden.

Once I have the rocks I will experiment with placement and see how they work with the partition. The result of that experimentation will be what pushes me one way or the other regarding the yay or nay on keeping the partition. (In my newt's current paludarium I just have a crapload of rocks and wood built up to lock in some land area. It's mostly a bog and very mucky, but it works and looks pretty good)

I have added a layer of silicone to the inside of the back and sides of the tank where I will be spraying GS foam. So, things are progressing, albeit slowly.

Well, this is embarrassing but now I am doubting whether I want to use the tree root that I've been showing since the beginning.  
It IS nice and looks cool...


















....... but ........

THESE ARE WAAAAY COOLER!!!










The mopani on the left is new but the rest of the wood there I have had for many years in a few aquariums. In fact I have another sweet piece of bogwood in the current paludarium. I think I will take it out and disinfect it to use in the new build. So, I am torn between my idea of the original tree root in the corner of the tank vs using a few of these awesome pieces on the background and a few in the water section (and maybe emerging from the water up to the land area). I would probably do the mopani wood on the background and the bogwood type submerged. I definitely cannot use the "original" tree root shown earlier AND this wood in the same build because they look so different. Opinions on the new wood choice vs original tree root? (warning, I really really like the new wood pieces  )

Got some hydroton at a local nursery for a decent price, probably would have paid the same on the internet after shipping is added.









Also at said nursery I saw a few cool plants. I've never seen a brom this small, I want it so bad. I think it's Vriesea racinae? Either way I will probably not have broms in my paludarium because I am limited on vertical planting area and it's only a 29 Gallon










Also saw this orchid which was absurdly large and of course would not be for a viv. I didn't know orchids could be this large 










And finally for those that are interested, the AC installed


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## FrogFever

Judy S said:


> hate to rain on your parade...but silicone will eventually fail...you can't silicone "plastic" to glass...they are incompatible...so having a sort of false bottom under the land mass will be an end run for the eventual deterioration...and you can suck the extra water out of the land portion by following previous posts on how to do that...the only way to really have a dedicated water portion is to just have a 100 % seperate "container" for all the water/pump, waterfall, etc. and have the water spray contained within that water area...I learned all the hard way...


Judy I'm wondering.... would it be okay for him to use glass as the dividing barrier instead of the acrylic? I mean would the silicone properly seal glass to glass and not leak? 
I like your "tank inside of a tank" idea btw... I can see that one working out correctly if you were able to find the perfect sized/ shaped bowl.


----------



## Judy S

that might be a possibility...but I think his original configuration involved angles...so unless it were a "geometric" shape, it would probably be too difficult. Might be an interesting experiment with a smaller tank...let me know how it works for you...lol...


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Hey guys, it's been a while, but yes I am still alive  . I have a bazillion pics to show and a novel's worth of story to write up, so I will have to do it in chunks. I will tease you though and tell you that the background of the build is already done and curing! It still smells a bit like a toxic waste dump  so hopefully that will clear up soon. 

I thought I'd start off showing you a few pics of the * OLD * paludarium that my newt is currently still in.

Again, *this is the OLD one*, not the one in this build.





































How about this for a deal...aquatic plant fertilizer bottles for 82 cents per bottle instead of $13 per bottle!!!!  I bought all 6 bottles lol yay! I wll of course check first to make sure they are safe to use in my newt tank, but I suspect that it should be ok if I use tiny bits of it pushed into the substrate...it is fish safe after all.










Bought some insane pieces of mopani wood and soaked em for a few days, changing the water each day to remove tannins and junk.




























Here is the beginning of the false-bottom build. In this paludarium the water will flow under the land area, and some of the substrate will be soaking wet since it's not tall enough to allow me to fully have the substrate above the water table. The main purpose of the false-bottom in this build is to allow better flow of water so it doesn't get stagnant beneath the land area.

Used some beefy wire cutters to cut the light diffuser "egg-crate" and they worked beautifully.



















I drilled some holes in the pvc risers for zip-ties and notched the bottoms to allow water flow. I used an air tool with a grinding bit to create the nice clean notch shape, then used a knife to remove the ragged pvc shreds (lol it looks like I missed a shred in the pic below). Then I zip-tied everything together as you can see in the pics below.














































I'll try to post more soon, as there is tons to share with you and I am super pumped about this build. Hope you are enjoying this thread!


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

whats this tank for again? 
that's now much land at all.
I thought you was gonna lay a false bottom across the entire back of the tank.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

FrogFever said:


> I'm wondering.... would it be okay for him to use glass as the dividing barrier instead of the acrylic? I mean would the silicone properly seal glass to glass and not leak?
> I like your "tank inside of a tank" idea btw... I can see that one working out correctly if you were able to find the perfect sized/ shaped bowl.


yes you can use glass it's actually preferred over acrylic. 
the acrylic will warp but the glass won't..
also tho it depends if you're splitting a tank vertically or horizontal.
I haven't seen anyone take like a 55g and split it into 2 vert.
I kinda want to but lighting would be a pain...

but yeah I would use glass cause te acrylic or plexiglass will eventually warp. i made somewhat of a paludarium for my green tree frogs and the plexiglass eventually warped and developed a small leak.









eventually the water started filling up the land side where my false bottom was


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> whats this tank for again?
> that's now much land at all.
> I thought you was gonna lay a false bottom across the entire back of the tank.


This is a paludarium, and it will be housing my 99% aquatic newt. I thought I was going to have land at the back as well but as time went on it evolved.


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## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> This is a paludarium, and it will be housing my 99% aquatic newt. I thought I was going to have land at the back as well but as time went on it evolved.


if i'm not mistaken your newt is large?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> if i'm not mistaken your newt is large?


Not really. About 4" long.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Let's continue! Next I created an access column for the pump. I allowed one wall of the column to rest over the partition and onto the false-bottom for stability. I also formed a horizontal part that created a "cover" for passageway where the water will reach the pump. 










Then I decided to seal off the front of this channel with a custom "wall" that would allow water to flow through, and which I would fill with LECA to host biological filtration organisms, as well as cover it with a mechanical filtration media - window screen and weed-block. 



















A few pics showing through the bottom of the tank, just for the heck of it.



















I donned my safety equipment and did my first go with Great Stuff foam. (aside from the trial on some cardboard previously). Here you can see the pump column with foam on it, which I would later shave flat on the inside.



















I opted for fiberglass window screen as a cover for the false-bottom as opposed to the weed-block that people commonly use.










After thinking quite a bit about the pump setup, I decided that it would be a fantastic idea to raise the pump up off the tank bottom to reduce intake of accumulated detritus, and allow easier flow of water. To accomplish this I build a "pump holder" which you can see below in detail as well as in place inside the water channel.



















To give the background foam a chance to adhere better I coated the tank glass with silicone. I started to smear the silicone on and then I realized it would be good to give more texture so in addition to smearing it I began to somewhat vigorously tap it toward and away from the glass. You can see the texture in the pic below










Below are a series of pics showing stages of foaming the background and wood. As you can see this was my first go at it and it expanded a bit (a ton) more than I thought it would, plus the overall application was sloppy.














































More to come soon!


----------



## Raf

I really don't understand why you put silicon on the back before spraying foam. silicon is the worst you can use as basecoat imo. You just need to spray water on the glass and the foam will hold on much better. Even without water it holds on very good.
Other than that it's a real nice viv.


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## cyck22

I’m sure the foam sticks w/o the silicone, but I figure the silicone can’t hurt! It makes the tank look much cleaner from the outside. It also increases the surface area for adhesion and provides the foam a rougher texture to bond with.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

Raf said:


> I really don't understand why you put silicon on the back before spraying foam. silicon is the worst you can use as basecoat imo. You just need to spray water on the glass and the foam will hold on much better. Even without water it holds on very good.
> Other than that it's a real nice viv.


agreed...
I did a test and the foam peeled off real easy on the silicone than just bare glass.
I only use black silicone for the sides to mask the foam


----------



## kickedinthevader

same. Much rather see black then that gross yellow the foam is.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

btw if you wanted to you could spray the partition too and put something on it then cover it with marine epoxy and it should be good to go.
idk how else you're gonna hide the inside of the partition...


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Raf said:


> I really don't understand why you put silicon on the back before spraying foam. silicon is the worst you can use as basecoat imo. You just need to spray water on the glass and the foam will hold on much better. Even without water it holds on very good.
> Other than that it's a real nice viv.


Since this is my first build I am still learning things, and seeing as how I read from several threads that people used silicone on the back to increase the grip, that is what I did as well. I suppose I got bad advice or read the wrong threads in that case. Thanks for the info, I will be sure to do the waterspray trick on the glass instead, next time.

Either way the background is on nice and strong at this point, so I am happy about that.

Thanks for the help Raf! I have pics of your "new constructed vivarium" with the insane background stashed away in a folder on my computer called "inspiration"


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> btw if you wanted to you could spray the partition too and put something on it then cover it with marine epoxy and it should be good to go.
> idk how else you're gonna hide the inside of the partition...


Hmmm intersting...is the marine epoxy clear? And is it completely inert and safe when cured?

I would worry that it would look glossy or shiny underwater (for example if I made a fake rock wall to hide the partition)


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> Hmmm intersting...is the marine epoxy clear? And is it completely inert and safe when cured?
> 
> I would worry that it would look glossy or shiny underwater (for example if I made a fake rock wall to hide the partition)



haha nah man it won't look shiny underwater.
that's why I mentioned it.
you would think it would be shiny under the water but the water will "difuse" that shine. like when you fill up a nice and shiny tub it just looks non glossy once you put water in it...
yes there is clear marine epoxy.
people have used marine epoxy on many of their tanks on here.

2nd post down http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/61887-wood-box-instead-aquarium.html#post538368

yeah it's safe....many people aactually build vivs using wood and just coat the whole thing in epoxy or pond liner


----------



## flyingSquirrel

I sliced out a channel from the background foam to embed the waterfall tubing and did a test fitting



















I added some more foam to create a channel attached to the wood for the water fall, then carved it. Later you will see that I lay another piece of wood on top of all of this so it is hidden. Next I coated the foam channel walls with some drylok, and then brown acrylic paint to hide any potentially visible areas. Later I decided to add a layer of black silicone on top of the rest of the coatings for a bit more protection and water-proofness. You can also see I did some silicone/eco-earth coating on the rim of the partition





































I embedded the water feature tubing with some more foam.



















Here you see the piece of wood I layed over the bottom waterfall wood. These are top views.





































After quite a bit of time working on the build with the tank on the ground, my knees and back had had enough and I decided to stop being lazy and actually set up a workstation. I wish I had done this sooner! 










No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you...that is indeed a wall with fake carved rocks which I decided was not going to look good enough and so I ripped it out and refoamed the background.




























Another pic of the tank










I took on the task of sawing some mopani wood by hand...NOT EASY! My muscles and hands cramped up quite a bit and I had to ice them! (yeah, I'm that out of shape). The reason I wanted to saw the wood is to make a thinner section that I could embed in the background. The last pic below shows the placement. I am new to all of this so you will notice that I had to keep carving foam out to place wood and things in, due to bad planning (or late-blooming ideas  )














































Time to fabricate some fake roots! (I had not originally planned on doing roots for this build but I liked what I saw in other people's builds so I decided to give it a go. I am really glad I did it.) I perused aisles and aisles at Lowes for rope, wire, string, and anything else that I might use for fake roots. Below are the materials I scrounged up. I thought it would be cool to wrap the thicker portions of the roots with some electrician's rubber splicing tape to hide the rope and bind everything together.



















Here's a series of photos that showed how I constructed my roots. In addition to using thin wire to bind various thicknesses and lengths of materials together, I coiled wire in a spiral around the rope and string to allow me to bend the roots into rigid positions. It was an extremely labor intensive process that took a lot of time and effort, but I am super pleased with the results.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

The peat moss that I had was quite chunky, so I sifted it so I could use the finer material to coat the roots. You'll see the sifted particles in the bucket and the large chunks left over, which I bagged for potential incluson in the substrate mix (or for potted plants or garden use).





































He are the roots after coating with silicone and peat. Although I would later use Toluene for the background, I did not use it on the roots. I slathered pure black silicone all over the roots in sections and pressed them into the bucket of peat. It worked quite well and I think the thicker silicone application was better than a thinned toluene mix at least for the roots.










Here is how I sealed the remaining tube of silicone...put a folded bit of plastic wrap over it and then screwed the application nozzle over it. Although a small plug of silicone would cure, it was easy to remove with a bent paperclip to access the remaining silicone.



















When I got some aquatic pond "plant bags" at Lowes on clearance, I came up with the idea to slice them into lengths and adhere them to the partition walls to partially mask them. With all the rocks and wood and plants I would be adding to the water area of the tank I figure I can mostly hide all that, but any small areas that might be visible will be less prominent when covered with the black mesh. Although I "learned my lesson" about using silicone on acrylic, I used it to adhere the plant bag mesh to the partition anyway. The reason was that I decided it would bond enough to temporarily hold it in place, then later the rocks, gravel and wood would be the main means of holding it in place. 




























Toluene from Sherwin Williams paint store. It took me forever to find this stuff...virtually nobody sells it. I can tell you it is as unpleasant as people say, and highly dangerous. To be honest I should have had better protective equipment for myself, but I didn't have a spare hazmat hood laying around so instead I used a particulate mask to block any potential splashes (and peat dust). Of course I also opened the garage door and took periodic breaks to get some fresh air. Toluene and silicone each smell bad enough, but when you mix them it is atrocious. I used a metal paint can and a wood paint stirring stick to do the dirty work, and threw some peat in too. Then I slathered the mixture onto the background with a cheap paint brush and put the peat on. The toxic concoction seemed to slightly dissolve the Great Stuff foam into a gel-like substance on the outer surface. The whole thing was difficult, and the worst part was I must have got the portions wrong because there were some very thinly coated areas after it dried where the foam almost was showing through. I think straight silicone applied with a gloved hand might have been better in my opinion, especially on a smaller build like mine.










The tank with background material applied. Next I attached the roots with floral wire and some more silicone and peat to blend it all together and add strength. I was extremely pleased with my idea to wrap coils of wire around all of the root sections because I was able to bend everything into the exact position and shape that I wanted. I formed the roots to follow the natural curvature of the tank walls and even wrapped some of the finer sections over and through areas of mopani wood. It turned out amazing! I absolutely love it.























































I moved the tank up to my room and placed it on the stand. I figured it would cure faster than it would in the cold garage, plus I could admire it. Then I flipped on the light fixture (details later). Wow, I am loving this so far!


----------



## Raf

> Since this is my first build I am still learning things, and seeing as how I read from several threads that people used silicone on the back to increase the grip, that is what I did as well. I suppose I got bad advice or read the wrong threads in that case. Thanks for the info, I will be sure to do the waterspray trick on the glass instead, next time.
> 
> Either way the background is on nice and strong at this point, so I am happy about that.
> 
> Thanks for the help Raf! I have pics of your "new constructed vivarium" with the insane background stashed away in a folder on my computer called "inspiration"


I didn't understand that you wanted to hide the foam from the outside so it makes more sense now 
I really like it so far. Don't overplant the viv. Mosses will do the trick eventually.


----------



## drutt

Looks good...keep up working, Ive follow you work..


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## DragonSpirit1185

looking good.
nice call on the partition cover
when using mopani you wanna try to silicone it to the glass of the tank or use some type of strong glue so it doesn't come off. just for extra safety.
mostly people just do this for clay tank but I see people d this for GS/cocofiber backgrounds as well.
how did you place that piece of mopani on there after the GS was already sprayed?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> looking good.
> nice call on the partition cover
> when using mopani you wanna try to silicone it to the glass of the tank or use some type of strong glue so it doesn't come off. just for extra safety.
> mostly people just do this for clay tank but I see people d this for GS/cocofiber backgrounds as well.
> how did you place that piece of mopani on there after the GS was already sprayed?


I was pretty much "winging it" through this whole project, and since I am a noob I was having trouble planning things out well. Additionally I kept changing my mind on certain layout ideas or background options, or buying more new mopani wood lol.

To answer your question, whenever I was adding mopani wood due to bad planning after spraying foam that would be in the background (for example the small piece to upper left, or the top piece on the waterfall) I carved some of the existing foam out to the glass to create a "hole" where I could place the wood and then put foam all around it to lock it in place. The small piece to the upper left is not more than 1 pound and it is definitely secure. The other pieces of large wood are all resting securely on various things such as the partition, glass, lots of foam, etc and are all locked in very well. The waterfall top piece is not only secured with foam but is resting in an interlocking way on the bottom waterfall wood, which in turn is on the partition and more foam. It's all extremely secure and I was very careful to make sure of that.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> I was pretty much "winging it" through this whole project, and since I am a noob I was having trouble planning things out well. Additionally I kept changing my mind on certain layout ideas or background options, or buying more new mopani wood lol.
> 
> To answer your question, whenever I was adding mopani wood due to bad planning after spraying foam that would be in the background (for example the small piece to upper left, or the top piece on the waterfall) I carved some of the existing foam out to the glass to create a "hole" where I could place the wood and then put foam all around it to lock it in place. The small piece to the upper left is not more than 1 pound and it is definitely secure. The other pieces of large wood are all resting securely on various things such as the partition, glass, lots of foam, etc and are all locked in very well. The waterfall top piece is not only secured with foam but is resting in an interlocking way on the bottom waterfall wood, which in turn is on the partition and more foam. It's all extremely secure and I was very careful to make sure of that.



good some people don't think about it needing to be secure lol.
all n00bs wing it lol...I did on my viv. have you seen my viv btw?
I think it's gonna come along just fine and a good thing about you choosing that pond basket material is that you can tie plants to it and they will root to it. just make sure you silicone it on there really well but leave room for the roots to have places to go.

btw where did you get this white plastic material and what's it called?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> good some people don't think about it needing to be secure lol.
> all n00bs wing it lol...I did on my viv. have you seen my viv btw?
> I think it's gonna come along just fine and a good thing about you choosing that pond basket material is that you can tie plants to it and they will root to it. just make sure you silicone it on there really well but leave room for the roots to have places to go.
> 
> btw where did you get this white plastic material and what's it called?


Yeah I was thinking about the plants on the pond basket too...I was thinking I could buy a bunch of java moss and poke a bunch of it through the holes all over so the moss covers the whole thing

I have had that white mesh thing for a billion years but I think I got it from Michael's craft supply and it's for knitting


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> Yeah I was thinking about the plants on the pond basket too...I was thinking I could buy a bunch of java moss and poke a bunch of it through the holes all over so the moss covers the whole thing
> 
> I have had that white mesh thing for a billion years but I think I got it from Michael's craft supply and it's for knitting


oh that needle point stuff....I forgot all about that stuff.
I wish that stuff was more sturdy :/

you reckon that's what they used here?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> oh that needle point stuff....I forgot all about that stuff.
> I wish that stuff was more sturdy :/
> 
> you reckon that's what they used here?


Definitely looks like it


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Here is the collection of rocks I obtained from the backyard. I selected each one carefully based on the color and appearance. I will not use the huge rock because it is physically too large to fit in the tank at this point, which sucks because it is such an awesome rock.










The Zoomed Aquasun light fixture needed to be customized. The reason was that the fixture legs can not be used on a tank with a lid. So I showed them who's boss and made it all work. I don't recommend doing customization like this unless you have the tools and are very handy with this kind of thing.

I am missing some photos that show the legs with the original inner length of plastic, but you can see where I cut it off. I used an air tool with a cutting wheel. I got some aluminum straps that happened to fit nicely into each end fo the fixture legs. It was not important for the straps to be rigid (which there were not very) because the only purpose was for them to hold the legs at the precise distance laterally across the top of the tank. I used self drilling screws to go through the plastic and aluminum straps. Then I applied sticky rubber bumpers for two reasons...to raise the seat of the fixture legs up so the screw heads wouldn't rest on the tank rim, and to prevent the fixture from sliding on the rim. It all came out great, although it was not easy, and about 7% of the process was just good luck that nothing went wrong LOL just kidding


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

make sure you wash those rocks in a 10% bleach solution to get rid of any unwanted, organisms, parasites, or bacteria.

anything you get from outside it's best to sanitize them


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> make sure you wash those rocks in a 10% bleach solution to get rid of any unwanted, organisms, parasites, or bacteria.
> 
> anything you get from outside it's best to sanitize them


Thanks for reminding me of that...I am in such a hurry with this build I probably would have forgot to sanitize them

Do you think the 10% bleach solution might discolor any of the rocks?


----------



## Neontra

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> make sure you wash those rocks in a 10% bleach solution to get rid of any unwanted, organisms, parasites, or bacteria.
> 
> anything you get from outside it's best to sanitize them


I second this. No it won't discolor the rocks. But are those river rocks? If they are or came from anywhere moist, DO NOT boil or bake them. They will explode from the water inside creating steam and will burst.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

I went to Lowes this evening to look at some plexiglass for the lid of the tank (to replace the black plastic junk that came with the tank). I needed the thicker more expensive plexi because the thin stuff is not rigid enough. I really didn't want to spend all the money to buy a huge sheet just to cut a small strip. So I wandered around for a while thinking things over, and when I went back to the plexi aisle....there was a basket with a broken scrap of the stuff I needed...I asked how much it would be for me to buy the scrap and have them cut it to size. Turns out that they cut it for me and sold me the scrap for $2. Sweet deal 

Unfortunately since it's really hard to cut this thick plastic precisely in small pieces, the guy cut it about 1/8" too wide (front to back) so the existing glass lid won't fit in. However, I am not liking the black plastic hinge/strip that is in the pic below, so I may use two separate panels of glass without the plastic hinge, and that will remove the bit of width I need so the plexi will fit in just right. The black plastic hinge seems to block a lot of light from the light fixture. Who knows, maybe this will all work out perfectly! The plastic scrap seems to have been there just for me


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Neontra said:


> I second this. No it won't discolor the rocks. But are those river rocks? If they are or came from anywhere moist, DO NOT boil or bake them. They will explode from the water inside creating steam and will burst.


Thanks for the warning- I have heard of rocks exploding, yes, that is super dangerous! I will stick to the bleach solution. 

ps for the same reason if you are ever in the wilderness you should not put wet rocks into a fire or even have a fire near boulders or a cliff, etc.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> I went to Lowes this evening to look at some plexiglass for the lid of the tank (to replace the black plastic junk that came with the tank). I needed the thicker more expensive plexi because the thin stuff is not rigid enough. I really didn't want to spend all the money to buy a huge sheet just to cut a small strip. So I wandered around for a while thinking things over, and when I went back to the plexi aisle....there was a basket with a broken scrap of the stuff I needed...I asked how much it would be for me to buy the scrap and have them cut it to size. Turns out that they cut it for me and sold me the scrap for $2. Sweet deal
> 
> Unfortunately since it's really hard to cut this thick plastic precisely in small pieces, the guy cut it about 1/8" too wide (front to back) so the existing glass lid won't fit in. However, I am not liking the black plastic hinge/strip that is in the pic below, so I may use two separate panels of glass without the plastic hinge, and that will remove the bit of width I need so the plexi will fit in just right. The black plastic hinge seems to block a lot of light from the light fixture. Who knows, maybe this will all work out perfectly! The plastic scrap seems to have been there just for me


that plexiglass will eventually warp.
the Lowes here won't cut scraps anymore.
they say it's an inventory issue....yet they can make money off glass they are gonna throw away. waste of glass if you ask me just throwing it away instead of selling it.

you should get a piece cut a bit bigger than the plexiglass piece and put the hinge on it and silicone it in place then slide the big piece of glass on there and it won't block the light. everyone puts the hinge in the back so it doesn't block the light.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> ...you should get a piece cut a bit bigger than the plexiglass piece and put the hinge on it and silicone it in place then slide the big piece of glass on there and it won't block the light. everyone puts the hinge in the back so it doesn't block the light.


I am not sure I 100% understand what you are saying I should do. So would there just be two pieces of glass? So I'd have one big wide piece of glass (almost as big as the 2 glass ones I have now, combined) and then I would have a smaller piece of glass at the back that hinges up for access? (So one huge glass in front and a small hinged access at the rear?)

Or would there be 3 panels of glass still?


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> I am not sure I 100% understand what you are saying I should do. So would there just be two pieces of glass? So I'd have one big wide piece of glass (almost as big as the 2 glass ones I have now, combined) and then I would have a smaller piece of glass at the back that hinges up for access? (So one huge glass in front and a small hinged access at the rear?)
> 
> Or would there be 3 panels of glass still?


what you said is correct only 2 panels. small piece in the back that you put the hinge on and you silicone the rear small glass and that half of the hinge. 
Let it cure then slide the big piece on the front and your light isn't blocked.
Did you but a fish tank lid? if so I would return it and go to you local aquarium store and get the hinge and get the glass cut. should only be around like $15 at the most.
it will look lust like mine but wider...









also you want to cut the hinge only on the inside to clear the tank rim flange and the top half of the hinge will be on the outside all the way to the edge of the rim.
see here on my hinge the outside of the hinge goes all the way to the outer rim but the inside it notched for the hinge flange. this helps keep the humidity in better.

















hope this helps


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Yes THANK YOU this helps A LOT. The pics really made it clear. I am liking the general concept of the big glass in front/center so the light isn't blocked.

1. The only difference I would have for my build is I would not be able to silicone the back glass flap in place because it would block access to my water pump. 

2. And the other issue is I was planning on having a fan circulation system externally that would attach to the back portion of the lid...but using glass instead of plexi is going to make that difficult..I would need to have somebody drill holes in the glass and then I would need to secure the fan assembly somehow without screws (which i would have used on plexi). I absolutely will not put a fan assembly inside the tank, so the external setup is a must. Not sure who can drill the fan holes in glass and how much it will weaken it, plus not sure what will connect the fans to glass.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> Yes THANK YOU this helps A LOT. The pics really made it clear. I am liking the general concept of the big glass in front/center so the light isn't blocked.
> 
> 1. The only difference I would have for my build is I would not be able to silicone the back glass flap in place because it would block access to my water pump.
> 
> 2. And the other issue is I was planning on having a fan circulation system externally that would attach to the back portion of the lid...but using glass instead of plexi is going to make that difficult..I would need to have somebody drill holes in the glass and then I would need to secure the fan assembly somehow without screws (which i would have used on plexi). I absolutely will not put a fan assembly inside the tank, so the external setup is a must. Not sure who can drill the fan holes in glass and how much it will weaken it, plus not sure what will connect the fans to glass.


I'm glad that helped.
you can strip the silicone and re silicone it if you have to.
also what you could do is just put heavy silicone on just the back edge of the rear glass that way you can still lift it up to access the pump.
with it being a top piece you will want to take sand paper to the edges of fresh cut glass to get rid of the sharpness cause you might have to reach in there and you don't wanna get cut.

with the fan you could just use an internal fan.
a glass shop could drill you some holes cheap
or you could put that pvc on the front.
I could draw you up something that would be perfect for you tank.
it would take some work and you would have to come up with the dimensions but I can give you the basic idea.
it would be a plexiglass box that sits on the front on that rim and would house 2 fans and one would pull air up and the other pull air down and with it being at the front of the tank it would keep condensation cleared.
it's your best bet.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Thanks for all of your help and ideas! I'm going to "sleep on this" and let all the ideas swirl around in my brain, then I'll put something together for air circulation based on what you given me. I am pretty handy with things and I have some materials around that I can use, so I think I can make something really nice and functional.
I will also try to find a good glass shop that can help me get the pieces I need.
I'll be posting it on this thread as I go. Thanks again!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

I ordered some plants from black jungle terrarium supply and instructed them to hold the plants and ship them in 2 weeks. The reason I ordered them now is I was worried they'd sell out of what I wanted. I am super excited. Gotta get this build DONE and ready to plant up!!!  

Ordered:

* Microgramma species -awesome ephiphytic fern that barely looks like a fern
* Bolbitis heteroclita - amphibious fern (submersed or emersed growth and everything in between...perfect for a paludarium!
* Sinningia sp. 'Rio das Piedras' - micro mini sinningia
* Lemmaphyllum microphyllum - Sweet little weird fern that doesn't look like a fern...I hope I can find a good spot to get it to attach to the background or some wood

I may need to add some more "decor" to the build to provide a bit of shade for some of these plants...although in a terrarium with humidity and artificial light I think they might be ok in the brighter light (in fact the aquasun t5 HO fixture I bought is not nearly as bright as I thought it would be)


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> I ordered some plants from black jungle terrarium supply and instructed them to hold the plants and ship them in 2 weeks. The reason I ordered them now is I was worried they'd sell out of what I wanted. I am super excited. Gotta get this build DONE and ready to plant up!!!
> 
> Ordered:
> 
> * Microgramma species -awesome ephiphytic fern that barely looks like a fern
> * Bolbitis heteroclita - amphibious fern (submersed or emersed growth and everything in between...perfect for a paludarium!
> * Sinningia sp. 'Rio das Piedras' - micro mini sinningia
> * Lemmaphyllum microphyllum - Sweet little weird fern that doesn't look like a fern...I hope I can find a good spot to get it to attach to the background or some wood
> 
> I may need to add some more "decor" to the build to provide a bit of shade for some of these plants...although in a terrarium with humidity and artificial light I think they might be ok in the brighter light (in fact the aquasun t5 HO fixture I bought is not nearly as bright as I thought it would be)


yeah the Zoo Med fixtures aren't :/


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> yeah the Zoo Med fixtures aren't :/


I am pretty bummed about the light fixture brightness (or lack of). I really thought it was gonna be crazy bright...umm *2 HIGH OUTPUT* bulbs?! Whatever lol

I almost want to return it but I wonder how much brighter any other fixture would be that is the same type of light with the same type of bulbs..probably not much brighter. I might need to actually upgrade the type of fixture itself or get a 3 bulb one or something. I will just see how the plants grow with this fixture and then I'll decide if that's needed


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> I am pretty bummed about the light fixture brightness (or lack of). I really thought it was gonna be crazy bright...umm *2 HIGH OUTPUT* bulbs?! Whatever lol
> 
> I almost want to return it but I wonder how much brighter any other fixture would be that is the same type of light with the same type of bulbs..probably not much brighter. I might need to actually upgrade the type of fixture itself or get a 3 bulb one or something. I will just see how the plants grow with this fixture and then I'll decide if that's needed


nah tons of people on here use T5 HO
I would post a question about it here in the parts and construction thread


----------



## jcb

Silly question, how did you get the silicone on the vine?


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

jcb said:


> Silly question, how did you get the silicone on the vine?


just squirt it in your hand(wearing gloves of course) then just rub it on there then throw your choice of covering on there.

he used tape. and tape breaks down in high humidity...
forgot to mention that flyingsquirrel. 
the right way is to use rope...nylon rope. nothing organic like cotton or the brown twine or it will break down.
I used nylon rope and hot glue when I made my vine. I pulled the fibers out of the center and pushed stainless steal wire through the rope and crimped the end and hot glued it.
here is some pics 
















I wound up not using the vines...I milled my peat up too fine...don't make that same mistake. you want your peat like flyingsquirrel has it.
electrical tape is the worst for trying to put in a humid environment....any tape is.
Like I forgot to remove the tape from the inside of my fan box and eventually it fell down into the fan and ceased it and i had to cut a slit in the screen and stick some needle nose pliers up in there and remove all the tape.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Today I ordered Columnea microphylla from the VioletBarn...my first order from them so we'll see how that goes

This is what the plant looks like when fully grown and blooming









I am not sure how fast it grows but apparently it gets relatively large so I might need to trim it or renew from cuttings...we'll see but if it gets out of hand I can swap some other plant in and use this one as a "houseplant".

Yeah!!!


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> Today I ordered Columnea microphylla from the VioletBarn...my first order from them so we'll see how that goes
> 
> This is what the plant looks like when fully grown and blooming
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am not sure how fast it grows but apparently it gets relatively large so I might need to trim it or renew from cuttings...we'll see but if it gets out of hand I can swap some other plant in and use this one as a "houseplant".
> 
> Yeah!!!


wow that looks about too big for the tank


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> wow that looks about too big for the tank


I have a feeling the pictured plant is pretty old. The one I am getting will be like 3" or so. I think it will take a while for it to get big, and I can prune it back. Also I can root cuttings from the tip and swap them in if the mother plant is too big. I think it'll be ok. It is one of the smallest Columnea species


----------



## flyingSquirrel

All toluene and silicone smells are undetectable, so....I vacuumed the remaining loose peat moss out of the tank, then added water. I attached the 404 water pump and plugged 'er in. The waterfall worked flawlessly exactly how I planned it. It was a beautiful thing.  The ONLY problem is even at minimum flow the 404 pump has more flow than I want  For such a micro pump it's a real beast!

I also threw in a mesh bag of activated carbon in the area where the water is drawn in, to remove toxins and impurities. I'm going to change the water in the tank frequently for the next week to slowly eliminate remaining tannins and other junk that might be coming out of anything I put in the build. 

By the way, the pic below shows the water at a level that is probably higher than it will be when the tank is done. I think I'll go a bit lower. I also decided some time ago that of course the plants that will be in the land area in the lower part will need to be amphibious/bog type plants. I have a list of some plants I am planning to go with. Then I'll have some plants in the higher up pots and attached to the wood that like it a bit less damp.










This coming weekend I'll drain the tank completely and add the gravel to the water area and the various substrate materials to the "land" land area. Then I'll refill the tank and again and run the pump. And for another week I'll change the water daily to eliminate excess junk that comes out of all that new substrate material.

During all of these other procedures I am going to work on the air circulation system. Here are some of the things I bought at Fry's...I think it was all about $40 after tax. I'll be building an external assembly with acrylic.










I need to go to a glass shop and have some custom pieces cut to make a new lid for the tank, as the standard aquarium lid is not doing it for me.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

why go lower....newts love all the water they can get I think the level is just fine right there. unless you're wanting the waterfall to fall farther


----------



## sarahatl

What type of substrate materials will you be using for the land area? Also, how deep (substrate) will the land area be? Do you plan on growing plants in your land area? I am planning a paludarium as well. Thank in advance.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

sarahatl said:


> What type of substrate materials will you be using for the land area? Also, how deep (substrate) will the land area be? Do you plan on growing plants in your land area? I am planning a paludarium as well. Thank in advance.


- substrate...first will be LECA on top of the false bottom. Then probably Eco-earth, maybe some peat moss, sphagnum moss, possibly a little sand, some fir bark...need to work out for sure the mix... I might adjust it to be less fertile so the plants don't grow like crazy. 

- Not sure on the depth of the substrate either. LECA will be several inches deep, then substrate mix maybe a couple inches. It's gonna be VERY SOGGY like a bog

- There will be plants in the land (bog) area. Amphibious/bog type plants...cryptocoryne, eleocharis, anubias, hemianthus, etc... 

Post your build on this forum, I'd like to see it! Have fun!


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

any updates?


----------



## james67

i hate to be the bearer of bad news but your going to need to remove the vines you made...

the wire looks to be copper which is no good. copper is quite poisonous to animals.

james


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

james67 said:


> i hate to be the bearer of bad news but your going to need to remove the vines you made...
> 
> the wire looks to be copper which is no good. copper is quite poisonous to animals.
> 
> james


agreed and that brown twine is organic and will break down right?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

james67 said:


> i hate to be the bearer of bad news but your going to need to remove the vines you made...
> 
> the wire looks to be copper which is no good. copper is quite poisonous to animals.
> 
> james


James, thank you for bringing this to my attention so I am able to avert a catastrophe!  You are awesome! Luckily my newt is not in the paludarium yet. 

That is indeed terrible news, as I was quite pleased with the look of the roots I made and it was a lot of work and time to make them. At this point I have plants and things in the tank around the roots, so that is going to be a huge setback to the whole build and I will have to extract and replant things. I am so bummed. Additionally I don't want to spend the time finding materials, making more roots, and waiting 2 weeks for the silicone to cure.

I am going to look around at some pet stores and/or online and see what kind of artificial vines/roots I can find. I am totally willing to pay ridiculous amounts of money for a few of these. (in store would be better so I can really see what they look like up close). _Does anybody know of some good viv-safe artificial roots or thin vines?_

Sorry to all for not keeping this thread updated lately. Work has been a pain in the you-know-what...I've been working late nights, double-shifts, weekends, all kinds of unpleasant things. Not fun at all, and no time to relax.

I hope to do some updates to the thread soon. Thanks to all who are following my progress 

A few quick updates so you guys know what is coming soon to the thread:

Added substrate materials, gravel, rocks, water, java moss, a few plants, etc
Plants - columnea from violet barn, a few ferns and things from black jungle, and the other day an order of tillandsia and a dwarf brom from tropiflora.

Things are looking pretty nice but there is plenty of work to be done


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Update- just ordered 2 sizes of bio vines from Josh's frogs. And 2 plants


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Finally I'm back with some updates. *** NOTE: All of these pictures and updates are from* before* I found out that the roots I made are a no-go due to the copper wire.  Currently I am dealing with that situation. But for now I'll give the updates as if that weren't an issue. ***

Another view of the paludarium during water test/preview









And after draining the tank, the water with peat in it









Boiling the leca- it was floating during the boiling process...I boiled it for a long time, then decided it was not going to sink. After cooling, it sank. Woohoo!


















Leca into the tank










Custom blended substrate. Eco-Earth, Repti-bark, sand, and a little leca thrown it too. I figured a little leca would keep things friable and aerated. Maybe not, but it can't hurt (I hope). And the substrate into the partitioned area.















































Violet Barn sent me a nice Columnea microphylla. It was a micro mini, smaller leaves than I expected, which made me very happy!


----------



## james67

sweet! the columnea is awesome. looks like its time for another order from rob's.

james


----------



## jausi

Great setup, thanks for all the detail info and pics


----------



## flyingSquirrel

james67 said:


> sweet! the columnea is awesome. looks like its time for another order from rob's.
> 
> james


I know, that columnea is the bomb! I had no idea it would be so micro. If you haven't already seen a pic of a mature flowering one, observe the pic below.

BTW what do you mean 'an order from rob's' ? What nursery is that? I ask, knowing that I will most likely order more plants than I can possibly afford or fit in my tank


----------



## flyingSquirrel

jausi said:


> Great setup, thanks for all the detail info and pics


You are welcome! It is my hope that all of the details in this thread will help others that may be trying to make something similar, or at least give people ideas


----------



## flyingSquirrel




----------



## james67

flyingSquirrel said:


> BTW what do you mean 'an order from rob's' ? What nursery is that? I ask, knowing that I will most likely order more plants than I can possibly afford or fit in my tank


rob's violet barn 

and good to see you got the vines out. the whole hobby is a constant learning process and we ALL make mistakes sometimes. dont beat yourself up.

james


----------



## Neontra

james67 said:


> rob's violet barn
> 
> and good to see you got the vines out. the whole hobby is a constant learning process and we ALL make mistakes sometimes. dont beat yourself up.
> 
> james


Yeah, I learned that the hard way, twice. lol. Better safe than sorry! Your tank looks great though! Sorry if this was already answered but, are you gonna change your lighting, it looks a little purple.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Neontra said:


> Yeah, I learned that the hard way, twice. lol. Better safe than sorry! Your tank looks great though! Sorry if this was already answered but, are you gonna change your lighting, it looks a little purple.


I think the hue in the photos is just the camera getting the colors wrong. I don't process the photos, I just slap em up here. The lighting is a zoo-med aquasun bulb and florasun bulb combo. I think a lot of people use that? Either way, "in person" the color looks good (the flora sun does have a pinkish cast though).

When the tank is starting to look really good I am going to take some nice photos with my good camera & tripod, and process them to correct for white balance and sharpness, etc. I am going to take two exposures and photoshop them together so you can see the above water and below water clearly in one photo. It's gonna be sick


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Correction on my last post

The bulbs are flora sun and ULTRA sun NOT aqua sun (aquasun is the fixture lol)


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Alrighty friends, I feel like I am on a roll with the updates, so I'll keep 'em coming! You should get all excited and pumped up, as this update is going to have some solid progress...in fact I am fighting the urge to keep it all under wraps until the very end. But alas I will share.

First up, something a bit less exciting than the tank itself. Got some Selaginella in the mail from an internet friend. He id'd it as S. diffusa. BTW a "real time" note...I am not loving this in my tank. It's a bit large, and I don't feel like the growth habit is working well with the landscaping at this point. I'd feel guilty if I removed it..maybe I'll leave a little bit in the back corner behind the waterfall lol




























Newt is still not the tank as there is plenty more to do. Realized my newt could possibly climb up the wall and fall into the pump channel, so I improvised by putting some coconut mat over that (there is some gap in the back to allow air flow still.) You can also see the glass has the notch cut for the cord. I was told by some on this forum not to have a square notch cut, but instead a corner angled off, however it was already ordered. But the glass I got was pretty thick and the notch is small. Guaranteed it's structurally sound, no problems at all.




















Here comes the meat and potatoes of the update.  I added the aquarium live-plant substrate as a lower strata. I did a light bleach soak on the rocks then rinsed them very well until no bleach scent remained. Then I sorted the rocks by size to make placement and 'landscaping' easier. Then I placed the rocks carefully, and added the aquarium gravel. I was careful to select a grade of gravel that was too large for my newt to injest accidentally.














































And now the "sort of reveal"



















Okey doke folks, that's it for this installment. Next time I'll be showing some more plant orders...but I will probably keep the tank under wraps until it's planted up more, for the "big reveal" (hopefully won't be too long)


----------



## myersboy6

That looks really good! Very impressive! I like the placement of the wood in the water. It flows together great with the background. Doesn't look like you just threw it in there or anything. Can't wait to see its growth in the future. Great job!


----------



## Neontra

Awesome! You know when I think about it, if you didn't want newts, you could drain most of the water out and make a puddle in the front, it would be so cool with the multi levels!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

myersboy6 said:


> That looks really good! Very impressive! I like the placement of the wood in the water. It flows together great with the background. Doesn't look like you just threw it in there or anything. Can't wait to see its growth in the future. Great job!


Thanks! Yeah, I am always very careful to make things look as naturally placed and aesthetically harmonious as possible. Like you mentioned, I've seen some pics of tanks where people have appeared to haphazardly dropped in some decor. I suppose since I've done a lot of gardening and landscaping (and I'm a web designer) I sort of have the eye for it. Anyway, thanks again and I can't wait to share more!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Neontra said:


> Awesome! You know when I think about it, if you didn't want newts, you could drain most of the water out and make a puddle in the front, it would be so cool with the multi levels!


Looks like you just found your next build idea? LOL this is such a fun hobby (but so expensive arg!)


----------



## flyingSquirrel

My tropiflora order...a tillandsia fest. Probably got too many, but they were so tempting and beautiful!!! Arg, damn plant addiction   ....btw I paid nearly as much for shipping as the plants cost LOL 

T. ionantha v. stricta forma fastigiata 'peanut' (phew! out of breath on that one) Bigger than expected, as the description said 'rarely taller than 1 inch' ...uh, this thing is like 3.5" tall. Bummer 










T. 'califano' (baileyi x ionantha) LOVE this one!!!  But it was a lot bigger than I expected










T. andreana x funckiana ... Nice, but again, MUCH bigger than I expected 










T. bandensis - Also LOVE this one. Very unique. It has a beautiful brownish-olive color, cylindrical leaves, and nice 'fuzz' coating. 










T. loliacea - Cute dwarf tilly










Satisfied with the order, beautiful plants...but hardly enough room in the tank!


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> My tropiflora order...a tillandsia fest. Probably got too many, but they were so tempting and beautiful!!! Arg, damn plant addiction
> Satisfied with the order, beautiful plants...but hardly enough room in the tank!


well if you got too many you can send me some 
they look good. I love the dwarf


----------



## flyingSquirrel

ANDY'S!!! ORCHIDS!!! ANDY'S ORCHIDS!!! LOL  Of course I recommend our dendroboard sponsors as well, but andy's is good source of hard to find species orchids.

My 'orchids on a stick', in order of biggest mini to mini-est mini 

Dendrobium jenkinsii









Pleurothallis corniculata









Ascocentrum pumilum









Dendrobium lichenastrum









All together:










These were all soaked in lukewarm water for 10 minutes and then carefully removed from the sticks. Then a bleach dip and 'rinse rinse rinse' as they say. Sadly the awesome moss that was around the orchids was fried in the bleach.

ANOTHER order from Tropiflora is coming soon, 3 mini neo broms. They had a single, spectacular brom- Neo. capixaba, which to my extreme disappointment grows too large to fit in my paludarium  It looks like such a gorgeous plant that is unique, and probably hard to find. 

Plant collecting is becoming a problem for me, somebody please help me stop it


----------



## james67

flyingSquirrel said:


> Plant collecting is becoming a problem for me, somebody please help me stop it


sure, just send everything to me.

james


----------



## flyingSquirrel

james67 said:


> sure, just send everything to me.
> 
> james


I should have known somebody would make that comment  

BTW do you think you will order the Columnea microphylla from violet barn? It's a great plant. The leaves on mine are turning pink/red, orange, etc...probably too much light maybe?


----------



## herpin1579

Amazing post!


----------



## Loui1203

I love those orchids! 
How easy are they to keep up in a viv?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Loui1203 said:


> I love those orchids!
> How easy are they to keep up in a viv?


Good question...I'm finding out right now 

But seriously, it depends on the conditions in the viv and the species of orchid. I am new to this, but 'frogparty' can always chime in on stuff like that.

Also my paludarium set up is different than most vivs on this forum..different temps, humidity, circulation, etc. So far the orchids look decent, except the Pleurothallis is looking pretty bad. I emailed Andy a pic and he said it looks like the older leaves are the sick ones so the plant might just be adjusting to the new conditions. I HOPE he's right


----------



## james67

flyingSquirrel said:


> I should have known somebody would make that comment
> 
> BTW do you think you will order the Columnea microphylla from violet barn? It's a great plant. The leaves on mine are turning pink/red, orange, etc...probably too much light maybe?


so when should i expect delivery? dont worry i'll cover shipping since im a nice guy 

i need to order a ton of new plants, but thats behing Xmas presents and new culture supplies as far as priority. (im always amazed how quickly i go through 5 gallons of media)

james


----------



## frogparty

I had only mediocre luck with D. lichenastrum. Should have kept it a bit more damp and given it a bit less light. Mine was under 3" from the top glass though, so maybe 6" from top would be ideal. Never used any of the others, but as a rule keep the pleuro in lower light and moist, give the other dendrobium and asco lots of light and let them dry out


----------



## flyingSquirrel

frogparty said:


> I had only mediocre luck with D. lichenastrum. Should have kept it a bit more damp and given it a bit less light. Mine was under 3" from the top glass though, so maybe 6" from top would be ideal. Never used any of the others, but as a rule keep the pleuro in lower light and moist, give the other dendrobium and asco lots of light and let them dry out


What was the problem with your D. lichenastrum? Did it not bloom well?

My lichenastrum is about 9" from the glass. I was told it likes to be on the dry side, especially in winter. I am watering it once a week right now. The leaves are turning reddish-brown in color (but texture appears normal). Any idea if that's due to the light level or water amount?

BTW is it ok for orchid roots to be exposed? As in to not have moss over them? The concern I have is that my paludarium has lower humidity than most vivs, and I am worried the drier air and exposed roots will reduce the amount of moisture the roots can access. I know 'duration' of water is just as important as quantity. But then I am worried if I put moss over the roots they might rot. It's probably a balancing act type of thing. Any advice?

Ohhhh, Tropiflora broms just arrived at the door, will post pics soon


----------



## flyingSquirrel

I <3 Plants!!!

Tropiflora order arrived today    ...ok maybe I'm a bit over enthusiastic. But I <3 plants!

Neoregelia 'Dartanion' ... Gorgeous










Neoregelia 'Small Fry' ...NICE NICE NICE!!!










Neoregelia 'Red Bird' x 'Fireball' ...whoa! bigger than I expected  But still like it 










All together now...










Ha, you thought you could get by me you sneaky #!$%!#@ [ snail ] ...but did a bleach dip on the broms also










Washed the soil off, bleach dipped, rinsed zealously, then cut and trimmed most of the roots off (not all)..then placed in the paludarium (sorry, can't see it yet  )

Did I mention that I <3 plants?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Some aquatic and marginal plants for the paludarium. Details below, except I forgot to do a detail photo of the banana plant (Nymphoides aquatica). In this overall photo you can see the banana plant below and to the right of the Crypt lutea










Cryptocoryne lutea










Anubias nana 'Petite'. The one on the right was full price, but I got the 2 on the left for 99 cents total since they were not looking so good. I tied them to some wood just beneath the surface of the water, hoping they'll attach and take off, growing emergent.




























Another part of the 99 cent petite










Hemianthus callitrichoides (Dwarf baby's tears)










I was checking out a display tank in the pet shop, and they had some really nice things in there that were not for sale....it never hurts to ask...and I got this piece of what I _thought_ was Monosolenium tenerum for free!  But now I am not sure what it is...see excerpt from Wikipedia:

_"Monosolenium has no economic uses. However, a plant sold as Monosolenium tenerum and commonly called "Süsswassertang" has been made popular as a freshwater aquarium plant by Tropica. It was initially sold under the name Pellia or Pelia, and is now being sold as Monosolenium tenerum, but neither of these names is correct. The plants they sell are now known to be the gametophyte of a species of fern, in the genus Lomariopsis."_

So in other words, Monosolenium tenerum is a terrestrial liverwort, whereas anything that is aquatic that is thought to be Monosolenium or Pellia is actually the Lomariopsis gametophyte....I think??? Can anybody offer any insight/knowledge about this??

Whatever it is, I split it up and put pieces of it all over the place, hoping at least some of it will take off. It's in the waterfall, on emergent wood, underwater, etc.










Happy Holidays!


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

I get all excited when I get an update notification thinking I am gonna get to see it finished but no more plants 

You need plant rehab hahah
just messing with you I think it is good to make it look dense cause jungles are dense. So lots of plants should be awesome.
Just hopefully they all won't overtake the viv haha.
Do you plan on using them all?

It is great that you are taking your time and I hope to see it soon.
Any estimation about how much longer it will be?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I get all excited when I get an update notification thinking I am gonna get to see it finished but no more plants
> 
> You need plant rehab hahah
> just messing with you I think it is good to make it look dense cause jungles are dense. So lots of plants should be awesome.
> Just hopefully they all won't overtake the viv haha.
> Do you plan on using them all?
> 
> It is great that you are taking your time and I hope to see it soon.
> Any estimation about how much longer it will be?


I am hoping to show you guys the tank soon. There are a few things I want to do to make it look better. The problem I have is it's not humid like a pdf viv, so the background is dry and nothing grows on it. So I need to get some dry moss sheets and fill in a few blank areas where normally live moss would be growing. It's not ideal but I will see how it goes.

Also just updated the post above about the liverwort thing...it's weird!


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> I am hoping to show you guys the tank soon. There are a few things I want to do to make it look better. The problem I have is it's not humid like a pdf viv, so the background is dry and nothing grows on it. So I need to get some dry moss sheets and fill in a few blank areas where normally live moss would be growing. It's not ideal but I will see how it goes.
> 
> Also just updated the post above about the liverwort thing...it's weird!


how big are your vents?
A lot of people do vents all along the front top of a viv ...is yours like that?
If you are using a fan and whatnot you shouldn't need vent much at all.

what liverwort thing


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> how big are your vents?
> A lot of people do vents all along the front top of a viv ...is yours like that?
> If you are using a fan and whatnot you shouldn't need vent much at all.
> 
> what liverwort thing


It's 'open top'...there is a 3" x 29" open strip at the top. I also have 2 x 40mm fans at the front for forced circulation.

The reason I have it open top is when I had the entire thing sealed, even with fans going the mold was getting out of hand. Additionally when I monitored the temps, they were getting too high for a firebelly newt. So I did what had to be done, which was to change over to a highly ventilated setup to control mold and reduce temps to a suitable range. It's not bad at all, the plants seem to be doing fine. I mist some of the plants and background one or twice a day, but even without misting the humidity is high simply because of the water in the bottom.

The liverwort thing was the last plant pic above..I thought it was a liverwort but apparently it may be a fern gametophyte...you can read that info above if you are interested

Thanks for following my posts, it is nice to have somebody 'along with me' in this


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> It's 'open top'...there is a 3" x 29" open strip at the top. I also have 2 x 40mm fans at the front for forced circulation.
> 
> The reason I have it open top is when I had the entire thing sealed, even with fans going the mold was getting out of hand. Additionally when I monitored the temps, they were getting too high for a firebelly newt. So I did what had to be done, which was to change over to a highly ventilated setup to control mold and reduce temps to a suitable range. It's not bad at all, the plants seem to be doing fine. I mist some of the plants and background one or twice a day, but even without misting the humidity is high simply because of the water in the bottom.
> 
> The liverwort thing was the last plant pic above..I thought it was a liverwort but apparently it may be a fern gametophyte...you can read that info above if you are interested
> 
> Thanks for following my posts, it is nice to have somebody 'along with me' in this


haha no problem

You are gonna have humidity issues as long as the top is open.
I used grapewood and it molded but wipe the mold off you can put some isopods in there to clean up the mold.

maybe you could put a fan on the fixture to keep it cool? that's what I had to do with mine.
Does yours have fixtures on the inside.

idk anything about the liverwort lol. Only aquatic plant I have experience with is umbrella plant's and that only cause they are in my viv.


----------



## james67

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> idk anything about the liverwort lol. Only aquatic plant I have experience with is umbrella plant's and that only cause they are in my viv.


spathiphyllum (sold under the name umbrella plant) are NOT aquatic. they are sold as aquatics to unsuspecting consumers by big box stores. if kept submerged they will die.

james


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

james67 said:


> spathiphyllum (sold under the name umbrella plant) are NOT aquatic. they are sold as aquatics to unsuspecting consumers by big box stores. if kept submerged they will die.
> 
> james


Yes they are an aquatic plant. 
Yet saying they are aquatic doesn't mean they have to be fully submerged.
Many plants can be aquatic plants....some with just the roots submerged, some fully submersed.
Do a Google search for "aquatic plants" and you will see some submerged and some with only the roots submerged.

They are really a semi-aquatic, yet I was not wrong by calling them an aquatic plant cause they are classified as an aquatic plant. 
I got it at PetSmart.

These are using in ripariums which are rather aquatic lol.
here is is listed by a fellow DB member on a forum under "aquatic plants"
3 Proven Riparium Plant Combinations - Aquascaping World Forum

here is what I have, I'm pretty sure. Mine are smaller tho:








Spathiphyllum 'Golden Glo'
Hydrophyte's Blog - Ripariums and Emergent Aquatic Plants

idk how you posting that and picking what I said apart has to do with his build in general but I had to clear that up.
Now let's not derail flyingSquirrel's thread please?


----------



## james67

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Yes they are an aquatic plant.
> Yet saying they are aquatic doesn't mean they have to be fully submerged.
> Many plants can be aquatic plants....some with just the roots submerged, some fully submersed.
> Do a Google search for "aquatic plants" and you will see some submerged and some with only the roots submerged.
> 
> They are really a semi-aquatic, yet I was not wrong by calling them an aquatic plant cause they are classified as an aquatic plant.
> I got it at PetSmart.
> 
> These are using in ripariums which are rather aquatic lol.
> here is is listed by a fellow DB member on a forum under "aquatic plants"
> 3 Proven Riparium Plant Combinations - Aquascaping World Forum
> 
> here is what I have, I'm pretty sure. Mine are smaller tho:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Spathiphyllum 'Golden Glo'
> Hydrophyte's Blog - Ripariums and Emergent Aquatic Plants
> 
> idk how you posting that and picking what I said apart has to do with his build in general but I had to clear that up.
> Now let's not derail flyingSquirrel's thread please?


i was simply correcting some misinformation. and again they are not aquatic plants (which would mean that they NEED to be either fully or partially submerged to survive) just because petsmart claims something is aquatic doesnt mean it is. 

james


----------



## flyingSquirrel

I could see this conversation getting out of hand easily. I think what James was saying was that spathiphylum is not a truly SUBMERSED aquatic. Although it may be able to withstand or perhaps thrive in emergent conditions, the plant cannot be fully submerged. That is likely the definition of a true aquatic. I'm not taking sides but rather pointing out a likely misunderstanding. 

Varying degrees of 'aquatic-ness' lol may be perceived by some in different ways


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Looks like I posted too late  but looks like I was on target regarding James point


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> I could see this conversation getting out of hand easily. I think what James was saying was that spathiphylum is not a truly SUBMERSED aquatic. Although it may be able to withstand or perhaps thrive in emergent conditions, the plant cannot be fully submerged. That is likely the definition of a true aquatic. I'm not taking sides but rather pointing out a likely misunderstanding.
> 
> Varying degrees of 'aquatic-ness' lol may be perceived by some in different ways


Yeah it really is just a misunderstanding but he said it is NOT an aquatic plant.
The one I have is somewhat considered an aquatic plant.
Ripariums are aquatic landscapes.
I will not indulge in the subject matter anymore.

let's get back on topic...

Do you have fans in or on that light fixture of yours?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Do you have fans in or on that light fixture of yours?


No sir I do not. It's just an Aquasun fixture, as it came out of the box. Are you saying that fans would be used to cool the light fixture?


----------



## Ed

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Yeah it really is just a misunderstanding but he said it is NOT an aquatic plant.
> The one I have is somewhat considered an aquatic plant.
> Ripariums are aquatic landscapes.
> I will not indulge in the subject matter anymore.
> 
> let's get back on topic...
> 
> Do you have fans in or on that light fixture of yours?


Brandon, once again, you are utilizing a common interpretation in the place of the specific designations that have been utilzed for decades. 

In these usages aquatic means


> plants that start and end thier lifecycle in the water


. These plants do not do well if you attempt to grow them as an terrestrial plant... 

while emergent/bog plants means


> the plants root in damp or moist soil. Thier leaves and shoots grow in air forming a firm a firm support which keeps the plants upright.
> 
> 
> 
> . Many species can survive submerged (such as Bacopa, Echidorus and Cryptocrynes) but others usually rot over time (Spathophyllums) or producing a different growing form.
> 
> These different technical terms have been used to seperate the two for more than 50 years now (and I bet if I dig out my aquarium books from the 1920s and 1930s they will also have them differentiated).
> 
> See for example the discussions in McInerny, Derek; Gerard, Geoffry; 1958; All About Tropical Fish; Macmillian Publishing Co. Inc, New York or Walstad, Diana;1999; Ecology of the Planted Aquarium; Echinodorus Press; Chapel Hill or Rieh, Rudiger; Baensch, Hans A.; 1982; Aquarium Atlas; Megus Publishing, Hongkong.
> 
> Techinically your usage is incorrect as it doesn't provide the correct distinctions for which plants will do well in different situations.
> 
> Once again, please take the time to correctly research a topic before advising people on it....
> 
> Ed
Click to expand...


----------



## Ed

flyingSquirrel said:


> No sir I do not. It's just an Aquasun fixture, as it came out of the box. Are you saying that fans would be used to cool the light fixture?


You may or may not need fans depending on the temperatures immediately below the lights in the enclosure. If there is little space between the fixture and the light adding a fan can not only reduce temperatures in the enclosure but increase bulb life by reducing the temperatures in the enclosured space. 

You may want to look at the coolest and warmest temperatures in that location before deciding what you are going to do with a fan since in some cases the warmth maybe needed to sustain temperatures in the enclosure during the winter. 

Some comments,
Ed


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel I am sorry they are derailing your thread like this over something so petty.
Hopefully we can get back on track...

Let's try this again...

Does that fixture of yours have fans built in?
If not I suggest putting a fan on it and during winter you can cut the fan off or just unplug them if you need your temps back up.
I never saw a fluctuation in my vivs temps in the winter.

The only time I truly have any trouble at all with temps is in the summer since my air conditioner made the room cold with my old vivs.
For the most part my current viv stays where it needs to be since I am living at my dads and he has and heating and sir unit. Temp in the house stays at 70.
As long as you keep your heat/air on and your home stays warm/cool at a good constant temp you will be fine.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Well guys, here's how it looks right now. There are some things I don't love about it, but overall I enjoy it.

It has a little growing to do. As I've mentioned, it's not humid like a frog viv so the background does not grow moss  , it's very dry...I need to do something else to mask some of the background. I think I might get a few more orchids for the back wall  .

The brom in the middle was bigger than I expected, so I had to put it there as it wouldn't fit anywhere else. I don't love having a big bright plant smack in the center (bad design!) but I think when some other plants fill in it will look really nice. I'm going to grow some plants around the base and left side of that center brom so hopefully it will throw the uniformity off. There are also some Cryptocoryne emersed on the left side (can't see them as they have no leaves yet) that will eventually fill in and help balance things out. 

It's an 'organic' project so-to-speak, so I have been (and will continue to) change things around if needed...adding and removing plants, moving their location, etc.










Plant list:

Aroids/Araceae --
Anubias barteri var. nana 'Narrowleaf'
Anubias barteri var. nana 'Petite'
Cryptocoryne balansae
Cryptocoryne lutea
Cryptocoryne wendtii no id (probably 'Tropica')

Bromeliads/Bromeliaceae --
Neoregelia 'Chiquita Linda' 
Neoregelia 'Dartanion'
Neoregelia 'Red Bird' x 'Fireball'
Neoregelia 'Small Fry'

Dischidia/Apocynaceae
Dischidia nummularia
Dischida ruscifolia

Ferns/Pteridophyta --
Bolbitis heteroclita
Lemmaphyllum microphyllum
Microgramma no id
Microsorum pteropus 'Narrowleaf'
Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov'

Fern allies
Isoetes velata var varsicula

Gesneriads/Gesneriaceae --
Columnea microphylla
Sinningia sp. 'Rio das Piedras'

Menyanthaceae
Nymphoides aquatica

Moss/Bryophytes --
Vesicularia dubyana

Orchids/Orchidaceae --
Ascocentrum pumilum
Dendrobium jenkinsii 
Dendrobium lichenastrum / Davejonesia lichenastrum (Dendrobium)
Pleurothallis corniculata

Piperaceae --
Peperomia prostrata

Scrophulariaceae
Hemianthus callitrichoides

Tillandsia/Bromeliaceae > Tillandsioideae --
Tillandsia andreana x funckiana
Tillandsia bandensis
Tillandsia Califano (baileyi x ionantha)
Tillandsia ionantha v. stricta forma fastigiata 'Peanut'
Tillandsia ionantha no id
Tillandsia loliacea
Tillandsia no id (species?)

Misc
Monosolenium tenerum (liverwort)??? Or lomariopsis fern gametophyte?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Btw will post detail pics soon


----------



## BethInAK

I do not like symmetry and that brom does not stick out as IN THE MIDDLE to me. the composition works quite well!!!


----------



## shibbyplustax

great job, looks amazing. i think everything is great looking as is.


----------



## BethInAK

I do not like symmetry and that brom does not stick out as IN THE MIDDLE to me. the composition works quite well!!!


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

Turned out pretty awesome 

I think you should get some vines in there and they should cover the background a bit.
I'm sure you could get long cuttings of them and weave them around the background then pin them and you won't have to wait for them to grow. It will already look somewhat established.

Has such a great organic look to it....
You should send it to me asap
Can't wait for the other pics...I hope you do a vid


----------



## Brotherly Monkey

that looks fantastic


----------



## sethshaun

Yes sir! Nice balance. Thanks for sharing


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## flyingSquirrel

BethInAK said:


> I do not like symmetry and that brom does not stick out as IN THE MIDDLE to me. the composition works quite well!!!


Thank you!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Turned out pretty awesome
> 
> I think you should get some vines in there and they should cover the background a bit.
> I'm sure you could get long cuttings of them and weave them around the background then pin them and you won't have to wait for them to grow. It will already look somewhat established.
> 
> Has such a great organic look to it....
> You should send it to me asap
> Can't wait for the other pics...I hope you do a vid


Thanks buddy! Sure, I'll mail it right over to you, lol 
What kind of vines could I get? It would have to be something with small leaves, that doesn't grow like a weed. Also it would need to be able to attach and grow on a dry-ish background. Anything that requires a moist surface would not work. I was thinking of Ficus pumila 'oak leaf'- not sure how fast it grows but there's always pruning I guess. It would probably do fine on the dry background as long as I mist it daily.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Thanks everybody, for your great feedback and comments. I appreciate it! It's been really fun. And don't kid yourselves, I'll still be updating this thread with more pics and updates  ...more pics sooooon


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> Thanks buddy! Sure, I'll mail it right over to you, lol
> What kind of vines could I get? It would have to be something with small leaves, that doesn't grow like a weed. Also it would need to be able to attach and grow on a dry-ish background. Anything that requires a moist surface would not work. I was thinking of Ficus pumila 'oak leaf'- not sure how fast it grows but there's always pruning I guess. It would probably do fine on the dry background as long as I mist it daily.


Yeah you can do that.
Check out peperomia serpens. It is an awesome vine plant, idk how it will do in your viv but ficus pumila might do well for you....just have to trim it when it gets out of control. 
I'm not very experienced with vine plants lol sorry man.


----------



## jkingsley3923

This is an outstanding project! Looks absolutely fantastic!


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## flyingSquirrel

jkingsley3923 said:


> This is an outstanding project! Looks absolutely fantastic!


Thanks for the kind words!


----------



## Judy S

The oak leaf ficus is very, very slow growing...and can be difficult to find. It is a small leaf with some veining and when it fills in can be dense--unlike the other pumilas...might get sort of "lost" in your background. Good looking viv...


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

Judy S said:


> The oak leaf ficus is very, very slow growing...and can be difficult to find. It is a small leaf with some veining and when it fills in can be dense--unlike the other pumilas...might get sort of "lost" in your background. Good looking viv...


I see both regular ficus pumila and oak leaf all the time at Lowes.
The plant people there let me pick off cuttings.
That's how I got my ficus pumila but it isn't oak leaf.
They usually come in huge hanging pots for $10 and they have some outside with a plant ladder thing fro the regular ficus pumila and that one is even bigger and like $20.
I don't need that much and they said well just pick you off what you need but don't take too much of the plant 

I hope to get some cuttings of Hypoestes phyllostachya in the spring if they let me. The only way they ever get that in is in a mixed planter with various plants and they are about $20. Yeah it's not much $ but really I don't want to waste the rest of the plants and they don't appeal to me.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

So yeah FlyingSquirrel, check out Lowe's in the spring for the oak leaf and if you can't find any I will check my Lowe's and you can just send me enough money to ship it to you and I will get you a few cuttings. If I have the $ I can ship it myself...we will have to see...times are rough right now 

tbh I like regular ficus pumila myself cause it looks more tropical and the oak leaf kind just looks more woodland IMO


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Guess what my friends..that's right, updates! Detail photos, and lots of them. Probably have to do them in installments over a few days as it's already 2am here  ....I promise there are some pretty awesome things coming soon. The tank has adjusted and stabilized and things are finally taking off...I have been finding some surprises as it is now naturalizing as well  

Area near waterfall- java moss with Bolbitis heteroclita fern rhizomes in it (you can't see them). Anubias nana 'petite' at left










Corner shot










Other corner









Isoetes submerged









Nymphoides aquatica









Anubias nana 'narrow leaf'









Java moss is loving things, and I'm loving _it_









Hemianthus callitrichoides adjusting to emersed growth. Coming back pretty well, hopefully it fills in









Anubias nana 'narrow leaf' submerged top view. Should emerge out of water sometime









Pistia stratiotes top view. Floating plant









Anubias nana 'petite' growing emergent growth. This is a piece of rhizome from the half-dead plant I bought for 99 cents. It's coming back! Muahahaha


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Tillandsia cluster









Tillandsia bandensis showing good growth. I love this plant









Nice color on Neo 'Dartanion'









Neo 'Small Fry' doing its thing (being awesome)









Peperomia prostrata taking off finally. Fresh growth with good color. Quite vigorous once it gets going 


















MYSTERY SEEDLINGS ?!!! I can only surmise they must be Sinningia rio das pedras. Secretly tucked beneath a vine and brom in the back. Almost didn't see them.









Columnea microphylla has taken off quite well now. Second pic shows stems rooting

















Submerged rhizome of Bolbitis heteroclita fern in flow of waterfall (the rhizome is thin and at the center by the gravel pebble.) This fern is notoriously difficult to grow submerged and is VERY VERY SLOW submerged. Not really recommended as a submerged plant but I wanted to try a piece just to see what it does. It is showing some new growth to my surprise. Moving water is critical for submersed growth on this plant. The rest of it is being grown emergent and terrestrially, where it grows far better, yet still quite slowly. At left and top is Microsorum pteropus 'Narrow leaf'










Java fern 'Windelov' submersed. Attached to the partition with java moss wrapped around the rhizome









Super tiny fresh growth on Bolbitis heteroclita emersed, in dead-center of pic. Hard to see but the gravel pebble behind it makes it a little easier. 









Tangled mess of java moss and java fern rhizome growing emergent / emersed onto the wood at the back of the tank. Hopefully the java fern decides to grow emersed and attaches to the wood.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Java moss, Bolbitis heteroclita rhizomes, and a few pieces of live sphagnum moss growing at water level. The sphagnum started popping up at the base of my micro Sinningia so I picked it out and put it in this area, hoping it fills in. I think the brighter green cushions will give a nice texture and contrast to the rest of the tank. It should also grow taller than the java moss which is good because the java is getting covered with algae in this spot









Sinningia 'rios das pedras' and java moss tucked in a piece of wood. Lower center is a tiny mystery fern that just popped up. I love mystery plants! Hopefully it's a fern that stays small, otherwise out it goes

















Closeup of java moss and Bolbitis heteroclita in the waterfall area. You can see the Bolbitis fronds popping up in a few spots. It's a great dwarf fern if you can get it to grow, but it's sloooooow.









Waterfall outlet. Java moss, Anubias









More waterfall view









Submerged view of the partition. Small piece of Anubias nana 'petite' is pinned to the wall. As the java moss grows longer, I am pinning it down to the wall, then letting it grow, pinning it lower. I should have a nice moss wall at some point









A bank with some good java moss growth and some Cryptocoryne emersed finally getting going









Pleurothallis corniculata. This thing is being really fussy compared to my other mini orchids. Not sure what its deal is, but I hope it settles soon. I'd hate to see this one die









Top view of waterfall / wood area









Detail of Lemmaphyllum microphyllum growing in a sphagnum packed crevice in the wood. Doing well.









Note 2 things in the below photo. 1- Mystery moss which at first I thought was java moss, but on closer inspection is something else. I have no idea where this came from but I won't complain. 2- Practically invisible in this pic is some Lemmaphyllum gametophytes from spore that I sprinkled around. I am super pumped that these spores are growing and it was a real surprise. To be honest I didn't see these gametophytes until I zoomed in on this pic. If you want to know where one of the gametophytes are in this pic, look near the center of the pic and you'll see a brown piece of dead sphagnum. Follow it vertically up the brown moss stem and at the top, just to the right, is a tiny dark green blob. That's it. 









A top view closeup of the wet area by the waterfall. Note dead-center the microscopic round green dot....another Lemmaphyllum from spore I spread around  yeah! And already with a leaf and out of the gametophyte stage


----------



## flyingSquirrel

OK OK I lied, I am posting all of the pics and updates  ..I got too excited and am on a roll, plus there are just a few more pics...

Peperomia prostrata growing from a single leaf which I embedded in moist sphagnum. Note fresh growth dead-center in the pic on the left of the single leaf









Ascocentrum pumilum mini orchid. Finally adjusted. The center leaf has emerged and grown in less than two weeks









Dendrobium jenkinsii mini orchid adjusted and showing fresh growth. Pseudo bulb and new roots forming. Woohoo! 









Dendrobium lichenastrum micro orchid attached to a piece of tree fern. Also adjusted and growing new roots and leaves









Dischidia ruscifolia FINALLY growing. I thought this thing would NEVER grow, it's been months since I put these cuttings in.









Ok that's it for now. This is getting super duper fun. Next up is to get a few more orchids from Andy's. I have it narrowed down to about 5 species and I am going to have some real thinking to do since I probably can't (or at least shouldn't) fit 5 orchids in this tank...._or can I ?!!!_


----------



## Ed

The tillandsias that are shown at the top of the water fall are prone to rotting if they stay that consistently wet.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

wow it is amazing 
You did an awesome job.
That is gonna be one happy newt 

Edit:
Just gave your thread an "excellent" rating


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> wow it is amazing
> You did an awesome job.
> That is gonna be one happy newt
> 
> Edit:
> Just gave your thread an "excellent" rating


Thanks buddy!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Ed said:


> The tillandsias that are shown at the top of the water fall are prone to rotting if they stay that consistently wet.


Ed,

Thanks for the warning. It's not usually as wet as you see in the pics. I had done some heavy misting not long before taking these photos. Normally everything dries out between mistings.


----------



## Ed

flyingSquirrel said:


> Ed,
> 
> Thanks for the warning. It's not usually as wet as you see in the pics. I had done some heavy misting not long before taking these photos. Normally everything dries out between mistings.


 
Cool, just making sure. 

Ed


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Ed said:


> Cool, just making sure.
> 
> Ed


Actually, things have changed...I just noticed that water is slowly creeping further out onto the wood and everything which used to be quite dry is becoming permanently saturated. So now I do need to move those tillandsia from that spot. Too bad, because there really isn't any other spot for the large 'Califano' one.


----------



## Judy S

To Dragon Spirit: You insist on giving incorrect information...I work at Lowes during the spring season, and have for a number of years...you do NOT know Jack *jumped over the candle stick* about the plants they have. The oakleaf form that this poster is looking for is a very slow growing one that is what I suggested. It is called (L0OK IT UP!!!) FICUS PUMILA QUERCIFOLIA... The description of Quercifolia refers to the term for OAKS!!! FOR PETE'S SAKE STOP GIVING OUT INFORMATION THAT YOU KNOW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT...IT IS SO DAMN AGGRAVATING AND MAKES PEOPLE CR-AAAAAAAA---ZZZZZZZZZ---YYYYY ---- I am a certified Master Gardner in Maryland, work with all sorts of plants, am very tied in with other gardeners, have 26 different gardens on several acres...a member of several garden societies in MD--YOU ARE SO OUT OF LINE WITH ANY ADVICE...do readers realize how INEXPERIENCED AND YOUNG YOU REALLY ARE???


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

here is my post and I suggest you read it again.....


DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I see both regular ficus pumila and oak leaf all the time at Lowes.
> The plant people there let me pick off cuttings.
> That's how I got my ficus pumila but it isn't oak leaf.
> They usually come in huge hanging pots for $10 and they have some outside with a plant ladder thing fro the regular ficus pumila and that one is even bigger and like $20.
> I don't need that much and they said well just pick you off what you need but don't take too much of the plant
> 
> I hope to get some cuttings of Hypoestes phyllostachya in the spring if they let me. The only way they ever get that in is in a mixed planter with various plants and they are about $20. Yeah it's not much $ but really I don't want to waste the rest of the plants and they don't appeal to me.
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> So yeah FlyingSquirrel, check out Lowe's in the spring for the oak leaf and if you can't find any I will check my Lowe's and you can just send me enough money to ship it to you and I will get you a few cuttings. If I have the $ I can ship it myself...we will have to see...times are rough right now
> 
> tbh I like regular ficus pumila myself cause it looks more tropical and the oak leaf kind just looks more woodland IMO


so idk what you are ranting about but if you are gonna join the bandwagon maybe you should have a valid point....I never gave a specific name to the oak leaf variation of ficus pumila.
I have no clue on what you are going off about cause I didn't say any plant names wrong...and there was no misinformation in that post.
Are you mad that I didn't say the actual scientific name?
I do not have to be 100% politically correct and perfect. I know what the scientific name is but if you really do work there then you should know the plants are labeled as there common name instead of scientific.
I have went into Lowe's saying the scientific names and they just cock their head and look at me like they are in outer space and the gardner there is very experienced yet he only really knows the plants by there common names.

In all the times I have had confrontations with people in threads I have not cussed and used bad language. 
I should be banned for what? Not being perfect? I make mistakes and I have maintained myself pretty well.
btw I do not have to agree with people and change my beliefs.....If I believe GE II is ok to use then fine. There are LOADS of people who use it and swear by the stuff and yes even some of Dendroboard's finest.
Just cause the elites say something is so does NOT make it law lol.
Different strokes for different folks and trust me our strokes are far from the same cause I think outside the box and accept possibilities that maybe things are just exaggerated. Many members really think some of the claims about things are very exaggerated. 
So I just agree to disagree and move on...no sense in preaching my views and opinions anymore to those who don't care at all.
The elites are just experienced members and they are not the PDF police or the PDF government and to be honest their are many here that think their ways are a bit far fetched and over the top.
I really think that you behavior has something to do with all that and nothing to do with the post I made and you quoted.
It was just an opportunity for you to go off on me and I have felt your energy and figured it was gonna happen sooner or later but I try to be nice to you any way I can.
If you wish to discuss this further and actually be a civil person then you can send me a PM instead of derailing the thread any longer.
Have a great day 

fyi the above message is for Judy and I will not entertain discussions to anyone else about this matter or anything mentioned in above message unless the OP wishes to discuss the matter. 
If you have anything to discuss please feel free to send me a PM and we can discuss this but only do so if you are going to remain civil.
Thanks.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I apologize FlyingSquirrel if I am at fault for this behavior to take place. 
It is beyond me why this has happened.
That sucks you have to move that huge till 
I really like it. I hope you find a good spot for it


----------



## Ed

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> here is my post and I suggest you read it again.....


In reading back through your posts.. it is pretty clear that your "suggestions" for using F. pumila are for using the normal form which is known to overrun tanks fairly quickly and can destroy backgrounds, push up lids and choke out other plants (particularly slower growing, non-vine species like orchids. 

We can go back and see this confusion starting with this post


DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Yeah you can do that.
> Check out peperomia serpens. It is an awesome vine plant, idk how it will do in your viv but ficus pumila might do well for you....just have to trim it when it gets out of control.
> I'm not very experienced with vine plants lol sorry man


You make a suggestion for F. pumila with no designation as to the type.. which makes the direct suggestion that he should use the normal form. If your not very experienced, then why would you offer suggestions? 



DragonSpirit1185 said:


> so idk what you are ranting about but if you are gonna join the bandwagon maybe you should have a valid point....I never gave a specific name to the oak leaf variation of ficus pumila.


Which is why Judy is having a fit... If he lets the normal form of F. pumila take off in that tank, he would regret it. Your confusing the issue as well as giving advice that could result in a tank having to be redone in a relatively short period of time...... 

Brandon, contrary to your wish to be important enough to persecute, there isn't a band wagon... 



DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I have no clue on what you are going off about cause I didn't say any plant names wrong...and there was no misinformation in that post.


Yes, yes there was, see the above comments. 



DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I do not have to be 100% politically correct and perfect.


I think a lot of people would be a lot happier if you didn't give suggestions when you are clearly ignorant of the potential impact of what you say. 



DragonSpirit1185 said:


> In all the times I have had confrontations with people in threads I have not cussed and used bad language.


I'm going to brand this for the lie that it is... I can think of one thread where you not only did swear but used texting shorthand to do it as well.... 



DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I should be banned for what? Not being perfect? I make mistakes and I have maintained myself pretty well.
> btw I do not have to agree with people and change my beliefs.....


It would be okay if you didn't foster the bad information that those "beliefs' provided you onto other people putting their animals and enclosures at risk.. It is fine for you to have those beliefs since you do not have any dendrobatid frogs to put at risk...like when you suggested that a person should disinfect thier hands with hand sanitizer right before picking up a frog.... 



DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I think outside the box and accept possibilities that maybe things are just exaggerated. Many members really think some of the claims about things are very exaggerated.


Like the success and experience with these types of frogs and terrarium constuction that you try to portray as you give bad information because you don't have much experience with it at all??.... 



DragonSpirit1185 said:


> So I just agree to disagree and move on...no sense in preaching my views and opinions anymore to those who don't care at all.


You keep saying this in many many threads but you can't seem to do it... 



DragonSpirit1185 said:


> The elites are just experienced members and they are not the PDF police or the PDF government and to be honest their are many here that think their ways are a bit far fetched and over the top.


Contrary to your repeated disgruntled claims, there are no so "called" elites nor are they attempting to "persecute" you. You have devolved into insulting people that have to correct the quality of the information that you provide to other unsuspecting members of this forum by calling them elites.... 



DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I really think that you behavior has something to do with all that and nothing to do with the post I made and you quoted.


If you read through her last post, she didn't quote you... so your simply making an assumed accusation.... 

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/pa...-go-details-very-pic-heavy-16.html#post688611 to attempt a backhanded insult. 



DragonSpirit1185 said:


> fyi the above message is for Judy and I will not entertain discussions to anyone else about this matter or anything mentioned in above message unless the OP wishes to discuss the matter.
> If you have anything to discuss please feel free to send me a PM and we can discuss this but only do so if you are going to remain civil.
> Thanks.


When did you get the authority to start telling people that they can't respond to a post of yours particularly when it is loaded with accusations and implied insults..... 
And as for sending you pms to "discuss" it, that resulted in you attempting to mock and insult me repeatedly... and that is the experience reported by others. 



DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I apologize FlyingSquirrel if I am at fault for this behavior to take place.
> It is beyond me why this has happened


You should apologize since you are the person who took it very far off track more than once in this thread.. 

It shouldn't be beyond you.. You've had the issues pointed out to you by other members, and even moderators... yet you persist... 

Ed


----------



## Judy S

I also apologize to the readers of this particular thread if it has been hijacked into something personal. Thanks to Ed for having made his posting... I do not apologize for my lack of patience at information that is patently incorrect on this one small issue as it is a reflection of how misinformation and bad advice is presented as fact instead of beliefs. There are a lot of people on the board who have years of experience...and that limited number are hugely generous with their advice and information. It doesn't help the "new" readers to receive such dogmatic statements from anyone without the humility and self-awareness, and the character, to refrain from issues that one has very limited experience with. Again, my apology especially to Flying Sq.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Neo 'Dartanion'. She was potted when I got her, so I removed all the roots and tied her to the vine right there. Roots are attached to the vine and wood now.









.....and I was surprised to find this offshoot, because I thought the brom had more growing to do first. Dartanion is a nice small brom. Great!









Here's part of the background that has been bare, and I decided to put some sphag and add some cuttings of Peperomia prostrata to cover the wall up nicely. It should look awesome when it fills in. First pic is bare, second has the cuttings









Sidenote: Neo 'Chiquita Linda' is super awesome! It's sooo small and adorable.









Hard to see but there are random mosses growing, and also some more Lemmaphyllum spores are doing their thing









And more Sinningia seedlings popping up









The Lemmaphyllum is doing great. I really love this fern and it grows faster than I thought. Plus the spores I threw everywhere are growing. This tank is gonna be chock full of button fern, and it's gonna look wicked! 


















Next up will be to order some mini orchids from Andy's. Unfortunately I am cursed by the inability to make decisions...so I'm agonizing over choosing which to order out of a big list that I REALLY want. (and the list keeps growing  )

I am going to order a 'clumper' or two, a few mini 'creepers' for background-cover, and one or two 'micro epiphytes'. I also asked about some species not listed on the site, and scored on those. List of ordered plants to come soon, once I decide


----------



## leuc11

Ed said:


> In reading back through your posts.. it is pretty clear that your "suggestions" for using F. pumila are for using the normal form which is known to overrun tanks fairly quickly and can destroy backgrounds, push up lids and choke out other plants (particularly slower growing, non-vine species like orchids.
> 
> We can go back and see this confusion starting with this post
> 
> 
> You make a suggestion for F. pumila with no designation as to the type.. which makes the direct suggestion that he should use the normal form. If your not very experienced, then why would you offer suggestions?
> 
> 
> 
> Which is why Judy is having a fit... If he lets the normal form of F. pumila take off in that tank, he would regret it. Your confusing the issue as well as giving advice that could result in a tank having to be redone in a relatively short period of time......
> 
> Brandon, contrary to your wish to be important enough to persecute, there isn't a band wagon...
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, yes there was, see the above comments.
> 
> 
> 
> I think a lot of people would be a lot happier if you didn't give suggestions when you are clearly ignorant of the potential impact of what you say.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm going to brand this for the lie that it is... I can think of one thread where you not only did swear but used texting shorthand to do it as well....
> 
> 
> 
> It would be okay if you didn't foster the bad information that those "beliefs' provided you onto other people putting their animals and enclosures at risk.. It is fine for you to have those beliefs since you do not have any dendrobatid frogs to put at risk...like when you suggested that a person should disinfect thier hands with hand sanitizer right before picking up a frog....
> 
> 
> 
> Like the success and experience with these types of frogs and terrarium constuction that you try to portray as you give bad information because you don't have much experience with it at all??....
> 
> 
> 
> You keep saying this in many many threads but you can't seem to do it...
> 
> 
> 
> Contrary to your repeated disgruntled claims, there are no so "called" elites nor are they attempting to "persecute" you. You have devolved into insulting people that have to correct the quality of the information that you provide to other unsuspecting members of this forum by calling them elites....
> 
> 
> 
> If you read through her last post, she didn't quote you... so your simply making an assumed accusation....
> 
> http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/pa...-go-details-very-pic-heavy-16.html#post688611 to attempt a backhanded insult.
> 
> 
> 
> When did you get the authority to start telling people that they can't respond to a post of yours particularly when it is loaded with accusations and implied insults.....
> And as for sending you pms to "discuss" it, that resulted in you attempting to mock and insult me repeatedly... and that is the experience reported by others.
> 
> 
> 
> You should apologize since you are the person who took it very far off track more than once in this thread..
> 
> It shouldn't be beyond you.. You've had the issues pointed out to you by other members, and even moderators... yet you persist...
> 
> Ed


WOW ed you went all out with the quoting


----------



## Gigantisaurus

Amazing work flying squirrel,truly inspiring has given me loads of ideas.I can truly say that was the most engrossing 17 page post i have read through.Thanks for all your info/pics success and fail stories


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Gigantisaurus said:


> Amazing work flying squirrel,truly inspiring has given me loads of ideas.I can truly say that was the most engrossing 17 page post i have read through.Thanks for all your info/pics success and fail stories


Thank you very much. Welcome to the forums


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Despite my efforts of sterilizing the aquatic plants in bleach, various eggs managed to survive and have exploded into an exponentially growing colony of disgusting underwater arachnids. 

I can't ID these things but they appear to be presenting all stages of the lifecycle...looks like eggs to various sized nymphs and then to mature one. Not cool! These things are gross and who knows if they are parasitic. I've also spotted (not photographed) what appear to be small white 1/8" leaches, among other worms and things. I am NOT chancing it and therefore will not put my newt in that mess. I've been concerned about water quality, ph, and temps anyway, so it looks like this epic build is nothing more than a vivarium for crawly things. Interesting but disappointing...and who knows how dense the populations will get or what else will pop up.

On the dry side, the mites have been multiplying, which doesn't bother me as long as they stay inside the tank. However some kind of 1/8" black winged things are multiplying as well. Can't ID them either but maybe thrips? They are shiny, crawl fast, and rarely fly, and they like the wet areas and crannies in the soil and wood. Curse you bugs, curse you!!! 

The repulsive creatures, which stimulate the arachnophobic side of me (which is a big side). *If anybody with biology knowledge can truly ID these things I'd appreciate it so I can learn about them and know what they eat.* I may need to treat the tank with something from a fish store to kill all this crap.





































This guy doesn't bother me much, appears to be some kind of harmless snail that eats algae or scavenges. They are in my newt's current home and never cause problems.


----------



## JPccusa

Very nice thread. I will "use" you as resource for mini plants in the future. 

As for the underwater creatures, get a fish that will eat them. Natural control.


----------



## GloriaRae

Sorry, I don't know anything about your creepy crawlies. Maybe Ed or Doug will pop in with some help. 

I do want to say that this was an awesome build thread. I love that you went into detail with all the plants and tied it in with the photos.

Thank you,
Gloria Rae


----------



## Ed

The snail is a freshwater limpet. I suspect that the leech like things are simply a small type of free living flatworm (potentially a planaria) that typically is found in aquatic systems with a high bio-load. The little mite like things are exactly that, a free living aquatic mite. Don't be surprised if copepods also show up in that system. 

Water changes will help bring some of those numbers under control but they are considered harmless unless the numbers get so high they begin to live on the newt as a mobile bus.. But as I noted above, the issue is usually due to a high organic load in the tank. 

Ed


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Ed said:


> The snail is a freshwater limpet. I suspect that the leech like things are simply a small type of free living flatworm (potentially a planaria) that typically is found in aquatic systems with a high bio-load. The little mite like things are exactly that, a free living aquatic mite. Don't be surprised if copepods also show up in that system.
> 
> Water changes will help bring some of those numbers under control but they are considered harmless unless the numbers get so high they begin to live on the newt as a mobile bus.. But as I noted above, the issue is usually due to a high organic load in the tank.
> 
> Ed



Yeah, there are copepods and a variety of other microscopic life. Most of them don't bother me.

I have been doing 50-75% water changes weekly

Can you summarize in layman's terms what "high bio-load" means? Also, is "high bio-load" a bad thing?


----------



## Ed

High bioload can mean that there are a large number of animals in the system putting a stress on the filtration but it can also mean that there are a lot of organics dissolved in the water which is then supporting a high aufwuchs population... 

It can be a bad thing if it results in poor water quality (such as high ammonia, nitrite and/or nitrate. How much you change a week may need to be much higher if there are still a lot of organics ending up dissolved in the water. 

Ed


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

wow this suck man. I hope you get it all under control.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Ed said:


> High bioload can mean that there are a large number of animals in the system putting a stress on the filtration but it can also mean that there are a lot of organics dissolved in the water which is then supporting a high aufwuchs population...
> 
> It can be a bad thing if it results in poor water quality (such as high ammonia, nitrite and/or nitrate. How much you change a week may need to be much higher if there are still a lot of organics ending up dissolved in the water.
> 
> Ed


Ed, thank you for teaching me this, it's incredible to learn stuff like this, especially the word 'aufwuchs' 

I've been occasionally checking the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate levels and have consistently found the levels for all of them very low if not undetectable. The ph is a bit lower than I'd like (6.4 give or take a few tenths, but I'd like it around 7 or more) but I suspect it's due to all the peat and sphagnum moss, bark, eco-earth etc that is degrading in the bog-like conditions of the tank. Can biodegrading matter cause changes in ph?

I pulled out the old microscope from my dad's house and took a look at a variety of samples from the tank. Wow! It was incredible. The mites up close were amazing (and creepy), plus I found a flatworm as you suspected, some copepods and various crustaceans, etc.


----------



## xm41907

It's impossible to determine what species they are from your pictures, not enough detail. If you could collect as many as you can, put them in a vial with some alcohol and mail them to me, I'll key them out. If I can't, I work with an arachnid specialist that would be thrilled to identify them.


----------



## Johno2090

Hey Ed, just a quick note a lot of people have debunked the myth for nitrates being bad in aquatics. They would have to at anazingly high levels to do any damage, However nitrites and ammonia are very bad indeed. 

Sources: years of keeping aquariums dosed everyday with nitrates. Also you'd probably be interested in ukaps.org which shows some amazing progress when it comes to freshwater plants and health.


----------



## Ed

Johno2090 said:


> Hey Ed, just a quick note a lot of people have debunked the myth for nitrates being bad in aquatics. They would have to at anazingly high levels to do any damage, However nitrites and ammonia are very bad indeed.
> 
> Sources: years of keeping aquariums dosed everyday with nitrates. Also you'd probably be interested in ukaps.org which shows some amazing progress when it comes to freshwater plants and health.


In amphibians, there is a lot of variation between species (and even populations) but even relatively low levels can have an impact in amphibians. For example with fluctuating levels 30 ppm of nitrate (which is generally considered low in the freshwater aquatics) can have impacts that are not determined visually such as significant variations in thyroxine levels (see for example http://people.biology.ufl.edu/anura/pdfs/Edwards et al (Aquatic Toxicology 2006).pdf).. or growth to metamorphosis, size at metamorphosis, or behavior... some references put the LC50 for caudates (in this example Ambystoma gracile) at around 45 ppm of nitrate (see the discussion section here http://people.oregonstate.edu/~blaustea/pdfs/NitratesamphibiansMarcoSETAC1999.pdf). 

The typical value set for freshwater fish is around 90 ppm of nitrate (see 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1986. Quality criteria for water. EPA 440/5-86-001. Technical Report. Washington, DC.) and this can be many times higher than that needed to cause issues with amphibians. 

Some comments,

Ed ​


----------



## Ed

flyingSquirrel said:


> Ed, thank you for teaching me this, it's incredible to learn stuff like this, especially the word 'aufwuchs'


I've always liked some of the old aquarist terms.. aufwuchs.. mulm... and they are relevent when we discuss tadpoles... 



flyingSquirrel said:


> I've been occasionally checking the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate levels and have consistently found the levels for all of them very low if not undetectable. The ph is a bit lower than I'd like (6.4 give or take a few tenths, but I'd like it around 7 or more) but I suspect it's due to all the peat and sphagnum moss, bark, eco-earth etc that is degrading in the bog-like conditions of the tank. Can biodegrading matter cause changes in ph?


Anything between 6 and 8 tends to be okay for a wide variety of amphibians (know the habitat of the amphibian in question as some prefer different conditions..). 

Yes, biodegrading matter can impact pH, the break down of many types of plant matter releases humic acids and other molecules like lignin. A test kit testing for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate really should only be considered an idea of what is going on with the water (we know that these are toxic in certain levels and conditions) but other molecules (that supply a carbon source) can also be dissolved in the water and helping to support a high level of microbial, protozoal, and "microfauna" populations. 
We also often seen a pH drop in long-term enclosures that haven't had adequate water changes (not the case here just elaborating) as the conversion of ammonia to nitrite to nitrate is actually the conversion of ammonia (effectively a base) to nitrous acid to nitric acid. Over time this system overwhelms any buffers in the water and since the water changes haven't been sufficient to keep up with the nitrification process, over time the pH drops (and significantly in some cases down to as low as 4.5-5 (when it begins to interefere with the nitrification reactions by the bacteria). 



flyingSquirrel said:


> I pulled out the old microscope from my dad's house and took a look at a variety of samples from the tank. Wow! It was incredible. The mites up close were amazing (and creepy), plus I found a flatworm as you suspected, some copepods and various crustaceans, etc.


Look for rotifers and tardigrades. THey are some of my favorites in the protozoal fauna. 

The


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Microscope pics I took of the mites  (also see link at bottom to other thread with more pics of other creatures)





































New thread I started with all micro pics...check it out!
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/photography/78423-microscope-photos-paludarium-life.html


----------



## thedude

Ed said:


> Look for rotifers and tardigrades. THey are some of my favorites in the protozoal fauna.
> 
> The


Don't forget Formilarians and Amoebas! Seeing the phagocytosis in action is always amazing. Another interesting one would be vorticella.

A friend of mine had some Hydrazoans in her fish tank for several months, very neat stuff.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

What have I done?!! I just ordered SEVEN orchids from Andy's! OMG I have lost my mind! LOL.  (The plants will be revealed when they arrive; for now you shall be teased!)
-----

AND, I just got 2 minis from J&L!!!

Bulbophyllum ovalifolium (dark red form)









Macroclinium aurorae









Pics of these in the tank will be coming soon. I've also moved a few other plants around from their original locations. Will post when I have more time!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Here are some miscellaneous updates to whet your appetite until the new orchids arrive  

Neo. 'Chiquita Linda' is starting it's first offshoot at less than 5" tall. I love this brom!









I moved Ascocentrum pumilum up a little higher and a few inches over to a nicer spot.









I moved Dischidia ruscifolia where the Ascocentrum was. The dischida will have better light now and I think will also look nice when it fills in the spot. The cuttings were nicely rooted when I pulled them and the sphag off the foam wall- the roots were attaching to the foam. "Sorry to disturb you, plant "

OLD spot:








NEW spot:









New Macroclinium aurorae on the bg








New Bulbo. ovalifolium on the bg









Both on the bg









I moved Dendrobium lichenastrum to a new spot with more light and some places to creep to. It was rooting into the treefern I had it on. The wire and thread are temporary until it attaches roots

















Dendrobium jenkinsii new pseudobulb and unfolding leaf. This thing is taking off big time! I can't believe how fast it's growing now, and there are tons of new roots attaching to the bg. Sweet! Except, at this rate it might outgrow it's place faster than expected









Pleurothallis corniculata- my goodness, it FINALLY settled. Leaves stopped dropping and now a ton of new ones are shooting out


----------



## flyingSquirrel

...continuing from previous post...

There was a blank patch of partition that was bugging me, so I covered it with sphag and then transferred a bunch of java moss onto it. The java was from my other paludarium, so I bleach dipped it. You can see the newly planted spot vs the established java. It will fill in soon enough and look awesome









Crypts growing faster now


























The whole area filling in now









Hemianthus transitioned to emersed growth and filling in nicely









I took a bunch of leafless old crypt shoots and rubber-banded them together and submerged. Fresh leaves are growing and it's adapting wonderfully and looks beautiful









That bit of Bolbitis rhizome I submered near the flowing water is putting up decent growth to my surprise and delight









I just started feeding the aquatics with Seachem Flourish and Flourish Excel about 4 days ago. Will give it a week or two and see what kind of difference there is in plant growth, but I can swear I see better growth already.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

I think I see growth as well it looks great. I love the Dendrobium, they are some of my fav orchids.

It looks great 
How are the critters doing have you managed to reduce them some or get rid of them?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I think I see growth as well it looks great. I love the Dendrobium, they are some of my fav orchids.
> 
> It looks great
> How are the critters doing have you managed to reduce them some or get rid of them?


The bugs aren't too bad- water changes have kept them under control. And since they are probably harmless they don't bother me anyway.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

One quick update, just because I'm excited  . The flourish and flourish excel are making a difference and it's only been 7 days since starting it. Note the size difference and health of the largest leaf on this nymphoides compared to the other 2 that grew prior to the new fertilizers. The other plants are also showing advanced growth rates and health. Sweeet


----------



## Shinosuke

I'm still amazed that you fit so many great plants into a 29 gallon. Thanks for sharing!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Shinosuke said:


> I'm still amazed that you fit so many great plants into a 29 gallon. Thanks for sharing!


I am happy to share! This has been a really fun project to work on and post about, and it's not done yet 

Personally, I am also amazed how many plants I've stuffed in there!!! And, there are 8 more mini orchids coming this Friday  ...I might need to move a few things around to make them fit 

Thanks for following the thread!


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

oh geez....more plants lol


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Andy's box arrived last week   

Bulbophyllum alagense 'small form' - what a chunk!









Masdevallia bucculenta - tiny and awesome!

















Masdevallia erinacea - holy micro orchid batman!









Dryadella zebrina - with buds









Schoenorchis fragrans - drooooool









Haraella odorata - nice









Pleurothallis resupinata - 1 sexy orchid

















Sophronitis cernua - look at that leaf color

















ALL (there IS a mirror there, but it's still a lot of plants LOL)


----------



## jausi

Nice looking plants!!!,


Where did you order from?

Let me correct did, do you have andys link?? where your place your order


----------



## flyingSquirrel

jausi said:


> Nice looking plants!!!,
> 
> 
> Where did you order from?
> 
> Let me correct did, do you have andys link?? where your place your order


Thanks, I got them here:

Andy's Orchids - Orchid Species - Orchids - Species Specialist - Orchids on a stick

They are one of the best orchid growers anywhere


----------



## MrMonterrubio

Come on, man!!!

I NEED A PICTURE OF THE WHOLE TANK, not just parts of it.


PLEASE!!!

I might die If you don't !


----------



## flyingSquirrel

MrMonterrubio said:


> Come on, man!!!
> 
> I NEED A PICTURE OF THE WHOLE TANK, not just parts of it.
> 
> 
> PLEASE!!!
> 
> I might die If you don't !


Please don't die! LOL. For a whole tank shot, check out page 14 on this thread. However, a NEW full tank shot is coming very soon


----------



## Shinosuke

That bulb-o-fillum is sweet! The pic on Andys website doesn't do it justice Andy's Orchids - Orchid Species - Bulbophyllum - alagense small form. I'm amazed they sent you such a huge piece of it! Mind if I ask if that was a regular piece or did you pay for an extra-large one?

That Sophronitis is really interesting as is and looks like it has really colorful flowers as well.

I wish I had never started following this thread... I'm perilously close to coming down with a new addiction!


----------



## MrMonterrubio

I meant a new picture with all this new orchids and to see how the tank has matured.

I really love your tank.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

MrMonterrubio said:


> I meant a new picture with all this new orchids and to see how the tank has matured.
> 
> I really love your tank.


These vivs take time to grow in. Not much will change from page 14 to now...
It's only been a little over a month.
The aquatic plants might have grown in some but who knows about the terrestrial plants. 
Patience is a virtue in this hobby even tho most of us don't have patience haha
So just try to be patient yo


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Shinosuke said:


> That bulb-o-fillum is sweet! The pic on Andys website doesn't do it justice Andy's Orchids - Orchid Species - Bulbophyllum - alagense small form. I'm amazed they sent you such a huge piece of it! Mind if I ask if that was a regular piece or did you pay for an extra-large one?


That was the $20 chunk  ...and yes, many of the pics on Andy's site are not great. It's a bummer because they are such a great company and have great plants, their site should reflect that. On a side-note, I am bummed that so many people only photograph orchid flowers but not the plants. I do a google search for some weird orchid and half the time I can only find the flower pics and not see what the plant looks like 



Shinosuke said:


> That Sophronitis is really interesting as is and looks like it has really colorful flowers as well.


It is a fantastic plant. I can't wait till it gets more leaves and fills in- the specimen i got is kinda small. I am pretty sure the leaves get twice that size. And yes, the flowers are ridiculous



Shinosuke said:


> I wish I had never started following this thread... I'm perilously close to coming down with a new addiction!


Yes, my friend, it is most likely too late for you to resist. I am sorry I caused you this hardship


----------



## flyingSquirrel

MrMonterrubio said:


> I meant a new picture with all this new orchids and to see how the tank has matured.
> 
> I really love your tank.


Thank you very much. That new pic should be coming very very soon, within the next couple days


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> These vivs take time to grow in. Not much will change from page 14 to now...
> It's only been a little over a month.
> The aquatic plants might have grown in some but who knows about the terrestrial plants.
> Patience is a virtue in this hobby even tho most of us don't have patience haha
> So just try to be patient yo


True story. I am not very patient at all, so it's really hard when I know how I WANT the tank to look, and the plants don't cooperate


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Here it be, the 29 Gallon Paludarium










There are attributes which I am not happy with, that I hope to change over time via some new plants (notably, ferns) and more moss growth. I am still bothered by a "feeling" that things are "flat." I strongly believe some good dwarf ferns on the side walls would add the look I desire, but the problem is finding just the right fern and a source for it. At least some visual contrast is provided by the broms and the aquatic Nymphoides.

I really want to get some plant cover on portions of the back wall and right side wall, mostly just moss would be fine. I'll have to pin a bunch of sphagnum to the background, attach live moss, and water daily. Humidity is nowhere near a frog viv so moss is impossible to grow directly on the background.

(Ridiculous) Current Plant List:

Aroids/Araceae --
Anubias barteri var. nana 'Narrowleaf'
Anubias barteri var. nana 'Petite'
Cryptocoryne balansae
Cryptocoryne lutea
Cryptocoryne wendtii no id (probably 'Tropica')

Bromeliads/Bromeliaceae --
Neoregelia 'Chiquita Linda' 
Neoregelia 'Dartanion'
Neoregelia 'Red Bird' x 'Fireball'
Neoregelia 'Small Fry'

Dischidia/Apocynaceae
Dischidia nummularia
Dischida ruscifolia

Ferns/Pteridophyta --
Bolbitis heteroclita
Lemmaphyllum microphyllum
Microsorum pteropus 'Narrowleaf'
Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov'

Fern allies
Isoetes velata var varsicula

Gesneriads/Gesneriaceae --
Columnea microphylla
Sinningia sp. 'Rio das Piedras'

Lomariopsidaceae
Subwassertang (Lomariopsis fern aquatic gametophyte)

Menyanthaceae
Nymphoides aquatica

Moss/Bryophytes --
Vesicularia dubyana
Miscellaneous moss and liverwort

Orchids/Orchidaceae --
Ascocentrum pumilum
Bulbophyllum alagense 'small form'
Bulbophyllum ovalifolium
Dendrobium jenkinsii 
Dendrobium lichenastrum / Davejonesia lichenastrum (Dendrobium)
Dryadella zebrina
Haraella odorata
Macroclinium aurorae
Masdevallia bucculenta
Masdevallia erinacea
Pleurothallis corniculata
Pleurothallis resupinata
Schoenorchis fragrans
Sophronitis cernua

Piperaceae --
Peperomia prostrata

Scrophulariaceae
Hemianthus callitrichoides

Selaginellaceae
Selaginella diffusa ? (id not trusted)

Tillandsia/Bromeliaceae > Tillandsioideae --
Tillandsia andreana x funckiana
Tillandsia bandensis
Tillandsia Califano (baileyi x ionantha)
Tillandsia ionantha v. stricta forma fastigiata 'Peanut'
Tillandsia ionantha no id
Tillandsia loliacea
Tillandsia no id (species?)


----------



## Azriel

Wow, I can't believe how many plants you managed to fit in there! I was worried it might look a little ridiculous with so many plants, but it actually looks really great! Good job.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Azriel said:


> Wow, I can't believe how many plants you managed to fit in there! I was worried it might look a little ridiculous with so many plants, but it actually looks really great! Good job.


Thanks! I know, the plant list is unbelievable. But I am sure I can fit a few more species in there


----------



## Shinosuke

That is hands-down the most impressive 29 gallon tank I've ever seen. I'd love to see what you could do with a larger tank!
What do you do with all the plants that don't fit in there?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Shinosuke said:


> That is hands-down the most impressive 29 gallon tank I've ever seen.


Wow, thank you so much!



Shinosuke said:


> I'd love to see what you could do with a larger tank!


As would I! 



Shinosuke said:


> What do you do with all the plants that don't fit in there?


I haven't really run into that very much, since everything I buy is mini. There are a few things that I may need to part with soon though


----------



## Noort

I am new @ posting (been lurking on and of for years now) ... would really like to say "thank you" for sharing this gorgeous tank.

Wonderfull plants (the orchids made me really itching to finish rebuilding my largest tank) and smashing pictures!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Noort said:


> I am new @ posting (been lurking on and of for years now) ... would really like to say "thank you" for sharing this gorgeous tank.
> 
> Wonderfull plants (the orchids made me really itching to finish rebuilding my largest tank) and smashing pictures!


Thanks for your comments. You should finish rebuilding your tank! And document it on dendroboard. And buy orchids


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> Thanks! I know, the plant list is unbelievable. But I am sure I can fit a few more species in there


LOL I think you have plenty 
Gotta remember some stuff will grow in 

Looks fantastic


----------



## Shinosuke

flyingSquirrel said:


> I haven't really run into that very much, since everything I buy is mini. There are a few things that I may need to part with soon though


Why on earth would you part with such awesome plants? I was simply wondering what you did with the leftovers. I was reading a thread (http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/plants/78145-orchids-foliage-2.html#post696366) recently where a person kept a stump in their window and attached their orchids to it. Sounds odd, I know, but I thought it was a great idea. I figured with skills like yours you might have some nifty display area set up for the rest of the stuff you weren't able to fit in this tank.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Shinosuke said:


> Why on earth would you part with such awesome plants? I was simply wondering what you did with the leftovers. I was reading a thread (http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/plants/78145-orchids-foliage-2.html#post696366) recently where a person kept a stump in their window and attached their orchids to it. Sounds odd, I know, but I thought it was a great idea. I figured with skills like yours you might have some nifty display area set up for the rest of the stuff you weren't able to fit in this tank.


Ah, orchids for foliage thread..I started that one actually. Yeah that stump was very cool. I'll have to go back and look again but I can't remember if they had a light over that or if it was just natural window lighting.

I don't have anywhere to grow plants other than in my tank. I wish I did though. I wish I had space for another tank, and money to do the build, and pay for the electricity to run the lights and fans, etc LOL. I also wish I had a greenhouse, but now I'm just dreaming.

As far as leftovers, I am wondering if you mean cuttings from the plants when they grow larger? Like the Columnea microphylla right now is getting rather long so I might need to snip a few stems off that. I can see things growing in and having leftovers and brom offshoots, etc. But other than that I have been able to fit everything into the tank without any extra bits left. If I do have cuttings or decide to swap out a plant, I will probably have to sell or trade since there would be nowhere else for me to grow them.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Greetings all! I sincerely appreciate all of your comments, and thanks for joining me in this adventure. The journey continues...

1. Today I visited my local plastics shop and put in an order for some acrylic pieces to be cut and drilled. I have redesigned the front portion of my tank lid to have less of a gap between it and the rear glass lid portion, in order to increase humidity. I also have upgraded my fans and tweaked the design in general. Don't worry, I know all about acrylic sagging, and my design should reduce or eliminate any problems. I'll post pics when I build it.

2. I gathered various moss and liverwort samples from my dad's backyard. There are dozens of various species growing on trees, stumps, branches, logs, rocks, ground, etc. I carefully selected samples of species which had a smaller or more compact growth form and which were visually interesting to me.

I doubt I'll be using all of the samples in the tank. I just wanted to gather enough so I could be picky when it comes to placing things. Hopefully at least a few species take hold and grow well. I'm hoping the stronger air movement from my new fans will make the environment more hospitable.

The samples are drying on elevated window screen, and when dry, I will be doing a dry ice CO2 treatment. Actually I'll probably do 2 or 3 treatments, spaced over a couple days. I am hoping to kill most of the bugs and snails, slugs, etc. I am sure some eggs will survive, but what can I do? There's no way I am going to bleach treat this moss. The moss on the branch pieces will be picked off before the gas treatment, and the branches will be tossed.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Dryadella zebrina blooms opened today! As silly as it sounds, this one "doesn't count" for me because it was already in bud when I got it from Andy's.










I am still looking forward to truly growing an orchid to bloom on my own. That goal may soon be reached, but you won't know what until it happens...muahahaha


----------



## MrMonterrubio

Dude, I can't stop staring at that picture of the tank. 

You skillful little squirel, keep it going and buy a huge tank already.


Good luck with the moss


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Ok, here's the new tank lid section build details:

The fans are mounted internally with no holes for them. There are holes toward the front of the lid, and there is a 1/2" gap between the plexi and the glass section of lid. The front portion is a "box" with holes on the bottom, and that has a removable lid so I can increase or decrease the passive ventilation, humidity, and temperature (non-scientifically, of course ) 
The lid has small magnet closures to hold it in place when attached. Additionally, the "box" was designed to block light at the front of the light fixture to increase view-ability of the tank and to create a more refined look to the entire tank "hood" so-to-speak. 

Fans are mounted with nylon nuts and bolts and are spaced away from the plexi about 1/4". They are wired to a fan controller, however are currently running at full speed/power.

The fans (the black filters were not used)










The plexi pieces, and assembly

Solvent in needle bottle applicator









Pieces of plexi






















































Lights pulled back to show fans


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Lid in place on tank





































Front "box" OPEN


----------



## Adventure King

Wow, that is a whole lot of plants. . . And you managed to fit all of them into this? That takes some serious skill. I still think though that the oxygen eminating from those is going to seep through cyberspace and cause some serious problems for me. 

Does it look like to you that the brom in the middle has shrunk since you first put it in?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Adventure King said:


> Wow, that is a whole lot of plants. . . And you managed to fit all of them into this? That takes some serious skill. I still think though that the oxygen eminating from those is going to seep through cyberspace and cause some serious problems for me.
> 
> Does it look like to you that the brom in the middle has shrunk since you first put it in?


Thanks for the comments.

The brom offset has got much bigger, so by comparison the mother plant could potentially look smaller. The mother also lost a few leaves.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

I want to show you a sprayer I got, that I am now using to water the plants and mist the tank. This thing is seriously AWESOME. I highly recommend this sprayer. Very well built, high quality, excellent features. Just amazing. It allows me to precisely water or mist specific plants or areas, for example an orchid which needs to be watered while other orchids near it need to stay dry. I can also water just the roots if I don't want to wet the leaves or flower. I can angle the sprayer to to get under plants, in corners, down without tilting the bottle, etc.



































Got these exoterra digital gauges- Thermometer and Hygrometer. A great feature of these is they automatically remember the lowest and highest values. So I can see what my min and max temps and humidity are. Very cool. And they happen to fit into the slot on top of my light fixture so they stand up and are nicely positioned and viewable. 









Seachem aquatic plant fertilizer and co2 booster. This stuff is quality, and seriously works. I recommend it for planted tanks, and the price can't be beat in my opinion. However, I would only recommend it for tanks with adequate lighting. If light is insufficient it will not be as useful (as with any other plants and fertilizers of course)


----------



## Roadkillstewie

Squirrel,

is that 3/8" plexi?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Roadkillstewie said:


> Squirrel,
> 
> is that 3/8" plexi?


No, it's 1/4"


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

wow man you are killing it lol
Where did you get that sprayer?
I can't really wrap my head around your ventilation thing you got going on there lol


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> wow man you are killing it lol
> Where did you get that sprayer?
> I can't really wrap my head around your ventilation thing you got going on there lol


Thank you!

Here: 





I know, the lid/vent thing is weird and very unconventional. All I know is that it's working perfectly and my temps/humidity are on the money, circulation is perfect so plants are drying well and 0 mold growth, and things are growing great.

To make it super simple, basically it's just a piece of plastic acting as a lid, with holes in the front for ventilation, and there are fans hanging under it inside the tank for internal circulation. I think the design and look of it is more confusing that what it really is.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

*Re: 'Tis the season--What have you got blooming?*

My FIRST EVER orchid bloom (that I grew to bloom, as opposed to getting it from a supplier with buds already on)

Dendrobium lichenastrum (All white?! I thought it was going to have pink w/ stripes)



















and Sinningia muscicola (Sinningia sp. "Rio das Pedras")




























PS - A ton of new pics and updates are coming soon! The moss I collected went in, as well as some ephiphytic overhanging ferns.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Carnivorous plants into the tank! Who's a crazy person? I AM! 

Drosera spatulata and Utricularia sandersonii




































Will these CP's survive? Who knows! The only concern would be water quality and heavy nutrient load. I like to experiment, so I wanted to give them a shot. We shall see if they thrive or if they slowly croak. 

The Drosera is where the Sinningia used to be. The Sinningia didn't bloom well so I suspect it was growing too wet. I split up the clump and planted it all around the tank in various areas.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Going back a page or two, you'll see some moss I collected. Next I build a co2 contraption so I could bomb the moss to kill any bugs in it. I got the plans and info for the device here: http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/56812-building-using-co2-generator.html?referrerid=14758
Here's mine:









I made a trade for some Polypodium polypodioides (resurrection fern) from a member on DB.

Ooooh noooo, it's dead!



















Just kidding!










In order to place the fern where I wanted it, I had to move a few things around, particularly the Sophronitis cernua orchid. This all worked out perfectly, because:
- The orchid was not getting as much light as I'd like it to
- I discovered mold beneath it when I removed it, which I otherwise wouldn't have known about
- I found a better spot for it, and I was able to fit a piece of tree fern into that spot quite well, which is an ideal mount for this orchid

I gave it a live moss blanket from the collected samples

Mold under Sophronitis










Gorgeous new mount









New location


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Here are a bunch of pics showing more live moss placement, as well as fern placement






















































































































Crappy photo of whole tank with point and shoot. Just not the same as creating an HDR photo like the last full tank shot I did, but it gives you an idea of how things look with the ferns and moss










The ferns are EXACTLY the missing piece I have been looking for 
Hopefully some or all of the moss does well and will fill in to look more natural


----------



## tahir tareen

looks great, so much to look at! 

i have some U. sandersonii flowering in my cristobal tank, it does well and spreads like crazy in vivs with enough light. i planted some D. adelae in there a few months ago and most rotted quickly. fortunately one is coming back now with a few offshoots. if that D. spatulata doesnt work out try adelae, it does well and gets bigger with less light than most sundews!


----------



## eos

That's a great looking tank! Good job... Those resurrection ferns are nice.


----------



## Shinosuke

Man, I always love your updates. The utricularia sandersonii is especially cool, I might have to try and find some of that. I may have mentioned this but I have one of the same sinningia's and am really fond of it. Cute flowers, interesting leaves, supposed to stay pretty tiny. 

Your photos are impressive, though I wish that your FTS's were a bajillion by bajillion resolution so I could blow them up huge and see it all life-sized!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Shinosuke said:


> Man, I always love your updates. The utricularia sandersonii is especially cool, I might have to try and find some of that. I may have mentioned this but I have one of the same sinningia's and am really fond of it. Cute flowers, interesting leaves, supposed to stay pretty tiny.
> 
> Your photos are impressive, though I wish that your FTS's were a bajillion by bajillion resolution so I could blow them up huge and see it all life-sized!


Thanks for the comments

The Utricularias usually need to be very wet. Here are a few suppliers of some Utricularias, one has a sandersonii blue form, and the other has other species. Plus there are other cp nurseries you can find by googling

Bladderworts

Carnivorous Plant Nursery Aldrovanda, Bladderworts and Genlisea


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Thank you, everyone, for your comments. I appreciate it and it makes it more fun, and motivates me to keep posting!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Oh My Goodness! In a moment of afflatus, I suddenly conceptualized/visualized TWO new incredible ideas for vivs that I simply must build. Unfortunately I can't because I don't have anywhere to put them, don't have the money to make them, and don't have the money to pay for electricity to power the lights and pumps and everything (in addition to the paludarium from this thread). Arg! Well anyway, I've chicken-scratched them on some paper and stored them for future use.


----------



## outlaws

Thanks for sharing your build as pictures does mean 1000 words. Seeing the build of a new vivarium come to life was quite inspiring as I am clueless about starting one. Thanks to your pictures and detailed followup I will be able to use my recently acquired 20g long tank and incorporate some ideas into my new build.

I am curious when you are putting in the newt? And the long-term livelihood of the plants since it doesn't look crowded now but with time it seems like it would be a problem?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

outlaws said:


> Thanks for sharing your build as pictures does mean 1000 words. Seeing the build of a new vivarium come to life was quite inspiring as I am clueless about starting one. Thanks to your pictures and detailed followup I will be able to use my recently acquired 20g long tank and incorporate some ideas into my new build.
> 
> I am curious when you are putting in the newt? And the long-term livelihood of the plants since it doesn't look crowded now but with time it seems like it would be a problem?


Thanks for the comments; I'm glad I could help inspire a little. The newt is not ever going in. I decided against moving him, I am leaving him in his current tank and just keeping this one for plants and stuff. Only some of the plants I have are quick growing or spreading. Most of them are micro or mini, so they won't get crowded simply because they don't get big. The faster growing plants are filling in quite a bit, but I'll just keep an eye on things and prune/divide as needed to keep it under control. And because these type of projects are "organic" in nature and it's always evolving, if I decide something isn't working anymore I will just remove it and put something else in place.


----------



## Miseration

It is a very well done paludarium for sure, although I personally think you may have over done it a little with all those plants and so many different. But as mentioned, it is a nice setup with lots of work behind! Well done man. I just don't understand how you guys have patience to build as detailed setups..

Question. What newt species do you have in there? if it was to newts will say, too many post to read through : )


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Miseration said:


> It is a very well done paludarium for sure, although I personally think you may have over done it a little with all those plants and so many different. But as mentioned, it is a nice setup with lots of work behind! Well done man. I just don't understand how you guys have patience to build as detailed setups..
> 
> Question. What newt species do you have in there? if it was to newts will say, too many post to read through : )


Thank you for your comments. I understand that a lot of people will hold the same opinion as you do regarding the extreme diversity and number of plant species. I have seen some atrocious looking tanks with a mix of plants that just do not flow, but I do not believe my tank is one of them. I am of the opinion that if the species are carefully selected and the design is planned well, a diverse set up such as mine can look very good. However, on the other side of the fence, I love and very much appreciate simple setups with just a few species of plants, that try to achieve a more realistic "slice" of nature. That is actually something I plan to do for my next build.

I have a Japanese Firebelly Newt, but I decided not to put him into this tank.


----------



## Miseration

I agree with you. Simple with ferns, mosses grass and maybe some leaf plants.
You should try something similiar like this for you pyrrho setup but maybe only use a few different ferns, mosses and a few leaf plants, rocks and your nice homemade roots/wines. And of curse a similiar background.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

A quick update with a few orchid pics-

Masdevallia bucculenta in bloom














































Dryadella zebrina still blooming!! ..second flush of flowers are opening. I really love this plant 










A few other orchid species blooming soon, and more general pics of stuff in the tank too, so stay tuned


----------



## MrMonterrubio

flyingSquirrel said:


> Dryadella zebrina still blooming!! ..second flush of flowers are opening. I really love this plant



I'm in love with this orchid.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

MrMonterrubio said:


> I'm in love with this orchid.


It is a great orchid; I highly recommend it. Easy to grow / hard to kill, flowers last forever, and just plain cute- the whole plant is under 2". Andy's orchids sells it.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

wow 
I'm glad i stayed away for a bit and decided to let people get their builds updated more but sadly your's was the only one really LOL but wow it was just what I was looking for logging onto tonight.
You have convinced me not to start a paludarium unless I have plenty of money so spend on plants.
So I think eos mentioned that this fern hanging from the moss that you bombed are resurrection ferns?
I am going hunting in the woods behind me tomorrow for some mosses and whatnot. i know where some are but hopefully I can find some with some ferns like that.
I love your paludarium it is amazing


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> wow
> I'm glad i stayed away for a bit and decided to let people get their builds updated more but sadly your's was the only one really LOL but wow it was just what I was looking for logging onto tonight.
> You have convinced me not to start a paludarium unless I have plenty of money so spend on plants.
> So I think eos mentioned that this fern hanging from the moss that you bombed are resurrection ferns?
> I am going hunting in the woods behind me tomorrow for some mosses and whatnot. i know where some are but hopefully I can find some with some ferns like that.
> I love your paludarium it is amazing


I was wondering where you went off to. Thanks for the kind comments.

About the 'plenty of money to spend on plants' comment- that's not necessarily true. I am an addicted collector of unusual plants, so obviously I'm spending extravagant amounts of money. You could easily fill a paludarium with commonly available, inexpensive plants, just like any other viv you might build.

Yes they are resurrection ferns, Polypodium polypodiodes. I got them from another db member. Make sure any ferns you get aren't large species. I would recommend co2 treating them and any moss as well. Drying the moss out for a week first will take care of 90% of the crawlies.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Not long ago I traded some things with hydrophyte, and got a few nice things. Among them was a species of button fern I have wanted for a while, Pyrrosia nummularifolia. It is really liking the tank, so I'll post a pic of it in there in a month or so when it's grown a bit.










A while ago I added more moss and transplanted some Bulbo. alagense small form. I really like the way this little area looks. It was NOT easy to plant LOL, took me forever to put all this in with tweezers and reaching under the brom in the small spaces.



























Detail shot of the left side



















Right area




























Aquatics ...Nymphoides aquatica









Bolbitis heteroclita fern in center of pic, growing quite well for submersed growth, albeit taking its sweet time.


----------



## Shinosuke

I'm still constantly amazed that this is in a 29 gallon! I agree, that one spot around the brom is really cool looking, looks very natural. It's hard to imagine trying to plant that stuff!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Ok guys, prepare to be blown away by the next level of the micro mini orchid! I got something that is ultra super duper rare...

As a comparison, I'd like to first show you a picture of a common micro orchid called Bulbophyllum alagense "Small form"...then after that pic you will see the new hotness 

Bulbo. alagense 'Small form'










Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Bulbophyllum MINUTULUM 



















Bulbo alagense small form vs Bulbo minutulum










Bulbo. minutulum mounted on live moss









This orchid is ultra rare. I am very lucky to have it, and such a nice specimen at that  Now I simply pray profusely that I don't kill it


----------



## flyingSquirrel

BTW, bulbo minutulum is definitely NOT the smallest orchid that exists. There are others even more micro. Take for example platystele jungermannioides, the world's smallest orchid (not my pic)


----------



## froggies3

Man this just keeps getting better and better. Could we get a FTS soon.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

BEFORE...









...AFTER...









What's that crazy squirrel up to now...?


----------



## fishr

Fantastic thread. Loved all the step by step and discussions.


----------



## jacobi

The detailed planting work is wonderful. I've tried it, my hands feel like jackhammers holding onto the plant with long tweezers. Good thing I'm not a surgeon!

Jake


----------



## flyingSquirrel

fishr said:


> Fantastic thread. Loved all the step by step and discussions.


Why thank you my friend!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

jacobi said:


> The detailed planting work is wonderful. I've tried it, my hands feel like jackhammers holding onto the plant with long tweezers. Good thing I'm not a surgeon!
> 
> Jake


Haha! Thanks man, yeah it's not easy, especially in a 29G with top entry, that's already stuffed to the brim


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> I was wondering where you went off to. Thanks for the kind comments.
> 
> About the 'plenty of money to spend on plants' comment- that's not necessarily true. I am an addicted collector of unusual plants, so obviously I'm spending extravagant amounts of money. You could easily fill a paludarium with commonly available, inexpensive plants, just like any other viv you might build.
> 
> Yes they are resurrection ferns, Polypodium polypodiodes. I got them from another db member. Make sure any ferns you get aren't large species. I would recommend co2 treating them and any moss as well. Drying the moss out for a week first will take care of 90% of the crawlies.


You're welcome man.
Not spend much and make it look this good lol I doubt it 

what does a super rare orchid like that Bulbo minutulum run?






flyingSquirrel said:


> BEFORE...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...AFTER...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What's that crazy squirrel up to now...?


Yeah what are you up to


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> what does a super rare orchid like that Bulbo minutulum run?


Well, I paid $50 for that division, BUT I got a *VERY* good deal. Let's just say that I got it for a ridiculous price compared to what the supplier normally would charge. But it's all top secret, and if I tell you who or where, I'll have to kill you


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> Well, I paid $50 for that division, BUT I got a *VERY* good deal. Let's just say that I got it for a ridiculous price compared to what the supplier normally would charge. But it's all top secret, and if I tell you who or where, I'll have to kill you


Well I would love to get some cuttings from you some time in the future on some of these plants


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Well I would love to get some cuttings from you some time in the future on some of these plants


Sure, when some of this stuff gets to that point, I will probably post some divisions for sale. It will probably be a while considering the size of these minis though


----------



## flyingSquirrel

I apologize that this is a boring, one pic update. I am waiting for some orchid blooms to develop, and there are a few more things I am working on in the tank, then there will be another bigger update.

Just wanted to show this pic of an emersed cryptocoryne wendtii bloom. Couldn't get a good sharp shot as there was nothing to brace the camera on. Added note, if you look just to the left of the bloom, there is a brighter green leaf that is thinner. That is a cryptocoryne balansae. They have very long, thin leaves when grown underwater. People often talk about long leaved crypts not being good for emersed growth. IMO that is nonsense. Once they adapt to emersed growth just like any other crypt, they grow quite well. Of course the leaves will not be as long, but that's the case with most emersed crypts.


----------



## woodworker83

awesome thread. really nice work. its definitly one cool tank. i really like the water feature.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Still waiting for more things to bloom, more changes to get finished, more plants to arrive, etc. Below are a few new pics of Masdevallia bucculenta. I know I showed you some pics of this already, but now it has 4 blooms instead of 2, and there are 3 or 4 more spikes forming. Note that the 2 blooms that were in the pics from a few weeks ago are still fresh as a daisy. This plant rules. BTW, there are 7 more orchid species in spike / bud in my tank. That's right, I said SEVEN more species!


----------



## Jungleboy

Awesome thread!!! Love the orchids too!!!


----------



## Nismo95

just stumbled onto this one. take a 3 hour drive and come over the pass. I am in tri cities. You can build our XXL exo terra for me. I'll cook ya a steak haha


----------



## Spaff

I just got caught up in this thread. Your piece of minutulum is a lot bigger than mine  That Masd. bucculenta is really nice! Looking forward to seeing the really new additions


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Spaff said:


> I just got caught up in this thread. Your piece of minutulum is a lot bigger than mine  That Masd. bucculenta is really nice! Looking forward to seeing the really new additions


Yeah, I got the hookup on the minutulum, for sure. Thankfully it has settled now and is producing new growths at the ends and a few midway bulbs too 

The masdie is great. But you know what will be better? that's right, the erinacea! haha


----------



## mordoria

Thats an amazing tank. Really shows how good planning can make an amazing display. 
Any time those orchids get out of control, let me know


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Hey guys, a few updates for ya...

A pretty sweet little fern popped up on the roots of one of my orchids, and I transplanted it to grow in a separate area. These fronds are the younger, different looking ones. As the plant is growing, the fronds are changing to a different looking shape. Hopefully this fern doesn't get too big










The Macroclinium aurorae finally opened its blooms up... it only took 1.5 months for the spike to develop . Unfortunately I overwatered it and a leaf rotted off, and the flowers all dropped off after 2 days  So 1.5 months of waiting for 2 days of flowers. 





















For real-world reference, my index finger tip next to the inflorescence.









And a tape measure for true scale









I procured three new orchids- one is common and affordable, one is rare and very costly, and the third is incredibly rare and absurdly expensive. These were from the same supplier that I got the Bulbo minutulum from.









Bulbo maquilingense - common, and affordable










Bulbo striatellum - rare and costly










Bulbo catenarium - incredibly rare and absurdly expensive. If I told you the price, you might faint 










Bulbo catenarium versus B. minutulum - well well, look who is the smallest now!










B. striatellum in its new home.










No good pic yet of the B. maquilingense in the tank.

The rarity of 2 of these orchids has me on edge- if they don't make it, it's not the money I'm worried about, it's the impossible task of replacing them. They are not doing well at all right now, but a lot of orchids take a while to adjust. Wish me luck!


----------



## jacobi

I think you need to start going to Orchids Anonymous meetings


----------



## MrMonterrubio

You little crazy squirel.

Keep spending hundreds on orchids so we can see what we will never have :'(


----------



## Giga

What is that moss growing in all the pictures


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Giga said:


> What is that moss growing in all the pictures


There are a bunch of different mosses in there that I collected outside. I don't know the ID on most of them.


----------



## Giga

I thought mosses will die if there not tropical moss? That they need a cool winter period


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Giga said:


> I thought mosses will die if there not tropical moss? That they need a cool winter period


That is actually a myth. There have been several threads on this forum where people that have a lot of knowledge and experience with moss have said that is not true. Plenty of people grow temperate mosses in vivs. Of course some temperate moss species will do better than others, and it has to do with the rest of the conditions that you can supply, such as light level, humidity, air flow, substrate and ph, water quality, etc etc. Some of my temperate mosses are doing GREAT and some are doing horribly.


----------



## Giga

well thats good to know I have all kinds of cool moss around. How did you de-contaminate them, or straight into the viv?


----------



## goof901

for decontamination, the best way would be to bleach it and then quarantine it in a sealed container and constantly check for snails, slugs, nemerteans, etc. after a while, if you don't see anything, then it should be good. i'm not sure how long to quarantine tho...


----------



## flyingSquirrel

goof901 said:


> for decontamination, the best way would be to bleach it and then quarantine it in a sealed container and constantly check for snails, slugs, nemerteans, etc. after a while, if you don't see anything, then it should be good. i'm not sure how long to quarantine tho...


It should be noted that a dip in any effective strength of bleach solution will turn the moss lighter green or even tan/white, and potentially if not likely kill the moss. I've heard that the spores can survive and then germinate though. If you are worried about chytrid then I suppose this type of disinfection might be necessary. However, if you are only concerned about insects and what not, like myself (as I don't have animals in my tank), it would be sufficient to:

-dry the moss out completely for 2 - 3 weeks
-do a co2 treatment on it once or twice
-put the moss in a ziploc bag and mist it to rehydrate it
-watch it closely in the bag for a few days to a week to see if any bugs reappear

That is the procedure I followed with 100% successful remove of bugs and snails, etc


----------



## Giga

sounds good and I don't like using bleach.


----------



## Larguello

looks so nice, wish i could make a viv like that...maybe someday

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Giga said:


> sounds good and I don't like using bleach.


Do you have frogs / amphibians? If so you then you do need to be concerned about chytrid, which would *not *be eliminated by the steps I listed. You would need to use actual disinfection methods. I don't know what you can do to really disinfect moss other than bleach or other oxidizers.


----------



## Giga

I have no frogs as of yet as my tank isn't done yet, but have loved watching urs coming together.


----------



## rachel1

Make sure you post pics of the finished set up! It looks like its gonna be awesome.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

> Bulbo catenarium -incredibly rare and absurdly expensive. If I told you the price, you might faint


Well I could use a nap so how much did it cost 
Me and my ex went to an Orchid nusery called Peach State Orchid and it was awesome. We wound up walking out with $100 in Orchids. They all died btw hahaha

You really need some help haha Ochids Anonymous like said previously lol


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Well I could use a nap so how much did it cost
> Me and my ex went to an Orchid nusery called Peach State Orchid and it was awesome. We wound up walking out with $100 in Orchids. They all died btw hahaha
> 
> You really need some help haha Ochids Anonymous like said previously lol


$125 for the bulbo catenarium in the pic. And that was a pretty good deal.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Hey gang, I'm back with some exciting updates! I'm pretty exhausted and unmotivated-ish, so the typing will be minimal...

A select few temperate mosses are doing very well in the tank
















































Resurrection fern doing well, growing new fronds and rhizomes off of the original root pad. The new fronds appear to be staying relatively small, probably because the light level is decent.



















Remember that little fern that had just started growing? Here it is now, with the more mature frond form. Note to the left and down a bit of the larger plant, there is a small one with it's new fronds...compare the look of the frond types.










Check out this craziness. If you look at the base of the bromeliad where the old leaves were removed, there are seedlings growing from the remaining leaf sheath.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Sinningia muscicola (AKA 'Rios das Pedras')








Masdevallia erinacea




























Haraella odorata


----------



## Shinosuke

Your updates always make me jealous =P
My sinningia has been losing leaves recently, I think my waterfall is leaking and getting the substrate too wet =/ At least I can enjoy their cute little flowers in your pics!


----------



## jacobi

Have you found that the mini Siningia prefers drier conditions? Ive got them growing on a dripwall in a screen topped tank, where they are growing and flowering like mad, and in a glass topped terrarium, where they are doing nothing...


----------



## flyingSquirrel

jacobi said:


> Have you found that the mini Siningia prefers drier conditions? Ive got them growing on a dripwall in a screen topped tank, where they are growing and flowering like mad, and in a glass topped terrarium, where they are doing nothing...


The main factors that I have found make a difference are:

Substrate moist but not wet
Mounted / epiphytic growing style vs flat orientation
Relatively bright light
Good air circulation

They like high humidity, so it is less of the humidity then it is probably lack of airflow, and wet substrate. And finally, since I have no animals in my tank, I am free to fertilize however I please. I use 1/2 strength Miracle-Gro on all of my plants.


----------



## Giga

always great looking at your updates


----------



## flyingSquirrel

As usual, thanks for all of your comments. I am glad you guys are having as much fun as I am! More updates should be coming soon


----------



## Giga

How do you mount the moss?and how often do you mist?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

One more....

Pleurothallis resupinata


----------



## goof901

i have some of that temperate moss outside. maybe i should try it.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Giga said:


> How do you mount the moss?and how often do you mist?


Most of the moss is just pinned to the bg with floral wire. Some of it I tied to sphag with thread, then pinned that to the bg, to hold more moisture. I mist all the moss once a day.

FYI the closer to the light the moss is, the better it is doing.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

goof901 said:


> i have some of that temperate moss outside. maybe i should try it.


Sure, why not?! Just make sure to "prepare" it as needed (disinfect, debug, etc). Brighter light is better, and good air circ.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

Video Tour!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Video Tour!


Not a bad idea! Maybe sometime soon...


----------



## goof901

what color of lighting are you using? becuase i read somewhere that you need 3000k light to get orchids to bloom.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

goof901 said:


> what color of lighting are you using? becuase i read somewhere that you need 3000k light to get orchids to bloom.


I have no idea. I am using Zoomed's Aquasun T5HO fixture w/ FloraSun and UltraSun bulbs in combo. Seems to be working pretty good


----------



## goof901

so then you don't need 3000k for orchids to bloom. you just have a 6500k and a 5000k


----------



## winstonamc

beautiful plants! such a nice use of space in there. How are those orchids faring? any inclination for a FTS?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

winstonamc said:


> beautiful plants! such a nice use of space in there. How are those orchids faring? any inclination for a FTS?


Thanks for the comments! The orchids and plants are doing fantastic. I might be able to get a FTS sometime soon.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

The long awaited updates and FTS have arrived, my friends...

Remember this series of shots and the whole "What's that crazy squirrel up to now" ?



















Here's what I was up to....

I took a chunk of tree fern and carved it with a knife to a satisfactory size and shape



















Covered it with sphagnum moss and java moss, tied on with thread










And gave it some time to fill in










I killed my first orchid  The Macroclinium aurorae, I overwatered it.










But the Schoenorchis fragrans is happy


----------



## flyingSquirrel

And remember that baby fern?









Here it is now...each new frond it puts out is 2" taller than the previous..in another month this thing will be growing out of the tank



















You guys never got to see this orchid...it's an unidentified and extremely rare species...the few who have it call it Bulbophyllum "Rusty"










The moss I took from my dad's backyard is doing good, and some ferns are sprouting out 










The polypodium polypodioides is doing great. 










I never showed you the size of them, so here's my hand with them










FTS


----------



## winstonamc

so fine! as everyone says, can't believe it's only 29g, but also that it doesn't look horribly crowded wt everything you've got in there. Great viv!


----------



## Shinosuke

Looking better and better all the time. 

Hard to imagine you gave that much room to something as common as java moss, but the cascading effect looks good!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

winstonamc said:


> so fine! as everyone says, can't believe it's only 29g, but also that it doesn't look horribly crowded wt everything you've got in there. Great viv!


Thanks, I appreciate it! That's the advantage of micro and miniature plant species  I need to update the plant list but I think I have around 70 species



Shinosuke said:


> Looking better and better all the time.
> 
> Hard to imagine you gave that much room to something as common as java moss, but the cascading effect looks good!


Thanks, I appreciate the comments as usual. Actually, the treefern with java moss is just a mount for some orchids that I'll be getting soon


----------



## DaveRego

This is an incredible thread. I just read/drooled through the whole thing for the first time. 

How are you attaching the chunks of tree fern to your background?


----------



## pet-teez

flyingSquirrel said:


> FTS



Holy mother of god! This tank is amazing! I've been milling through all the pages drooling (especially over the orchids!!!) and every time I clicked on a fts I was like "damn! why is this not giant! I want to have it as a desktop picture"...
So, could we puhleaseeee have a larger version of this picture?
My desktop is 1920x1200. heehee


----------



## flyingSquirrel

DaveRego said:


> This is an incredible thread. I just read/drooled through the whole thing for the first time.
> 
> How are you attaching the chunks of tree fern to your background?


Thank you! Actually most of the bg is mopani wood in great stuff foam. I had some tree fern in there a while back that I pinned to the bg with floral wire, then I took the tree fern back out. The only tree fern piece left is the new piece covered in java moss to the left of the center bromeliad. That piece is cut/shaped and inserted at such an angle that it's not even attached to anything, it's just sort of 'wedged' in.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

pet-teez said:


> Holy mother of god! This tank is amazing! I've been milling through all the pages drooling (especially over the orchids!!!) and every time I clicked on a fts I was like "damn! why is this not giant! I want to have it as a desktop picture"...
> So, could we puhleaseeee have a larger version of this picture?
> My desktop is 1920x1200. heehee


Wow, thank you sooo much for the nice compliments!! I'm glad you've enjoyed everything. In all seriousness, if you seriously want a large version of the pic, then I will seriously give you a large version, seriously LOL  I have sent a large version to somebody else before. PM me with your email and you shall receive it! Just please keep it for personal use only


----------



## Shinosuke

He's not kidding when he says "large version"! 

Awesome skills, really.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

quick update, another orchid is blooming

Bulbophyllum maquilingense


----------



## frankrom

Jesus....

Can you come to TORONTO and live with me a for a few weeks and help me make a second tank??? 

Great tank....


----------



## snake54320

This is one of the prettiest tanks on the forum maybe even the best !!
Really, you did an extremely very good job ! Congratulations !
I maintain have missed the explication but how do you maintain in such good conditions theses orchids ? 
I'm about to do a 12x12x18 with a fountain/drip wall (sort of), and I thought of putting on the back panels some orchids. But with the drip wall the roots will be continuously wet... 

Best regards,
Snake


----------



## flyingSquirrel

frankrom said:


> Jesus....
> 
> Can you come to TORONTO and live with me a for a few weeks and help me make a second tank???
> 
> Great tank....


LOL thanks for the offer   haha. Thanks for the compliment...you should post a thread for your second build...just be warned I'll be trying to get you to fill it with orchids


----------



## flyingSquirrel

snake54320 said:


> This is one of the prettiest tanks on the forum maybe even the best !!
> Really, you did an extremely very good job ! Congratulations !
> I maintain have missed the explication but how do you maintain in such good conditions theses orchids ?
> I'm about to do a 12x12x18 with a fountain/drip wall (sort of), and I thought of putting on the back panels some orchids. But with the drip wall the roots will be continuously wet...
> 
> Best regards,
> Snake


Wow, thanks for the compliments! ...There are tons of better tanks than mine though...

Best advice I can give for orchids is to research the conditions they require and do your best to provide those conditions...then tweak things as needed if they don't seem happy...also it doesn't hurt to cross your fingers


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Maybe I'm beating a dead horse with a stick, but I thought it'd be cool to show a progression series of photos...also the current plant list is below...




























*29 Gallon Paludarium Plant List* - _around 50+ species_ (not counting individual moss/liverwort/fern sporelings, etc)

Acanthaceae -- 
Hygrophila pinnatifida

Aroids/Araceae --
Anubias barteri var. nana 'Narrowleaf'
Anubias barteri var. nana 'Petite'
Cryptocoryne balansae
Cryptocoryne lutea
Cryptocoryne wendtii no id (probably 'Tropica')

Bromeliads/Bromeliaceae --
Neoregelia 'Chiquita Linda' 
Neoregelia 'Dartanion'
Neoregelia 'Red Bird' x 'Fireball'
Neoregelia 'Small Fry'

Carnivorous plants -Droseraceae
Drosera spatulata

Carnivorous plants -Lentibulariaceae
Utricularia sandersonii

Dischidia/Apocynaceae
Dischidia nummularia
Dischida ruscifolia

Ferns/Pteridophyta --
Bolbitis heteroclita
Lemmaphyllum microphyllum
Microsorum pteropus 'Narrowleaf'
Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov'
Polypodium polypodiodes
Pyrrosia nummularifolia
Fern no id #1
Fern no id #2
Fern no id #3

Fern allies
Isoetes velata var varsicula

Gesneriads/Gesneriaceae --
Columnea microphylla
Sinningia muscicola (aka 'Rio das Piedras')

Lomariopsidaceae
Subwassertang (Lomariopsis fern aquatic gametophyte)

Menyanthaceae
Nymphoides aquatica

Moss/Bryophytes & Liverworts/Marchantiophyta --
Vesicularia dubyana
Miscellaneous moss and liverwort

Orchids/Orchidaceae --
Ascocentrum pumilum
Bulbophyllum alagense 'small form'
Bulbophyllum catenarium
Bulbophyllum maquilingense
Bulbophyllum minutulum
Bulbophyllum ovalifolium
Bulbophyllum striatellum
Bulbophyllum "Rusty" (no id)
Dendrobium lichenastrum / Davejonesia lichenastrum (Dendrobium)
Dryadella zebrina
Haraella odorata
Masdevallia bucculenta
Masdevallia erinacea
Pleurothallis resupinata
Schoenorchis fragrans
Sophronitis cernua

Piperaceae --
Peperomia prostrata

Scrophulariaceae
Hemianthus callitrichoides

Selaginellaceae
Selaginella diffusa ? (id not trusted)

Tillandsia/Bromeliaceae > Tillandsioideae --
Tillandsia bandensis
Tillandsia no id (species?)


----------



## MX83Drifter

dude.... freaking ... awesome... hahaha

this thread really gives alot of inspiration. its cool to see the progression of the tank.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

MX83Drifter said:


> dude.... freaking ... awesome... hahaha
> 
> this thread really gives alot of inspiration. its cool to see the progression of the tank.


Thanks bro! Glad it's inspiring to some people! More builds everybody, more builds


----------



## Pacblu202

And I thought I was going to have a lot of plants in my 55... Mother of god that's amazing


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Pacblu202 said:


> And I thought I was going to have a lot of plants in my 55... Mother of god that's amazing


lol ... mini plants ftw


----------



## MX83Drifter

hahah more builds for sure. im actually working on a palu right now... almost done


----------



## The Dude1

This is an amazing thread. Seeing how you started and how it turned out is awe inspiring. I'm bumping this up so I can review it when I get the rest of m supplies and can start mine.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

The Dude1 said:


> This is an amazing thread. Seeing how you started and how it turned out is awe inspiring. I'm bumping this up so I can review it when I get the rest of m supplies and can start mine.


Thanks! Make sure to read carefully as there are some lessons learned the hard way...if I recall it was mainly:

I used copper wire to make my root/vine things at first, which is toxic
I used plexiglass with silicone, which does not permanently bond

There may have been other things but those are the main ones others can learn from


----------



## hydrophyte

Hey this is looking great! I don't think I had seen these latest pictures.



flyingSquirrel said:


>


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

wow man it is coming along so great. I think the is the best beginner tank I have ever seen anyone do.
I love it Matt it looks amazing. Great job


----------



## frogparty

Best 29 gal Ive ever seen. Top notch job


----------



## flyingSquirrel

WOW! Thank you all SO much for your comments! I never would have imagined so many nice things would be said 

Some small updates coming soon (_no _new full tank shot though)...got some more orchids  and did a little landscaping and cleaning up. Hope to get all that up sometime soon.

Thanks again


----------



## tnwalkers

i may have over looked it but did your newt ever make it in here? simply beautiful tank !


----------



## flyingSquirrel

tnwalkers said:


> i may have over looked it but did your newt ever make it in here? simply beautiful tank !


Thanks! No, the newt is not in there.


----------



## Duff

Hi Matt, Love your tank, simply amazing! Any updates on the new orchids you were adding? I can only imagine it must look even more like a jungle a month or so later. Any new blooms?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Duff said:


> Hi Matt, Love your tank, simply amazing! Any updates on the new orchids you were adding? I can only imagine it must look even more like a jungle a month or so later. Any new blooms?


Hi, thanks! I apologize to everyone that I am neglecting this thread and not giving updates like I used to. I've got super busy in life lately with work and other things. I have a jillion pics of plants, tank, and all kinds of cool stuff..if only I can make the time to edit everything and upload it. I'll add it into my todo list...shouldn't be too hard to make this happen because I do enjoy posting pics and sharing with everyone. I think you guys will like the updates

Thanks again for the comments


----------



## hydrophyte

We look forward to seeing those updates!


----------



## Giga

I agree we need updates and I'm starting to collect mini orchids too and man they are addicting!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Giga said:


> I agree we need updates and I'm starting to collect mini orchids too and man they are addicting!


Yep, you are doomed to the "micro illness". Just accept it as your fate and enjoy it


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Sorry for the false alarm...no real updates yet, HOWEVER, I did just transfer all the pics to my pc, resized them all, and went through them... all 259 of them!!!!  So I will have to select the best ones, write it all up, upload them, etc. Might take a while, but I'll try to do it in segments. Coming soon 

Until then, here are a few pics of someone that decided to take up residence in the tank..*.arachnophobes look away now!!! * btw I myself am arachnophobic, so this was somewhat unpleasant  I ended up chasing this thing around the tank, and it even went up underneath the waterfall. Somehow I used my cat-like reflexes to knock it into the container with some tweezers. I had a good adrenaline rush when that was over, a wonderful benefit of being horrified of spiders LOL

p.s. After I caught this spider, I used my ninja-like skills to grab a fruit-fly right out of the air (seriously) then I threw the fly into the container. Just minutes later, I witnessed the spider sucking the juices out of the fly. Gross but cool. After that, I let the spider go outside. Lunch and then freedom! Pretty sweet deal huh? haha


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Hi friends. Welcome to installment 1 of the new updates. This will just showcase the newest plants I have aquired. Prepare to see things you want  ...


Another DB member organized a group Ecuagenera order which I chose to partake in. He sent my plants over to me after he got the imported shipment...










Trisetella cordeliae










Trisetella andreettae










Barbosella orbicularis










Lepanthes calodictyon










Masevallia bangii










Lepanthes telipogoniflora










And now a separate order from Mountain Orchids of some rare ferns. I am lucky not only to have got just one of these, but to have obtained all three forms of...

Elaphoglossum peltatum



















Coarse leaf form










Fine leaf form










Thread leaf form










Everything in the temporary holding tank










More pics to come of these being planted in the tank


----------



## Giga

Um awesome!


----------



## FIT BMX

I just looked at your thread, and you tank looks super!!!!


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

nice plants man 
Thanks for not killing the spider and releasing it. I am always finding wolf spiders in my house, along with scorpions lol.
I just scoop them up and put them outside.
Are you planning on putting these plants int this tank or is it for a separate build?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Thanks for the comments everyone!



DragonSpirit1185 said:


> nice plants man
> Thanks for not killing the spider and releasing it. I am always finding wolf spiders in my house, along with scorpions lol.
> I just scoop them up and put them outside.
> Are you planning on putting these plants int this tank or is it for a separate build?


Scorpions!? yikes....
The orchids are all for this paludarium. The ferns will probably be in a nano build


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> Thanks for the comments everyone!
> 
> 
> 
> Scorpions!? yikes....
> The orchids are all for this paludarium. The ferns will probably be in a nano build


Yup scorpions lol
Here is the latest on I saved. Not many make it out alive cause the cat kills them.










you gonna make a thread for this nano build?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

There is a thread for the nano but it's not going anywhere right now, as I'm way too busy to work on the build. I hope to start it back up within the next few weeks

edit: I just saw that scorpion pic.. that's awesome but I'm glad there aren't any where I live. I like to walk around barefoot in my house! and no tarantulas either :O


----------



## dendrothusiast

You'll be surprised how wet those lepanthes sp. like to be. You got an awesome group of plants to go in that nano - looking foward to it.


----------



## herpkeeper10

wow man this tank is crazy! you must spend alot on plants, i hate spending money on pothos let alone orchids hahaha


----------



## flyingSquirrel

dendrothusiast said:


> You'll be surprised how wet those lepanthes sp. like to be. You got an awesome group of plants to go in that nano - looking foward to it.


The orchids were for the 29G paludarium and they've been planted in there for a while now. I'll be getting some pics up soon of them in the tank. The ferns are for the nano though. Yeah, you are not kidding about the Lepanthes. I planted them where I was pretty sure they would rot, but they are happily growing and blooming


----------



## flyingSquirrel

herpkeeper10 said:


> wow man this tank is crazy! you must spend alot on plants, i hate spending money on pothos let alone orchids hahaha


Haha, yea I do. I spent $125 on one orchid some time ago!


----------



## allyalbon

Absolutely stunning, of course! I would give my right hand to be able to build a paludarium.

And I am not going to look too closely at the orchids as I have started getting into them in a big way and I spend enough on the standard Phals and Cattleya as it is....

I have read through, and apologies if you have mentioned elsewhere; but what dimensions are your tank? It looks quite tall for a 29 gal.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

allyalbon said:


> Absolutely stunning, of course! I would give my right hand to be able to build a paludarium.
> 
> And I am not going to look too closely at the orchids as I have started getting into them in a big way and I spend enough on the standard Phals and Cattleya as it is....
> 
> I have read through, and apologies if you have mentioned elsewhere; but what dimensions are your tank? It looks quite tall for a 29 gal.


Thank you for the comment!  I don't have the dimensions off the top of my head, but I believe it is one of the ones they call "29 Gallon Tall".

p.s. instead of giving your right hand to be able to build a paludarium, why not use your right hand to build one?  Sorry that is my lame sense of humor coming out


----------



## Sammie

Your tank is absolutely stunning
I must say, i'm somewhat jealous of your latest orchid order, espacially _Lepanthes calodictyon_. Never seen that one before, now I just have to find a european vendor that sells them


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Sammie said:


> Your tank is absolutely stunning
> I must say, i'm somewhat jealous of your latest orchid order, espacially _Lepanthes calodictyon_. Never seen that one before, now I just have to find a european vendor that sells them


Thank you! The Lepanthes are some really awesome orchids. If I were you, I'd ask around on Orchids Interactive for suggestions on a vendor in your area. Good luck


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Well, here we are, 11 billion years after I promised more updates...sorry about the delay. I don't even really have the time for these updates but I am doing them anyway. Take that, life!  And, FYI, my first Picasa gallery for this build has reached 1,000 photos! I have not shared them all on this thread, but still, that is pretty crazy. I had to start a 2nd gallery for this build...

A pic from a long time ago of a seedling that sprouted from a brom...










And now the more mature plant...Any ID on this would be appreciated










And a mystery fern that came from who knows where...










And later, when it got too big...Any ID on this would be appreciated..and BTW it has a more mature frond right now but I don't have a pic currently.



















A quick peek at a Neo 'Small Fry' offshoot which has been growing on my window sill...and then has been blooming unbeknownst to me, since I've been preoccupied with other things...




























A temperate moss popped up a while back...










And now it's taking over...


----------



## flyingSquirrel

This random fern popped up a loooooong time ago- I posted pics when it was just a gametaphyte. Once it got going though, it became a beast. I was forced to remove it, then it died outside of the tank 










Next up on the list of random ferns is this weird little thing. It started out looking harmless...










And then became a MONSTER!!! With tentacles!!!  Attack of the squid fern, lol.





































It was a pretty fern, but it had to go because it was taking over. Unfortunately it perished outside of the tank. However, anticipating that, I kept one of the runners in the tank, and it's growing. I'll have to keep this process up so I can grow generations of the fern but not let it get too big.

The random fern streak continues...and yet again I had to pull these things out and toss them after they died in potted culture.










Dischidia ruscifolia 'petite form' put on a tiny show. Note the miniscule white flowers, probably about 3mm in diameter










In the aquatic section of the tank, the Nymphoides aquatica aka Banana plant got ginormous and had to be removed. Unfortunately, after removal, the biological balance of the tank got messed up and algae began growing everywhere. Luckily I had saved the banana plant in a container of water on the window sill with the leaves cut off, and I was able to put the trimmed crown into the tank. Hopefully it comes back and I can get things in balance again.

The stems were so long on the plant that they were growing in loops along the surface and then started growing out of the water into the bog, because I was neglecting the tank for a while.



















I took an empty patch in the tank and put some tree fern chunks in, then threw a few Bolbitis heteroclita babies and some temperate Plagiomnium moss around there.



















And that spot recently...










MORE UPDATES TO COME...


----------



## Shinosuke

In the right conditions those banana plants can grow FAST! They're local to my area and I've always thought they were cool. I wouldn't have thought about it beforehand, but now that it happened I could see how removing a plant that big from a 29g tank would have a huge impact on the rest of the system.
Hope that algae clears up soon!


----------



## jausi

Nice setup!!!


----------



## spyder 1.0

pictures dont work for me


----------



## skanderson

the little plant on the brom is an artillery plant Pilea microphylla. the shoot seeds out so they are very good at spreading around greenhouses where they are a very common weed. viv looks good nice to see it filling in so well.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Liverworts FTW!



















Transplants 









Here we have some landscaping work. The partition / transition area become overgrown with java moss, so I had to tear all that out and clean things up a bit. I decided to create a new bog edge...

Java moss ripped out...










My trusty Gutermann thread which I have used often to create sphag 'pads' which I pin to the bg.



















And now the newly constructed bog edge










Some time later, the Utricularia sandersonii is filling in a bit. Yay for CP's!










A bit more improvement.. This area by the waterfall was overgrown with, who would have guessed, java moss. So I ripped that out and transplanted some Bolbitis. I love this Bolbitis! I forgot to take a pic before.




























Next up...drum roll, please....


----------



## flyingSquirrel

....Mini orchids! I traded a piece of Dendrobium lichenastrum for a piece of Dendrobium prenticei. Here's a shot of both species in tank, at top center. D. lichenastrum on left, and D. prenticei on right.










D. prenticei close up










This Sophronitis cernua is the most ridiculously slow growing plant I've ever owned. I've had this thing for I don't know how long, and it's only grown one bulb/leaf, and this crazy root. Absurd! Grow orchid, grow. Bloom!











Ecuagenera order going in...

Barbosella orbicularis, one of my new favorites  . First pic is after planting, second pic is some time later, showing lots of new growths



















Masdevallia bangii, another new fave . When I got this plant, the clump fell apart into several pieces. The root system was atrocious, but somehow it managed to hang on. First pics after planting, next pics in bloom





































Is this not the cutest thing ever?!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Trisetella cordeliae (and Tris. andreettae) after planting



















Trisetella cordeliae in bloom



















And showing size of plant










Multi blooms. Nice!










Lepanthes   

Lep. calodictyon some time after planting










And after growing a bit more...




























and in bloom










Closeup


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Now this is something to get excited about...I've been wanting this plant since I first got into orchids a couple years ago, and now it's mine, allll miiiiine!

Lep. telipogoniflora

Kept on tree fern mount from Ecuagenera, and then in bloom. SPECTACULAR!!! 














































Haraella retrocalla. This thing does not stop blooming for goodness sake! A must-grow mini!




























Today, I was randomly enjoying the tank when I spotted what looked like a spike on some Bulbphyllum alagense 'small form.' After I decided it was a spike, I looked closer through all the patches of the orchid in that area, and to my surprise, I spotted this bloom. These things are so small, it's like people say 'if you blink, you'll miss it.' This guy was all tucked away under some moss and Lemmaphyllum, deep in the shade. Pretty cool little flower despite its lack of flair.










Closeup










Sinningia muscicola aka 'Rios das pedras' I'm not sure if you can tell, but it has been blooming a tiny bit 










The broms have filled in 'a little' 


















Note on the left, that is the carved tree fern chunk that I put in a long time ago and covered with sphag and java moss. The moss has covered it nicely and I've transplanted brom pups onto it. I also transplanted some Bolbitis heteroclita mini fern over there recently



















I can't tell you when you'll get a new FTS, but I hope to make the time for that soon. Thanks for following, and hope you enjoyed!


----------



## hydrophyte

Nice job growing and blooming all that stuff! Those are fascinating plants you have in there.


----------



## outofreach

Amazing job


----------



## wintersreptiles

Wow, great thread! Just read all 37 pages this morning and am inspiered to build one myself now! Will have to go though my greenhouse to pick out the orchids and ferns to plant in there.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

hydrophyte said:


> Nice job growing and blooming all that stuff! Those are fascinating plants you have in there.


Thanks man! Your forest mantid tank is looking awesome, btw.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

wintersreptiles said:


> Wow, great thread! Just read all 37 pages this morning and am inspiered to build one myself now! Will have to go though my greenhouse to pick out the orchids and ferns to plant in there.


I commend you on reading through all 37 pages at once! Wow! I'm glad you liked the thread. Please create a build thread for your tank so I can watch YOUR progress  ...and also I am kinda wishing I could see pics of your greenhouse and ferns and orchids, lol


----------



## curlykid

beautiful build! I wish I could get the luck you have with orchids for myself.


----------



## snake54320

Would you have a global shot of the tank now ? 
I'd be curious to see how it evolved !
What about the nano ?


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Thanks to all for the comments. I'll try to get a Full Tank Shot up sometime in the near future. If I can't find the time, I may have to do a cruddy point and shoot photo as opposed to the normal HDR composition that I do for my FTS's.

The nano is on hold. I just don't have the time for all this stuff any more, unfortunately.


----------



## eos

That Rios das pedras looks super cool! As does the rest of your plants, but that one caught my eye specifically.


----------



## Shinosuke

Impressive as always, Matt. Every time you do an update my "oohh, I want that!" list of plants grows a couple miles. 
Your skill with these plants is just amazing. I have one of those "rio das pedras" plants and, while it grows well and blooms often, it has never put out the amount of blooms of yours has. Even though I don't have that kind of skill I can at least appreciate your plants vicariously through your updates.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Shinosuke said:


> Impressive as always, Matt. Every time you do an update my "oohh, I want that!" list of plants grows a couple miles.
> Your skill with these plants is just amazing. I have one of those "rio das pedras" plants and, while it grows well and blooms often, it has never put out the amount of blooms of yours has. Even though I don't have that kind of skill I can at least appreciate your plants vicariously through your updates.


Thank you my friend, that's very kind of you! I'm glad you enjoy the updates. Honestly, if I had to guess what makes me so successful with these plants, it would be 3 things:


Miracle Gro fertilizer (lucky for me I don't have animals to worry about)
Paludarium water adds humidity
I have years of gardening experience (outdoor, albeit)

P.S. I like your signature quote. Very true!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Yeeeessssssssssssss, FINALLY!!!! The Ascocentrum pumilum shows its beautiful little face   



















I forgot to take pics with my finger next to it and with the ruler like I usually do, and I don't have time to go back and do that right now. The flower is about 1/4"










Another Bulbo alagense 'Small Form' bloom 










Lepanthes telipogoniflora in its second flush of blooms...










Added some Pistia stratiotes (Top view...the floating plant at bottom of photo). This was from my newt's paludarium. I will keep it thinned out regularly. I'm hoping it will help control the algae issue that arose when I took out the Nymphoides aquatica. I also added a miniature red lotus, but no pic right now, and it's small anyway.


----------



## razorTsax

Hey FS, 
I'm a new member, and yours is the first post I've read here....every single page haha. I must say, you seem to have become quite a star in the terrarium world. You inspire a lot of people, including myself. That being said, I hope you might answer these questions three!
1. Your substrate recipe called for eco earth, repti-bark, sand, and LECA, correct? Do you know how this might compare to the ABG mix? I have used ABG mix and found that it rotted after 1 year. I think I may try your recipe, as it appears to allow more aeration. 
2. Is your BG composed of sphagnum peat moss or eco earth? It seemed a bit confusing in the earlier threads as to which you used. (Like I think you mentioned eco-earth for the brim of the land divider, but peat for the BG.)
3. Do you mount your epiphytes with thread (if so what kind), floral wire, or something like liquid nails? 

Thanks in advance!
-Shawn


----------



## Giga

Have to say I'm very very jealous of that Lepanthes telipogoniflora


----------



## flyingSquirrel

razorTsax said:


> Hey FS,
> I'm a new member, and yours is the first post I've read here....every single page haha. I must say, you seem to have become quite a star in the terrarium world. You inspire a lot of people, including myself. That being said, I hope you might answer these questions three!
> 1. Your substrate recipe called for eco earth, repti-bark, sand, and LECA, correct? Do you know how this might compare to the ABG mix? I have used ABG mix and found that it rotted after 1 year. I think I may try your recipe, as it appears to allow more aeration.
> 2. Is your BG composed of sphagnum peat moss or eco earth? It seemed a bit confusing in the earlier threads as to which you used. (Like I think you mentioned eco-earth for the brim of the land divider, but peat for the BG.)
> 3. Do you mount your epiphytes with thread (if so what kind), floral wire, or something like liquid nails?
> 
> Thanks in advance!
> -Shawn


Thanks for the comments Shawn!

1. That mix I made was just a "gut instinct," slap it together, give it a shot, kind of thing. A few things to note:
- The mix you use will depend on what kind of build you are doing, what animals you will be keeping, if any, and what plants you'll be growing.
- ABG is one of the best substrates, from what I've heard. The breakdown will depend on how well things are drained, in part.
- In actuality, since my build was by the seat of my pants and I ended up doing more of a natural divider and "bog" setup, the mix of substrate is practically irrelevant, because it's under the water table anyway. So, basically it's just a rotting mess of anaerobic goo.

2. I think you are correct that I used eco-earth or coconut something-er-uther for the divider edge. The entire bg is just peat moss.

3. I have mounted everything with floral wire. I believe floral wire can actually rust (if/when the coating flakes off or at the cut edges), so if you have animals in your tank I would be careful about that. Would probably be safer to use aluminum wire or something, which I have tried but the aluminum was too soft to me. Also, never use copper wire in your build, in case you missed that part of my thread at all.
When I was mounting stuff and building up the bg, I used Gutermann thread to make "pads" of LFS. Then I pinned the "pads" of sphag to the bg, then pinned the plants on top of that. Again, regarding the thread, I don't know if any of the dyes could be harmful to animals, so watch out for that.

Best of luck, and thanks again for the comments


----------



## flyingSquirrel

A few more pics of the Ascocentrum, to show relative size, and now that more buds are opened. Also, I hate to say this but I don't have time to create a nice HDR FTS right now, so since I know a lot of you are wanting to see the tank, I am including some terrible point and shoot pics. It pains me to show the FTS in such horrible quality, but that's the way life goes sometimes


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Edited FTS!!!! Plus first time ever angled shot!! Enjoy  Also see note at bottom of post....




















Four words:

*Nano build is GO!*


----------



## jacobi

Absolutely stunning!!! It's amazing!


----------



## eos

jacobi said:


> Absolutely stunning!!! It's amazing!


Indeed... Very.


----------



## curlykid

I'm going to go cry now. :'( your talent with plants is unbeatable.


----------



## Giga

that angled shot looks like it belongs in a zoo or something pretty sweet dude!


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Thank you all for your comments. I really, really appreciate it. I'm especially glad that everybody is enjoying this project as much as I am and that I have had the opportunity to share it with you!  ... Nano build is restarting up...


----------



## KarmaPolice

I love it, great simple tank, yet intense collection of plants and setup.



flyingSquirrel said:


> Nano build is restarting up...


Hmm...I wonder what it will be?


----------



## hydrophyte

Wow man this is awesome. You have arel good eye for putting stuff together in a planting. I especially like this shot that I quote here.

What is that spiky little plant next to the Ascocentrum?



flyingSquirrel said:


>


----------



## flyingSquirrel

hydrophyte said:


> Wow man this is awesome. You have arel good eye for putting stuff together in a planting. I especially like this shot that I quote here.
> 
> What is that spiky little plant next to the Ascocentrum?


Thanks man! That is a moss, a Polytrichum species, most likely P. juniperum. It showed up either from spore for from a tiny rhizome piece that was embedded in some other mosses (which I brought in from outside), and from there it took off; it really loves the tank!


----------



## inka4040

flyingSquirrel said:


> Thanks man! That is a moss, a Polytrichum species, most likely P. juniperum. It showed up either from spore for from a tiny rhizome piece that was embedded in some other mosses (which I brought in from outside), and from there it took off; it really loves the tank!


Very cool! Hair cap mosses are some of my favorites, and it's nice to see one doing so well in a viv. LMK if you've ever got divisions to get rid of!

Tank is looking absolutely fantastic as well!


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

flyingSquirrel said:


> Edited FTS!!!! Plus first time ever angled shot!! Enjoy  Also see note at bottom of post....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Four words:
> 
> *Nano build is GO!*


wow that paludarium is so amazing 
I can't wait to see these nano builds you do


----------



## dherp

Read threw your post from beginning to end and all I can say is WOW! GREAT JOB! You inspired me! I purchased a display case not too long ago and have been thinking about what to do with it. Now I know. Great post. I'm subscribed for future reference and updates.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Thanks Brandon, I appreciate your comments.

Thanks dherp, I'm glad my work has inspired you. Best of luck and enjoyment on your build.


----------



## jjm71586

Wow this is awesome do you have any updates. I have been in the saltwater game for years and I have a extra 65 gallon that im going to do a viv/ palu. Im thinking im going with something very similar to yours Would you recommend the plexiglass for the dividers or would you go with egg crate if you did it over again.


----------



## snake54320

Can't wait to see the nanos


----------



## jose cubero

Congratulations and regards from Costa Rica


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Thanks everybody for your comments. I have very little time these days for this hobby, but maybe I'll get some quick updates up sometime. Darnit, those nanos, I still need to put some pics up



jjm71586 said:


> Wow this is awesome do you have any updates. I have been in the saltwater game for years and I have a extra 65 gallon that im going to do a viv/ palu. Im thinking im going with something very similar to yours Would you recommend the plexiglass for the dividers or would you go with egg crate if you did it over again.


My advice is do NOT try to make a waterproof separation. The best is to design some structural way of separating the land and water and then use the water table method so that the land is above the water. So eggcrate scaffolding could work. Or do what I did in the end and use plants that grow in swampy areas.


----------



## jjm71586

thanks for your reply. I have read this entire thread and unless I missed something I never saw any pics of your newt actually in the tank, is it in there?


----------



## mollbern

jjm71586 said:


> thanks for your reply. I have read this entire thread and unless I missed something I never saw any pics of your newt actually in the tank, is it in there?


If I'm not mistaken, he decided to keep this a plant-only tank – no newt. 

He also mentioned that he uses Miracle-Gro on his plants – something he couldn't do if there were gonna be amphibs in there.

Amazing tank, squirrel! I'm about to embark on my first tank this spring. Plants only. 20 gallon long. Your tank is my main inspiration. Thanks for documenting the process.


----------



## flyingSquirrel

mollbern said:


> If I'm not mistaken, he decided to keep this a plant-only tank – no newt.
> 
> He also mentioned that he uses Miracle-Gro on his plants – something he couldn't do if there were gonna be amphibs in there.
> 
> Amazing tank, squirrel! I'm about to embark on my first tank this spring. Plants only. 20 gallon long. Your tank is my main inspiration. Thanks for documenting the process.


Correct, plants only, no newt.

Thanks for the comments. I'm glad my tank could be an inspiration to you, and I wish you the best with your build. Don't get started with miniature orchids, you will quickly become obsessed!


----------



## TheCoop

Well if ya ever get bored with that beauty you can send it my way


----------



## swope2bc

!!! WOW !!! Did i finally get to the end? Its been like an addictive book lol. I have been building a pal for my kids to raise tadpoles in (it started as a simple science project an became a personal obsession) i was searching for info on ventilation and came across your thread.. It has taken me a week of spare time to work through all 40 pages of this and im wondering when the next page will come lol! Also a link to your nano thread ;-). My pal will never become anything like yours (thoughmit is absolutly stunning!) but i hope to start a build thread at some point too.. If I can figure out how i plan to follow your threads. Thanks for taking the extra time to share your amazing talents with us!


----------



## chacmhaal

Very awesome, I love it


----------



## flyingSquirrel

Sorry for the false alarm, no updates 
But I've received some messages regarding my build, asking for advice, and I decided to post the questions/answers publicly to help as many people as possible and reduce repetitive emails.

--------------

1. How hard was it to modify the background once the foam had hardened since you sprayed it directly into the tank? (modify I mean carve, cover in the toluene-silicone mix, cover in peat, attach roots, etc.)
A: It was my first time with the foam so I didn’t know how it would work out. Thus, I ended up having to remove large amounts of it, and/or carve sections out to add wood pieces in or restructure things, etc. It was quite difficult in some spots due to tight spots and odd angles, and also it is hard to carve out areas when you are working against a flat surface like glass. I used a variety of large and small knives to do the work.
Regarding toluene-silicone mix, I know there are some people that really like that method. Personally, I found it difficult to work with, to get the right mixture (seemed to go on too thin in some areas), plus it was just noxious. It’s possible I was doing something wrong, but nevertheless II would not use toluene again. I’ve done 2 nano tanks since the 29Gallon, and I have used just silicone, and wiped it onto the foam with rubber gloves on. I found the control I get with using my fingers to apply the silicone where I want was preferable to brushing it on, and I liked that it goes on thick. It is messier than brushing a mixture on, mostly in the corners because it gets on your hands and arms (in which case I wiped the excess off of my hands/arms immediately with paper towels). Then I just turned the tanks on their side on a towel, and dump handfuls of peatmoss over the silicone, and then press it on with good pressure. Then I stand the tank up, grab the peat moss that falls to the bottom, and repeat the process over once more to make sure I get the silicone covered well. When cured a weak or two later, I gently vacuum out the loose peat.
Attaching roots was easy. I just used silicone at key points to “tack weld” it onto the bg, with floral wire in “U” shape to pin them in for extra support. I would not use floral wire if animals are in the tank, as I believe the metal might be toxic if the coating wears off.

2. Looking back would you have rather used drylock than silicone to cover the background?
A: No. As far as I know, Drylock is typically used to create a stone look. There was a point in the paludarium build that I tried to carve a rock wall for the center section of the background, coated it with drylock, and decided it looked terrible and ripped it out. Then refoamed and covered with peat. If you want a rocky look, drylock should be fine if you can get the shapes looking good and find the right recipe out there for coating and painting it.

3. Did you notice any problems using the tubing rather than pvc pipes for the plumbing?
A: No, the tubing is working just fine. Since I made the sharp turns with plastic elbows, the tubing is not pinched and so it flows fine. If you are foaming the tube in, make sure the foam doesn’t expand and crush the tubing and reduce the floam.

4. How many gallons per hour is your pump expelling? I noticed you used the minijet 404 which is adjustable. I was wondering, because I am thinking about using a 45 gph rated internal filter to filter the water as well, but am wondering if that will actually be enough and if that pump will be strong enough to lift the water all the way throughout the tank from the bottom to the waterfall. 
A: You need to consider a number of factors, including:
What size tank (Gallon tank size, PLUS: how much water will actually be in it, if you are filling it all the way or just halfway, how much substrate, wood, etc will be in it)
What animal species and what their requirements are for water movement, cleanliness, etc. If the flow is too strong it could be stressful to them, unless they live in a habitat where that is what they like/need
The height pumped to, and the length/diameter of tubing
What kind of filter you are using. 
That is all beyond my knowledge level, so I’d do some research on the net and/or contact others who have more experience.
FYI my tank has probably 10 or less gallons of water in it, and I think the water flow of the 404 at minimum as set, with the height it’s pumping, is probably about the same amount of water. Right now it’s at a trickle because I haven’t cleaned the pump and chamber in a while. The 404 is an incredible pump.

5. Looking back, is there anything that you would have done differently had you known then?
I would have planned for, and integrated, some type of filtration system- probably an external one since the tank and amount of space for the pump are so limited
I started with a bad air circulation system, but ended up making a better and more powerful one. The stronger the air current, the better, IMO.
Also, avoid toxic metals like copper, and things that will rust, and check into anything and everything that will go into the build to make sure it’s safe.
I used the proper silicone for my build luckily. Some people debate the safety of the type of silicone you can buy in home improvement places that has antifungals in it and stuff. I personally would not chance it. I spent the extra money and bought large tubes of black SCS1200 construction grade silicone. It was hard to find and expensive, but it was well worth the time and money.


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## zachxbass

Read through entire thread. Amazing work here! You have inspired me to try some orchids in my next viv. This is a great resource for plant species. I'll be referring here when I go to order plants. Thanks for the great work! Very inspirational

Sent from my kindle fire using tapatalk


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## kev1962

I have a question for you Squirrel, in the early posts from a couple of years back it was mentioned by some that the silicone between the plexiglass and the glass of the aquarium would fail resulting in water getting into your land section... did that ever happen?


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## GBR

SOOOOOOOOO AMAZING!! This was a great inspiration to add to my viv build idea! Thanks for the detailed updates!


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## Agrippa

This was a really great build and journal- lots of inspiring photos and great information for miniature orchids. The tank is lovely and impressive. 

It's been a few months now, but are there any updates?


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## kenstyles

so I'm doing some plans now for a 30 gallon build now and after seeing this I'm going to crawl in a corner and cry for 2 or 3 hours... then I'm going to rethink my life and my frog tank


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## VivNoob

41 pages later....... Inspirational is one word that comes to mind


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## mollbern

Hello again! 

Just wanted to thank you again for documenting your process so completely. 

Can't tell you how many times I've referred to this thread during the process of making my 20 gallon vivarium. (Feel free to check it out if you like.)

A few questions: 

Are all your anubias rhizomes submerged in water? Are any growing completely emersed? 

What's your dosing schedule for the half-strength Miracle Gro? 

Any plans to give us updated pictures soon?

P.S. You warned me once about getting hooked on mini orchids... Just made my first order from Andy's yesterday. So stoked.


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## flyingSquirrel

mollbern said:


> Hello again!
> 
> Just wanted to thank you again for documenting your process so completely.
> Can't tell you how many times I've referred to this thread during the process of making my 20 gallon vivarium.


You're welcome. It has helped many people, and I'm thankful for that.



mollbern said:


> (Feel free to check it out if you like.)


Looks great!



mollbern said:


> A few questions:
> 
> Are all your anubias rhizomes submerged in water? Are any growing completely emersed?


Yes, all are submerged. I have grown anubias emersed before. The key is very high humidity



mollbern said:


> What's your dosing schedule for the half-strength Miracle Gro?


Whenever it feels right. I grow plants by feeling, not by set rules. But on average, maybe once a week. A while back I started using Grow More 20-10-20 Orchid fert full strength for SOME of the orchids. I switched back to miracle gro for the ones that didn't respond well to the grow more



mollbern said:


> P.S. You warned me once about getting hooked on mini orchids... Just made my first order from Andy's yesterday. So stoked.



I did warn you. You are doomed. Sorry to hear it. Have fun! 



mollbern said:


> Any plans to give us updated pictures soon?


No. Unfortunately, the tank looks pretty bad. I'm basically "out" of the hobby. I never have time to really take care of it and spend hours like I used to. It's unkempt. I just changed the bulbs a couple days ago after using the same ones for like 2 years. It's unlikely I will ever make new posts and updates on it, sorry to say.

If anyone is curious what I am now up to in life, I am pursuing my dream to be a nature photographer. Some of my photos are here: Flickr: Matt Schwartz's Photostream


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## hydrophyte

flyingSquirrel said:


> No. Unfortunately, the tank looks pretty bad. I'm basically "out" of the hobby. I never have time to really take care of it and spend hours like I used to. It's unkempt. I just changed the bulbs a couple days ago after using the same ones for like 2 years. It's unlikely I will ever make new posts and updates on it, sorry to say.




At least ten text characters...


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## james67

> Yes, all are submerged. I have grown anubias emersed before. The key is very high humidity


I think you would be surprised. I grow anubias just like any other terrestrial plant and honestly they do very well even in moderate humidity once acclimated. I might even go as far as to say they grow more vigorously emersed and without special treatment. Of course you do need to transition them but once they come back they really grow like a weed.

James

Sorry to hear you haven't had the time recently. I have a feeling that you'll get the bug again and feel compelled to keep the tanks going.
if you do any trimming of the unkempt tank just let ne know id be happy to take cuttings off your hands and I wont even charge you to dispose of them.


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## mollbern

Hey thanks for your reply! 

I've relocated the anubias to a more humid location, and now wait to see if they bounce back. 

And I second the interest in any trimmings you end up cutting! 

I'm curious which are the plants that have dominated the tank after this amount of time, and which have died back.


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## Jeremy M

First off, I'd like to say that I've always loved this tank. You really have a feel for the spacial aspect of things; which contours would give off the best end visual effect, both in the background and planning ahead for when things grew in. Such a natural transition from submerged to emmersed in a paludarium is extremely difficult to do and very rarely seen. When you say "unkempt", do you mean it doesn't look like a masterpiece that an artist such as yourself would be willing to let the public see but still may have a very neat wild and jungle-esque look to it that an untrained eye would find very appealing, or do you mean plants-falling-over, bottoms-rotted-from-lack-of-light, care, and airflow, field of view seriously impaired from plants growing against the glass and algal formation, water level down five inches, dictionary definition of utter despair and decay?

How's the photography career going? Nature photography is always a noble and worthwhile pursuit in my book, though it isn't exactly the easiest field to make a living in. It definitely looks like you've got the talent for it though. 
I particularly like the uncropped shot of the great horned owl, and those are the best pika pictures that I've seen yet. I've always considered shrikes to be the most terrifying of all bird species; I hope that seeing them in the wild is the closest I'll come to being face-to-face with the devil. Keep at it, from the looks of your work it seems you're pretty passionate about making this work and love doing it.

I know this isn't your priority right now, but I could hook you up with some Ricciocarpus natans for the water section, a pretty rare floating liverwort. It grows great for me in my planted tank; much better than the duckweed, azolla and salvinia (though that may just be from lack of excess nutrients and ammonia). I'd send it for shipping charge, or if you want to put in the hassle, trade for one of those Pistias or a shred of Polytrichum moss. I really don't mind sending it for free though, just PM me your address if interested 

good luck with everything
-Jeremy


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## TimsViv

Love this build!

Tim


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## gdandrews54

I just don't understand how you mounted some of those vines and the ferns directly onto the background. It was my understanding that you had to have the roots in soil. Can you do this to all plants? Also, could you go in depth on the steps you took to do this. Much appreciated. thanks. by the way i love your tank, hope to be as good as you one day!


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## Frogtofall

gdandrews54 said:


> I just don't understand how you mounted some of those vines and the ferns directly onto the background. It was my understanding that you had to have the roots in soil. Can you do this to all plants? Also, could you go in depth on the steps you took to do this. Much appreciated. thanks. by the way i love your tank, hope to be as good as you one day!


I'm not the builder of this viv but perhaps I can answer your question.

Many of those plants are epiphytes so they can just simply be attached with bent paper clips or toothpicks or what have you, to the background. The only major requirement is a good constant source of moisture so that they root. Something like sphagnum moss or just good misting is all it takes. You can also cut holes into the background and stick pots in it and the plants will grow/hang down from the background.

Good luck.


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## DragonSpirit1185

well since the thread was resurrected again we should get an update


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## mitchy

Can we please get an update and see what this pal looks like today?


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## CrucialCrew_Justin

I agree with the update idea. This paludarium is one of my favorites and has inspired me to do one in the near future.


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## flyingSquirrel

As I explained in a previous post, I will not be updating this thread with build updates. I don't have time for this anymore. However, I'd like to thank everyone that has followed or replied, and supported me. It was fun. Also, many people PM me about plants all the time. A couple days ago I posted a plant sale ad in the plant classifieds section of the forum. The broms are taken but other plants are available still. Thanks


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## flyingSquirrel

Have sold a lot of the plants in my listing, still have some stuff left as outlined in the ad http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/pl...ro-orchids-plus-other-things-post2121769.html


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## Alphonsus

So, when will you add your newt? Will there be any other creatures such as more newts or fish? If you had a group of newts than they might be able to produce babies and that would be an fantastic sight. Love your tank so far.


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