Bringing an older topic from the dead...
OK hours and research and this is where I'm at. It appears that lowland neps would be best for my environment.
For debate:
I plan on having 1 or 2 neps in the vivarium that I'm building (details below) Would anyone recommend anything different such as the ordering of my top picks or even a different species that I might have not considered for my environment. I'm willing to spend a maximum of $50 USD on the Nep that goes in my vive. I've never had neps before, so I'm looking for a begging level Nep. The following are currently my top picks (1) being the favorite:
(1) N. ventricosa (black)
(2) N. tobiaca (red)
(3) N. campanulata
(5) N. ampullaria (spotted or red)
(4) N. adnata
(6) N. bellii
Next: has anyone ever ordered from:
Malesiana Tropicals
I'm building a vivarium that is roughly 2.5' talll with a base and top that is 2' by 2'. I'm still working on building it out of acrylic. I'm also open to recommendations, comments, or conformations (i.e. that'll work!) on the other aspects of my vivarium.
Watering system is a Rainmaker I System Misting Kit from cloudtops.com. The mist comes in from the top at 4 different locations and I can time them to come on at different times. (some more than others.) (Humidity should be kept consistently at above 85%.)
There will be a 2" false bottom made from screen-covered eggcrate and elevated by Acrylic cubes. False bottom drains into my misting system reservoir.
Temperature is maintained by a thermostat connected to 3 mounted computer fans. (Too much heat is the problem for me not the cold.) I should be able to keep the Daytime Temperatures below 80 deg F (during extreme summer months) and the Nighttime above 60 deg F (during extreme winter months).
Light will consist of 2 x 55 watt Bright Kit from ahsupply.com
with one 10000K 55 watt blub and one Medium Blue bulb.
Two of the walls will be covered with coco panels from Black Jungle Terrarium Supply. I'm using coco because of its delayed decomposition properties.
The substrate will have a 6% grade from the Back and Rside down to the Front and Lside. with the depth at the Front:Lside being 2" and the depth of the Back:Rside being 33.941"*tan(5.4 deg)+2=5.2". The intersections of the Front:Rside and the Lside:Back have depths of 24"*tan(5.4 deg)+2=4.25".
The substrate is a mix of 1 part 1/4" Horticultural Charcoal, 2 parts 1/4" crushed red volcanic rock and 6 parts CoCo Bedding.
For my Nep Pot I have found a Cork Tube that is 8" in diameter at a reptile show. I cut it at about 6" in depth and
staple/sewed black cross-stitch panel cut to size onto the bottom of the 6" Cork Bark Cyllinder. I sewed with black fishingline. I will line the bottom with about 1" of the CoCo Fiber Loose Fill and then the remaining with my above mentioned substrate. This will be hung into the top corner of my vivarium.
Malesiana Tropicals