29 Gallon Emergent Terrarium

[isurus79]

This is a quick video I shot with my cell phone. My terrarium has been growing like this for about 6 months and is my first emergent terrarium. It has Echinodorus, Sarracenia, several different orchids, other plants and a ton moss! I'll be adding dart frogs in November and its a 29 gallon tank.

https://flic.kr/p/oyvwqe

---------- Post added at 05:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:24 PM ----------

Shoot, I wish I could post the video and not a link.

[PaphMadMan]

Nice. You've got a little piece of paradise ready for your frogs. What kind of moss is that?

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by PaphMadMan

What kind of moss is that?

I have no idea! Its the moss that grew naturally on my orchids when I lived in Hawaii and took off when I started experimenting with this terrarium a few years ago.

[Ferns Daddy]

I really like the way you have it set up.

[Gthumbz89]

Really cool looking!! It is funny I always imagined my orchid tank would look something like this. Boy was I wrong!!! Very jealous of the aesthetics your tank has.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by Ferns Daddy

I really like the way you have it set up.

Originally Posted by Gthumbz89

Really cool looking!! It is funny I always imagined my orchid tank would look something like this. Boy was I wrong!!! Very jealous of the aesthetics your tank has.

Thanks! I ended up finding the wood in local forests and grabbed very old Juniperus ashei wood that has clearly been sitting around for a while. I know that Juniper can have some antifungal chemicals in the branches which is why I chose pieces of stumps that have probably been dead for decades.

Since I have about 3 inches of water in the bottom of the tank, I didn't want the wood to rot so I had to elevate it. This was done by using PVC pipe to create a brace that sits on the bottom of the tank. Then I used some screws to attach the wood to the PVC which can be seen on behind the wood.

To be honest, I think I intended to do a build thread and took a bunch of pics to show how I put it together. I'll have to see if I can find those pictures when I get home from work!

[Hiester]

I like it! Everything is so green! Do you have circulating water, or is the water just a reservoir underneath everything? I missed the Sarracenia. I need to take another look. I worked with "Bogman" Sacilotto for several years, so I'm always interested to see how others use the boggy insectivores.

I just recently discovered I can order a sheet of 2' x 4' Lexan™ through Amazon, so I think a terrarium is definitely in my future... *grin*

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by Hiester

I like it! Everything is so green! Do you have circulating water, or is the water just a reservoir underneath everything? I missed the Sarracenia. I need to take another look. I worked with "Bogman" Sacilotto for several years, so I'm always interested to see how others use the boggy insectivores.

I just recently discovered I can order a sheet of 2' x 4' Lexan™ through Amazon, so I think a terrarium is definitely in my future... *grin*

The water in the bottom is just a reservoir that collects from my mistking sprinklers.

The Sarracenia is a teeny little guy that is in the middle of the tank. I grew it from seed this spring but its really been taking off quickly since I threw it in the terrarium.

---------- Post added at 05:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:49 PM ----------

So its turns out I did take pics to be used in a build thread! The timestamp on my camera says Nov 2012, but I didn't live in this apartment back then so I don't know how it came up with that time frame.

Anyway, I wanted to keep the wood above the water line so i wouldn't rot as quickly so I created this mounting system that provides support for the logs. The PVC sits on the tank bottom and is covered by LECA and water.

Attach wood to PVC by Isurus79, on Flickr

Attach wood to PVC by Isurus79, on Flickr

Next, I added the LECA and a wee bit O' moss. The water level is not much lower than the LECA and makes this setup "emergent."

Add LECA and moss by Isurus79, on Flickr

You can see the wood is held above the water. The moss will fill in to cover it up.

Add LECA and moss by Isurus79, on Flickr

The other log.

The other log by Isurus79, on Flickr

Attach orchids.

Attach orchids by Isurus79, on Flickr

Echinodorus and a fern that died.

DSCF5596 by Isurus79, on Flickr

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[Froggle]

Great set up! Which orchids have done well for you in there isurus79? Also do you run a fan? I couldn't see one but it might be hidden in the light unit.

[katrina]

Awesome set up! It's beautiful.