What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Vinarium - Dojō Terrarium

  • Thread starter hydrophyte
  • Start date
I haven't posted here in a long time. I've just gotten back into terrariums and stuff again and have some new pictures. I don't currently have any carnivorous plants going, but I have a few related projects.

Here's a new setup I put together over the holiday.

Vinarium - Dojō Terrarium


I took some time over the holiday to plant a new setup featuring botanically-interesting vines in this 65-gallon tank.

IMG_9907.JPG


I set this up in Dojō Terrarium style, so there is just a simple gravel soil layer with the vertical dimension built up using logs and branches.

IMG_9911.JPG


IMG_9909.JPG


IMG_9910.JPG


Here is the list of plants I've pulled together so far...

  • Banisteriopsis caapi
  • Cissus antarctica
  • Freycinetia sp.
  • Piper sintenense

So this is just four species, but they are all kind of interesting. I hope that I can two or three more vines in the enclosure. With pruning and a few more wood pieces to climb, they should work out OK.

I had just gotten the B. caapi with an online order and it looked a little shocky when I unboxed it, but it seems to be alright now planted in the tank.

IMG_9912.JPG


My second concept for this setup is to model decomposition in the forest. I plan to add Collembola and isopods and it would also be neat to also consider one or two roach species and maybe a beetle. I want to do this in a more or less controlled way and also avoid introducing undesirable hitchhikers such as earwigs, earthworms and lots of mites, so the large half-rotten log was baked to raise temperature inside to almost 200F. This should be hot enough to kill invertebrate animals and eggs. But I hope that some of the bacteria and fungi will have survived to start the decomposition processes. This punky rotten wood is a very good insulator. I had to bake at 300 degrees for more than two hours to get it up to temp inside.

IMG_9846.JPG


Cissus antarctica is a kind of common garden plant for warm areas, but I like the leaves. It's also neat because it's in the grape family, but tropical.

IMG_9906.JPG


Freycinetia and Banisteriopsis caapi.

IMG_9904.JPG


Here it is planted. If the plants grow it will start to look like something when they have doubled or tripled their foliage.

IMG_9903.jpg
 
Last edited:
very cool. I've thought of doing something like this but just haven't gotten around to it.
 
Back
Top