June 13th, 2011
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Sooo, I was walking around goodwill because you can find awesome stuff there (fact), and I stumbled across this 3"W x 3"D x 5"H hinged, front-opening glass display case - I thought to myself, that looks like a miniature version of my vivarium/terrarium at home... idea clicked - this is my approach to the nano, pico, micro viv. Yeah, it's that small. lol I just wanted to share and see what people think.
Here is the display case before I touched it:
I then googled nano vivariums, pico vivariums, micro this, tiny that, etc. All I could find are the really cool mini "vivarium" jars and odd containers and whatnot. But I didn't want a small container of dirt and moss to sit near the window; I wanted a small vivarium with a false bottom for proper drainage, it's own dedicated light, etc... and maybe I can hunt down a nice small orchid. Actually, it's official, that's the plan: track down teeny tiny anchoring orchid species.
Anyways, I first drilled a ~1/16" hole in the bottom corner of the tank for draining and made a plug to ppplug it. Next, the false bottom was constructed using a container that carried corn huskers... I know, random, but it was a perforated sturdy plastic material that looked perfect for holding some hydroton above sea level. Drainage stuff:
The following step involved making the barrier for the front, like so:
I used super expensive clear flexible plastic from the wrapping of some AA batteries. Cut to fit. Silicone in place. And then silicone the crud outta the bottom cause there are tiny imperfections (holes/crevices) all over this thing. It was leaking incessantly prior to 'dipping it in a vat of silicone'.
Step 3 or 4ish, add single layer of the smallest lecca balls I could find:
And now for the scape... I'm a fan of wood cause it looks naturalish, and I wasn't trying to spend $, so I went with a 20 dollar grapevine branch thing. I ended up cutting a tiny 2" x 4ish" piece of of it and positioning it into the scape like this (filling out with peat moss of course):
Tight fit - somehow managed to cut it perfect the first time... phew!
Last step: plant.
hemianthus callitrichoides; found it at local fish store submerged. Emersed it:
Try not to pay attention to the the excess HC around the viv... hehe - bought too much.
Final product:
Container: 3" x 3" x 5" front hinge-opening, glass and brass display case with
vent slits along door (top and bottom). Drilled with removable plug; sweet!
Light: 26W CF - 1625 lumens - 6500K
Temperature: 77 - 78.5F at top, 75 - 77F at middle, 73.5 - 75 at substrate.
Humidity: 80 - 100%
Water schedule... once, maybe twice a day
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I decided that I will go with both barbosella handroi and barbosella trilobata as the miniature orchids for this miniature setup - hopefully I can pull off some nice clusters on that grapevine; I will order them online soon, but for now, the waiting game.... GrRrRooowWw!
Nano Vivarium
Threaded Mode
