We'd built this paludarium a year ago, the walls are acrylic with marine grade sealant and foam.
The substrate is mostly coconut coir.
The bar light is set to medium intensity, working for 12 hours a day starting at 2pm, as there's hardly any natural light coming through due to the terrarium's location. I wasn't able to find out what luminosity the light has 100%, but it was advertised as "Full Spectrum… 5730&5050 LEDs… colour rendering index is up to 89%".
Everything is mist sprayed generously every few days. There's a humidity meter inside and it never reads anything under 65%, despite the detector not being exposed to moisture directly.
Probably the weakest point is the temperature, as we weren't able to keep heating it up via a submerged aquarium heater: the available air circulation points didn't suffice for proper vapour escape, and condensation build-up had been too extensive due to design flaws that only became apparent to us when it was too late to fix them. The usual temperature in the middle of the tank is 16-18°C.
The mosses we'd pinned onto the foam had died out within the first couple of months. Most plants were doing pretty well, some leaves lost, some new gained.
It's easy to notice that the moonvalley pilea is not in its best shape: first the leaves became discoloured and pale, and that's when we brought light intensity down from 80% to 50%. Now it's visibly stretched upwards, although healthily green fresh leaves have appeared.
The only ones that seem to be doing fine still are the parlour palm planted on the lowest level, and the fern in the middle.
Would really appreciate advice on that can be impoved to bring the vivarium to life again
by lemon_jane
3 Comments
Ps The last photo is how it looked when everything was planted outa year ago
Do you have any air movement? I’ve found mosses thrive when you have high humidity + circulation personally. I see you mentioned the circulation points are lacking, I’d try a little computer fan. That or ensure you’re not using tap water. Tap water killed all my moss very quickly.
Even with the die-off, that’s a good looking tank!
It is too cold for tropical plants and mosses. Plus they need some sort of air circulation. I would recommend you change the top to 20-25% uncovered (mesh). Also coco noir will not work as a substrate since it’s too acidic, would recommend ABG or tropical mix. Also, cover your foam with a layer of the substrate since foam does not offer any nutrients whatsoever, therefore, your plants will not climb up it. Good luck!!