Help needed before taking the decision of buying/building a terrarium/vivarium - Page 3 - Orchid Board

camille1585 · #21 12-01-2008, 06:43 PM

Too funny! I wish I could see everyone's faces tomorrow! I wonder how long it will take for it to finally come off? I had a similar problem when I was making walnut wine a few years ago. Green walnuts are used, and I cut them without any gloves. My hands were stained dark brown, and there was no way to get it off.

But at least your terrarium is going to look great! Once all the panels are up, maybe having brown hands will be almost worth it.

kavanaru · #22 12-15-2008, 06:50 PM

Ok, guys, it has taken quite long already, but my job has kept me also very very busy for the last few weeks, and I have had no much time to work in my terrarium...

but I have made some advances, which I would like to share with you all...

first some picture of the construction process... with some details of the back side...

kavanaru · #23 12-15-2008, 07:00 PM

and well, a few days laters, after attaching some Epiweb, adjusting the water pump and solving some little problems with water draining through the wrong way...

The setup of plants is not yet final, and I still need to add some fans... but you can get the idea, of how it should look like... place for mounted minis, and also place for some potted plants... the very top seems to be a bit to dry and mayba also too bright, so I do not know yet exactly what kind of chids (or othe plants) should be placed there.... I need to do some more research...

the water in the central pond needs to be further filtered, and the pond also needs to be finalized... I am not sure what I will do with it, but most probably just add some water plants... let's see... maybe also add some small fish (but not very sure of this!)

kenr62 · #24 12-15-2008, 07:57 PM

Reminds me a little of the Greentech Units I sold in the 90's - I was their NE USA distributor at the time. My personal chamber resides at the Omaha Zoo...

camille1585 · #25 12-15-2008, 08:13 PM

It looks great! I can imagine it with little fish, and maybe some small ferns next to the pond. Couldn't you add a mist/fog system to raise the humidity in there? Or maybe once you get the fans in there it will stir things up and even the humidity thoughout the terrarium.

Ross · #26 12-15-2008, 08:20 PM

I wonder why folks feel the need to have a pond in the "tank"? With misting, the pond is just a space-taker (in my opinion). I like the orchidarium, but question the pond. Just my 2 pence. The background is "killer", but the pond is a distraction, sorry.

kavanaru · #27 12-15-2008, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenr62

Reminds me a little of the Greentech Units I sold in the 90's - I was their NE USA distributor at the time. My personal chamber resides at the Omaha Zoo...

indeed, the picture is very 90's...

kavanaru · #28 12-15-2008, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camille1585

It looks great! I can imagine it with little fish, and maybe some small ferns next to the pond. Couldn't you add a mist/fog system to raise the humidity in there? Or maybe once you get the fans in there it will stir things up and even the humidity thoughout the terrarium.

Hi Camille,

I have a mist system with 6 nozzles installed. It runs 3-4 times a day ( I am still adjusting the time, in order to reach the desired humidity)

kavanaru · #29 12-15-2008, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ross

I wonder why folks feel the need to have a pond in the "tank"? With misting, the pond is just a space-taker (in my opinion). I like the orchidarium, but question the pond. Just my 2 pence. The background is "killer", but the pond is a distraction, sorry.

Ross... the reason (in my case) is very simple... I was not building a vitrine for orchids, as you have. If I would have planned that, I would have just added a grid to the back of the vitrine, in order to hang the mounted plants, and maybe also some places for potted chids...

As I mentionned earlier in this same thread, the idea was to build a terrarium, which is in the middle of my flat, and should also be decorative.

In other words, I planned a terrarium/vivarium/paludarium where I could also grow some orchids (maybe also some other plants) and according to the mood, maybe also add some animals... The pond in the middle, has nothing to do with increasing the humidity (I've got a misting system for it!), but actually because I love water plants too, and want to have some of them in the vivavrium too. Furthermore, the pond allowes me to have the little waterfalls... again, not in order to increase the humidity, but just because I love the sound of pouring water, which reminds me a lot of my time working in th amazonian... also, since I was a child, I wanted to have an Axolotl, and if I manage to find it here in Switzerland, I would probably add it to the pond in my terrarium...

maybe, an orchids vitrine would have been very purist and would have had a lot of people happy... however, I was building this for me, and I would not have been happy having a plain vitrine with plants in the middle of my appartment... my terrarium should be then covered with moss (the whole back wall is seeded with it!) making a green rain forest spot out of it, standing in the middle of my home...

as you see, my goal with the terrarium was something completely different.... and therefore, the pond in the middle and the "waterfalls" were as important as the orchids that I can grow in the terrarium

DelawareJim · #30 12-16-2008, 10:01 AM

Wow! It's looking great so far. Hope you've posted them on Flickr. I'm looking forward to seeing bigger pictures.

If you find the lights are too bright and too hot, you might need to put a couple on a seperate timer for a mid-day burst. You'll get the light benefit without over heating the top.

As a fellow lover of aquatic plants, I vote for Cryptocoryne! Like orchids, you can never have too many Crypts!

I can even hook you up with people in Europe to get some rarer species.

Are you using an Eheim to filter/circulate the water? I think I recognize the green tubing.

Cheers.
Jim