Canada Day Weekend Build! : Clay Background Method - Page 16

JoeG · #**151** 09-16-2010, 03:23 PM

Awsome pics man! How bout some growth pics of the whole tank?

I am curious, since you have had the darts for a while, do you think it is possible to culture enough springtails in a proper sized tank to feed/maintain a pair or 2 of darts? Maybe without the need for FF cultures?

tazely · #**152** 09-17-2010, 02:29 PM

Hey Grimm I have the same plant in one of my tanks, my water fall falls right on top of it and believe me it is far from dieing, in fact its taking over the tank. That plant to keep the color and keep it from getting vinny you need to pinch it off. Thw new growth has that color but the mature leafs do tend to go light and not and pink.

Grimm · #**153** 09-17-2010, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeG

Awsome pics man! How bout some growth pics of the whole tank?

I am curious, since you have had the darts for a while, do you think it is possible to culture enough springtails in a proper sized tank to feed/maintain a pair or 2 of darts? Maybe without the need for FF cultures?

I think the only way this could work is if you had a thumbnails species, and a tank that was 10 times bigger then the required size for the pair. I'd be willing to bet that even if you had a 100-150 galon tank you would still need to eventually add springtails since it wouldnt be able to sustain itself.

I have hardly any springtails now. It honestly take me like 5 minutes to find a single one in the tank. These guys are little vacuums. I only have 3 ff cultures at the moment. one in bloom, one with tons of maggots, and one that will need to be thrown out this weekend. I'll probably need to get an additional ff culture, and I'll try to get 1-2 different species of springs as an additional food source. But since I'll have 4 more mouths to feed within the next month I'll probably be trippling my culture quantity. Better safe then sorry.

And I'll try to post full tank shots in a few weeks or so. I want the vines to fill in more. My new viv video I posted has it shown though.

ashaf22789 · #**154** 09-20-2010, 01:25 AM

Dang you! Now i think im going to go to a clay background now!

Just a few questions
-you cant have a water feature running down the clay?
-how does the clay hold up? As long as its moist it doest flake/crack?
-about how long did it take for your moss to take off?
-any pointers other than whats on the thread and YouTube?
-Do you have problems with water seeping up from the substrate into the clay background?

I love the tank and its going to be a huge inspiration for my hex build.

Grimm · #**155** 09-20-2010, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashaf22789

Dang you! Now i think im going to go to a clay background now!

Just a few questions
-you cant have a water feature running down the clay?
-how does the clay hold up? As long as its moist it doest flake/crack?
-about how long did it take for your moss to take off?
-any pointers other than whats on the thread and YouTube?
-Do you have problems with water seeping up from the substrate into the clay background?

I love the tank and its going to be a huge inspiration for my hex build.

Thanks a lot.

And using this clay mixture, you can not have the clay constantly wet. It will disintegrate very quickly. Some people have had success using a mixture of 75% Red Art clay, and 25% calcium bentonite. In any case, do a month long test run on whatever mixture you want to use.

As for the clay, as long as it is kept humid and moist it will be fine. The top inch of my background is beginning to crack, however it is because my old glass top used to come loose and let dry air inside, and because the clay is only 1/4" thick. A couple tips would be to allow for 1-2" of bare glass above the clay, and to ensure the clay is at least 3/4" thick in all places, especially the top. The bare glass will allow for condensation to accumulate, then drip down on the clay to keep it moist.

The moss took 2 weeks to acclimate. Now it can withstand a dry spell, but it is all growing like weeds, especially on the water sections.

And that is a great point about the water seeping up from the substrate. I have noticed that the lower sections of the clay are getting softer. If you notice in my second build, I kept the clay 2-3" above the false bottom. I didnt mention in the video because I forgot, but that is the main reason why I didnt build it all the way down.

Here is the vid of my next tank if you want to see it.
https://www.vivariumforum.com/communi...win-build.html

ashaf22789 · #**156** 09-21-2010, 02:04 AM

Yup i already watched your videos. I really think im going to work with the clay instead of GS. Are there many advantages to the clay?

Kyle The Toad · #**157** 09-24-2010, 06:14 AM

Grimm, you mentioned that you went on a holiday to Mexico for ten days. Does this mean you left the lights on for the entire time you were gone? Or did somebody come in and turn them on and off each day? I love the plant growth you got in such a short amount of time and was wondering what your lighting schedule is.

Grimm · #**158** 09-24-2010, 10:28 AM

The only way to have a successful vivarium like this is to have lighting on timers. Most people are home at the same time everyday, but sometimes I dont make it home to maintain everything so that is what the timers are for. I did have someone come and mist every few days, but thats it.

I have the lights on for 12 hours. And for these twin tanks on the top shelf, I only use a single 48" fixture, with 2 GE Daylight T8 tubes (6500k). The fixture and tubes cost just under 50$, and do great, so dont go looking for overpriced lighting at pet/aquarium stores...Been there, done that, and they suck anyways.

In my future large display tank, I plan to either have a controler that will gradually turn the light on/off to mimic the sun. If cost wont permit that, I will have the brightest lights come on for 8-9 hours, and have less powerfull lights for the start and end of each day.

ashaf22789 · #**159** 09-25-2010, 08:22 PM

Grimm, do you think it would be wise to mix the clay with peat moss and eco earth before adding water?

It seems to me if you mix it then soak all you need to do at that point is knead them together. Might be a time saver.

Grimm · #**160** 09-26-2010, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashaf22789

Grimm, do you think it would be wise to mix the clay with peat moss and eco earth before adding water?

It seems to me if you mix it then soak all you need to do at that point is knead them together. Might be a time saver.

Yes that is a really good point. Not sure why I didnt think of that lol. You should give it a try and see how well it works. My only concern would be if the substrate absorbed all the water instead of the clay, but its unlikely.