The Vivarium **dial-up be warned image heavy**

[Kris]

Well I thought I would do a nice picture thread of the vivariums construction. You can also read the progress here at www.canadart.org. so here are the pictures






Next I started working on the stand





at this stage I had finished all of the rough structures and epoxy the inside of the enclosure. I as well painted the inside of the stand and the outer side that are not to be stained with high gloss white marine epoxy paint.



We skip right along to after it has been stained, the canopy completed and a whole whack of other things done. Also included is the cabinet it contains all the stuff for running the vivarium.






Here we start the landscaping (this made me as happy as a dancing banana.. .. look at me go)







Testing the Misting setup, I was really impressed with it.




Then finally all planted, I am really happy with how it turned out and cannot wait till it starts to grow in.



Side1



Side2



Well as I know most will ask for this.. here is the plant list.. I am missing one or two tags but when they bloom I will remember what they are

Orchids
Barbosella cogniauxiana
Barbosella dussenii
Batemannia colleyi
Campylocentrum fasciola
Chondrorhyncha hirtzii
dracula lotax
Epidendrum porpax
Lepanthes gargoyla
Lepanthes manabina
Lepanthes calodictyon
Masdevallia strobelii
Masdevallia ennacea
Paphinia neudeckeri
Pleurothallis talpinaria
Rodriguezia secunda
Sievekingia suavis

Non Orchids
Anthurium code 63
Anthurium code 75
Biophylum zenkeri
Campyloneurum phyllitidis
Chlorospatha plowmanii
Corytoplectus cutucuensis
Dicranoglossum semiflavelata
Elaphoglosum metalicum
Elaphoglosum decoratum
Fern Lanceolado
Guzmania andreettae
Guzmania poyoensis
Pillea mollis
Selaginella Umbrosa
Tillandsia wagneriana



In total with the ones not listed there are 38 different plants and then some duplicates

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[Marco]

Lovely set up Kris. you plan on putting any frogs or anything in there in there?

[ScottMcC]

looks great. did you do all the design yourself, or did you get someone to make the plans for you?

also, any estimate of the cost and total time commitment?

[Tony]

What is the black stuff on the background? Is it that new synthetic tree fern?

[Kris]

Thanks all, yes there will be frogs in here as my girlfriend is just starting to get into them (so I built her a vivarium). I’m not to sure what she is going to put in there but I know she wants the thumbnail darts. I will update this thread once things start to grow in and the frogs are placed in as well.

I designed it all my self in Maya, It’s a 3D modeling animation package that I work with for my other job. I will post the renders I did when I designing the system. The great thing was I could build it down to the millimeter and have ever joint figured out so I just had to replicate the pieces in real life. For the total cost and time, I have been working off and on since April 06. I could have shrunk it down to a month or two instead of the 8 or 9 months it took. At first I was keeping a close eye on the cost of what went into it but we estimate that it went to about $800 to $1000. I’m not the handiest man and it took me a few attempts to build the glass doors (which still leak a little Tin, but I think I know what to do) and a few other parts. All in all I would do it this way again as the enclosure is custom fitted to the room, and is 2’ x2’ x3’ plus the stand and canopy. The total height is just over 6 feet.

The black stuff you see is 2 things, the first is the black epoxy I used. You just at a little of a past to the resin and mix away. Next time I will use a thickening agent in the mix as well. This will keep the resin in one place while it cures. The other is EpiWeb, which is the scrub pad looking stuff. I really like this product for its culturing abilities and for its environmental impact. We are trying to be earth conscious.

Wow I’m wordy in the morning.

[Ross]

I see where you settled on 3 T5 lamps in lid. Are all three the daylight? Or did you mix in some 3500K? I was thinking 2 6000K plus 1 3500K as a mix. Oh, and what are the 2 little round things over on the right (whitish colored)?

[Kris]

I used the ones that we sell at the shop, they are 6400k. I am really impressed with them, one of the things I like is I’m not cooking the plants at the top of the vivarium. Here is the link to the ones I used from our site. Click Here


The two white round things are the humidistat and thermostat. I’m ordering a nice digital one that will be mounted under the cabinet with a remote sensor.

[Ross]

How many foot-candles do you figure you're getting at the top of your case?

[Kris]

i am not sure i do nto have a light meter but i know these bulbs produce78 lm/w and there is 72 wats of light giving me 5616 lumens. I will try to find some one who has a light meter so we can pull some stats. Any one with a light metter?

[Ross]

If you have 5616 lumens, I figure you have about 446 Foot-candles. Not a lot. I was hoping for 1000-1500 FC. WAIT! That should be times 3 right? Or 1340 FC?