Vivarium Pics - dialup warning

[Marty]

Few pictures of my planted 90gal vivarium. It's quite overgrown, so I think trimming is in order. I kind of like that out of control jungle look. There's bunch of plants in here, don't know the names of most though ops:

8 adult leucomelas call this place home. As for the setup, there are 2x55W Compact Fluorescent lights, water feature that's a bit overgrown, with external canister filter supplying the waterfall/drip wall. There is an ultrasonic fogger and a misting system. Also a heater for the water, always at 75'F, Air bubbler for the water, to increase the circulation and aerate it a bit, there are 2 computer fans slowly circulating the air...I think that's pretty much all.

Sorry about the dark pictures, I was toying with my camera on manual setting. Just imagine that it's a bit brighter in the tank




Pic much overexposed. This is what the tank looks like



Again, very overexposed, with the filter, timers, air pump, and some storage underneath the vivarium. I was bored one day and I installed a fridge type switch with a light. Now everytime you open the door the light automatically goes on...hehe



Full frontal view of the tank.


Middle center, a bit of moss, some leaf litter and mix of coconut fiber and peat with a pinch of organic soil


This is the tip of a root that became completely covered in moss, with time ficus pumilia climb up and ferns sprouted out. The root is just a supporting structure, as you can't really see it anymore, except in the water.



2 Leucs doing the rounds


Splash of colour with the home depot variety of this red plant. I'm notorious for throwing out labels.



Tip of the root mountain again. At the top there is a nice plurothalid orchid. It's growing nicely.






One of the leucs hunting down some fruit flies


Here's the red plant again ops:





Top of the food chain. Yellow and Black, ready to attack


Hey! What's this walking on my leaf !




Leuc sitting pretty



Another leuc...or maybe the same one ?


Balcony view


That's how the leucs sleep at night. They huddle around the cattleya, all 8 of them. That's also how the orchid is fertilized



Fogger in the background. I turned it on just for the pic.... Humidity is mostly 90% +, so I rarely turn it on.

[Tindomul]

NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your tank is sooooooooooo cool!!!! If you ask me, it dont need no trimming.

That is one lucky Catleya. Do you know why the luecs like sleeping there??

I bet its easy for a little luec to get lost in there. And fruit flies must survive for a long while in there.

How long has this tank been up and running??
How many orchids do you have in there? have they bloomed in there?
Im soooooooooooo curious about your viv.

[Oscarman]

That IS a great looking viv! It looks like a chunk taken right out of the rainforest. Forget the pruners.

Is that typical that the frogs gather around orchids, I have not heard of it before. Pretty cool.

[Marty]

Yes, very frequently frogs will sleep next to each other, not necessarily around orchids. Happens in my other tanks too. I guess this cattleya became favourite, because it could fit all of them next to each other. I like it because all frogs are in plain view.

Originally Posted by Oscarman

That IS a great looking viv! It looks like a chunk taken right out of the rainforest. Forget the pruners.

Is that typical that the frogs gather around orchids, I have not heard of it before. Pretty cool.

[Rad3Dad]

WoW Marty,

That viv is stunning. Looks like it has been set up for years. Very impressive. And the leucs are "icing on the cake". My favorites!

(I know who I will be hitting up for some advice, :wink: )

What do you have hooked up to those "sweet" switches on the stand. I love that feature, hope you don't mind if I "borrow" that idea from you.

I would like some info on your ventilation system too. I am working on a new viv (18x24 exo terra) and I am not sure how I should be using the fans. (1 blowing in, 1 out???) Would 1 fan blowing out be enough flow with the intake vent under the doors, to keep orchids happy? I know some tweaking will be involved in the air flow, due to the variables in different systems. I'm just not sure how much air flow is really needed.

Thanks for any tips. I'm sure I will be throwing a few more questions at you, after seeing what you accomplished above. Great Work!

[Marty]

Thanks for the compliments. I have one blowing in and one blowing out, although I run the one blowing in OFF, or run it very slowly and I run the one sucking out. In short, either one of your methods will work. You don't need much flow at all, just barely need to move the air.

Originally Posted by Rad3Dad

WoW Marty,

That viv is stunning. Looks like it has been set up for years. Very impressive. And the leucs are "icing on the cake". My favorites!

(I know who I will be hitting up for some advice, :wink: )

What do you have hooked up to those "sweet" switches on the stand. I love that feature, hope you don't mind if I "borrow" that idea from you.

I would like some info on your ventilation system too. I am working on a new viv (18x24 exo terra) and I am not sure how I should be using the fans. (1 blowing in, 1 out???) Would 1 fan blowing out be enough flow with the intake vent under the doors, to keep orchids happy? I know some tweaking will be involved in the air flow, due to the variables in different systems. I'm just not sure how much air flow is really needed.

Thanks for any tips. I'm sure I will be throwing a few more questions at you, after seeing what you accomplished above. Great Work!

[daemondamian]

Originally Posted by Marty

Few pictures of my planted 90gal vivarium. It's quite overgrown, so I think trimming is in order. I kind of like that out of control jungle look. There's bunch of plants in here, don't know the names of most though ops:

8 adult leucomelas call this place home. As for the setup, there are 2x55W Compact Fluorescent lights, water feature that's a bit overgrown, with external canister filter supplying the waterfall/drip wall. There is an ultrasonic fogger and a misting system. Also a heater for the water, always at 75'F, Air bubbler for the water, to increase the circulation and aerate it a bit, there are 2 computer fans slowly circulating the air...I think that's pretty much all.

Sorry about the dark pictures, I was toying with my camera on manual setting. Just imagine that it's a bit brighter in the tank




Pic much overexposed. This is what the tank looks like



Again, very overexposed, with the filter, timers, air pump, and some storage underneath the vivarium. I was bored one day and I installed a fridge type switch with a light. Now everytime you open the door the light automatically goes on...hehe



Full frontal view of the tank.


Middle center, a bit of moss, some leaf litter and mix of coconut fiber and peat with a pinch of organic soil


This is the tip of a root that became completely covered in moss, with time ficus pumilia climb up and ferns sprouted out. The root is just a supporting structure, as you can't really see it anymore, except in the water.



2 Leucs doing the rounds


Splash of colour with the home depot variety of this red plant. I'm notorious for throwing out labels.



Tip of the root mountain again. At the top there is a nice plurothalid orchid. It's growing nicely.






One of the leucs hunting down some fruit flies


Here's the red plant again ops:





Top of the food chain. Yellow and Black, ready to attack


Hey! What's this walking on my leaf !




Leuc sitting pretty



Another leuc...or maybe the same one ?


Balcony view


That's how the leucs sleep at night. They huddle around the cattleya, all 8 of them. That's also how the orchid is fertilized



Fogger in the background. I turned it on just for the pic.... Humidity is mostly 90% +, so I rarely turn it on.

The pics are missing Marty your viv sounds awesome!

Can you put in a link here if the photos are still somewhere online?

Thanks

[Shadow]

Yes, I will be glad to see them too.