Lucky 13

Nice paludarium dude!

 

Moved Lucky 13 into a window spot in the fishroom ... did very little to for a few months (ahh twice a day feeding was about it). With the amount of light coming in from the window in the afternoon I am hopping that I do not need the 4ft tube for a while. Not sure what to expect w.r.t. algae - time will tell.



The 96% water change was needed to lift it to the new stand ... some of the plants move around a bit - I'll leave it and see how it goes. Level is also out ... will fix that in a week or so. Tap water temp was about 20 degrees. After the fill and standing in the afternoon sun with odd bit of cloud cover temp is now at 25 degrees. No heater at the moment. Not sure you can get more low tech than this. Power consumption is 6 watts for the power head moving the water onto the shelf. In winter I needed two 300 Watt heaters and lights.

 

Looking awesome !!!

 

Thanks Donny ...



I did a major filter upgrade to this tank a week ago after doing some cleaning .. say major cause it such a small filtration system for a 4ft. Yes I added a peace open celled sponge. I shall call this the fountain filter. In the past I had some batting, but the sponge and fountain flow seems to leave the big peace easily accessible for cleaning without removing the media.

 

A few tanks shots .. must say the move to the window has been great. No lights on the tank means that most plants now look towards the window. Still it is green (no algae) and fish seem happy water smells nice.



Two angels remain some 30 odd neons, 8x danios, platties, 3x glass fish, 4x corries, 1 albino redtail shark, 2 x otocinclus, 4 x rummy nose and a stray guppy or two.



I've removed all the grass and reeds from the top shelf .. want to get a nice big leaf feeling.

Later Ferdie

 

wow man.. ur tank looks nice and healthy! love it..

 

Thanks Shihr - yeah this is the tank that I put the most effort in at the moment.

Did a 80% WC yesterday - used the low tide to rescape the tank and create more cave space under the arranged logs. Still no lights other than sun light. Algae does not seem to be a problem. As might be expected this tank has no real current - only the drops from the top shelf dropping into the tank and the fish darting from the one to the other side.



Pic above I used the flash ...



No flash / no room light (desk reflection is the LCD's I think) just the window on the west dumping light.

Later Ferdie

 

@ f-fish ... Realy like the Spathyfilliums in the terrestrial section... Whu nottry some Phylodendron Spc... they would love the humidity and give a nice alternative leaf shape... + their habit of sending their airial roots into the water will suck even more nitrites from the tank...

Years ago in CT there was a wholesaler called Rainbow Aquatics...his fish room had them growing EVERYWHERE - in and out of the tanks and reaching for the skylights - veritable jungle... Spent many happy hours in there...

Just a thought....

 

Thanks azurekoi ... will look into the Phylodendron again - think you are talking about those that have spade shaped leaves yeah. I might be wrong will need to check but was under the impression that the sap from the Phylodendron is poisonous to both man and pet. Will definitely look into it. The terrestrial section is what keeps me intrigued with lucky 13. Since this is the only real filtration happening on the tank.

I have a section on the left that still needs filling and yes more leafs shapes will help - was thinking of getting some more peace lilies maybe variegated but I do not think they like wet feet.

"Just a thought.... " - hehe all thoughts appreciated !!!

Later Ferdie

 

Hmmnn.... Gonna go check that one out... If they are poisonous,that is new to me(I'm almost as big a terrestrial plant nut as i am about my fish - Cycads,Aloes,Gasteria,platyceriums and Nepenthes especialy)

The one you are revering to is P.scandens - you get some lovely variegated forms... P.seloum (Xanadu) is also small enough and clump forming...Could work well in a corner...

Or try What I am doing in my paludarium.... Got some Sekelbos sticks bout inch thick and siliconed 2 plastic bits to walls of tank to keep stick in place - one on each side....I have 3 of these over the water - perfect for wedging my Nepenthes inbetween.... Also known as Monkey cups,these carnivorous orchids are WAY COOL and will work well in the spot your paludarium is in...PM me for info on how to get some in Gauteng...
The over all look recreates vines over a jungle river and is quite stunning(no pics yet - paludarium still needs a lot of work before I subject it to your one's for scrutiny/comparison...lol)

 

In June is cleaned most of the tank - removed all the terrestrial plants and let the tank sit for a few months covered in plastic, water, fish, plants, heater and a small internal filter. Then I added the corner HMF



and decided to rethink what I wanted to try on the shelf this time.

So the verdict was some open cell sponge as "substrate".

I left the plastic sheeting as cover so it has been humid most of the time ...



Added some moss at some stage and a few plant cuttings on the weekend.

I need to rethink what I want to do in the tank also - maybe the EW substrate mix ?



I am considering making a plastic tent for this tank ... hmmm

Later Ferdie

 

Took the covers off lucky 13 .. got nasty fungus on some of the plants on the shelf this week - so time to air the lot of it and decide what I want to do with this thank shelf this season - maybe a bog garden of sorts ? I really like this tank as open so the tent idea might actually not work.



Time to remove all heater.

BTW it is a no no on the EW ... now looking at alternatives again.

Later Ferdie

 

Lucky 13 is just not coming together after the winter hibernation ... the cover up was good, but when I removed the covers all the plants - and fungus died down. The idea for the bog garden has gone full circle. Now I am back to the tent idea - went to builder to source some 6 mm glass - two sheets R180 1200x 280 and 1200 x380 while carrying it home I realised that this was going to be to heavy to make the "door" from glass. So I used the 280 for the top of the tank and found some of the plastic I used on another tank for winter that is very clear when clean (not the case for the stuff growing on the left) .... will let this rest for a while and see what the vapour build-up is like on the glass and plastic. Up shot, I could use the 380 sheet for a cover on my other 4ft ... hmm maybe a tent design for the neighbour of lucky13 is on the cards?

 

Thanks to the whole tillandsia thing - I now have plan for lucky13 for 2012.

Two weeks ago I started an experiment - added 3 plants in terracotta pots with the tent closed to see how they would do.
Pic 1 and 2 shows the problem - fungus, so we heard that this will be an even bigger issue for the tillandsia plants. So the plan is simple - open the tent at night - allow things to "dry" close 75% during the day. Not sure how this will work but I am now testing this with added ferns and all the tillandsia plants loose not mounted.



I still need to contemplate air movement ...

Later Ferdie

 

Cool idea,but why don't you go get one of those humidity meters they use in Reptile enclosures.... My palu runs at bout average 80% humidity after I cut some holes in my canopy and the Tillies and Broms(Bromeliads) are doing fine a year later....

Was looking at your pics of the Tillies you bought - you have quite a mix of species with varied growth requirements.... Gonna be dang interesting to see wich ones make it and addapt to indoor growth.... G'luck!

 

hmm - you have me thinking ...

 

Thanks @azurekoi ... that has set me off in a different direction

Yes I see I need to replace the battery (it has been working for many years - had to go and treasure hunt for it in the lounge).



The unit has a Relative humidity measurement range : 25% RH to 95% RH so that should work in the tank.

Now I can get a better feeling (other than waiting two weeks to see what dies ;-) for the tank.

@Mzungu You mentioned ventilation ...

Does this mean fresh air circulation or just air movement to reduce the humidity.

Thanks Ferdie

 

Verdict is out .. having the tent closed pushes the humidity over 90% even at night, so I need to look at some form of air movement.

 

Computer fans? Surely they would work? I used to have 2 x 240v fans. Those things could move a load of air. I am sure I just searched in google and found a local company that supplies them. You just wire them strait onto a plug and pop them into a wall socket.

 

Computer fans might be a bit much.... Just a small airpump venting into your tent structure should bring it down a bit....