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The Celestial Swamp - A voyage through a flooded forest fringe (Shallow Riparium)

I know I've been changing or adding a lot to this tank recently, but I enjoy it while the world outside wastes away in the cold grip of winter...

I decided to scrap the idea of building a temp controller using my stc1000 as the extra parts needed would cost more than buying a prewired Inkbird 308s... this one comes with an extra long stainless temp probe too...

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Now my intention was to always add orchids to this display for colour and interest so decided to go out on a limb (pun intended) and scoop up this phalaenopsis and try it in an unorthodox growing position...

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the roots I have wrapped around the crown of the fern and they are touching the moist moss... we shall see if it works... for $10 why not?

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they are normally epiphytic high in the tree tops, but it may grow here below the fern... It's a gamble but it just might work...

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I'm also trying out a 200 micron filter sock to try and catch debris when I do work on the submerged section... it won't be permanent as I don't like the idea of changing it out every couple days... yeah right

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Awsome setup.. :thumbup: With trying to grow orchids epiphytic on the emersed DW you need a decent substrate that hold moist very well.. Dried sphagnum only is not dense enough, even tho it holds about 12 x it's own weight in water it dries out to soon and is very inconsistant. I tried in several occassions with several orchid sp. on the naked wood with sphagnum only and i failedd every time on the long run. There is a setup on another forum with mainly Orchids and Tillandsia's on the emersed DW etc. above an open top tank, and he used Hygrolon Epiweb as base substrate on the DW and this seem to do the trick very well. It has a more dense structure holding water for a longer time it seems.

Growing life mosses emersed on wood requires not only the correct sp. but also a lot of attantion depending on the indoor climate up to spraying several times a day. Neglection for a week can cause it to go into sleep mode once it is in this mode it can take a while for it to revive again. Moss is not only very resilient it also is very sensitive to inconsistancy. Also here is a base substrate like Epiwep very benefitial.

In my personal experience i had the best emersed results with liverwort mosses on wood. 🙂
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all, It is the filamentous diatom formerly known as "Synedra", now Fragilaria spp.

cheers Darrel
Click to expand...

I'm fairly positive that it is Synedra that has plagued this setup since last summer in the open section under the lights. This other stuff is different... I realize that the picture doesn't show it's true nature... that chunk was in a high flow area so it's a little dirty with debris... normally it's a dark grey very much like bba... also the stuff I think is Synedra is very loose and gooey... this other stuff is squishy but stays together very well...
 
zozo said:
Awsome setup.. :thumbup: With trying to grow orchids epiphytic on the emersed DW you need a decent substrate that hold moist very well..
Click to expand...

Because the spagnum is in a hair net which is dipped on one side into the water it's moist 100% of the time... im actually worried about too much moisture and root rot... we shall see... its a cheap experiment
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all,
I still think they are filamentous diatoms, mainly because of the colour. The other option would be a filamentous red algae, but I'm not aware of one that looks like that from freshwater.

cheers Darrel
Click to expand...

I will get a better picture tonight to show it's true form and colour... what I think is Synedra is this:

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hitmanx said:
im actually worried about too much moisture and root rot...
Click to expand...

Yup had the same issue with spraying to much.. If it is to moist all the time the orchid will shrivel away.. That's also what makes growing orchids outside a relative constant climate greenhouse so difficult. In both occassions to wet or to dry can symptomatic look the same, shriveling leaves. 🙂
 
It also could be a Rhizoclonium.. It also can color green/brown. I'm not sure if it goes for all Rhizoclonium sp. but an easy way to identify seems, rubbing it between your fingers. It looks slimy but it feels gritty because it has a granular cellstructure.
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If it feels slimy it likely is something else. 🙂 I once had it in the tank and it indeed felt gritty.
 
I added the calathea Medallion into planter cups and put them in the back left HOB breeder box and overflow.... hopefully they survive and fill out nicely...

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I also found some black plastic canvas for the weir guard... you tell me if it looks more inconspicuous?

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Hi all,
hitmanx said:
what am I looking for? And what kind of magnification would in need?
Click to expand...
You need a compound microscope, these usually have X10 eyepiece and then X4, X10 and X40 objectives (so giving X40, X100, X400 magnification), they may have a X100 as well. You need slides and cover-slips etc.

I'm not sure what you can get in Canada. We use <"Brunel Microscopes"> in the UK, something like their <"SP22"> model would be plenty good enough. A lot of schools etc in the UK are selling off their old stock, so you can often pick up second hand bargains. I haven't used any of the cheaper USB digital microscopes you can get, but they would be OK.

There is a good amateur microscopy site <"Mic-UK">.

cheers Darrel
 
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