[connordude27]

okay so i got inspired to do this by seeing legos tank and a mueseums tank so here it is

PLANTS- purple pitcher, venus flytrap
LIGHTS- 23watt (equal to 100w) spiral flouresent 6500k

materials used- long fibered spahgum moss, sand, rocks, driftwood, plants, 10g, aquarium gravel, light,lightbulb

total cost = $19.93 (thats because i had most of the stuff)

THE TERRERIUM (had to wipe the condensation of the side to take a pic)

venus flytrap

purple pitcher

the niffty containers they came in

comments suggestions and plants are all welcome lol

 

[hydrophyte]

Nice work!

 

[connordude27]

thanks i was going to try a river where the rocks are but decided i'll wait till i actually have money lol

 

[legomaniac89]

Sweet! My only concern is that you may not be able to keep the substrate wet enough for the plants. A lot of these, certain sundews and pitchers especially, like to be almost flooded up to the top of the roots.

If your S. purpurea likes where it's at, this is what you have to look forward to

 

[Digsy]

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this. Are you finding these plants locally? I loved carniverous plants when I was a kid but never managed to keep any of them alive for more than a couple of weeks.

 

[connordude27]

wow that grown plant looks amazing!!!
i think i am keeping it wet enough the soil is soaked (really really water logged like part of the tank was filled) i used half a gallon of my drinking water (no minerals added) just last night

Digsy- i found these at lowes but i've always been able to find them there or at a local greenhouse...

lego- should i add water till the rock well thing is filled? or just add lots and lots and get a ton of condensation... at the moment i'm using syran wrap as the cover but plan to get glass.... i also plan to get a temp/humidity gauge for the inside... this seem like a good idea?

 

[legomaniac89]

Since it's a 10g, I'd try to have at least one inch of standing water from the bottom of the tank (so you can see the water line above the black rim). If you've ever grown aquatic plants emersed, you can basically treat the carnivores like that, minus the nutrients. You'd be surprised at how close these things come to being aquatic

I'd be very careful using drinking water. Even if it has no minerals added, there still could be trace minerals left over. I'd definitely stick with R/O or distilled for these guys. That way you know that there are absolutely no nutrients whatsoever.

A humidity gauge would be a really good idea. You want to keep it above 65% at all times, the higher the better. You don't really need the temp gauge as long as it doesn't get too hot or cold in your house.

 

[connordude27]

ok i think i'm going to buy distilled and hope it's not too late. i just made it so theres and inch of standing water so the base of the plant is very very close to the water....

 

[legomaniac89]

You can probably get R/O water at your nearest supermarket for about 25 cents a gallon. Drinking water would probably be fine, but it's better to be safe than sorry I guess.

 

[connordude27]

this could be bad the water had 24mg of sodium per 8 ounces..... do you know the salt tolerance or if i need to do something about it quick?

 

[legomaniac89]

You're not gonna like the answer

Carnivores can tolerate minerals at their roots for a while, but it will end up killing them within a couple months at the most. You don't have to go and drain the thing right this second, but I'd definitely remove as much water as you can sometime soon.

 

[connordude27]

ok so basically put in new moss? cause if i have to do that i got plenty lol

 

[legomaniac89]

If you flush the spaghnum out with RO water, you won't have to replace it, but it might just be easier to put in new . You don't want any water touching the carnivores' roots unless it's DI/RO. They're that sensitive to minerals.

 

[connordude27]

ok readded moss and reapplied sand so i'm set now

 

[legomaniac89]

Hey Connor, anything new here?

 

[connordude27]

not really somehow the moss is coming to life lol but the flytrap and pitchers are visibly growing

 

[connordude27]

Stay tuned for VFT Dingly Giant pics and update pics

 

[amphirion]

this might come up late as the plants are much more established now, but in future terrarium planning, it could help to make a slope, either from side to side or front to back. by doing this, you'd be able to keep an assortment of carnivorous plants happy: sarracenias like flooded conditions--would do better at the lower end, and flytraps on the mid to higher ends (because they don't appreciate PERMANENT waterlogged conditions)