Nano-Cube 24G Vent Viv

[alifer]

Originally Posted by RGB

The dark green plant is a Dracanea compacta. I have a couple of them but they were too big for my viv. Not sure how big they get when mature. They do have a nice funnel in the center but unfortunately it doesn't hold water for more than a few seconds.

Looks nice, i like the Orchids.

I was afraid it was a plant (Dracanea compacta) that was going to grow to large, thanks for the ID. It’s in a pot, so I can yank it out when starts getting oversized. I think I’ll order some mini-broms to replace the Dracanea.

I went to the IRBA show at the Del Mar fairgrounds yesterday and the whole show seemed really small this year & really crowded with people, elbow to elbow. Not worth the money to go, $8. for parking & $8. to get in, big waste of money. Only a couple of venders had PDFs and only one vender had any kind of selection other than D. auratus.

[RGB]

Yeah, i was there too. I agree there wasn't much and it probably wasn't worth the $16 to get in. I did get some Rep-Cal and Herptivite for pretty cheap though. As you said there wasn't much selection other than auratus. Dane said he sold a couple of lamasi, but that's all he had brought.

[Frank H]

Originally Posted by RGB

Dane said he sold a couple of lamasi, but that's all he had brought.

He sold them to me! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

[alifer]

4-20-06


I revised the plants in my NC24 viv & added water feature
because it seemed a little boring on the 1st setup.
The viv has been moved from the shop into the house now.


I have Xmas moss in the water & on the wettest areas.


Eleocharis radicans is planted next to the glass
& the other moss is out of my yard.
I tried to wash the moss really well and remove all the dirt.


I pulled this out of a terrarium growing on my patio.


Baby Tears, Bamboo, small hybrid Orchid from left to right


Jewel Orchids & Selaginella with some Xmas moss on the wet area


Some of the plants are experimental and my not like the wet viv experience.

[RGB]

Looks sweet, does the air diffuser keep the glass clear? Have you decided on a species yet?

[alifer]

Originally Posted by RGB

Looks sweet, does the air diffuser keep the glass clear? Have you decided on a species yet?

The airflow out of the diffuser is working well to keep the front glass clear during the day, but at night the room cools down to 60 or 65 and the condensation wins temporarily.

The humidity is running at 95% all the time and the temps in the viv have been running around 65 at night and 76 to 77 during the day with water temp at 70.
We haven’t hit any hot weather yet, so I don’t know how high the temps will spike on a really hot day.

I want to run the viv without livestock for a few weeks just to make sure everything is working OK, see what plants will thrive or die and fine-tune the water flow. Right now I am running a tiny 30 GPH water pump in one of the back chambers and that has turned most of the background into a drip wall.

[alifer]

I finally decided on Vents for my NC24 viv, so I wanted to add more broms.



Frogtofall (great guy) sent me a five Neo broms today, so I thought I would post them.



Three of them I superglued to suction cups so I could stick them on the side glass instead of film canisters.






I think I’m about finished adding plants now, I’ll let them grow & fill in some more .
I had to replace a couple of plants that couldn’t handle viv life.





.
The little brom on the left is my favorite.

I’ll post more pics when I get my three Vents in a couple of weeks

Rick

[alifer]

Well I only thought I was finished adding plants to my NC24 viv.
I was at a local street fair this morning and stopped at an orchid club booth.
They had some miniature reed-stem epi orchids that I couldn’t pass up.


I bought two plants and this is the only one with flowers, the other one is still in bud,
so I’m hoping for better colors on the second plant.
These are some tiny flowers, about 1/3 the size of normal reed-stem epi’s.



Here is a picture of the whole NC24 viv setup, I don’t think I’ve posted one yet..
The viv is on a night stand in the bedroom.
I built the little black stand to raise the tank up a little for better viewing.
(and to have a spot for my alarm clock)



Here is a pic with the hood raised and the lights on. (2) 36 watt PC’s



You can see the whole setup better with the lights off.
I added a strip of clear acrylic at the back of the prismatic lens top to prevent warping.
I was getting a lot of heat buildup between the clear light lens and the prismatic lens top,
which was raising the upper viv temps to around 80 degrees.
I drilled a hole in the clear light lens and added a scroll fan with the double sided sticky tape.
The scroll fan sucks out the hot air trapped between the two lenses and pulls it into the hood.
The scroll fan also blows the air along the bulbs to help with air movement in the hood
and the other two fans pull the hot ait out of the hood..
So far it seems to have really helped lower the temps in the space between the hood & the viv,
and the viv temps have dropped to the mid 70's, even in the upper parts next to the lights.


It looks like I’m finally ready for the Vents, which I’m picking up next weekend.
Rick

This tank design reminds me of this.

http://www.tropicarium.ru/english.htm

http://www.tropicarium.ru/prototype.htm

Turned out nice.

[Frogtofall]

Very nice Rick. That brom you like is Neoregelia "Tiger Cub". Your broms in order from left corner clockwise are...

N. fireball "Green" EL2038
N. fireball x punctatissima Rubra
N. pauciflora
N. "Tiger Cub"
N. rubrifolia

The planting is excellent. I also use the suction cup method to attach broms to the glass. Except instead of glue, I just use the little metal hook and crush it around the stolon.