Orchidarium- Split Design Build

[Smotzer]

@Wolfram1

 

[Smotzer]

My Psygmorchis pusilla

 

[Wolfram1]

Psygmorchis pusilla

wow

have you considered Lecanopteris ferns? or epiphytic ant plants?

perhaps a climber like Dishidia pectinoides?

i think one of the big problems will be to hit the sweetspot of ventilation and moisture, keep us posted

 

[Smotzer]

wow

It is a beauty!!

 

[Smotzer]

wow

have you considered Lecanopteris ferns? or epiphytic ant plants?

perhaps a climber like Dishidia pectinoides?

i think one of the big problems will be to hit the sweetspot of ventilation and moisture, keep us posted

Yeah I have, but I do not enjoy using a lot of ferns right now, I have had things choked out or taken over by ferns if the sweet spot for them hits haha.

so for me what I did was do the ventilation construction like so: which allows me to move the lids around to change the flow of ventilation and moisture between the tanks. Since the lids are the same but only 1 panel is ventilated I can adjust my moving them to different sides or different tanks which also changes the respective location of the top ventilation. Working really welll this far.

now moved over

 

[Wolfram1]

nice, so you can adapt it as you go along, good choice

 

[Smotzer]

nice, so you can adapt it as you go along, good choice

Yeah so far it’s worked well, and I actually used glass which I am very pleased with and have full panels cut in case I need to change the top vent.

 

[Kada]

My Psygmorchis pusilla View attachment 467557

Looking good! Lots of root structure is a great sign. I have a Viv where I have them on wood overhanging a river. Some bug got in the wood and pooped up the tip part of the vine wood and the orchids have since rotted. Seems obviously from excessive moisture/pathogen related to wet. A bit bummed cause they are truly the perfect proper mini!


Looks great! Have a picture of the whole ecosystem?

 

[Smotzer]

Looking good! Lots of root structure is a great sign. I have a Viv where I have them on wood overhanging a river. Some bug got in the wood and pooped up the tip part of the vine wood and the orchids have since rotted. Seems obviously from excessive moisture/pathogen related to wet. A bit bummed cause they are truly the perfect proper mini!


Looks great! Have a picture of the whole ecosystem?

Thanks!! Sorry to hear about yours not making it but yeah they are the perfect mini!

And yeah I will post some today of the whole tanks after I get sone more stuff planted in! I want to get the majority of all the plants/cuttings in today! The crab inhabitants will be here this week!

 

[Smotzer]

The inhabitants arrived today! One tank is now housing a 4.4 group of Lepidothelphusa cognetti as seen below!! They are really incredible looking!! The very enlarged chelae is stunning! The species and genus is also more apt to social settings than the Geosesarma are which is pretty neat as well!!

REally excited to work with the species, and very much hope to get stable cbb population out of this group as their status in the wild is already less than ideal!

Lepidothelphusa padawan stack photo!

• Smotzer
• Feb 29, 2024
• 5
• crab lepidothelphusa lepidothelphusa cognetti macro

Really stunned how cool these guys are! Very social too!

Lepidothephusa padawan . Look at that claw!!

• Smotzer
• Feb 29, 2024
• crab fresh water lepidothelphusa lepidothelphusa cognetti

First time keeping this genus and think I am already hooked!!

Lepidothelphusa padawan!!

• Smotzer
• Feb 29, 2024
• 4
• crab fresh water lepidothelphusa lepidothelphusa cognetti

Amazing looking fresh water semi-terrestrial crabs!

Lepidothelphusa padawan group!

• Smotzer
• Feb 29, 2024
• cognetti crab fresh water lepidothelphusa lepidothelphusa cognetti

My crab family grew today with these awesome additions and permanent inhabitants to a big...

I haven’t actually gotten all theorchids in this tank planted/mounted yet but it is what it is! Just happy to have crabs in the tanks after a full year + of building and sitting empty…!!
But this is this side today on crab introduction day.
the two orchids in this far are Psygmorchis pusilla and Ornithocephalus gladiatus. And then hope to get a Oncidium sylvestre in there as well as sone Dendrobium lichenastrum small form, at least.


And one of the little ladies hunkering down I saw just now!

 

[Wolfram1]

eat that orchid, nom nom nom nom nom

these are so nice, i'd say i defintily prefer the look over the Geosesarma species

 

[Smotzer]

eat that orchid, nom nom nom nom nom

these are so nice, i'd say i defentily prefer the look over the Geosesarma species

I hope they don’t eat the orchids or their roots for that matter Could chop them in half with one go with the size of their chela!

And yeah they are neat looking! And definitely will hangout near one another in more of a group. Noticeably smaller though compared to some of the Geosesarma though!

 

[Smotzer]

So far the group is staying fairly hidden but thèse Geosesarma sp. “Ruby Red” are really freaking cool! And the one so far has claimed the side-top part of the waterfall as it’s base of operations!

and the Salvinia minima I have in the pond is also really beautiful!

 

[Smotzer]

The slow process of unmounting orchids!!


one of the inspirations for the build was this Sedirea japonica ‘Minimaru’ over the pond, and I got it painstakingly demounted without any damage and…..it fits on the branch perfectly!! Boy oh boy are the vivs starting to take shape of the vision I had in my mind!!

 

[Smotzer]

 

[Kada]

Amazing!I really like those black legs!

 

[Smotzer]

Amazing!I really like those black legs!

Thanks so much!! I’m very pleased with how it’s taking shape !!

 

[Kada]

I was trying to identify tiny some new orchids I bought, and came across this book. People looking for small vivarium plants might like it. I don't have it, and haven't read it. But I am very intrigued!

Compendium of Miniature Orchids

Amazon.com

Bit much for my wallet given it's not a serious hobby. Going to check out the library and hope for the best haha.

 

[Smotzer]

Have been forgetting to put updates on here, but the two big vivs are doing very well, Including all the crabs and all the plants including my the orchids!!

General update: the two paludariums are no longer side by side, we redesigned the room they were in and for now I’ve moved them to a rack next to my work desk! But honestly I like them just as much there yoo


And just this morning as I was doing round to feed the zoo a few of the L. padawan we’re out looking for food to eat!

T


And yesterday I caught an absolutely fresh molt from one of the Geosesarma “Ruby Red” that was insanely vivid!! So incredible!!


And one of my orchids that was a big design influence, Sedirea japonica ‘Minmaru’ is truly happy in here and putting out a ton of new healthy roots and getting itself established above the pond as was designed for it to do! Nice to see when planning for specific locations for individual orchids works out as intended!

And putting out new leaves too! Can’t wait till I get a flower!

I’ll update more later tonight or tomorrow with more!

 

[drurymercy]

Hello all! I am back at it going to be building a large new vivarium as the center piece/faux wall barrier for our new living room redesign using two 30x12x16” tanks!

I’ll use this thread to post updates as I build what should be my most fun build yet!
I’ve been wanting to start a build for my miniature Orchids for over a year now and the tanks are not quite as tall as I was going to build them to be but these tanks on sale for $64 each on Black Friday ($100 off) was just way too good to pass up and I can make them work for my orchids and also some invertebrates too.


Picking them up Friday:
View attachment 433501

The tanks:
View attachment 433505
For me when doing layouts like this side-by-side I want it to visually flow from one tank into the other with the hardscape and I think I decided this morning what the shared hardscape will be that includes a trunk feature with an branch feature to plant the orchids and epiphytes on as well. Aspects of the trunk will sit hopefully in a pond feature and I would like to have a small trickle of water falling from the trunk into the pond. I am thinking I might add Geosesarma into the tanks hence the water pond feature! But the macro invertebrates are still open to change. Here’s what I am thinking design wise:

View attachment 433506
And also possibly on one side or the other this reaching branch feature.
View attachment 433509
Since I don’t have as much height as I initially planned for this build I will be trying to maximize as much horizontal leveling by creating tiers and levels to plant at different heights so I can create different light levels around and underneath objects which I need for the flora.

Anyway thanks for stopping by and I look forward to any comments or questions in the thread as I begin this new build over the winter!

Holy hell amazing!!! I can’t wait for more pics