Help needed before taking the decision of buying/building a terrarium/vivarium

[dounoharm]

what a project!! you have done a marvelous job of creating an ecosystem...it could just about run itself huh? i like the idea or waterfalls and the sound of water moving....it is soothing to the soul...but are you going to include little fish? that would be nice...send more pics as the mosses and ferns develop...ty for posting this!

[kavanaru]

Originally Posted by DelawareJim

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

Indeed, Eheim Prof 2224 actually, Crypts are some of them I like... you can have them half under water half aerial...

[Ross]

Originally Posted by kavanaru

Ross, if I understood correctly, the fans in your terrarium only work at night, right? all night long?

Sorry, I think I missed this post after I first responded (there's too much here to read anymore )

Short answer: Nope. I have 3 fans - all are about 8CM 12 volt fans ( Coralife Aqualight 3 1/8 Cooling Fan Kit ) Two run totally inside the case 24/7. A third one is mounted on opposite side of case on a hole through the case wall and is on a timer to allow it to run for 3-4 hours at night. This, in effect, exhausts the gases of transpiration, dries out the case a bit to lessen occurence of molds, cools down the inside temps by air exchange with a cooler environment, etc. You don't need all night venting.

Hope I didn't screw up anything by not reading to the end of this thread before posting and by waiting so long, but How can I read all these threads

[kavanaru]

Thanks a lot Ross... you did not screw up anything

[DelawareJim]

Originally Posted by kavanaru

actually, Crypts are some of them I like... you can have them half under water half aerial...

Yes, they're great plants. I grow most of mine emersed now although I still aquascape with them mostly.

I had the good fortune of attending the European Cryptocoryne Society meeting last year in Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands. Had a great time meeting fellow Crypt enthusiasts from Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany, and wow did I have a lot of plants to bring back!

Cheers.
Jim

[camille1585]

Yeah, Cryptocorynes are a good idea! I love the ones that have a red leaf underside. I used to have tons in my tank years ago, but they got invasive and I pulled them all up and planted more. But they never have time to grow, the big catfish destroys everything. My tank will be nearly plantless until the stupid fish dies, in a decade or so. Maybe I'll try Java ferns, apparently that fish doesn't destroy those as much.

Or anubias would look nice, the flowers are excellent! Mine bloom underwater, but sometimes a spike makes it to the surface. They are hardy plants, slow growers though, and love to be mounted on driftwood.

I'm getting really excited about your pond design!!

[kavanaru]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Yeah, Cryptocorynes are a good idea! I love the ones that have a red leaf underside. I used to have tons in my tank years ago, but they got invasive and I pulled them all up and planted more. But they never have time to grow, the big catfish destroys everything. My tank will be nearly plantless until the stupid fish dies, in a decade or so.

Why waiting so long? Catfish are delicious deep fried with lemon juice... or as Fish & Chips

[kavanaru]

Ok, I have continued doing some work inmy Vivarium..

here an update:

Vivarium (updated) on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

even the pond looks much better now

Pond on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[dounoharm]

that is one fabulous job ramon....it is inspirational...i am going to build a smaller unit, and not so advanced, and i appreciate everything that went into this construction! i loved seeing it as a slideshow! thank you!

[kavanaru]

once the Vivarium was perfectly running, I satarted havin some problems with water leaking to the side "tanks" (it was a problem with teh styropor pannel, which are not leakproof - I did not expect ). This was causing too much work, as I had to drain the water every second day.. so, I decided to make some changes...





of course I needed to find a new house for the fish and shrimps that were living in the vivarium...