Hello all,
As the title says, I want to try an keep orchids on a Wabi Kusa wall above a fish tank. this is roughly what I want to create:
NATURE IN THE GLASS 'In The Jungle' | ADA
A Wabi Kusa wall is an acrylic wall on top of an aquarium. water is continuously flowing down trough slabs of an epiweb like material. Aquarium and terrarium plants can grow on top of it. The newer versions also have a fog-maker build in.
Since DOOA does not make those in 45 cm version (my tank size) I will make my own. (do you want to see pictures of the build?) I don't want water to run continuously because in my experience with terrariums those systems often get cyanobacteria/algae problems and or to wet for terrestrial plants. For aquarium plants it is fine but those grow very fast in most cases. So need much more maintenance.
In stead I'm planning to use hygrolon on top of the slabs in order to wick up water directly from the aquarium.
the slabs reach 20-23 cm above the waterline, the wicking-effect should be able to keep that moist all the time.
The alternative is turning the water flow on the wall only on for small periods of time. I do not like this option to much because I would need an extra pump for that. And hiding it and keep it reachable is just a pain in a small tank. But if you think it is better for the orchids...? I never grew those on hygrolon before...
About the fog I'm not sure yet, it looks cool, but it also is more complicated to build. Humidity wise it does not make a huge difference I think. Simply because there is not that much water in the fog. but it might help a bit. The 40 liters of warm water below the wall also should raise humidity..
Temperature of the room is between 17 - 20 C (62-70 F)
So questions:
1 hygrolon or dripwall?
2 Fog yes or no?
3 What orchid species would you recommend trying?
Orchids on a Wabi Kusa Wall
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