How to build a highland terrarium

[kentosaurs]

Hi everyone

For now i only have 1 highland nep and its a N ventricosa and theres not much of a need to give it highland conditions since a very hardy nep......But later i think i will wanna get maybe a couple of highland neps.......Now i use a styrofoam box for my N ventricosa at night....What i do is i place my N ventricosa at on of the corners of the box and on the other side i put a cloth..After that i place about 3 frozen bottles and leave there....I put the cover over it about 3/4 close and leave it a little open...

What i was recently planning was something where i don't have to take the box in and out every night...I want to grow this indoor in the closed styrofoam box....And also use aquarium lights on top of it...which means i guess it will be in a secluded place of my house...I will cut a square/rectangle hole on the cover and cover it with something transparent so that the light can come in..Anyone gets a picture of what i'm trying to do??? If i spray it with cold water will it be cold inside still???? Because when i use the frozen bottle method temp goes down to 10-15C which is almost perfect for highland neps

If i just use cold water i don't think it might go down that low but i just want it to be low enough at least below 20C... Can anyone help me?? I wont be doing it until i first of all save up the money for the lighting....Just saying i intend to grow it the whole time there without bringing stuff in and out.

Ken

[kltower]

Hi Ken,

If I were to build a highland terrarium, this will be my design. I am basing on a 48"x24"x24 external tank with an internal 36"x20"x21 internal display tank.

The display capacity will be 330.3 litres.
The water volume will be approximately 137 litres/

Since the water capacity is small the glass required need not be thick and the chiller required need not be big too. The chiller will cost around RM800-900. The chiller will cool the water and hence the display tank to 20°C or less.



You can scale the tank size up or down. Of course the larger the better.

Choong

[kentosaurs]

Hi Choong

Thanks for the detailed scale of the terrarium........Really aprreciated it...

Not that i don't like it or anything..I intend to do something as cheap and as simple as possible.I just wanna use the styrofoam box which i already have...Now its just how do i maintain the neps inside and what do i do???

Ken

[edwardyeeks]

Well, I think one ice bottle is sufficient, since you do not want the temperature to go that low. Whats more, one ice bottle will not cool the environment that fast, so it kinda mimics the HL neps environment. Don't forget that when your neps get big, a styrofoam box won't work, cause it unless it is the size of an aquarium.......

On the other hand, you could leave the styrofoam box cover open during the day and leave an ice bottle there. It will ensure that your nep doesn't die out of lack of light and also saves up money, you will not need to buy grow lights. Unless you are growing super highlanders, it won't be neccesary to grow in such a cool environment.

Or, like what Fauzi told me to do, since I want to keep my cephalotus and (Secret Nepenthes) cold, you could use perlite and lay it at the bottom of the styrofoam box. Punch a hole at the side of the styrofoam box so that excess water can drain out. The perlite will work as a cooler and it will also keep the ice bottle frozen longer. Currently, I am using a bucket where I fill up with water, then I put my cephalotus and (Secret Nepenthes) pot in it. I keep it near the brightest place of my house and in the night, I put two ice bottles in the bucket. I am not sure how cold it gets, but I think around 20-22 C, my (Secret Nepenthes) is more close to the water level. It was quite a cheap set up, only cost RM20+.

Cheers

[kentosaurs]

Hi Ed

Well I have no space outside so im not growing it outside instead it'll probally be indoors....So i need to use artificial lightings....Yeah i noe what fauzi does for his HL terrarium....Well so i guess i can copy that can i?? lol.........Okay first things first where do i get perlite haha

Ken

[kentosaurs]

and BTW Ed whats the secret hehehe....So secret that no one can know?

Ken

[NepNut]

Choong,
Very interesting setup Choong, thanks for sharing. I was thinking of a similar setup by using water to chill the terrarium but from different perspective. Instead of using the "immerse" style, I was thinking of the "drip method". Chilled water will be channel and flow along the inner tank walls (like a wall of water) except for the front viewing side, then I'll put styrofoam or similar heat insulating material in between the inner tank and outer tank leaving only the front viewing part visible. I was considering this method because humidity can be kept at high level at all time. Then again, for intermediate/HL species, would high humidity level be essential for good growth? I got not idea since I've yet to keep any true HL only species.

What's your view on this Choong? Thanks again for sharing, your design seems very efficient.

[caseyhoo]

FYI, normally chiller is use to cool tanks to 24/25'c. If need to hit the target --> 20'c in the inner tank. You need to set the chiller to 20'c or lower!!! Then, yours electric bill will give you a shock!!!! Think twice, ya!!!!

[kentosaurs]

Boo!!! Coolers

Go!!!! Ice bottles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well i measured the temp of 2ice bottles in an odinary stylofoam size boxed and leave it about a little less than half open and it stays at 18C the whole night but if i add in 1 more bottle it goes down to 14C the whole night....All the bottles are 500ml..

Ken

[kltower]

Cpnut,

My way means the water stays clear from the plants and pots. That way the water remains clean without filtering - maybe algae will not grow since there are no nutrient.

The water flowing down the walls has two faults:
1) The water will get dirty through the contact of pots and media.
2) Believe me your plants can get pretty wet. I used to have a small terrarium filled with an inch of water. The plants sit on those grated plastic (used for under gravel filter). I have an ultrasonic mist generator (UMG) to generate mist. The plants close to the UMG got really wet from the spills.

Highlanders like wet environment. If you have stayed at Cameron Highlands/Genting Highlands, you will notice the grass are very wet in the morning. In the highlands you also have rain a few times a day. And if the rain don't provide the high humidity, the mist does.

KC,
The volume of water needed chilling is small. So a lower temperature can be achieved.

Choong