What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

A Nep vivarium gets started

  • #21
Here is one of my setups with Java Moss growing over the background - a single crab is living in here:

clay18.jpg


You can indeed grow aquatic mosses and many plants emersed in a humid vivarium. I like to experiment with aquatics, in the big crab tank has Riccia fluritans (aquatic liverwort) growing up and out of the pools, java ferns and other "higher" aquatics growing in only 1-2 inches of water with leaves emerged and they are creeping up onto "dry" land. As long as humidity is high enough and the stems are sturdy enough the plants don't seem to care. Java moss spreads/establishes very slowly underwater but this background only took a month or so to settle in and get growing.
 
  • #22
yeah it's possible if it's moist enough. I've had success growing java and christmas moss immersed in my viv
 
  • #23
Hey! This tank with java moss I showed above that has "one crab" in it actually has two! I put a pair in there after setting up the tank but I threw out the dead male a couple weeks ago, and miraculously there's a male and female in this tank! I caught the male peeking out of his burrow and the female way up top near the lights when they popped on this morning. :banana2:

I guess I threw out a molt but it was the best damn molt I've ever seen, no openings and even weighed what one of these tiny crabs weighs! Maybe the other "dead" I tossed were molts too? That would be too much to ask though...
 
  • #24
So it's roughly six weeks since I started the "Nep vivarium" time for an updated look around:

Overview


nep10.jpg


This is a non-root forming N. aristolochioides, been trying to root it since oh October... :(
If it strikes on this branch in the wad of live sphagnum it will be cool! This weekend I will get some liquid rooting HormoneX, recut the end and soak it a bit and try yet again.

nep11.jpg



The Platycerium madagascariensis didn't like being mounted so the original plant is melting down but in it's place are at least 4 small Platycerium plants starting up from the moss mounting pad that will be acclimated entirely to this tank so that's cooler anyway!

nep12.jpg


Here's the branch, has a white rabbits foot, mini orchid, the N. aristo, platycerium and the cutting of N. beli x (aristo x thorelii) with it's first intermediate/upper pitcher,

nep13.jpg



Lepanthopsis astrophora 'Stalky' has put up it's first flower stalky for me! It's mounted in some moss on the branch underneath the rabbit's foot fern to give it some shade where it is doing better than when it was in full T5 HO light.

nep14.jpg


The coarse form of Elaphoglossum peltata (I call them parsley ferns) is doing well sending out runners. Once I get some nice long runners from this and the other fine leaved form I have I will try some cuttings as mounted epiphytes.

nep16.jpg


This very stiff and tall form of red stemmed Club Moss is establishing and creating new stalks seems to have topped out at 12".

nep17.jpg


Cephalotus is starting to settle in, the transplanting die off has stopped and all growth you see now is all new with about six growth points so it should develop into a nice clump.The round leaved plant is a red patterned Peperomia starting to develop it's pattern on the newest leaves and the open ground space between the two is some roots of U. reniformis buried lightly under live LFS we'll see if a nice clump pops up.

nep18.jpg


The little ferny looking liverwort (do not know the species) is doing great on the clay background with 1-3 times daily spraying. I need to find some exciting plants to put up there it's so empty!

nep19.jpg



Now here is the Vampire Crab and Nepenthes ampullaria 40 gallon tank update, no crab pics, I almost never see them other than buy sheer luck! LOL

crabitat12.jpg


The left hand pool I hate duckweed, someone hid some in riccia and here we are! :( at least the water stays clean. The climbing plant here is Cista amazonica and a sprig of Ficus which came back from a dead sprig's roots. the Utricularia gramminifolia is grown over by the live sphagnum.

crabitat13.jpg


Believe it or not there's another pool here on the right side under the Begonia who went wild from a single leaf cutting. The climbing vine in this pic is a miniature Monstera sp.

crabitat14.jpg


The spotted Amp and unhappy Amp xharlequin leaf, not sure why but 2 or 3 leaves developed this funny rust, I quit misting before lights out and it seemed to stop that.

crabitat15.jpg



Behind the fern is a red/orange seed grown Amp

crabitat16.jpg


I hope you enjoyed the new pics! :)
 
  • #25
I'm not familiar with vampire crabs, but man, I gotta say those have got to be some of the most spoiled crabs in captivity that there are! Beautiful vivariums!
 
  • #26
Dex, here's a pic from April when I setup the tank these two males (bigger claws) are vying for who gets to build a burrow under the Nep.

redvampire3.jpg


Geosessarma sp. "Red" (Sulawesi) Not yet scientifically ID'd.

These crabs are entirely freshwater, females carry eggs on their bellies and give live birth to young that they carry about on their heads. These crabs are extremely nimble climbers of wood, moss, mud, plants and prefer to make their burrows on a vertical surface that they can dig tunnels in. They are quite small, 5 cm being a full grown adult. They raid Nepenthes ampullaria pitchers in their natural habitats to eat any large prey in the pitchers or just to soak and wet their gills if no streams or puddles are handy. Mine may not ever climb into large amp pitchers due to wide availability of food and two pools. I have males and females so should see babies by next summer.
 
  • #27
Crazy!! If they're not described, how did you acquire them, if you don't mind me asking? Those are really cool, thanks for sharing man. Made me want to get some now to put my ampullaria to use :p
 
  • #28
I think he said in a previous thread that they were already a popular new item among invertebrate pet circles. My guess is that populations have been identified and they've been taken for culture and study, but scientists haven't decided on an official description/phylogenic placement. They came from a supplier online but I don't remember the details... I'm sure swords will chime in any minute now.
On that note, I am so jealous. That looks like tons of fun.
~Joe
 
  • #29
These vivariums, terrariums, or awesome tanks are all... awesome! They're really incredible. I've tried to make terrariums before and they all end up looking like a pile of mud. Yours look like a scaled version of a rain forest. I look at the second picture and it's just like "WAUGH! WOW!" It's like one of the time stop animation sets used in plant documentaries... perfect, down to the last detail.
 
  • #30
I've been thinking about getting some of the Elaphoglossum peltatum, how is it doing in that humid an envoirment? My tanks would be similar humidity wise. Or if you have a small cutting :) I'm sure I have a tiny fern or two you don't have. Oddly enough I aquired most of my mini ferns/plants through trading. You just can't find them for sale often.

The stem un-ided Peperomia looks like it might be P. blanda.

Here is the real question...how is the moss control going :-D. I pull out so much moss every month its just silly.

Keep us updated, nice looking setups.

Have you tried the usual aquatic ferns, like java ferns (windelove)? I have some growing emersed in one of my vivariums, it actually has a nice think rhizome now. I would have never thought it would grow there, it was introduced by mistake and has been growing slowly for a little over a year.
 
  • #31
You have got some spetacular stuff in there swords. very very nice. I love it. :D
 
  • #32
Thanks guys this is just two tanks of my vivarium addiction, I've got about 10 naturally planted ones going that are in 10 gallon tanks or larger and a bunch of smaller 1.5 gallon ones in plastic candy jars.

RSS, I would love to do a terrarium plant trade with you, I'm always on the lookout for new plants to play with. I can send a few short 1-2" runners of peltatum fine leaf and coarse leaf forms since it's really just getting started spreading. The peltatum fern seems to be a slow grower but then I don't fertilize the tanks with anything other than with crab pool water cos I never know if some critter will end up getting put in one of them. I have plants in other tanks that need pruning as well that I could send along clippings of. It's much easier to pre-organize a trade before pruning than to try and pot it all up and find someplace to start them all!

I do have a standard Java Fern, Anubias nana & Cryptocoryne wendtii growing with roots in water and leaves out in the crab pools. Keep hoping to get some aroid blooms on the Anubias and Crypt, I've had it happen underwater in planted aquariums before but they were also getting CO2.
 
  • #33
I've had a few Crypt's bloom emersed and the one nana I have flowered a month or so ago.

I'll send you a PM later today and see what I have I can take cutting of.
 
Back
Top