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[buildlog] first tank 30g

24K views 126 replies 34 participants last post by  kromar 
#1 ·
hi everybody, i recently got my self a tank to get some nice piece of jungle into my living room:D

this is the first time im building something like this so im always happy about feedback and suggestions how to do things or what im doing wrong.
i most likely will have lots of questions which, but ive already used this forum and other resources extensively to get all the basic knowledge that i need, so i will be asking around.

got the tanks and did some leak testing, also wanted to see what the pump can do


found a nice log on a walk but not sure if its good to use in the tank


doing some landscape planning, the idea i have in my mind is to have the area where no styro is with water, but at this point i dont really know how to do that


some testing with foam. ive seen a youtube vid where really nice forms could be created by covering the foam with sand so this is my first attempt at this (heres the link https://youtu.be/ELtoOJKgfKM )

covering the foam with sand


uaaahhhh i do not have enogh sand:eek:



oh no it doesnt stop to expand:eek: (this was fully expanded)


next day i removed the sand and found some really interesting looking structures below:D


i removed the borders and the foam that was not covered with sand and did some refinement of the structures, im really happy how this first version turned out. it will serve as the back wall but most likely will need some adjustments



so the next step will be to figure out how i construct the water area on the bottom and see how that back will fit into the pictures.
also i will need to figure out how the wood will be integrated. a lot to do and a lot of fun:D

hope you like it and i get some feedback
 
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#68 ·
i picked it up right next door, but then i live in europe:D but im not a big fan of this construction, not sure if its just mine that was not built with precision but it i think its not fly proof at all, there are some gaps on the doors and the mesh they used has quite big holes which i would guess that they are to big to keep flies in.
also i closed approximately 80% of the lower mesh opening to keep humidity above 80% without misting all day. so with these openings i would not recommend this for a high humidity tank.

maybe the concept works great on a bigger tank but for this size the openings are to big to hold humidity.

EDIT: hmm i wonder if there is a way to calculate how big the openings need to be for a certain humidity...
 
#69 ·
some more growth going on while im tinkering with my raspiviv to automate the climate.

a new mushroom showing up


some fern that needs id


and other fern that needs a id


gloxinia growing slow but steady and creating lots of pups


the new plants seem to like their new home, excited about this new growth:D

 
#76 ·
got some more orchids, since the last ones did not do so well i got some lowland orchids which should cope a bit better with higher temperature. i hope they do better than the ones i had so far.

from left to right
  • Pleurothallis allenii
  • Pleurothallis (specklinia) corniculata
  • Pleurothallis costaricensis



and since i know everybody likes pics here are some more:D










 
#77 ·
hm seems the last pics are not working once more (kinda random if linked pics from google photos work) so here is the one with the new orchids again



the orchid area:



bromeliads are creating pups all over the place:D



a closer pic of the moss, this stuff is growing in really dense now and the other plants love grow on that stuff







and a front shot of yesterday:
 
#80 ·
a monthly update, things are growing well:)

gloxina is after a long time starting to grow bigger


broms



moss from top


fern growing out of top


some more shots










the moss is growing like crazy and is taking over most of the wood and background, so im thinking of reorganizing/replacing some of the wood.
i also feel that the tank is missing something but the space is really limited to do a lot in there, so the planning has started for a bigger tank:eek:
the preferred size would be around 120cm high, 100cm width and 60cm+ deep:eek: i will most likely do a new thread to gather ideas before rushing into it, so i will add a link here when it begins:D
 
#82 ·
i dont have inhabitants at this point, since its my first viv i first wanted to get a good understanding how to make the plants thrive. im currently working a bit with the raspiviv setup from nate to control the climate and am quite happy with the results so far.
i would like to get some inhabitants in the future but i dont like the short feeding requirements. i also have zero experience with fly cultures so that would definitely be next on the things to study before getting some frogs or any other animal.

if i upgrade to a bigger tank i would like some inhabitants and would build the tank accordingly so it resembles the home of them as best as possible.

so you see im not yet sure if there ever will be inhabitants or not:eek:
 
#84 ·
thanks! i take 2 pictures that are displaced a little bit in a direction (horizontal/vertical/depth) and then use a functionality of google photo to create a animation. its the same as a animated gif which you can most likely find apps for. et voila 3d effect on picture:D
 
#85 ·
a little update, i will get some new plants tomorrow so will do an other update soon:)

the moss continues to grow like crazy


some mushrooms are growing from time to time that give a nice contrast with their white color


some isopods chillin on top of the back wall


my first orchid (Pleurothallis allenii) is going to bloom soon ::hurray::


and i removed a huge fern that was covering the whole middle section, i will most likely remove the big one on the right side as well for some smaller plants that i get tomorrow, but will see how that will look.
ah yes i also removed the creeping jew and marcgravia umbellata because i have some other idea what i want to do with the plants:eek:

 
#86 ·
got the new plants yesterday and was doing some planting:D

heterocentron elegans
she came in a bad state but recovered fast and looking beautiful right now, gona be interesting how well she grows.





orchids (left: maxillaria sophronitis, right: leptotes bicolor)
these were in bad shape but look a lot happier now, but with orchids it always takes some time till it shows how they like it so i will see how it goes with these 2.



selaginella kraussiana
i expected this one to be a bit bigger:O its almost moss like looking if dense enoug, none the less i like it:)


Pleurothallis allenii
one of the older orchids blooms for the first time:D this is the first time for a orchid.


and some bigger shots of the viv




enjoy
 
#88 ·
thanks a lot, i try to do the best with the limited space i have:)

i had to pull a bag of the java moss off the back wall, it was getting out of control and i think the shorter moss will work a lot better. the moss strands already got to about 10cm lenght:eek:




i replanted some of the smaller moss where i removed all the java stuff, so hope that grows well up there. kinda looks nice to see some of the background again for a change:D
maybe i will see if i can keep some spots moss free so it adds some extra contrast to the tank

 
#90 ·
hm strange, they show for me... then again ive always had problems linking images from google so maybe there is some permissions thing going on so you cant see them:/ since posts can not be edited theres nothing i can do against bad links:(
 
#94 ·
hm that is interresting, i just opend the images in a new tab and used the link i got there instead of the direct link to the image in the gallery.. now i just need to remember this for the next time:eek:

thanks for the feedback on the missing images:)
 
#95 ·
its been a while since my last update, so here are some pics from today






2 bromeliads are dying after spawning a couple of young ones. is this something that happens when the pupps are not removed? i kinda like the look that it adds to the whole thing:D


heterocentron elegans grows yellowins shriveled leaves, i have not found out yet why this happens, so if you have any idea what can be the cause of this i would be happy to know.




Microgramma reptans fern is spreading everywhere and creates tons of side shoots, it combines really nicely when its growing in moss and its leaves tend to stay small (3-4cm).
 
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