Joined: Jan 31, 2010 Posts: 302 Location: Denver, CO
Status: Offline
Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:56 am Post subject: New nano vivarium in making #updated June 28
Hello all,
This project started suddenly. I had no intentions to start it 3 days ago. But somehow it happened to convince me to start it.
So its a 5.5 Gallons Zilla critter cage with steel mesh as the sliding cover. It will have a non moving water feature. Water side would be around 1/4 the of the total base surface area.
I'm gonna plant a lot of plants. Mostly emmersed aquatic plants like staurogyne repens, staurogune portovelho, staurogyne purple, loebelia cardinalis, small erio parkerii and of course christmas moss.
I'll put glass sheet on the steel mesh sliding cover to keep the humidity in.
Lighting would be a table lamp with a CFL bulb.
I wont disclose the info about inhabitants right now. Let it be a secret as of now. People who know arent allowed to fart it out loud.
Here are some initial photos to begin it with-
I was with my biking group coming back from a nearby mountain when this nano vivarium thing hit me. So I decided to bring back the tank on my bike. My bag which had my bike lock and a few drinks wasn't big enough to keep this 5.5 G tank. So the shop keeper came up with the idea of tying the tank on my bag with duct tape. And it worked perfect. I biked almost 5 miles with the tank on my back
The tank with steel mesh lid on -
Water feature in making-
Let me know your thoughts on it.
I'll try to finish everything by this weekend.
And yeah as my all other journal threads, I'll keep editing this very post to add the updates so that you dont have to keep messing with different pages.
Thanks.
Update June 5
Alright.. So I have made some progress.
Water feature is ready and tested.
I've pasted the background. The area just above the water feature will have some additional features. So I have put foam sealant there. It's left overnight for curing.
Tomorrow ill start working on the substrate and other things..
Will keep you guys updated.
Update- June 28.
I forgot to update this thread.
The project has been completed and running.
I'll start from where I left-
Substrate- It has egg crate drainage system. I've used Josh's frog's ABG mix (ABG mix is 2 parts tree fern fiber, 1 part peat moss, 2 parts coco fiber, 1 part charcoal, and 2 parts orchid bark.)
On the top of ABG, I have used a mixture of ADA Amazonia new and coco peat to make planting ground.
It also has a piece of manzanita wood.
Plants- I've used mostly aquatic plants like - Staurogyne repens, Hygrophylla pinnatifida, Staurogyne sp purple, Polygonum kawagoeanum, And moss carpet. The ground is completely covered in moss sheet. In the water feature, I have a wabi kusa ball with a lot of christmas moss.
Plants were converted to emmersed state way before planting. So, they wont melt in there. They are doing good in there.
Inhabitants- I have 2 males and 2 females of Geosesema sp. aka Red devil crabs in there. They are very small (1.5-2") cute little crabs. They are fluorescent red. See pictures. They eat nearly everything. Commercial food, mealworms, wax worms, small crickets, fruitflies, bloodworms and what not.
Photos-
Full shot. See the elevation on the right side. Actually there's a crevice beneath that elevation. I have a few PVC pipes as caves there. Lil devils hide in there.-
See the crevice and one of the males peeping-
Close up-
Staurogyne patch.. It has both, Saturogyne repens and Staurogyne sp purple there-
Lobelia cardinalis. It grows much better and faster in emmersed state-
A vine-
Purple legs -
Last edited by sumer on Fri Jun 28, 2013 2:59 pm; edited 4 times in total
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