Some new terrarium experiments

[Commander Shepard]

Decided to share some experimental small builds I've been working on. These are my first attempts at anything similar.


500ml bowl and some rocks I found in a copper mine. Christmas moss, hydrocotyle tripartita mini, a drosera, string of turtles and a fern I found under a bridge on top of fake hygrolon, and loads of duckweed.


Open terrarium with lots of carnivorous plants (drosera, pinguicula, cephalotus and UG), houseplants, and various mosses I wanted to test. It's a new setup, not sure yet what will survive at room humidity. The driftwood with air plants is from my bowl aquarium where it made maintenance too difficult so I redid that scape. Substrate is leca, carbon and store bought carnivorous mix, with lots of springtails.


Standard closed terrarium, 10l or so. Mostly fully terrestrial plants, other than some anubias and buce.

 

[PARAGUAY]

Well done, love these. I know some air plants don't need humidity and a couple do ,l asked at Crafty Plants, please share as they develop

 

[G mac]

They all look great, impressive.

 

[Commander Shepard]

Thanks everyone.

@PARAGUAY
I'm less worried about the air plants, some of them have been doing okay on top of the aquarium for a while now, though with a much weaker light. The ground part has various mosses I'm trying (bun, Christmas, flame, weepijg, riccia, UG and some I found outside. Also the orchid and cephalotus I'm not really sure about.

 

[Wookii]

They look fantastic - I'm going to have to have a go at one of these at some point.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

and a fern I found under a bridge

Asplenium scolopendrium - Hart's Tongue Fern. They are a great one for growing under slotted drain covers.

and some rocks I found in a copper mine.

They like lime (<"that tufa looks perfect">) and low light levels. Where was the copper mine? I assume <"in limestone country">? If it had been a hard rock mine I would be a bit worried about copper (Cu) toxicity.

cheers Darrel

 

[Commander Shepard]

Hi all,

Asplenium scolopendrium - Hart's Tongue Fern. They are a great one for growing under slotted drain covers.

They like lime (<"that tufa looks perfect">) and low light levels. Where was the copper mine? I assume <"in limestone country">? If it had been a hard rock mine I would be a bit worried about copper (Cu) toxicity.

cheers Darrel

Thanks Darrel! It was in Wales and the whole area is highly acidic and likely toxic. I wouldn't use it with any livestock, but the plants seem to be doing okay (it's been going for a good few months now without water changes). I have some crushed coral and sand underneath, so I can just top up with the same RO I use for the tanks and orchids.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

It was in Wales and the whole area is highly acidic and likely toxic

Interesting, it definitely look like tufa - <"OR/14/043 Processes of tufa formation and tufa classification - MediaWiki">?

cheers Darrel

 

[Commander Shepard]

Hi all,

Interesting, it definitely look like tufa - <"OR/14/043 Processes of tufa formation and tufa classification - MediaWiki">?

cheers Darrel

It does look like it, but the water in the mine has a ph of 2-3, so not sure. Not really qualified in anything related unfortunately. I think the rocks are slag and not naturally formed.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I think the rocks are slag and not naturally formed.

Copper slag is <"dark and shiny">, I really can't see what they can be, other than tufa <"Results, Material/Technique: “tufa”">. Possibly it isn't the rock from the copper mine?

This is Charterhouse, a lead (Pb), rather than copper (Cu) mine, but the slag is similar <"Charterhouse Lead Mines"> with all metals.

cheers Darrel

 

[Commander Shepard]

Hi all,

Copper slag is <"dark and shiny">, I really can't see what they can be, other than tufa <"Results, Material/Technique: “tufa”">. Possibly it isn't the rock from the copper mine?

This is Charterhouse, a lead (Pb), rather than copper (Cu) mine, but the slag is similar <"Charterhouse Lead Mines"> with all metals.

cheers Darrel

The slag heaps were mostly orange or brown, and some yellow. They had spots of metallic, corroded areas. Most of the rocks weren't porous, though there were still a good amount of these that remind me of maple leaf rock. If the acid is from the mining I suppose you could get areas where it's still alkaline. If I find a left over piece I'll soak it in ro water and measure the ph and tds afterwards.

 

[Commander Shepard]

Couldn't find a leftover rock, so I just measured the pH of the bowl. I used the api test which only goes down to 6, however, it turned very yellow immediately, so it must be well below that. I never change water in this setup, only top it up with RO that has a tiny bit of tropica specialised added and sometimes a bit of tapwater. There's also some crushed coral underneath, though not sure if there's any left.