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Hi all,

I've really been enjoying browsing the forum. Here are some pics of a tank that I've been growing for a while now. I've just recently begun pouring energy into it and experimenting with different climate control techniques. I plan on turning it into a lowland tank and then building or buying a larger highland tank.
Specs:

- The tank is lit by four T12 cool white bulbs mounted in a wooden hood
- The dimensions of the tank are 48" x 15" deep x 17" tall. too small!!!
- At the time of this pic there was no lid, although I just built one out of acrylic about a month ago, humidity went way up although so did condensation.
- I have a 4 foot vanity mirror taped to the back (usind double stick tape) and I really like the deep effect that this gives the tank. I also enjoy being able to see my plants from all angles.
- I let the sitting water evaporate before adding more.
- humidity was approx 65 - 70% before the acrylic lid was added
- it's in an unheated room and temps range from around 50F at night to 63F during the day (winter). I'm working on adding heat, I'd like it around 75F during the day.

Plants are N. maxima, N. alata, N. sanguinea, N. petiolata, P. something and D. adelae

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Good Growing!
Nick
 
wow! Would love to have one of those setups. :) good luck! :D I am sure those plants would love it in there. :D
 
Very nice Nick, Welcome to TF.
 
Welcome to Terraforums! Great looking setup. Thanks for sharing those pictures.

xvart.
 
Nice tank :D
I am doing a planting in the bottom drosera,urtic,ping and whatnot tank that should look good
 
those neps are sitting in water, its a nice setup. GOODJOB!!
 
Thanks for the kind words!
 
VERY nice. I'm re-inspired to grow Neps.
 
The pings look like P. x titan. If they have purple flowers (as opposed to pink/magenta), then they are P. x titan.

The neps are very healthy but GET THEM OUT OF STANDING WATER!

In the humid environment of a terrarium or greenhouse, nasty stuff can develop in the water and kill healthy neps very fast. I had a terrarium like yours a few years ago and over the course of a few weeks, lost all of my neps to root rot. My sugestion would be to sit some turned over plant trays in the water than the neps can sit on so that they can be slightly above the water line. Draining water from a terrarium can be really annoying, so if you can, it would be a good idea to get some holes drilled in the sides or bottom to the tank by at a glass cutting place for drainage (just find out if the bottom is shatter-prone tempered glass).

Otherwisem your plants look excellent, Your conditions sound absolutely ideal for almost any highland nepenthes. The nepenthes you have in the terrarium are generally regarded as "easy" windowsill nepenthes. I think they could be grown outside a terrarium on a simple "grow rack". You NEED to get some heliamphoras in that tank, they would LOVE IT. The same goes for any rare or difficult highland nepenthes.
 
  • #10
Thanks Slurm,

I think you are right about the ping. It does have purple flowers and that name sounds familiar, I've had that plant and it's army of clones for a long time.

I don't let the plants sit in water for long and I let the water evaporate before refilling. I'm really not willing to sacrifice any vertical space in this tank although I recently did add a thin layer of lava rock to the bottom and am careful to keep the water level low.

I've grown this N. alata everywhere and it always thrives, the maxima is also extremely hardy. Both do very well on windowsills.

Here's my little window sill with a few N. maxima clones and some S. purp, S. rubra, S. hybrid, vft, D. binata. Its an extended window (these are great, if I ever build a house all of the south windows will have these) and recieves about 5 hours of direct sun (tree blockage).

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I took an N. alata out to my parents house at the coast and had amazing results. All the pitchers turned bright red and were huge, funny thing was the plant only recieved indirect although fairly bright light! I have some old pictures that I will try to scan sometime.

I have been thinking about growing heliamphoras and will try them soon, thanks for the suggestion.

I'm also very interested in growing some new highlands, specifically N. Burbidgeae, N. Spectabilis, N Veitchii (highland striped), N. Hamata, N macrophylla..... the list goes on.

The pictures above are from about 6 months ago here are some new ones:

newest edition spathulata
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acrylic top i made
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  • #11
Absolutely beautiful setup. I'd love to put together a tank like that someday. I just don't have the room (or the money) right now. Keep up the good work!
 
  • #12
I *LOVE* the acrylic top! The openings look adjustable... is that right?
 
  • #14
Nice new neps!
I love the N. spathulata. I can't grow highlanders because I live in the southeast and my house's central heating is set to 70 degrees minimum (my parents who decided on the house's temp settings are lowlanders, apparently :crazy: ). My house can get to 80+ degrees in midsummer, even at night! I think I will try N. x judith finn because it can take lowland conditions better than pure N. spathulata

I just got a 150 gallon tank for christmas, so I think I can grow large nepenthes (like N. x judith finn) for at least a year or two before they get too big. I am going to concentrate on small lowlanders to save space though.
 
  • #15
Thank a lot Ggecko!

Money shouldn't be an object for this tank, it was very cheap to put together. 55 gallons are all over, this one has a small crack but still holds water and I got it for $5 at a flea market. The lights are the el cheapos from home depot and cost around 10 bucks each. This whole set up, minus the latest improvements which aren't really necessary for many species cost me less than $40.

Thanks xvart and wmgorum,

Acrylic is an awesome material, very easy to work with and not too expensive. All you need is a jigsaw with a blade that has 18 plus teeth per inch and some acrylic cement. I bought the sheet and the hinges and knobs from tap plastics, they have stores around and a site online. you can make virtually anything with acrylic.


Yeah wmgorum, the openings are adjustable. I can flip these flaps up or down, one or both in order to increase ventilation, decrease temp and humidity. I'm still trying to strike a balance with this tank, I should be getting a heating cable in the mail soon so I'm very interested to see how that will perform.

Slurm -

I'm crazy about that spath too, I can't wait until this little guy opens up! x judith finn is a very good looking hybrid. You'll be able to grow some nice lowlanders and intermediates with those temps and a 150 gallon is a good size. I'm planning on building something around that size, highland for now but eventually I will have a lowland tank as well.

Have you seen pictures of N. Viking aka N. globosa? Simply an incredible lowlander that's supposed to be fairly easy to grow... one of these days I'll get my hands on one :)

When plants get too big for this tank, which happens frequently, I just clip the growing tip, make a clone or two and then wait for the basal shoots, works well and provides a continuous supply of little clones.
 
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