[Kinstrome]

Anyway - I think I mentioned this before, and you probably already found that out yourself and took steps to not get screwed over by this factor - but I mention it for readers who may not have realized it yet.

Yeah, I have no problem with you clarifying or correcting things I do so that this post can safely be read by future hobbyists. Part of the reason I'm writing all of this out --- some of it very boring to current readers --- is so future readers will have a better idea of what works and doesn't work.

For me, although I knew already that cured silicone and cured epoxy don't like to stick (although I put the epoxy on before the silicone had entirely cured), mostly it was just insurance / peace of mind. I had a pretty good feeling that I had stuffed silicone all the way into the hole(s) as far as it would go, but I just wanted to get some other substance, less viscous, into the holes that might exist between the wall and the silicone itself. Filling the cracks of the thing that filled the cracks, so to speak.

Yeah, exactly. You'd need to size the FB so you can get the nut onto the threads, and also turn the nut. The FB would need to be about an inch wider than the diameter of the nut, for your fingers to squeeze in there and grip the nut. You could use an adjustable ("crescent") wrench, which could permit a smaller FB to be used, but easy does it - no need to crank (and crack) it.

This may be a decision that bites me in the ass later, but because the bulkhead is already fixed in place and sealed, and because it's held water for about 24 hours so far, I may just ride with it.

My other concern is that, just getting the bulkhead OUT of the hole to use the forstner bit and try again, may be disastrous. It's so solidly in there that an attempt to hammer it back out may result in it breaking on the inside or tearing up the wood.

Also, because I'd have to hammer it out, and because the only thing I'd have as a surface area to hammer is the barely-exposed end of the threaded pipe --- I may hammer it once, get it slightly moved in the direction I want it to move, and then be forever unable to dislodge it, because there's hardly anything for the hammer to hit.

But the bigger reason is simply that, at this point, I'm superstitiously afraid of leakage, and I fear I may never get the bulkhead as watertight as I somehow managed to make it.

[P.S.: This armoire is extremely brittle, especially after sawing out the shelves. I didn't mention this earlier, but once when my father and I were lifting it, one of us lifted too quickly on one side and we heard a "CREAK." Then, the next time I tested water idly, it was leaking out of a new crack. So my fear is that, as hard as I'd have to strike a hammer to get it out, I might open another crack that doesn't become evident immediately. It may not actually happen, but it's a worry.]

EDIT: Would it be wise to include Turface or some other substance above the eggcrate / false bottom but below the ABG mix soil? I had read on it and thought it might have some usefulness in what I am doing, but I'm far from certain.

 

[Kinstrome]

I'm posting an update because I think I figured out how to get the moss onto the wall:



^I found some bird netting at Lowe's and decided to see which adhesives would cooperate. Well, to cut a long story short, I went back to black aquarium-safe silicone.

What I did was bag a bunch of moss together, then bunch up the ends of the netting on the back, and silicone that part to the cut foam. The bunching of the netting on the back provides extra surface for the silicone to stick to. It sticks pretty well with some pressure held for a few seconds; probably some other caulk-tubed adhesive would work better. (Not Loctite PowerGrab, though, that's crap.)

The moss will, I hope, grow through the squares and obscure the netting, although from a distance the netting isn't really visible. Bird netting seems to have the perfect square size for moss holding: neither too small for it to grow out, nor too big for it to stay put.

Some other stuff:



^The false bottom layer installed.



^The substrate so far. (It IS probably unnecessarily deep, but because of the way I designed other things I needed to fill it up, or risk awkward bare spaces elsewhere. Anyway, it's possible I'll plant another tree there, which may appreciate the depth.)



^A view of the waterfall pump-retrieval chamber, mostly underground now. If the waterfall pump becomes too noisy, I'll design a door-flap to close the chamber.



^An overall view of the terrarium as it looks right now. Still some ways to go.

 

[gonzalez]

This is pretty incredible and I’m excited to see how it will turn out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Kinstrome]

Thank you! Compliments like that are what keep hobbyists like me going. Really appreciated!

I made some developments on the process I'm using to get moss onto the wall:



^Toothpicks are no stranger to hobbyists of all kinds, vivarists or otherwise. I had started having problems with the larger bundles of moss falling off even if I pressed them into the silicone for half a minute. So I started sticking toothpicks through them, into the foam wall behind them, and the toothpicks stay put pretty well. That stabilizes the bundle long enough for the silicone to harden and cure.

I also discovered somewhat of a problem:



^It may not be too visible from a photograph, but ... my test plants are blanching! I had thrown these plants into the terrarium to test the lights --- they grow like kudzu, so they're easily replaced --- and they've gone pale green in about 24 hours.

Other people, either here or through email correspondence, had expressed concerns that it would even conceivably be possible to light such a tall terrarium. Well, I don't know for sure yet, but it looks like the light is actually a little too strong, even about 5ft above the ground. This is almost certainly from the Jungle Dawn mega bulbs and not from the Cree floodlights. At any rate, I'll wait and see what happens. Maybe this tradescantia-like plant is just ultra-sensitive to light.

 

[Kinstrome]

Tossing a few ideas around in my head:

1) Stained-glass windows in the castle. Not real stained glass, of course, but using model-making tricks to make it seem like they are indeed stained glass. This would make the castle's castle-ness more noticeable, as right now it's somewhat hard to discern from the other features. It would be attractive, too, to see the light pass through them.

2) An eye in the driftwood dragon's skull. This one, I'm not so certain about, because the "eye socket" is too narrow for a marble naturally, and a round marble would be the most attractive choice for an eye. I'd have to drill, and drill carefully. Anyway, dead animals don't hold onto their eyes for long, so it would probably look unrealistic. The main reason I'm considering this is because the driftwood dragon is not easy to discern if you aren't sure where to look. Same problem that the castle has.

3) A canopy made of plastic foliage. I am skeptical about this idea, too, because I don't like to go half-and-half on my terrariums. It's usually either all live or all fake for me. But a canopy would look rather pretty, the plastic plants wouldn't be noticeably plastic from a modest distance, and the split light from overhead may be useful for some plants on the ground.

These are just my notes, but if a reader here does find something in them that will or will not work, feel free to let me know your thoughts on the matter.

 

[Kinstrome]

A reader of this thread might have noticed that there are no glass doors installed in this terrarium. It's true; I believed the danger of putting two large, heavy pieces of glass on the "lip" (the modified shelf that is holding in the substrate) would become a liability eventually. So when the wooden doors open, the whole terrarium is open.

This does have its own liabilities, like the fact that humidity lowers while the doors are open, and that I can never view the interior for long because of the humidity issue. But having glass would make it more difficult to work on the terrarium interior if I ever need to modify it after it's done, which is likely. So I believe that that's the right decision. At any rate, the interior of the doors is water-sealed, and looks to be doing well.

Here's an updated pic of the terrarium, with "test" branches of a Ficus (benjamina or ginseng) for shade in the top-left area:



^I know that the clumps of moss look rather nasty right now, and not at all natural. But you can see that, where the moss clumps join together, they look more natural.

 

[SoloSK71]

If you are worries about weight, then maybe plexiglass? You will need the humidity for most of the plants and any frogs you get.

Solo

 

[Kinstrome]

If you are worries about weight, then maybe plexiglass? You will need the humidity for most of the plants and any frogs you get.

Solo

I won't be keeping frogs in this. I don't plan on keeping any animal in it right now, but if I do, it won't be any kind of frog or amphibian.

I will say, the humidity higher up has been lacking. Two hours after misting, it falls to around ~75%.

But I worry that sliding glass (or plexiglass) doors --- which are the only doors I believe I could install --- would severely hinder my ability to modify the terrarium, besides marring its appearance.

 

[jgragg]

Hi again,

Wow, you've been very busy, making big progress. Congrats!

I will say, the humidity higher up has been lacking. Two hours after misting, it falls to around ~75%.

That does not seem like a problem to me. The real test will be once you've got some vascular plants in there, and live moss, and you see what can thrive - even spread into - where. Versus just hang on, or retreat to another region of the tank, or perhaps just give up and die.

You're basically setting up a multi-species cage match. There will be winners and losers, overall and also microsite-by-microsite. If the ones you want to be winners aren't winning, you will need to either adjust the environment to favor them, or adjust your attitude about who's actually winning, where. Maybe you can't grow moss all the way up to the very top - but would you be happy with a nice belt of it, stopping a few inches short of the top? Just a made-up example. "No plan survives contact with the enemy, but a good general ensures his army does." Conjecture and speculation can't replace first-hand experience. Dive in, pay attention (even take some notes, and periodic photos), and adjust parameters - or inhabitants - as needed.

Personally I concur on the advice about a nice canopy of e.g. Neoregelias providing some light moderation for the lower plants. Blast those with light and you'll get fabulous color. Just water them enough.

But I worry that sliding glass (or plexiglass) doors --- which are the only doors I believe I could install --- would severely hinder my ability to modify the terrarium, besides marring its appearance.

Have you considered cutting out "windows" in the wooden doors, and fitting glass, acrylic, or polycarbonate (since there will be no animals) into them? In this scenario you (well, I) would cut each hole with a jigsaw, then rout out the inside margin to accept the translucent sheet. Glazier's points and silicone would hold the sheet in place, and waterproof the wood.

cheers

 

[Kinstrome]

I already decided to buy sliding glass doors, actually. It's too likely that I'll want to view the interior for a while, and I don't want the humidity to plummet. It also won't be quite as expensive as I thought it would be, provided I go with glass and not a plastic product.

[By the way, any woodworkers / other measure-intensive hobby enthusiasts here who would happen to know the best way to ensure that two stick-on handles are attached in exactly the same place as each other on the glass door? I've made mistakes before, even when I planned ahead, and as such I had to live with asymmetrical handles on my terrariums.]

I've no problem with some of the plants not taking off. Yellow LFS is not unattractive, so if some of the moss wall never develops, it's fine. I'm used to plants (and terrariums) failing, so I've learned to appreciate what works and not fret over what doesn't work.

Personally I concur on the advice about a nice canopy of e.g. Neoregelias providing some light moderation for the lower plants. Blast those with light and you'll get fabulous color. Just water them enough.

They will definitely get enough light, and I suspect enough water, given how well they seem to catch the mist.

I am not so sure they will provide a canopy, unless they grow massively bigger than I've ever seen them. (It's not unlikely I've been raising them poorly and they just haven't reached full size.) The dimensions of the ceiling are roughly 4' x 2', or 48" x 24". A 6" neoregelia won't even reach the lights near the side of the ceiling, if it is indeed only able to stick out about 6". (I'm 100% not certain about that, though.)

Speaking of light, I have an artistic development:



^Stained-glass windows! It was possible to make this by plexiglass with an alcohol-ink marker, but I didn't personally like how the products of that method turned out. So, I used aluminum modeling mesh, spray-painted it black, weighed it down in a pool of crystal lacquer, then used alcohol ink markers to make the design on the back of the solidified lacquer.

I thought at first I'd cut it to size, removing the broken up parts on the left and right (or top and bottom), but right now I think I'm going to keep that to enhance the sense of ruination.

 

[jgragg]

A 6" neoregelia won't even reach the lights near the side of the ceiling, if it is indeed only able to stick out about 6".

Oh, but they pup, and then the pups pup, and then...well. You can't have just one Neo! Just give them some time, you will have substantial clumps. Many tillies are the same way, but can be even "worse". It's a great problem. Ha ha ha. You just have to build more vivs to house all those new babies. Or, enjoy the "natural shaggy look" of clumps. Bromeliads as singletons, for the most part, is a highly unnatural look. Get into their native range some time, and just start looking around. Mostly they occur in clumps you couldn't get your arms around.

Nice stained glass, I can appreciate the creativity and the problem-solving. And thank you - previously I could not have answered "what is crystal lacquer"?

cheers

 

[Kinstrome]

Maybe I've just been unlucky, but I've only ever gotten one or two pups in the couple of years I've used Neoregelias. Or, more likely, I haven't had the right lighting / air flow / humidity for them.

I was curious to know something: I transplanted my Ficus Retusa into the terrarium yesterday evening, and although I didn't take any before-pictures to know for sure, I could swear it shot up like 4" in some places within about 12-16 hours of being planted. Is that a thing? Do plants get optimistic when they're exposed to new light sources and new substrates, in a similar manner to how the stock market goes up when investors hear news about a new president / policy even before it has taken effect?

And just to save e-space, I'll include this not entirely relevant question:



^This is a Silver Pothos I idly planted in a planter in a different terrarium after whatever the previous specimen was died. I didn't examine it closely for a while, just watered it when I watered the terrarium.

I recently noticed that it has grown all these roots out, into the background, through the net, and one up in the air and back down again.

Is this a signal about something? I find the look very attractive, just what I'd want to make a natural-looking terrarium, and I'd love to reproduce the effect in the future, too.

 

[jgragg]

I've only ever gotten one or two pups in the couple of years I've used Neoregelias

Can't speak to why - don't know your setups - but this sounds really pretty freaky to me. All mine pup pretty hard; you get the odd one that just sits there, but mostly they all throw a pup or two (at the same time, on different stolons) every 6 months or so. I don't think it's 'cause I'm making them unhappy...but who knows maybe I am. The other plants all seem happy though.

I could swear it shot up like 4" in some places within about 12-16 hours of being planted. Is that a thing? Do plants get optimistic when they're exposed to new light sources and new substrates

Hmm. Don't know what to tell you. I don't think so - how confident are you about what you saw? I've got some of that "lucky bamboo" Dracaena stuff in one of my wetter vivs, man it really jumps, but 4" in a half a day? Hmm. Double-check your data, I'd say.

I recently noticed that it has grown all these roots out, into the background, through the net, and one up in the air and back down again...Is this a signal about something?

Oh yeah, it's a signal:
WARNING! HAPPY POTHOS!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!!

When the leaves get really big, the end is nigh!

Ha ha ha ha ha. OK seriously, yeah man, the plant is happy. With the packed LFS in your background, good lights, and adequate water, you will find many plants will do this sort of thing - adventitious rooting. They'll just throw roots to hook into whatever is handy nearby. Many many aroids do this, but also many watery-stemmed things do as well. And, many woody-stemmers also do it. Using toothpicks to keep a bit of stem pressed up against some moss is a good way to stimulate it where you want it to happen. One way to look this up online or in books is to ask "does this species air-layer?" Air layering kicks ass.

Many woody Ficus species air-layer readily. It's a good way to produce new rooted plants that you can cut off and transplant or give away. Or sell, I suppose. You could probably use this technique to initiate & baby (for faster growth) some aerial roots in especially scenic spots in your not-a-viv. Give it a whirl, what's it gonna cost you?

cheers

 

[Kinstrome]

Before I say anything else, I noticed a nasty development: My epoxy clay castle is DISSOLVING. (in some places.)

I knew that the uncured clay dissolved in water, but I had assumed from something or other that I read that the cured stuff was totally waterproof, similarly to polymer clay.

I may be reacting too soon. It's possible that only the not-properly-cured parts of the clay castle are dissolving, due to improper epoxy / hardener ratios.

Can't speak to why - don't know your setups - but this sounds really pretty freaky to me. All mine pup pretty hard; you get the odd one that just sits there, but mostly they all throw a pup or two (at the same time, on different stolons) every 6 months or so. I don't think it's 'cause I'm making them unhappy...but who knows maybe I am. The other plants all seem happy though.

Well, I just noticed a couple of pups sprouting behind my Fireballs. Took them long enough, though...

I'll take that back, there was one bromeliad --- not a neoregelia, I don't think, but one of those bromes that Lowe's or Home Depot sells --- that did what I now believe was pupping, although the original part of the plant died soon afterwards. The surviving part became huge, like 12" tall.

Hmm. Don't know what to tell you. I don't think so - how confident are you about what you saw? I've got some of that "lucky bamboo" Dracaena stuff in one of my wetter vivs, man it really jumps, but 4" in a half a day? Hmm. Double-check your data, I'd say.

I assumed that that was the case. I was hopeful that maybe this was a phenomenon I'd never heard of, but I have to be realistic.

Ha ha ha ha ha. OK seriously, yeah man, the plant is happy. With the packed LFS in your background, good lights, and adequate water, you will find many plants will do this sort of thing - adventitious rooting. They'll just throw roots to hook into whatever is handy nearby. Many many aroids do this, but also many watery-stemmed things do as well. And, many woody-stemmers also do it. Using toothpicks to keep a bit of stem pressed up against some moss is a good way to stimulate it where you want it to happen. One way to look this up online or in books is to ask "does this species air-layer?" Air layering kicks ass.

Well, this ficus definitely air-roots readily (and it has already started), so if that's an indicator ... that's an indicator.

I'm not really sure all about the method of doing this, though. Do I just wait until an air-root is pretty long --- but hasn't reached anything yet --- then pull it to a nearby organic surface and toothpick it in? If it's that simple, then I'm really looking forward to it.

 

[jgragg]

there was one bromeliad --- not a neoregelia, I don't think, but one of those bromes that Lowe's or Home Depot sells --- that did what I now believe was pupping, although the original part of the plant died soon afterwards. The surviving part became huge, like 12" tall

Definitely smells like pupping.

Well, this ficus definitely air-roots readily (and it has already started), so if that's an indicator ... that's an indicator.

Love the tautology. Ha ha. Anyway, glad to hear it.

I'm not really sure all about the method of doing this, though. Do I just wait until an air-root is pretty long --- but hasn't reached anything yet --- then pull it to a nearby organic surface and toothpick it in? If it's that simple, then I'm really looking forward to it.

• Short answer - yeah, it really is that simple.
• Longer answer - traditionally, the purpose of air-layering (traditionally done with some moist moss, some plastic wrap, and some twist-ties, all to keep the RH at 100% along a short length of stem) is to create "clones" that you can separate to create new plants. That is to say, once you have what looks to be enough root material, you break out the sharp knife and slice the stem below your new rooting area. Typically, the stem-stump will throw two or three new stems, and you're off and running in your plant propagation. However, the in application I described (just made up) the purpose is not to create roots for the sake of cuttings, it's to create roots for the sake of roots. So...it's up to you to decide what is "pretty long", and ready to pin. If you just want to grow the dangling unpinned root longer and longer for a bit, I would probably try to keep it happy by tying a little bit of LFS to it. Probably I would just use LFS as my "twine", too.

My epoxy clay castle is DISSOLVING. (in some places.)

Ah, pisser. Hopefully you're just over-reacting (I may detect some such tendency, ha ha ha). I think you're probably right, that only the off-ratio areas are dissolving, due to their lack of curing.

• Glass half full take? It'll add to that decrepit look you're after.
• Or, if you're thinking more along the lines of "what son of a bitch drank some of my water?!?!?", you could repair what's melting. I think you can slap newly-mixed stuff right onto the old stuff (definitely try scraping it down to sound material first).

cheers

 

[Kinstrome]

Yeah, all I'm seeing about Apoxie (the brand of epoxy clay I use) is that it's "waterproof." Obviously it isn't waterproof before it's cured, so it must be only waterproof when it's cured. Which means the parts dissolving are the parts that didn't properly cure.

And, yeah, I thought about the value of a decrepit appearance / ruination from dissolving clay, but almost every part of the clay has an aluminum or galvanized steel wire running through it, and armature wire doesn't particularly look real when it's exposed. Not for this kind of dark, bleak castle, anyway.

The info about creating extra roots and promoting root growth is appreciated. I'll get on it when I get back to my terrarium.

 

[Kinstrome]

Posting an update, with some pictures.



^I tried out new lights that are supposed to be pretty strong, although they only have 4400K color temperature rather than the higher recommended values. Lux ratings are high, almost as high as the Jungle Dawn lights, but I don't have anything to measure PAR right now.

If anyone is interested, I can figure out which bulbs they were. They are about $39.99 IIRC and consume 40 watts.



^Moss growth! This is only one netting's worth of moss, but the phenomenon is happening all around the terrarium. It seems to be mostly the real-world moss I gathered, rather than the many Dusk Moss mixes I mixed in. I have seen the latter starting to grow, but it is definitely slower.



^Just sort of an aside, in order to better make a "story" to this terrarium, I added treasure chests full of polyclay gold coins, half visible through the cracks, off-balance and near to falling apart. There are holes drilled in the bottom of the wooden chests to let water through. They were also painted with polyurethane, although this was mostly in order to change their color, rather than to seal them.



^This has been installed for almost a week, but I never got around to taking a photograph of it until today. The tree you see is a Ficus retusa, and it is planted where it is in order to grow up through the many complex ruins of the castle. Leaning against it is a septarian egg, one that I thought looked greatly like a hatching dragon egg, and a moisture meter to the left, which tells me whether or not the tree is getting too much water. Ficus retusa is easily overwatered, so I will keep a close eye on this meter.

Also of note is the new castle fragment, which is what you see on the left-ish side of the photograph. It gives the castle a more round, tower-like appearance, and it fleshes it out more.

 

[Kinstrome]

Sliding glass doors have been installed, but apparently it's not possible to email photos of >5.00mb, so I'll wait till later.

Idly wondering, what kind of animal could inhabit this terrarium?

Don't worry --- I don't intend to put anything in, although I don't think I've crossed any of the bridges-of-no-return for herps in this terrarium yet. But I get asked every time I bring up or show anybody this terrarium, "Well, what lives in it?" I'd like to change my response from "Well, nothing lives in there" to "Well, nothing lives in there, but I could get a [species] or two inside of it."

Again, no pressure --- I'm not going to run off and buy an animal just because it could [theoretically] live in there.

 

[Kinstrome]

^This is a more up-to-date photograph of what the terrarium looks like. Glass sliding doors have been installed. There are several not-quite-visible epiphytes and terrestrials hanging around.

I have enough moss to finish that top part that isn't yet covered, but the LFS I most recently bought --- from a local garden center --- is much darker than the LFS I used for the rest of the terrarium, and so I have decided to save it for another build.

The ribs of the dragon are almost invisible in the photograph, having been consumed by LFS bundles. This has been one of my bigger regrets regarding the terrarium, that I didn't get more pronounced ribs. It is, however, very difficult to find pieces of driftwood that are that rounded. I was lucky to even find mildly rounded driftwood branches like I did.

Note: The rather gaudy Ficus branches sticking out of the wall will probably not stay; they were mostly an experiment in seeing what could act as a canopy. Also, if you've noticed the Neoregelia lodged in the substrate, I can assure you that that is a temporary arrangement; it will find home in the upper walls once the upper walls have LFS in the right places to house it.

EDIT: Also, so far I have not risked filling the water basin with water to test the waterfall. I don't know what it will do to the water / humidity in the visible parts of the terrarium, and further, I am anxious about whether or not this ship is really watertight ... even though I tested it weeks ago.

When I do get around to testing the waterfall again, I will likely build a part of the castle wall that goes under the dragon and is hit by the falling water, thus making the flow of the waterfall more intricate.

 

[Kinstrome]

So, I "officially" finished the terrarium a few days ago. It will still have plants added, LFS cracks filled, and minor aesthetic modifications made for a while yet. But the goalpost has been reached.

Some pictures, reduced in size because I suspect my normal pics are an eyesore:



^Stelis Argentata in a castle piece.



^A Marcgravia and Microgramma sp "Ecuador", I believe.



^Neoregelia "Ruby Throat" et al.



^A bunch of Muehlenbeckia and a bit of Ficus Ginseng / Benjamina branch.



^Pilea sp. Purple Ecuador? from Pubfiction.



^A couple of Ficus.



^Two experimental trees, from hydrophyte.



\

^Ardisia japonica and Pellonia repens, also from hydrophyte & Pubfiction.





^Stained-glass windows



^Upper part of the castle.



^Neoregelias "Blueberry Tart" & "Edge of Night"



^A variety of moss growth from local moss and Dusk mix, and...



^The terrarium as a whole.