Thanks everyone for your feedback!
I have a bookcase [sans interior shelves] that has an interior space of approx. 5ft tall [152cm] by 3ft [82cm] long and 1.5ft [43.5cm] deep, as well as a whole bunch of orchids [bulbophyllums, pleurothallis, aerangis and many others] and have been wanting to create a vivarium for a long time.
There are so many trully amazing Vivariums, terrariums, paludariums, orchidariums and wardian cases on the internet, here on Orchidboard and other places like the Dendroboard and Gardenweb.
There are features and aspects of each that I like and all the fundamental designs aspects [eg from if and where you would have a waterfall] would influence how the vivarium would turn out and how it would function.
So I ended up creating the image I posted by using Photoimpact 6, the cloning tool, cutting and pasting shading etc and merged the aspects and elements from many vivs into my dream viv. If you are a viv addict and/or owner you may see part of a viv - possibly yours - within the composite image!
For example the mossy rocks by the waterfall/stream are from photos from
Vivaria Projects - intro movie
I am going to follow the method of expoying the inside, then using a pond liner, siliconing background objects such as treefern, branches, corkbark, filling in the background with foam, covered by silicone and moss,
combining the design and construction elements from the methods used here:
Construction of a large vivariumat www.poison-frogs.com
and here:
Page 1
I have
many decisions to make- wet drip wall?, rain bar?, mist system?, filtration, substrate, plant choice & placement, lighting evaporative cooling/fogger?, sliding doors?, fans air circulation, heating cooling etc!
Initially this was going to be used for many orchids I have in my small GH which currently has a 500W heater [and a 3ft tank with a heater at 32c in it] in it but due to cost
will not next winter.
But also I would like to grow Masdevallias, Draculas, pleurothallis - low light plants etc down low,
intermediate orchids [miltonias etc] in the middle and then the hotties right up the top and thought this
might be possible because of temperature differential- the lights at the top making it hotter there [I have a 150 metal halide light and was going to supplement it with CFS]. Also I thought things that like it drier or to dry out totally could be right up the top and things that like it moist right down the bottom. Ideally I want a temperature range of 26c maximum for the draculas and masdevallia.
Whether this is feasible or not I don't know?
I haven't kept frogs before [only fish in aquariums] but they could make a nice and beneficial addition to my viv [eat insects and give free organic fertiliser
]
Dart frogs are unavailable in Australia
We can only keep with a license:
- Blue Mountains Tree Frog Litoria citropa
- Brown Striped Frog Limnodynastes peronii
- Common Spadefoot Toad Neobatrachus sudelli
- Dainty Green Tree Frog Litoria gracilenta
- Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog Litoria fallax
- Giant Barred Frog Mixophyes iteratus
- Giant Tree Frog Litoria infrafrenata
- Great Barred Frog Mixophyes fasciolatus
- Green Tree Frog Litoria caerulea
- Haswell’s Frog Paracrinia haswelli
- Leaf Green Tree Frog Litoria phyllochroa
- Leseur’s Frog Litoria lesueuri
- Peron's Tree Frog Litoria peronii
- Southern Smooth Froglet Geocrinia laevis
- Water-holding Frog Cyclorana platycephala
- Whistling Tree Frog Litoria verreauxii
So I ordered two books on the Green Tree Frogs and keeping frogs as pets for some good background reading to help me decide whether or not and which frog/s I might get. I would probably run the viv a few months to let things grow in before introducing the frogs.
Anyway I plan to document each step I take so at some point I will add an update to this thread on my progress.
Threaded Mode
