Exo-Terra Nano Tall Setups

[RSS]

ugh! i want to make one sooooo bad! any advice on setting up one of my own?

I best advice I can give would be too check out from of the build logs on www.dendroboard.com, you should be able to get a better idea of what you want and there is a gold mine of information there about building these types of set-ups.

Here is my progress from today.

I started out by cutting off some of the great stuff bumps and lumps I did not want. A standard kitchen knife works just fine. Next I covered all the great stuff with 100% black silicone, again this stuff smells and good ventilation is a must. Rubber gloves are your friends as you need to work the silicone into all the nooks in the great stuff. You need to be very careful not to get any silicone onto any driftwood and/or bark your adding as it can be very hard to remove. The goal is to leave no air pockets between the great stuff and the added silicone. Due to the set-up/curing time of silicone I could not get any photo's of this part.

I added some tree fern twigs right on top of the silicone then covered the entire thing with a mix of peat moss/coco fiber. During this part it is very important to pack the mix down to force the mix into the silicone. Focus on any area around driftwood/bark/glass as those are the most likely to have an air pocket that would not allow good adhesion of the mixture.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/39807474@N07/9573112370/" title="DSC_0545 by randallsimpson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7317/9573112370_33e390f9f8.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0545"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/39807474@N07/9573111926/" title="DSC_0546 by randallsimpson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3829/9573111926_32ea668cdf.jpg" width="334" height="500" alt="DSC_0546"></a>

Now I need to wait atleast 24 hours, I usually wait 48 hours before removing the excess just to make sure the silicone has fully cured. With smaller projects like this one you can just pick up the tank and shake out the excess but with larger set-ups a shop vac works really well for removing the excess.

 

[RSS]

Todays update!

I emptied the excess background medium into part of my lawn then used a watering wand hooked up to the garden hose to rinse out the excess and here is the results.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/39807474@N07/9587226486/" title="DSC_0551 by randallsimpson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3691/9587226486_cc8665512e.jpg" width="334" height="500" alt="DSC_0551"></a>
Close up of the background at the top of the tank.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/39807474@N07/9587226094/" title="DSC_0552 by randallsimpson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7387/9587226094_861e1c7d4f.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0552"></a>
And one from around where the driftwood meets the mix.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/39807474@N07/9584434321/" title="DSC_0553 by randallsimpson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3781/9584434321_dca09e9cf5.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0553"></a>

After everything dries and I can clean off the glass of any stray silicone and/or great stuff. After that I just need to get the piece of glass to replace that silly mesh screen Exo-terra's come with.

 

[DragonsEye]

It is because of the labor involved. The cost of the glass is negligible, but a small tank requires just as much labor to build as a medium one. If anything they are more difficult because you have to fit your hands in a smaller space without smudging the glass with silicone or hitting a freshly done seam while moving to the next.

Ah. I had not realized that. Thanks, Tony.

 

[Jcal]

It is because of the labor involved. The cost of the glass is negligible, but a small tank requires just as much labor to build as a medium one. If anything they are more difficult because you have to fit your hands in a smaller space without smudging the glass with silicone or hitting a freshly done seam while moving to the next. I charged a premium for smaller sizes when I was building custom vivs for the extra trouble.

I've been told that similar thing for children's clothing. My 18mo sons clothes are the same price as mine. Asked the same question and got the same answer....labor.

I have the same exo-terra tall, for some big nepenthes. I just had to remove the original lid, and put a glass on top.

I do the same thing maiden. I have 12/12/12 and I first used it for a ceph tank. The glass top really helps get more light in the tank for the sun loving plants. Mine now sits empty so a project is around the corner!

RSS,
What are the larger leaves in the sandersonii tank? I'm having a hard time picking a utric to start in a tank like this. From your experiments which do you feel is most successful?

Thanks

 

[RSS]

RSS,
What are the larger leaves in the sandersonii tank? I'm having a hard time picking a utric to start in a tank like this. From your experiments which do you feel is most successful?

Thanks

The larger leaves are from an orchid Zootrophion atropurpurea. The two that jump out to me are Utricularia graminifolia (wetter mediums) or Utricularia sandersonii.

Here is the finished top, when your removing the metal mesh BE VERY CAREFUL it is pretty easy to get some large cuts from this stuff.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/39807474@N07/9600564762/" title="DSC_0555 by randallsimpson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5515/9600564762_d7e0ae133d.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0555"></a>

I figured I'd try a mix of tree fern fibers and sphagnum moss for the Utric medium.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/39807474@N07/9600588704/" title="DSC_0556 by randallsimpson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3716/9600588704_29649411f6.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0556"></a>

I added a very tiny piece of Utricularia geminiloba for a test run.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/39807474@N07/9600587984/" title="DSC_0557 by randallsimpson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7322/9600587984_57109f9495.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0557"></a>

Added Peperomia pecuniifolia and Pyrrosia piloselloides.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/39807474@N07/9600587334/" title="DSC_0559 by randallsimpson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5548/9600587334_17ce5ef68d.jpg" width="334" height="500" alt="DSC_0559"></a>

 

[Jcal]

Thanks for the info. Great update.

Have you considered using the foam insert the cages come with? I wonder if I could skip a few steps and just cover the foam insert with silicone and coir?

 

[RSS]

Thanks for the info. Great update.

Have you considered using the foam insert the cages come with? I wonder if I could skip a few steps and just cover the foam insert with silicone and coir?

You could just directly apply the silicone and mix to the glass and skip both, but I've been using the great stuff to add slops and bumps that would be harder to do with just silicone.

 

[RSS]

Per request here is an update from the setup with the Utricularia sanderonii 'Blue' growing in it. There are 15 different plants in there.


DSC_0728 by randallsimpson, on Flickr


Trichosalpinx chamaelepanthes by randallsimpson, on Flickr

Lepanthes astrophora 'Stalky' and what should be Platystele jesupiorum on the back wall.

DSC_0731 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

A single leaf of Trichosalpinx chamaelepanthes fell off a long time ago and it seems happy down there.

Trichosalpinx chamaelepanthes growing on Utricularia sandersonii 'Blue' by randallsimpson, on Flickr

 

[RSS]

I had to pull the tripod out for these two. I might be able to get a calendar entry off this corner, I'll have to play around more in the morning.


Utricularia sandersonii 'Blue' by randallsimpson, on Flickr


Utricularia sandersonii 'Blue' by randallsimpson, on Flickr

 

[Maiden]

Woaa!! Very cool setup! This is a REAL terrarium !!