My First Viv/Palu With pics!!

[animal lover]

Sorry, some of the pics are a bit blurry, my camera isn't the best. Since these pics I have added some rocks in the pond area so my spotted wouldn't become to daring in the water. It is hard to see, but the piece of bark in the back righ corner is a waterfall, well more of a drip actually. Hope you enjoy, comments are more than welcome!

[Vivweaver]

I like your salamanders. Are you blocking your substrate from the water or is it all moist?

I like your bromiliad : )

[animal lover]

There is a FB with an eggcrate, but no LECA layer, just sphagnum (sp?) moss and then dirt/bark/leaf litter mixture. Part of the sheet moss is in the water to cover the eggcrate and make a smooth entrance into the water, but the dirt is only moist from humdity and my spray bottle. I haven't had any problems with water discoloration so I'm happy with the way it looks in the water.
Right in the center of the tank there is a sort of cave that has moss draped over it which is where she sleeps most of the day. Its kind of hard to see in the pics but I guess thats the point.
That bromeliad was pretty much the only one I could find in my area that fit in the tank and didn't have browning leaves, but it is beautiful nonetheless.

[beckdg]

hey, i think i have that same light fixture from walmart... hehehe. i use 2 of them behind my black fixture on my show tank... i need to put a hood on it baaaaad!

anyway, i like what you've done with the place. that is sansevieria correct? how does that do with the wet soil? here goes, lol... MOM SAYS (she's the gardener in the family) their roots will rot if too wet, so i'm curious.have you considered pothos? they would create a little more ground cover for the little guy.

looks good regardless, and a good home for a happy little fella!

[animal lover]

A sansaviera, lol! I don't have the slightest clue what that is! I don't even know how to pronounce it lol. I'm assuming thats the scientific name, I only know the common names. The one in the back right corner is a bromeliad with an broad leaf anubias behind it, crossing fingers on that one surviving. Its base is in the water behind the waterfall and it leaves extending outwards. The front right corner there is a java fern and some other red aquatic plant.? The back left is a rex begonia and in front of it is a snake plant. I also have a fern that is sprouting on top of the cave, but it isn't there in the pic. About the pothos, I had a pothos in there previous to the remodel and honestly, I was too lazy to keep trimming it and it took over the tank. When I pulled it up out of the tank. It took everything with it, the water dish, ripped the moss of the bottom of the tank and dirt went flying, it was bad. The roots from the pothos literally cover every sqaure inch of the tank. It going into a 30 gallon tall for a whites tree frog which I will hopefully start building in the coming week.

[beckdg]

broad leaf anubias = bartieri?... i have some in my planted tank (fish tank)

snake plant = mother in laws tongue = sansevieria... basically... i'm sure someone will correct me here, but if the common names refer to specific breeds i don't think you can trust them anyway say if you wanted a specific one for it's size or whatever reason.

as for the pothos, that's kinda why i asked... it's good that you don't have to buy alot of plants to fill in an area quickly, but if it grows that fast and you don't want to rip your tank apart constantly i completely understand.

i would not mind seeing some progress on that 30 when you get to it.

[animal lover]

Hopefully, I will get to it this coming week, but I have most everything that I need except for a couple important things. I think you will find it to be an interesting build however. Before I really got into proper care of my herps I bought a screen cage for my whites tree frog. Now that he is done jumping into the screen and hurting himself my only problem is keeping the humidity up. I spray it down multiple times a day and it just evaporates like none other, so I am goind to cover it up with a background with possibly three sides but definitely two. It is also going to incorporate a waterfall, a much better one than in this tank, but I need to either find a container or build one that is hopefully 17"x17"x5" and must be water proof. Its going to be fun! lol.
By the way I got that light at Lowes, its supposed to be a plant grow light?

[beckdg]

i am familiar with the grow bulbs that come with them. i would toss it in the trash now that i know better. i find i get better growth and overall plant health from sunlight bulbs from ge (5500 kelvin). even better is the daylight bulbs from ge (6500 kelvin). even better than both of them are the daylight spiral bulbs from ge commonly found at walmart. also my animals (fish and snake) as well as i seem not to like the grow bulbs that come with them. that light stresses my eyes and gives me a headache after a while. i could not look into my fish tanks for a long period of time and my plants were all dying until i switched from that very same bulb. just a heads up.

for your container issue, have you considered using storage bins? if you do it right you can hide them quite well. you can make the whole thing like a lawn ornament type spillway with false ground cover. then all you need to do is figure out how you want to disguise it to look natural. sounds like you may be looking for under bed storage bins to me.

[animal lover]

Yeah, the storage bins seem to be the easiest and cheapest option, its just finding the right size now. I'm not sure what youn meanby lawn ornament spillway though.
As far as the light goes, I have had no problems with them. I have three on in my bedroom for several hours a day and have had no problems with headaches and plants grow more than fast enough for my applications. I wonder if I have a different type than you had. It is one of the light with the bulb built-in, as in you cant remove it because the plastic covers it.