30x30x35cm viv

[Jack87w]

I wanted to introduce my viv on this page. Maybe this description will be helpfull to anyone.

It is made of aquarium 30x30x35cm (length x depth x hight) covered with glass.
Light - 11W 6400K


Flora
mosses and similar
Creeping moss
Phoenix moss
Peakock moss
Flame moss
Spiky moss (I guess)
Plagiochilaceae sp. Cameroon
Fissidens dubius
Riccia fluitans

ferns
Crepidomanes auriculatum
Trichomanes javanicum
Bolbitis heudeloti
Microsorium pteropus
Microsorium pteropus var. trident
Microsorium pteropus var. narrow

Water/marsh
Cyperus sp.
Hydrocotyle sp. japan
Eleocharis parvula
Anubias barteri var. nana
Cryptocoryne wendtii var. rubella (tiny one )
Hemianthus callitrichoides
Hemianthus micranthemoides
Echinodorus tenellus
Pogostemon helferi
Rotala indica
Rotala Colorata
Didiplis diandra

Orchids
Epidendrum porpax
Leptotes bicolor

Temporary there're also
Bucephalandra motleyana "Bukit Kelam-Sintang"
Bucephalandra cf. motleyana "Melawi"
Cryptocoryne hudoroi
Cissus amazonica

Fauna
one red cherry shrimp in the water section


I've made false bottom from plastic crate covered with some synthetic fabric to keep the substrate out of the water and prevent it from rot (I found those hints on some of our Polish sites). Under the false bottom there're about 5 cm of RO water. This is the area where the heater with thermostate is located. It is set up on 25C. There's also a filter pump which is connected to plastic and silicone tubes. It pumps water through them and pushes it up to create small waterfall.
Those pipes go up behind scaffolding made of (as the false bottom) plastic crate and synthetic fabric.

The background...
It is made of polistyren foam which is used to seal many things like for example windows or doors.
At first I put black silicone glue on the glass where my background woul be placed. It had to prevent if from falling off the glass. When the silicone started to dry out, I put the foam on creating patterns which would be as similar to natural formations as possible. I also covered the scaffolding collumn hiding the waterfall. As I finished I had the foam on two sides of my viv.
As the foam was expanding and drying I teared away some parts of it to create small caves and hollows. Everything for more natural effect .

After one day it was all dry. I painted it with black paint in spray which is waterproof. Then I put another layer of black silicone on the foam to glue the mixture of coconut fibre, peat and bark. The background was completed. I just had to make a small hole for the waterfall tubes to put them in it and let the water flow on the surface of construction.

I covered the bottom with the same mixture I used for the background. In water section there's a black small gravel.

About the maintance - I moist it every day with RO water, drip 3 droplets of liquid aquarium fertilizer and that's all

The pictures show just constructed background, vivarium after first planting and after about two months.

There are some other pictures in my first 'hello' post on this forum. Link below
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...pical-vivarium

Hope you enjoy

[Merviso]

Hi Jack, a warm welcome to share your vivarium setup in Aquatic Quotient, hope to see more post from you, Cheers!...

[Zenith82]

Hi Jack, nice vivarium you created. I suggest you try to get water running from the top to the bottom so there is sufficient water going through the moss, they will grow and attach itself to the scape. Hope to see an updated picture soon with the plants blooming.

Thanks for sharing! Hope to see more hobbyist share their creativity in designing vivariums.

[Jack87w]

There is a water running on the wall I already described construction of this waterfall in first post of this thread. And the mosses really enjoy it .
I don't like this viv too much because of a little chaos which appeared on the bottom. I'm planning to rearrange it - just to use 2-3 species of small plants. This project was my first viv and it was suppose to be an experiment. I wanted to see how water plants are adapting to live outside of the water. It seems they're doing very well .

[Zenith82]

Maybe you can add gravel or some rocks to the base to prevent the soil from eroding due to the water pushing it down.