Finally there is a new large terrarium standing in the orchid room. Empty as of yet, but full of promise. This is truly a Valentine’s Day gift right up my alley, much better than roses!
I will convert this terrarium into a cool vivarium and create my own little orchid cloud forest in there. Well, perhaps “little” is an inappropriate description since it measures 175 cm wide, 160 cm high and 65 cm deep. A significant space in other words, and I plan to fill it with (mostly) Pleurothallids! I found it used online after many months of searching. There are usually many terrariums for sale, but it has been hard to find one this large.
So, yesterday dear husband and I drove a couple of hours south with a large trailer in tow to pick it up. The terrarium is a few years old, but is in very nice shape. The guy I bought this from has had large boas in it, and he obviously he took good care of it. While cleaning it up I found a sticker on the aluminium frame with the name of the glass company who made it, so it is a professional build.
The build is a light weight aluminium frame with 4 mm glass both on the sides and for the sliding doors on the front. A really smart solution for this build is the double walled polycarbonate used for the back wall. It is the same plastic often used for greenhouses instead of glass. It makes the terrarium much lighter and less fragile. I will still have to get a new cover for it since the guy had a wooden ceiling before. I had checked the price of building a brand new one, but it’s really, really expensive. To find one this nice used is a great deal. Especially since it will cost a lot more to actually outfit.
I am now researching the equipment for it… rain systems, foggers, a fan system to draw cool air in from the outside, hygro/temp thermostat, good light fixture for the Dulux 80W CFL’s I want… This is going to be a long, but really fun project.
Now that’s an exciting project. I hope you’re planning on keeping us updated with the progress.
Eeeee!!! So Exciting!!! 😀
That looks really big and beautiful – your masdies and pleuros will love it! I’ll be interested to see what kinds of equipment you choose… I’ve been considering looking into LED light panels at some point, for efficiency’s sake, but haven’t found quite enough information on them yet. Are you planning to do a mounted/naturalistic terrarium or more like a potted greenhouse?
It’s so much fun to hear about your projects, it makes me want to rush out and buy a vivarium too! 🙂 I think I may have 1-2 more empty small aquariums in the basement (I kept buying them “just in case” at thrift stores/charity shops for a while) — maybe I should set another one up. (Or, maybe I should deal with the fans on the ones I have, first — they have wire mesh tops, since ‘m not trying to alter the temperature, and we have forced air heating and a drafty home, so they do get air movement, but I don’t think it’s enough. Computer fans to the rescue!)
Thanks a lot guys!! I plan to make it a natural looking viv. using modern equipment. I plan to do EpiWeb walls moss growing on it… then tons of mounted minis, and more larger ones on the bottom… Yes it IS very very exciting and I promise to document it well. 😀
Bibliofloris, if I were you I would focus on getting the two vivs you have running 100% before starting up any new ones. Fans are in my opinion, not only recommended but a necessity. Without it, you will get trouble, it is just a matter of time. Good luck!!
Thanks for the advice; I do agree about getting the other ones perfected before I play with more. I set my terrariums up about 3-4 years ago and they’ve done very nicely for the most part (maybe 3-4 deaths from lack of water on the highest mounted things out of about 25-30 tiny plants). I haven’t had any fungus, mold, or mildew problems in that time, but I wonder if it’s just luck. I do want to optimize their conditions better, and fans are an easy thing to change!
After I get the fans set, I think I may turn one long, low tank into a a temporary habitat for deflasked baby masdies — still thinking about those Ecuagenera flasks. Hopefully I could even convert it into a permanent home for them once they’re grown up, as long as I choose miniatures. Hmm, I wonder if I should try mounting a couple of babies as an experiment, so I don’t have to transfer them later…
I look forward to seeing how you arrange your viv — sounds like it will be great! I love the natural ones. 🙂 FYI, I’ve never had to “plant” any moss in my terrariums, and I have a few different kinds growing in the now, although it took about a year to appear. I think having potted carnivorous bog plants in there may have helped it get started, since they often have moss growing in their pots, but I don’t know for sure.
You scored major with this Karma! Can’t wait to see the progress! Way to go 🙂
Thanks Joan! 🙂
Bibliofloris, if you have not had problems with mold in 3-4 years (that is a long time) you probably have a good balance already in your terrariums. Unless you add a lot more new plants, which raises the RH in there and also might disrupt the excising natural air flow, you might not need fans after all…. who knows. A friend of mine used to say, “don’t fix it it it ain’t broke”… 😉
I have a lot of moss growing on the different mounts and in some pots, I think the moss spores come in on the orchids and then continue to self seed where the conditions are right. I love the way it looks. For the new viv I will spread out spores on the back and side walls to help the process along.
I think an aquarium would be a great place to raise your Ecuagenera flask babies. And yes, if you choose minis they might have a permanent home in there too. Good idea since you already have the aquariums. I mounted several flask babies, but I waited a few months until I had a few new roots and active growth before I transferred them from the community pot with sphagnum moss. They have all done great. I will try and get pics, I have not forgotten…
Thank you!! 😀 I am so excited to try this!!
that’s awesome!
Thanks Mike!! 🙂
Bibliofloris, it is so much fun to try new things, and with orchids, there are always new things to try and to learn! Be sure to let me know how it goes.
Hi Karma,
I am excited to see your project, we are beginning something very similar. Our vivarium is not quite as large as yours, 5 ft long, 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide and is in place in the living room. We are setting it up as a Colombian cloud forest, although we have no problem having Ecuadorian plants in there too. We will cool it also from the outside (we live near Seattle, Washington USA so temperatures are very mild) with an inline fan that will draw air in, plus another fan for general circulation. Lighting will be an 8 fixture t-5 (432 watts total). Background will be epiweb. We plan to suspend branches in the tank for epiphytes (orchids, bromeliads and ferns) and also hang vines that will run from top to bottom.
I can’t wait to see how your project continues.
Thanks Christina! Sounds like you have a very exiting project going your self. A cloud forest in the living room sounds lovely!! I would love to see pictures when you are done. 🙂 Our climate is pretty similar to Seattle, just a little cooler year round (especially in the summer). I am also planning on cooling with outside air, using a thermostat to regulate it. I actually bought an inline fan (bathroom fan) yesterday, we are just about to get started installing it now. I just have to go see what dear husband is up to… I’ll take some photos and post them later. I have already installed my EpiWeb walls, and I will install some branches too, they just arrived this week finally. For lighting I chose 4 Dulux 80W fixtures since CFL’s run a bit cooler than T-5’s. These lights also penetrate much deeper, up to about 150 cm (3,3 ft) without loosing much power, a concern for me since my viv. is very tall. Hopefully the rest of the gear will arrive this coming week, I am itching to get it all done …and I promise to post pictures.
Hi Karma,
No where near done obviously but here is a pic of it in all it’s empty glory http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2569/4050732099_c88a7d518a_b.jpg (note dog is not to scale 🙂 Once we have really done some work on it I will send you more pictures, we’re also waiting on all of our supplies.
Ah very cool!! Something very exciting about the endless possibilities of an empty canvas. 🙂 Looks like a nice viv. Curous dogs… my cat is the same. Please do keep me posted on your progress, I would love to see how it turns out. I have finished building for the day… now I have to go and water orchids. It takes little over 2 hours to do. Hopefully I will have time to put up some more pics tonight, but we’ll see.
that was very cool project…and i’d like to make my own.I need lots of information about vivarium build and how to manage this vivarium if i want it computerized? thx u
Thanks Steffany. Good luck on your build. 🙂