# High light Vivarium.



## foxfish (20 Dec 2017)

I have been growing this mixed pot plant, aquarium plant & wild collected plant tank for around 8 months.
I started off with 100w of LED lighting then added 150w of metal halide about one month ago.
The plants have gone mad since I added the extra light, in fact the tank has become a daily chore.
Unfortunately I have not taken many pictures, this picture is what it looks like after just removing a bucket full of foliage.
Anyway I have learnt a lot from this experiment, the knowage gained will hopefully give me a good start for the next project which will be a much bigger tank on the same theme.....


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## splatteredbrainz (20 Dec 2017)

Bravo

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## splatteredbrainz (20 Dec 2017)

Curious about your method. This was my 1st attempt. Currently building my second, admittedly much higher tech 120





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## splatteredbrainz (20 Dec 2017)

Still considering lighting for my current build myself. The tank in the pictures only used a couple t5's over an led strip. That tank is now a no-tech native tank. I got rid of the t5's. But this new tank I'm looking at tuna suns maybe 3 of them at different levels

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## foxfish (20 Dec 2017)

Well in a vivarium you get unlimited atmospheric  C02 so high lights are ok, I have always has great success with 2 x T5 the length of the tank when growing submerged plants.


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## parotet (20 Dec 2017)

foxfish said:


> View attachment 111848 I have been growing this mixed pot plant, aquarium plant & wild collected plant tank for around 5 months.
> I started off with 100w of LED lighting then added 150w of metal halide about one month ago.
> The plants have gone mad since I added the extra light, in fact the tank has become a daily chore.
> Unfortunately I have not taken many pictures, this picture is what it looks like after just removing a bucket full of foliage.
> Anyway I have learnt a lot from this experiment, the knowage gained will hopefully give me a good start for the next project which will be a much bigger tank on the same theme.....



Lovely setup mate, I also went the drier side a few months ago. The good thing is that you can combine emersed aquatic plants and truly terrestrials like bromeliads and orquids. The best of both worlds. My setup does not have water, just a false bottom which makes things even easier... no equipment apart from two 6v pc fans on a timer and nothing more. Spraying manually works just fine so don’t mess with automatic systems. This also helps to have a closer look to the vivarium at least 3 times a week (less if needed).
And yes, when going dry a lot of light is never too much light!
Looking forward to your new vivarium!

Jordi


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## foxfish (21 Dec 2017)

I have a question... is it possible to use the same method of mixing moss & yogurt but using liverwort?


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## foxfish (14 Feb 2018)

I found a before and an evolving picture...


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## Edvet (14 Feb 2018)

Can you say a bit more about the tank: size, how did you do the substrate, any supports in the substrate, what's behind the cocofiber etc etc


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## Tim Harrison (14 Feb 2018)

Looks stunning, and what Ed said; love to know about the nuts and bolts as well.


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## foxfish (14 Feb 2018)

I set a perforated PVC plate right across the tank, it is suspended on 75mm off cuts of PVC pipe. So the substrate is sitting on the plate with water below it.
It has a drip system behind the coco fibre  & a misting system ( a big fogger) that comes on for 15mins twice a day.
I have started building a new bigger tank out of fiberglass as this one is just an experiment but I must say quite a successful one...
I have actually removed the MH light as I could not keep up with the fast growth but it now has 12 x 9w GU10 LEDs.
I am still running a C02 planted tank but the new vivarium will take its place in my lounge as I am really getting into this style.
There are an incredible amounts of live stock inside the viv - I bait for slugs every week & get 2-3 every time but,  I have spotted more welcome guests, all sorts of creatures like wood lice, spiders, worms & beetles none of which I deliberately introduced.
I have a submersible heater set at 20c but the house is warmer most of the time so I don't get much condensation.  
I will post a picture of the new build later.....


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## Tim Harrison (14 Feb 2018)

That sounds amazing, all those welcome and not so welcome guests colonising from somewhere. I guess they must have come in on the plants one way or another. 
Are you going to do a journal of your new build, it'd be great to watch from tank construction right through to planting and beyond.


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## foxfish (14 Feb 2018)

I have collected quite a bit of moss & liverwort from the wild so I guess that is where the creatures come from.
I read that temperate moss would not survive for long but the viv has been running for over a year & all I see is healthy growth (so far)
As it happens I am really busy building wood fired ovens, so I don't have much spare time to finish building the new one!
Re the spider... I have not actually seen one but I do see webs.


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## Tim Harrison (14 Feb 2018)

foxfish said:


> I have collected quite a bit of moss & liverwort from the wild so I guess that is where the creatures come from.


That'll be it then, your plants had passengers.


foxfish said:


> I read that temperate moss would not survive for long but the viv has been running for over a year & all I see is healthy growth (so far)


I reckon we at UKAPS could rewrite quite a few books on how plants are supposed or not supposed to be kept. A few of us seem to have had success despite conventional wisdom.


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## foxfish (14 Feb 2018)

I am not about to start studying the life cycle of slugs but I do find my slug situation interesting!

A few months back I noticed a lot of holes appearing in some of the plant leaves, so I goggled up the situation & was informed that a beer trap was needed!
In fact, the little bowl of beer did indeed drown a few slugs but - the holes kept coming...

More delving into Google's depths uncovered a little trick that really did work....
A single lettuce leaf placed amongst the plants really did work.
I collected 18 slugs the first night & only 2 the next, now I get 1 or 2 every week. The slugs just cling to the underside of the leaf & the whole leaf is just removed.

I have seen several worms going absolutely crazy swimming in the water & a few just traveling around between the plants on the soil surface!
One evening I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye & spotted a convoy of woodlouse. Must of been 10 or more, small pale creatures not like the big dark ones you find under logs?
This set up is around 250l the new one will be around 600l.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (14 Feb 2018)

This looks like one of them situations Fox where you are going to keep building and expanding on this part of the hobby then one day wake up and realise you're living in a cave beside a river 

I like everything about it, minds whirring now about which old tank I have sitting about in the garage which I could experiment with on a smaller scale. Closest I ever got was when I had a Terrapin tank when I was a lot younger. Enjoyed watching them slip in and out of the water. Often fancied something similar again but with fish in. 

Did you not journal this at all or have I missed it? 

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## Tim Harrison (14 Feb 2018)

Perhaps you should introduce your unwelcome critters to a poison dart frog


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## foxfish (15 Feb 2018)

Dart frogs are not an option in Guernsey due to import restrictions but I don’t want any creatures I need to care for anyway. 
The faff of feeding them, the hassle of avoiding them during maintenance and we travel a fair bit too.
However... yes under different circumstances Dart frogs would be amazing.


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## dw1305 (15 Feb 2018)

Hi all, 





foxfish said:


> am not about to start studying the life cycle of slugs but I do find my slug situation interesting!


They get absolutely every-where, I often find them in the pots of the damper house-plants. They are nocturnal, so it is usually only when you see the damage that you know you have them. You may have the "Glasshouse slug" <"_Ambigolimax valentianus"> (_fawn with two darker stripes_), _that is the one I usually find. 





foxfish said:


> Dart frogs are not an option in Guernsey


I would look on some invertebrates as a  positive (and inevitable) out-come,  you can buy "tank janitor" mixes specifically for vivariums. I know <"DartFrog"> sell tropical spring-tails and wood-lice.

cheers Darrel


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## foxfish (25 Feb 2018)

So ten days later and another load of foliage removed, this is actually a bit of an issue and I need to reduce the amount of weekly growth!
I will try reducing the light up period from 12 - 10 hours to start with.


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## Kezzab (25 Feb 2018)

You inspired me!


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## foxfish (25 Feb 2018)

Good man, if you don't keep fish then try using some bathroom demister on the front glass.


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## Edvet (25 Feb 2018)

Freshly filled i guess.


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## Kezzab (25 Feb 2018)

Ah, there will be just a couple of tiny dwarf puffers. I'll stick to spraying some water!


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## Edvet (25 Feb 2018)

Try to get a small (computer or vivarium) fan pointed to the frontpane.


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## Kezzab (25 Feb 2018)

Aye, just set up yesterday. Clearing now.


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## Kezzab (25 Feb 2018)

Edvet said:


> Try to get a small (computer or vivarium) fan pointed to the frontpane.


Top tip! Thanks.


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## foxfish (25 Feb 2018)

And with the foger on ... (15min twice a day)


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## Kezzab (25 Feb 2018)




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