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  • #101
Thank you!

I used to have a reflective background attached to the outside of the tank but we felt like it took away from the natural look of the tank. I've been trying to place the taller plants in the background and might add some more rocks to help hide the back of the tank. I've seen some really cool background tutorials but never thought of them before I made this tank so I guess i'll try most of them on my next project since the tutorials show them building on an empty tank.

Very cool! Things are filling in nicely. Have you considered affixing a background to the outside of the tank? It could be a natural one to look more aesthetically pleasing, OR a white background to reflect more light?
 
  • #102
Pictures from the other day.

It's been over a year now.

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7C64DB02-13E5-4D50-8ED0-5C7376D8FE0E_zpsyuu6emvn.jpg

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I always think it could use some improvements.
The moss seems to much better in the middle than on both sides of the terrarium. I don't know why. I move the light all the time so it's not always beaming down in one area.
I did SOMEHOW get aphids in the tank! :( Fortunately, they are only attacking a few plants so I'm not that worried just yet. I did use a spray but it really killed off some Drosera so I don't want to do it again. I've been plucking out some plants that are completely consumed by the aphids.
Other than that it seems to be going well.
 
  • #103
Depending on which type of aphid you have, there are a few options. If you can find a few lady bugs they do eat some types of aphids. One lady bug would eat a lot of aphids IF it is on there menu. I'd try this method first. A little time outside to catch one and it is free.

Another option would be to try the dry ice method. Google it, if you don't know what I'm talking about "dry ice pest control" or something similar will get you started. Just keep in mind dry ice can be very dangerous if used incorrectly. So please read up on it before trying anything.

Also remember to reapply any successful pest control in a week or so to take care of any newly hatched eggs.
 
  • #104
Depending on which type of aphid you have, there are a few options. If you can find a few lady bugs they do eat some types of aphids. One lady bug would eat a lot of aphids IF it is on there menu. I'd try this method first. A little time outside to catch one and it is free.

Another option would be to try the dry ice method. Google it, if you don't know what I'm talking about "dry ice pest control" or something similar will get you started. Just keep in mind dry ice can be very dangerous if used incorrectly. So please read up on it before trying anything.

Also remember to reapply any successful pest control in a week or so to take care of any newly hatched eggs.


SO, I ended up plucking most of the plants infested with aphids out of the tank. I don't see many anymore, I know they propagate fast but it's been a little bit and they haven't grown in numbers again yet without the plant sources they were so attracted to.
 
  • #106
SO, I ended up plucking most of the plants infested with aphids out of the tank. I don't see many anymore, I know they propagate fast but it's been a little bit and they haven't grown in numbers again yet without the plant sources they were so attracted to.




Wow!!! ������ this is just AMAZING!!!! I'm going to be building a terrarium soon and I just hope it's as good as this. I have a couple questions though. So what is the false bottom used for? How did you make that awesome pond? What did you use to keep the media from going through the eggcrate?
 
  • #107
Kenny - So sorry, took me a while to get on here and respond to your questions.

Thank you for the compliments on my planted terrarium.

The false bottom allows space underneath the substrate for a water reservoir.

For the pond, I just cut a hole in the false bottom, made sure the inner sides of the pond where the egg crate/false bottom was visible was covered with screen and then added a small incline of substrate mixture from the area surrounding the pond so it looked natural.

I used window screen over the egg crate, then added the substrate. I will say that over the last couple years though, the substrate has been sinking. Although its not a huge deal. I’ll take pictures of the terrarium as it is now so you can see.
 
  • #108
Which light do you have?

Which kelvin range is favored by carnivorous plants?

Oh I did't see the images. Very nice.

How do the purple Kessil pendants do for killer plants? They combine 5 different blues and reds.

Lots of them end up on feebay or cregslist.

I have had wonderful luck with the greens for aquatic plants.
 
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  • #109
Which light do you have?

Which kelvin range is favored by carnivorous plants?

Oh I did't see the images. Very nice.

How do the purple Kessil pendants do for killer plants? They combine 5 different blues and reds.

Lots of them end up on feebay or cregslist.

I have had wonderful luck with the greens for aquatic plants.

Light = CFL 120V 60Hz 125W 6400K

I don't know the kelvin range favored by CP, but I believe there is a sticky thread in the terrarium section of this forum and it has a lot of details about lights. It might have the favored kelvin range.

I also don't know about the Kessil pendants but I think RSS has a thread about his experimentation with LEDs.

- - - Updated - - -

Which light do you have?

Which kelvin range is favored by carnivorous plants?

Oh I did't see the images. Very nice.

How do the purple Kessil pendants do for killer plants? They combine 5 different blues and reds.

Lots of them end up on feebay or cregslist.

I have had wonderful luck with the greens for aquatic plants.

Light = CFL 120V 60Hz 125W 6400K

I don't know the kelvin range favored by CP, but I believe there is a sticky thread in the terrarium section of this forum and it has a lot of details about lights. It might have the favored kelvin range.

I also don't know about the Kessil pendants but I think RSS has a thread about his experimentation with LEDs.
 
  • #110
I have only used LEDs from Rapid LED's DIY kits, nothing else. The LEDs I have are 1-2 generations old by now so the newer ones "should" be slightly better.

Here are the three main threads, I've probably rambled on other places also...

http://www.terraforums.com/forums/g...ort-term-led-experiment-cephs.html?highlight=
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/g...errarium-tank-stand-build-log.html?highlight=

And the long one....
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/g...halotus-grow-space-love-input.html?highlight=
 
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