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Post by troutddicted on Aug 10, 2015 21:44:29 GMT -5
Resurrected an old project that has been sitting way back in the shed. Its an 18"x18"x24" Exo terra - a bit tall but it will have to do. The idea for this setup is to grow out my recently purchased nepenthes a bit so I can then acclimate it to become a house plant ( right now its really, really tiny ) along with various other CP and other greenery such as bromealids, epiphytes, vines, orchirds, etc. Won't be any specific ecotype - just a mish mash of plants the can live together in the tank. Will be outfitting it with some decent lighting ( looking at either 4 or 6 24" T5 HO after countless hours of reading ), fans, water pump, misting system? Will make this into a paludarium hence the water pump and toying with the idea of some sort of waterfall ( want the pump in there regardless of waterfall to have the water moving around ). The water will only be a handful of inches deep but would be dope to have some shrimp or fish in there. Gonna have a terrestial bed over some LECA. Thats the rough draft as of tonight - hoping it will be a frustration free ride. Anyhow, heres a pic of what I'm starting with - the front and right will the visually appealing sides and I'm gonna make the left and back sides a planted wall. Hopefully I'll have weekly updates for you fine folks
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Post by vraev on Aug 11, 2015 0:00:02 GMT -5
Looks like a good build. You are right to use that kind of lighting, although keep in mind the heat will go up real fast. Make sure you have a way to keep it away from the nepenthes. Keep the updates coming
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Post by lloyd on Aug 11, 2015 7:30:29 GMT -5
Anybody have any thoughts on the stability and toxicity of foams/caulking/plastics, etc. in our enclosures? Just wondering.
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Post by hal on Aug 11, 2015 8:19:42 GMT -5
I used to keep frogs. Good silicon sealant was fine in wet enclosures for sealing glass or fixing cork bark on the back of the tanks. I never found a type of plastic or foam that didn't yellow or degrade or get covered in algae. It was also difficult to create a solid mass so water would get down behind and stagnate. The Toronto zoo uses gunnite (cement)on mesh for their enclosures but judging by what I see there, they rebuild them every so often.
My technique was to stack loose rocks and bark and hang the plants off the back to cover the glass. Then you could take it all apart and clean it every year or so.
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Post by troutddicted on Aug 11, 2015 9:23:23 GMT -5
vraev - thanks for the concern. Won't be permanently fixing in the nepenthes until I find out exactly what height it can tolerate the light.
llyod - I'm convinced that silicon, the plastic containers, foam something eventually leaches and has an effect ( whether its immediate or causes some long term negative effect ) - I'm sure there are some academic papers floating around about this. The foam does deteriorate - much faster. I've seen many successful vivariums built with this and they do last - long enough 'til I get bored and re-do the entire thing. There is no immediate ill effect on fish or amphibians and they do tend to outlive their wild counterparts, although a weak argument as there are many more variables at play with wild populations. I will be keeping the more sensitive... read "the plants I care more about" - in their own individual containers in order to create ideal growing conditions for each individual.
hal - fellow frogger here. I will be covering the foam with good quality silicon and a layer of coco fibers, sphag, etc. to naturalize it. Will keep as much of the "wall panel" foam outta the water however will have some in the water to keep the LECA in place. BTW, got any pics of your rock walls? Curious to see what it looks like.
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Post by hebtwo on Aug 11, 2015 10:42:05 GMT -5
Great start on this build. Make sure to keep updating as you go along. I love watching these things come together.
I had a brief love affair with the idea of keeping dart frogs (but was dutifully denied by the significant other) and have been so amazed at the level of realism and detail some folks manage in vivariums.
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Post by morphman on Aug 11, 2015 16:00:12 GMT -5
That is a good start on your tank but I just want to ask about the kind and source of your driftwood. I just had to redo a tank for someone who 2 years ago did not agree with me that it makes a difference. They use locally collected wood which was not suitable for high humidity enclosures and with time the wood deteriorated and collapsed cracking one of the tank sides.
Pure silicone once cured is safe for plants and animals but foam is another issue. There is plenty of research regarding "foams" leaching harmful substances and some of the research does have merit but how much toxins are leached, what exactly they are and what effects they have are all grey areas. I personally have used different kinds of foam in many tank builds and have no issues so far but I use as little as possible. I have not experimented much with styrofoam but I have a feeling it is not as harmless as spray foam or other products.
There are ways to create a water feature, control the water flow and avoid stagnating. A good canister filter should take care of most of that but I feel that a false bottom is mandatory for optimum results.
Regards
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Post by troutddicted on Aug 11, 2015 17:50:45 GMT -5
Got 4 18" Sunblasters today ( possibly get another 2 ), took a drive to a couple nurseries ( damn Scarborough Sheridan is lacking tropical plants ) and picked up a bunch of "building" items.
hebtwo - I'm aiming for a dark, eerie looking realistic environment - not sure how I'm gonna accomplish that with green and red CP's but hey, lets see what happens.
morphman - the wood is some sort of hardwood I had laying around. Sourced locally from a forest from dead, dry trees - used to have many aquariums/terrariums so wood was sourced on a budget. Never had an issue but then again never had any setups running for more than 5 years. There will be one piece inside the water that I found at Big Als today and paid $16 for a bloody 12" piece - apparently I'm in the wrong business. I am looking to go to my nearest creek eventually and pick out some twisty roots from an submerged root. Do the whole boil and dry out thing to get rid of any nasties and such.
I'm opting out of a running water feature this time around ( which I will most likely regret ) but will still install either one or two pumps underneath the LECA to get some water movement - of course keep them accessible in case they fail. Got pics of some of your builds morphman?
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Post by troutddicted on Aug 11, 2015 17:55:20 GMT -5
Ah speaking of nurseries - any shops around Toronto worth checking out for exotic plants? Or do you guys get everything from internet/forum sales/swaps?
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Post by lloyd on Aug 11, 2015 19:42:23 GMT -5
You can find some interesting stuff in Toronto but it's not a plant diversity hot spot, for sure.
Just keep looking around, nurseries, big box stores, florists, you never know.
Fairly random to find weird stuff but it happens.
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Post by hal on Aug 11, 2015 21:30:31 GMT -5
The plant sales at the Southern Ontario Orchid Society meetings have some neat stuff other than orchids some times. Check their website for the next meeting date. You don't have to be a member to attend.
No photos of my frog tanks on hand, trout. If I have any they're on Kodachrome slides in a carousel somewhere in storage. It was 25 years ago.
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Post by joeelliott on Aug 12, 2015 20:20:55 GMT -5
Definitely has a lot of potential. I am looking forward to seeing it as it progresses.
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Post by hebtwo on Aug 13, 2015 7:07:48 GMT -5
Ah speaking of nurseries - any shops around Toronto worth checking out for exotic plants? Or do you guys get everything from internet/forum sales/swaps? Sounds like you live in or near the Scarbs (I live there too), I'd recommend checking out Valley View nursery. They're on the west side of Kennedy, just north of Finch. They blow Scarborough's Sheridan out of the water as far as breadth of selection, and usually better prices too. I populate my gardens from Valley View every year and they usually have lots of tropical stuff and bromeliads, etc... I've seen some CP there once, but not too often. They have a good selection of cacti (big and small) and some orchids. Anyway, it's worth checking out some time.
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Post by troutddicted on Aug 14, 2015 22:27:14 GMT -5
Hebtwo - thanks for the headsup about the nursery. I spend most of my money there Such a wonderful place Pretty well got all the supplies to move forward just need to finalize the landscape before I start building... gotta pick out some more wood for the finer details. Gotta source some "chunks" of black rock - got my hands on black sand and black river rock. Everything is sitting waiting to be built - that four letter word "work" that ruins lives draining all my energy.
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Post by troutddicted on Sept 1, 2015 20:11:27 GMT -5
So after a long while things have finally settled down and I can continue pushing forward with this project. This is rather an underwhelming update but to keep the build log going I suppose step by step photos can't hurt. The semi circle will be the barrier that holds the LECA in place. Underneath the polypore hanging mushroom thingy at the bottom left I have two pumps wrapped up in filter sponge. One of the pumps into the inside of the barrier where the LECA is and the other pumps out into the front ( you can see the hose running through the partition at the bottom right ). These pumps will be easily accessible in case of failure. I've got a 90 GPH pumping out front because I would like to have some aquatic plants swaying in the current - easy grow stuff like java ferns. The idea of having two pumps is to minimize stagnant water - will cut out some sections of the barrier for the water to flow through as well. I'm starting to think I should have gone bigger because space is getting real tight, real fast. Oh well, next build will be different.
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