Naturalistic set ups

[CUebbing]

Looks great, thanks

First, i consider a naturalistic enclosure to be a planted enclosure. Not one person mentioned that they were referring to heavy webbers, so without that being implied, there was nothing to state that was the subject being discussed.

Here are a few time lapse pics of our (myself and Mr. Gone) naturalistic planted tanks.

This is the tank for our H. sp.Vietnam when it was first set up in Nov. '08.
end of May '09

Here it is presently, we have added live moss instead of the sphagnum



Here is the tank of our A. metallica when first set up in Nov. 08

Again in May '09 with a bromeliad and wandering jew added and the pothos that failed to thrive taken out:
and present/ today, live moss has been added instead of sphagnum and some of the pothos left in has decided to thrive again:
The plants do not add that much upkeep and if the T is in a 'sit and do nothing' mood, you have something pretty to look at.

 

[Steve Calceatum]

Those are awesome enclosures!!! I'm curious as to what kind of live moss you use, where you get it from, and if you've encountered any problems with it? I don't believe I've seen live moss added to an enclosure before, though I could easily be mistaken.

 

[Skullptor]

This sounds like the plain girl (silicone and peat/bark), who says about the hot girl (naturalistc set up).

"Yea, But what does she look like in the morning?"

 

[curiousme]

Those are awesome enclosures!!! I'm curious as to what kind of live moss you use, where you get it from, and if you've encountered any problems with it? I don't believe I've seen live moss added to an enclosure before, though I could easily be mistaken.

Honestly, we do not know what kind of moss it is. We harvested it from the Shawnee National Forest in Illinois. There isn't a fear of pesticides, because it is a protected forest. We weren't worried about the rolly-pollies or micro-organisms, because they help keep the eco-system balanced and safeguard the enclosure against infestations. We realize this is controversial, but it is our opinion based on our success in employing this method(just like with fish tanks). We kept the moss in a ziploc container until we got home. Put it in the tanks at the end of Jun. '09 and it seems to thrive as long as it is kept moist.

 

[Steve Calceatum]

Honestly, we do not know what kind of moss it is. We harvested it from the Shawnee National Forest in Illinois. There isn't a fear of pesticides, because it is a protected forest. We weren't worried about the rolly-pollies or micro-organisms, because they help keep the eco-system balanced and safeguard the enclosure against infestations. We realize this is controversial, but it is our opinion based on our success in employing this method(just like with fish tanks). We kept the moss in a ziploc container until we got home. Put it in the tanks at the end of Jun. '09 and it seems to thrive as long as it is kept moist.

Thanks for the info. We have a crap-ton of protected natural areas here in Oregon, so collecting pesticide-free wood and isopods has never been a problem for me. Looks great, so I'll have to try it. Thanks again.

 

[Exo]

Honestly, we do not know what kind of moss it is. We harvested it from the Shawnee National Forest in Illinois. There isn't a fear of pesticides, because it is a protected forest. We weren't worried about the rolly-pollies or micro-organisms, because they help keep the eco-system balanced and safeguard the enclosure against infestations. We realize this is controversial, but it is our opinion based on our success in employing this method(just like with fish tanks). We kept the moss in a ziploc container until we got home. Put it in the tanks at the end of Jun. '09 and it seems to thrive as long as it is kept moist.

Here's the kicker, temperate moss like yours dies if it doesn't get a dormancy period in the winter....