New nano vivarium

[parotet]

Hi all

I got some time this weekend to think about a new nano vivarium (30x20x20 cm) I want to build during the next months (many thanks to Johnbol and Dominic for the inspiration and interesting exchange in the thread "My nano paludarium"). I have decided that I want to do it from scratch (first time I build a tank). It will be something like this:



The back and left walls will be covered with Hygrolon (glued with silicone) with the aim of becoming moss walls (probably some little ferns such as Selaginella). I will use an enriched substrate that will be planted with emersed aquatic plants. As far as I know, ensuring good ventilation in the tank is very important to avoid fungal diseases, although if I try to have two moss walls I will have to reach an equilibrium between good ventilation and dehydration. I want to keep the set up very simple: so no computer fans, no artificial light (probably some in winter), no pumps, etc. It has to work on its own (just add evaporated water and some water spraying). The substrate will be soaked with distilled water + ferts.

I have two doubts I want to ask to the most experienced folks:

1. Will this 3 mm slot on the front ensure enough (or too much?) ventilation? It will be just above the substrate line. This way I will be able to take pictures without having a line in the middle. The vivarium plans I have seen with sliding doors are too difficult for my skills…

2. I will cut the Hygrolon fabric a bit longer in the bottom to be in contact with the damp substrate, but I’m not sure if this will keep the fabric wet enough for growing mosses. I was thinking of making a kind of glass separation, parallel to the Hygrolon walls (3-4 cm height -same as substrate layer- and 2 cm width) to be filled with water and to keep the piece of fabric in contact with water. Of course this part would be invisible due to decoration.

Any feedback will be welcome 🙂

Jordi

 

[Martin in Holland]

subscribed.....

 

[Edvet]

Nice plans. Though i would realy look into buying a readymade/secondhand one first, just to get experienced in how these vivaria work. Get used to working with the materials people use, see how they react. Vivaria/terraria are built they way they are because that works. Not implying your way can't work, but to many iff's and but's. Small ones new aren't that expensive, secondhand could be an option. (like this:http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/terrariums.php)
Ventilation is key in these tanks, looking through an misted window all the time takes away the fun.
Look at fernroot to cover the sides (xaxim, i kept my orchids on that) or Epiweb.
Not wanting to play down your ideas, just a friendly advice.

 

[parotet]

Hi Edvet

thanks for your comments... I definitely want to try a DIY vivarium, this is why I'm going nano, I will spend some hours and a few euros, so if it doesn't work it won't be that hard. I agree with you that a nano Exoterra is not that expensive, but I don't like how the small ones look like... in the large ones there are huge glass surfaces to observe what there is inside but in the nano ones there is no way of taking a good picture of your plants with the vent holes, black plastic brace, etc.
I will finally use Hygrolon because I have found a Spanish retailer that sells 50x50cm pieces for 6 euros, not bad (actually just a few euros more expensive than xaxim). It seems that this fabric is very good for moss growing as it holds 280% of water and lifts water vertically 32 cm. I don't want (don't have room) for big orchids, so I guess ferns and mosses' tiny roots will do well.

Jordi

 

[Edvet]

🙂Ok. I guess ventilation wil be the biggest attentionpoint.

 

[Lewis G]

Subscribed. Interesting to see how you'll get on. Good luck!

 

[jose_j]

subscribed!

 

[parotet]

Et voilà! Not much work left to do… just fill the bottom of the tank with aquarium substrate and that's all.
Now it is extremely hot to use the moss mix, so I will wait (if I can…) to final August. The emrsed plants I want to use will also keep better in the propagator than planted here, so meanwhile I will look for nice wood and the light fixture will be paint in silver.



(I have to clean a little bit the mess done with the silicone 🙁)

Jordi

 

[Edvet]

 

[parotet]

Waiting for cooler temperatures for planting but some interesting progress in the plant propagators:

Unknow aquatic moss growing on a piece of wood, also some Selaginella attached and a fern gametophyte! (probably Java fern but not really sure)


Wild moss collected last week (it was completely dehydrated) that seems to do well. I will use it with the Hygrolon tropical moss mix on the walls


And some emersed aquatic plants that will fill the vivarium base


Cheers
Jordi

 

[X3NiTH]

Looking good!

 

[parotet]

Hi all

I finally planted my moss and emersed aquatic plants nano vivarium… It is still quite hot around here but I will be at home for the next weeks so I will have time to mist the vivarium as much as needed.
For the Hygrolon walls I have used the Epiweb moss mix but I decided to add some chopped Java moss and an unknown species collected from the wild (Mediterranean low land, let’s say a subtropical moss). Some pics:



I used two pieces of wood in which I have been growing Java moss for the last 2 months (just moss attached to wood with cotton line or painted, kept in a clear plastic container, misted once a day and with plenty indirect sun). And of course some emersed aquatic plants from my tanks. More pics:




The species that have been planted for the moment are: Anubias bartieri, Ludwigia repens, Rotala rotundifolia, Hydrocotyle tripartita, Hydrocotyle leucocephala, Staurogyne repens, Limnophila aromatica, Azolla filiculoides, Selaginella kraussiana and Anagallis tenella… none of them are truly aquatic plants as you know. They are planted on recycled Aquasoil that is kept damp. Everything will be mist by hand, probably 3 times a day during the moss setup and hopefully once a day once established. And this is how it looks for the moment… The moss will take quite a lot of time to grow and hopefully cover all the Hygrolon.



Regarding the plants I am not sure what will happen, time will tell… I guess the most adapted species to the vivarium conditions will cover the whole setup. For the moment what I aim at having a good collection of species to make sure that at least some of them will thrive. Some more pics to show the scale of the vivarium, it is really small, sometimes a bit tricky to work on it. The lamp on the pictures is provisional (13w CF) as the one shown in previous post is being painted in black (this one will hold a 7w LED). It also receives good light during the morning, so in total 8 hours of artificial light + 4 hours of indirect sunlight.



I also decided to toy a little bit with Hygrolon and moss… not really emersed aquatic plants, just tropical moss mix from Dusk/Epiweb (Sweden) and some bits of native ones. I want to give a big thanks to Mikael Karlbom at Dusk Tropic Sweden for his good advice on the nanovivarium design and Hygrolon use. Here’s a series of pics showing a pair of little toys that will grow beside the nano vivarium:






Jordi

 

[Jaap]

Waiting for cooler temperatures for planting but some interesting progress in the plant propagators:

Unknow aquatic moss growing on a piece of wood, also some Selaginella attached and a fern gametophyte! (probably Java fern but not really sure)


Wild moss collected last week (it was completely dehydrated) that seems to do well. I will use it with the Hygrolon tropical moss mix on the walls


And some emersed aquatic plants that will fill the vivarium base


Cheers
Jordi

Last picture bottom half in the middle what is that feathery looking plant?

 

[parotet]

Bottom from left to right: Anubias, a leaf of Bolbitis on the base of the Anubias, Selaginella kraussiana, Java fern Trident (behind Selaginella) and then Hydrocotyle tripartita japan. I guess you mean Selaginella, isn't it? It looks like a moss but it is actually a fern, non aquatic, needs high levels of humidity but leaves suffer in contact with water. Not sure now where it is native from, this one comes from the local botanical garden, it covers the whole fern greenhouse substrate. We have in the Mediterranean some native species but with much smaller leaves, hard to tell from moss for most people

Jordi

 

[Jaap]

Yes thats it. How come u r growing it in your emersed setup?

 

[parotet]

Yes thats it. How come u r growing it in your emersed setup?

Well, it will grow well over a wet substrate and will benefit from daily misting so I guess it will thrive

 

[James D]

Looks fantastic Jordi, well done mate. Are you planning to put any fauna in there or is it a bit small?

 

[parotet]

Thanks James. It is very small, just 30x20x20 cm. Anyway this is just a small toy. The family looks interested in what is happening with plants and moss... Honestly it looks nice in the living room. It's is just the beginning for something bigger, you know what I mean? 😉

Jordi

 

[Dominic]

I noticed this on dendroboard! It looks sweet mate! I have started a journal for a vivarium myself but wasnt sure whether to post on here considering this is an 'aquatic plant society' lol 😛

 

[parotet]

Thanks mate... Actually I wanted to do something like a big wabikusa with emersed plants but finally I decided to use Hygrolon and moss... Not sure how to call it lol

Jordi