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“Manoa”

10K views 54 replies 11 participants last post by  BeastMaster 
#1 ·
I’m down for a few months due to shoulder surgery & am working on a new project. Went out & got a big screen tv & will be mounting on the wall which frees up a tv stand. Because stand is on rollers, not suitable for another planted tank so, vivarium time!

Went out & got a 24x18x18 ExoTerra “Medium Wide” & so it begins.

Covered the bottom w/ 10L of “Grow!t” clay pebbles & placed a 18x24 ExoTerra draining mesh over the top. Will be using a coconut fiber/orchid bark mix as filler & used ADA aquasoil as topping. The substrate & soil plantings will then be covered w/ monkeypod leaves. The background was fitted w/ ZooMed 18x24 cork tile. The small side edge gaps will be filled using sphagnum moss.
A Spectral Designs 22x12 flat panel LED is be used for lighting.

A ExoTerra Monsoon Multi will be used to irrigate the tank & a muffin fan/diy plenum will provide air circulation.


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#2 ·
Almost there!

Constructed & installed air plenum/muffin fan that produces steady air flow along the top of the cork tile background. Installed & tested the ExoTerra Monsoon Multi mister.

The substrate is made of ZooMed Eco Earth coconut fiber/New Zealand orchid bark/activated carbon pellets. The hard scrape consists of cork rounds & flat, along w/ small driftwood pieces from a LFS.

Plan is to obtain pleurothallid orchids & small Neoregelia bromeliads from local breeders here.



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#3 ·
@Bestmaster,

Your location is Hawai'i is pretty ideal for a few of the items I really like in my vivs - especially is you want to grow orchids, too.

In my experience, "carpet" moss tends to be a bad neighbor for orchids - it will grow into and over smaller orchids and generally become a nuisance especially for Pleuros which like it moist... but, without moss, who wants to have nothing but bare wood between orchids?

In my case, I have found an ideal companion in Gonocormus minutus ferns. You can find this stuff growing thickly on tree trunks (especially near streams) on the wet side of all the islands - it is quite common.

For me, it grows slowly but thickly and gives the same "green carpet" effect of moss but without the takeover problem. I really can't recommend it enough. I would happily wave a wand and replace all the mosses in my viv with Gonocormus if I could.

I addition to Gonocormus, the mini-liverwort that tends to dominate moist, deeply shaded areas on the islands is another great carpet moss alternative. It is not as well-behaved as Gonocormus, but it is still preferable to carpet moss IMHO. I envy your access to an infinite supply of both! It almost makes up for the other ag controls that make getting new plants a challenge in Hawai'i.
 
#5 · (Edited)
@Bestmaster,



Your location is Hawai'i is pretty ideal for a few of the items I really like in my vivs - especially is you want to grow orchids, too.



In my experience, "carpet" moss tends to be a bad neighbor for orchids - it will grow into and over smaller orchids and generally become a nuisance especially for Pleuros which like it moist... but, without moss, who wants to have nothing but bare wood between orchids?



In my case, I have found an ideal companion in Gonocormus minutus ferns. You can find this stuff growing thickly on tree trunks (especially near streams) on the wet side of all the islands - it is quite common.



For me, it grows slowly but thickly and gives the same "green carpet" effect of moss but without the takeover problem. I really can't recommend it enough. I would happily wave a wand and replace all the mosses in my viv with Gonocormus if I could.



I addition to Gonocormus, the mini-liverwort that tends to dominate moist, deeply shaded areas on the islands is another great carpet moss alternative. It is not as well-behaved as Gonocormus, but it is still preferable to carpet moss IMHO. I envy your access to an infinite supply of both! It almost makes up for the other ag controls that make getting new plants a challenge in Hawai'i.


Aloha kimcmich,
In my other vivarium “BromCity”, liverwort & various fern sp. pop up on the cork & in the sphagnum. The green carpet look is not what I’m looking to achieve for my vivariums.
In Manoa Valley here on Oahu, the areas where I’ve observed auratus have been around tree trunk bases with a lot of leaf litter & overhanging vegetation associated with small shallow pools of standing water. So, that’s the look I’m shooting for.
With having a well known bromeliad breeder on island & a pleurothallid nursery on Maui, the State Ag restrictions are negligible. Thanks for the input, good luck w/ your tanks & PDFs.


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#6 · (Edited)
Initial scape complete.

Added these pleurothallid orchids



Also, took cuttings from sertularoides & placed them on sphagnum pads throughout the tank. Laid down monkeypod leaf litter & ready for substrate bioculture.
Big thank you to Olomana Tropicals for the beautiful bromeliads & Tropical Orchid Farm for the exceptional orchids used in both of my vivariums.


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#11 ·
Have a Monsoon Solo running on my 12x12x18 for 2yrs now. Using distilled water & filling the reservoir by lifting off the top instead of using the fill port are what I feel extend the mister longevity. The Multi has only been running a couple of weeks but no problems have surfaced & really don’t expect any.


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#10 ·
Greetings,

My first misting system was a Monsoon and it worked well for ~6 months. The problem seems to be that water from the reservoir makes it into the electronics housing via humidity. This seems to first have the effect of making the durations longer than you set but eventually the duration timer stops working altogether and the unit runs until the reservoir is empty.

Since the unit automatically starts misting when it gets power, I just stopped using the built-in timing controls and got an outlet timer that would do >1min increments. The appliance timer worked perfectly until I got rid of that whole system 2 tears later.

Swapping the 2G reservoir in the unit for a 5G (or larger) bucket reduces the need for re-filling BUT a 5G reservoir is dangerous paired with a unit that might empty all 5G into the viv. Once I switched to the appliance timer, I was able to confidently use a larger reservoir.
 
#12 ·
Greetings,



My first misting system was a Monsoon and it worked well for ~6 months. The problem seems to be that water from the reservoir makes it into the electronics housing via humidity. This seems to first have the effect of making the durations longer than you set but eventually the duration timer stops working altogether and the unit runs until the reservoir is empty.



Since the unit automatically starts misting when it gets power, I just stopped using the built-in timing controls and got an outlet timer that would do >1min increments. The appliance timer worked perfectly until I got rid of that whole system 2 tears later.



Swapping the 2G reservoir in the unit for a 5G (or larger) bucket reduces the need for re-filling BUT a 5G reservoir is dangerous paired with a unit that might empty all 5G into the viv. Once I switched to the appliance timer, I was able to confidently use a larger reservoir.


Good to know if those issues arise. So far, using distilled water only & filling the reservoir by lifting the top off instead of using the fill port have worked so far.


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#13 ·
The model I had was the Multi and also used only distilled water (which is for the benefit of misting head longevity rather than the electronics) and also filled by removing the top. Like you, I had read about the issues in reviews so I new to be careful.

It's a very economical and flexible system and it worked perfectly adequately once I got the alt timer. Hopefully they've upgraded the moisture resistance in the newer models.
 
#35 ·
wish I could get a orchid to grow like yours

but for some reason they just don't flower

they don't die they just wont flower


A few of these orchids were out on my lanai as part of my vertical garden. They were hand misted daily & under shade cloth. During that time they didn’t flower.
When they were moved into the vivarium w/ a timed mister, the orchids sequentially began flowering w/in a month after planting. Not a plant person so that’s all I can offer. Maybe others can chime in?




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#30 ·
Yesterday @ work (Honolulu Zoo), a guest dropped off a rescued PDF that was found in Kalihi, an industrial dry environment on the south end of Oahu. We did not have the space to quarantine or house it so, I volunteered to take it in. This adult appeared to be a male from the size of the front toe pads. It was alert & active behaviorally. I decided to introduce it into the vivarium last night.
Plant Flower Organism Grass Non-vascular land plant
 

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