Glass Cookie Jar

I found this awesome glass cookie jar at WalMart for $9.97 and just couldn't resist. Most of the plants came from a RAOK on Plantedtank.net.

Specs
Tank: 2g Jar
Lighting: Natural. East facing window
Filtration: None
Substrate: MiracleGro Peat Moss, Hyponex Potting Soil, Black Aquarium Gravel
Fauna: 3 Malaysian Trumpet Snails, 1 Ramshorn snail.
Flora: Rotala rotundifolia, Dwarf Sag, Wisteria (one stem), Jungle Vals

03/08/2013

Syrup Bottle - 'Pete'

I've been looking at ecospheres, bottle biology projects and planted jars for years. I recently emptied a syrup bottle and thought about how cool it could look.

I cleaned it out really well and coaxed the labels off with nail polish remover, then cleaned it really well again.

I layered the bottom with a very thin layer of play sand from Lowe's, added decholorinated water straight from the tap, then took a small clipping of Hornwort from the Guppy Tank and found a pond snail wandering around in one of the tanks. I then put the lid back on the bottle, closed the top and found a spot where it will get indirect sunlight.

The black spot on the side is Pete the Pond Snail

Guppy Tank

Specs
Tank: Standard 20H Glass Aquarium
Lighting: DIY fixture - 3x 17W CFL , 1x 13W CFL
Filtration: 2x Tetra Whisper 5-15 HOB
Fauna: Wild x Endler Hybrids
Flora: Hornwort, Guppy Grass, Java Moss, Taiwan Moss, Java Fern, Wendelov Java Fern, Jungle Vals, Anacharis, Cabomba, Crypts, Amazon Sword, Lawn Marshpennwort

02/18/2013

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02/23/2013

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03/01/2013

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Rili Playground

Specs
Tank: 10g Standard
Lighting: DIY fixture - 3x 17W CFL
Filtration: None, just an airstone
Substrate: Aquarium Gravel (black), Missouri Creek Gravel, Play Sand
Fauna: Red Rili Shrimp
Flora: Java Moss, Taiwan Moss, Java Fern, Wendelov Java Fern, Guppy Grass, Hornwort, Bolbitis, Fissidens, Riccia, Italian Val, Anacharis, Crypts, Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides, Dwarf Hairgrass

02/18/2013

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02/23/2013

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03/01/2013

Changes:
Anubias melted, removed it
Added more moss rocks
Added more baby Java Ferns
Added Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides
Added Hornwort and Guppy Grass behind moss wall
Added Java Moss on rock suspended by fishing bobber
Cholla wood developed horrible slime, removed it

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The hornwort and Guppy Grass are hiding behind the moss wall :-)

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Indoor Pond

I originally had plans for this to be a shrimp pond for culls, and I might still do that. However, I'm starting to think about other fish that might like to live here.

Specs
Tank: 29qt Hefty Storage Tub
Lighting: 13W CFL
Filtration: None, just an airstone
Substrate: None, except potted plants
Fauna: None
Flora: Java Moss, Guppy Grass, Wisteria

03/02/2013

Bikini Bottom

I did it! I gave in and purchased a $6 pineapple house. I can't stand the show, but I do love the pineapple house and Gary the snail. One of these days I'll find a small Gary statue for this tank

Specs
Tank: 5.5g Standard
Lighting: 13W CFL
Filtration: None, just an airstone
Fauna: Red Cherry Shrimp
Flora: Hornwort, Anubias Nana, Taiwan Moss, Fissidens, Flame Moss, 1 lone Italian Val Plantlet

03/06/2013

PFR Garden

I consider this tank to be a random garden of sorts. It has ground cover, "full sun" and "shade" areas, as well as a nice mix of plants. I had started it with just a few plants, as you'll see in the first pic. As I got in plant orders for other tanks, I took the extras, random tag-alongs, and trimmings and planted them in this tank.

Specs
Tank: 5.5g standard
Lighting: 13W CFL + 3.2W LED + Early morning sunlight in front right corner
Substrate: Hyponex Potting Soil + Play Sand
Filtration: None, just an airstone
Fauna: Pained Fire Red Shrimp
Flora: Italian Val, Cabomba, Taiwan Moss, Java Moss, Round Pellia, Java Fern, Crypt, Anacharis, Notocyphus lutescens, Hydrocoytle sibthorpioides, Rotala Rotundifolia, Dwarf Hairgrass

02/25/2013

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02/27/2013

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03/01/2013

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1.5g Moss Cube

Specs:
Tank: 1.5g Tetra WaterWonders Aquarium
Lighting: 3W LED
Filtration: None, just an airstone
Fauna: Zebra Danio Fry
Flora: Taiwan Moss, Peacock Moss, Round Pellia, Flame Moss, Fissidens, Notocyphus Lutesens, Riccia (floating)

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I have plans to add 3-5 RCS eventually, just to keep the moss clean :-) and to have something to watch while I'm sitting here at my desk.

1g Window Bowl

I have been oogling planted bowls/vases/jars for quite awhile now, and I am fascinated by natural (dirt) tanks. I've tried a wabi kusa before and wasn't overly excited with it. 

Anyway...

Specs
Tank: 1g Fish Bowl
Lighting: Natural, East facing window
Filtration: None
Substrate: Miracle Gro Peat Moss (fertilized) topped with Hyponex Potting Soil topped with Play Sand
Fauna: 2 Tiny Snails (the flat ramshorns, name?)
Flora: Java Fern, Java Moss, Taiwan Moss, Anubias Nana 'Petite', Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides, Rotala Rotundifolia, Unknown stem or two, Dwarf Hairgrass

02/27/2013

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03/01/2013

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Can't Wait for Friday!

Assuming 3 day shipping on everything, I should have plants and shrimps both arriving on Friday. I'm so excited I can barely contain myself. I can't wait to get the 20H and 10g fully planted and the shrimp settled into their new home. I was going to get the standard Red Cherry Shrimp, but since I was last in the hobby, they have bred new variations and I was able to get some red/blue rilis for nearly the same price as I would have been able to get the RCS.

I've found myself just sitting and staring into the new tanks, imagining what they might look like very soon.

Indoor Gardening Afternoon

This afternoon, I have spent A LOT, like an unhealthy amount of time reading about aquariums, planted tanks, fish and all kinds of related stuff.

I took clippings from three of my pothos plants and stuck them in three different aquariums. The fish are fascinated by the additions and I can't wait to see how well they root and what kind of growth I can get out of them.

I dropped by lucky bamboo in the goldfish filter, should be interesting, definitely has to be better than what it's been living in (gravel w/ a little bit of water, no nutrients).

Nano Idea

I would love to to a planted nano tank. I have a 3.5g that currently houses 6 guppies, but they will be moving to the 20H within a week or two. OR I could dig out the 1.5g cube.

I'm thinking dirt substrate topped with gravel or sand or something. I'd like to grow both submerged and immersed plants.

Off Topic - My Studio

I'll update on the hermies in a few minutes, but here's a quick update on some new changes to my "studio".

Finally!!! I found the motivation/inspiration/energy, whatever it was that I was missing that was holding me back on the progression of my studio.

I share the space with my boyfriend. I can do whatever I want as long as he still has a clear desk, chair and floor space for his chair, lol.

Yesterday, I purchased some inexpensive shelves to store my supplies. Then I went to work clearing out two 18 gal storage tubs full of beading supplies. Finally, I got everything sorted, organized and stashed on the new shelves. The rest of the room still needs some work, but I'm finally on the right path! Last night, I even had the space to tackle a small project. 

This morning, I cleaned up from last night's project, plugged in the radio, and dug out a small fish tank that I had in storage. It's full of water and running already :-). I don't have any decorations left from before, so now I have to save up for decor and a fishy. I really want two fishys, a pleco and a goldfish. I know, both are messy fish with the potential to get very large, but as I was digging in storage the other day, I found a 20 gallon tank with stand and all of the accessories. It will be my motivation to get the rest of the house in order.

Anyway, photo time!

 

 

Another Quick Update

The plants are growing very slowly. I discovered that the first sprouts actually were the lettuce seeds I had tossed in with the grass seeds. A few days ago I added some random seeds from last season to get a little more growth going.

I moved two of the four hermies in this afternoon. They explored, but showed absolutely no interest in The Garden. Hopefully, they'll get hungry and go after it later. I'll be keeping an eye on it them this evening, and as soon as the other two surface in the current habitat, they'll be moved in.

A few other notes, I created a 6" dish garden with grass seed and an assortment of seeds from last season. Then I created a 6" dish garden with nothing but vine vegetable plants. When the first two have been destroyed, I will unveil the vine garden. I picked up a small plastic basket, cut holes in two sides and it will make a great plant stand and cave once this gets going.

I'll update with pics and more info later!

Quick Update

The crabitat is coming along nicely. I'm starting to wonder about the seedlings that are sprouting in The Garden. They don't appear to be the grass that I planted and I can't imagine the lettuce seeds sprouting this quickly. Oh well, we'll see what happens!

Big Changes!

 I made some massive changes to the planted crabitat today. This morning, bright and early at 7:15am, I wandered into Lowe's and found three new plants for only $0.25 each and a deep 4" plant drip tray. Since it was only 17 deg F outside when I left Lowe's I brought the plants right home. Then I hopped right back in the Jeep and made my way to Walmart, where I purchased the soap dish with suction cups, suction hooks and a few groceries. My last stop for the morning shopping spree was the local aquarium and pet shop where I picked up a few new sponges for the water bowls.

The Plants
One of the plants I picked up today was a new ivy variation, it had 6 healthy stems in the original pot. The second is the dark leaved plant in the back, and the third does not yet have a home in the terrarium.

Each plant was carefully removed from the original pots, the dirt was cleaned off and the roots and leaves were rinsed thoroughly. The plants were then planted in the new pots with expanded peat pellets (outer mesh removed).

After settling these two into their new home, I have one stem of ivy leftover and some dead space in the back to fill. I found a tiny clay pot for the single ivy stem and placed it in the front corner of the terrarium. Then I chose one of my healthy asparagus ferns from the living room and removed and rinsed a small portion of the plant. The asparagus fern has a larger root system then the other plants and therefore requires more space than the small 2" clay pots would provide. I was out of terracotta pots anyway, but had a clean jar leftover from sweet and sour sauce. It has cool Asian markings molded in the glass.

The Garden
There is little to report. There is more germination and growth, but so far there are still no full fledged seedlings. While at Lowe's I also picked up a 6" tray should I ever choose to downsize The Garden or replant it outside of the terrarium.

I'm getting more and more excited about how this is going to turn out!!




Hermie Stuff
Shell shop! The suction cup soap dish will be filled with shells for the hermies to select from. I have quite a few ordered from eBay.

Then I discovered that the hermies will need a way to get into the shell shop, so I crocheted a custom ladder for them to climb and secured it with the suction cup hooks I purchased this morning.

Hiding underneath the shell shop is a deep 4" tray filled with peat and coconut fiber for the purpose of burying and molting. It's out of the way and large/deep enough for two hermies.

There are two glass water dishes, one for salt water, the other for freshwater. The sponges are new, picked them up this morning at the pet shop. Last but not least, the handmade shell food dish. I made this a few days ago using shells and sea glass :-)

Alive and Growing Crabitat

This is the new 10 gallon glass crabitat. Clearly, it is a work in progress.

The Garden
 The 8" round saucer is the garden. It has been planted with a mixture of ryegrass and fescue, as well as a few seeds of green leafy lettuce. The substrate is coconut fiber from one of those Hermit Crab Soil pellets.

It has only been 24 hours and a few of the grass seeds have begun to germinate. I hope that by morning I will begin to see full-blown seedlings.

Behind the garden are two clippings of English Ivy in a 2" terracotta (clay) pot. The substrate for the clippings is Jiffy Organic Seed Starter Mix. Research tells me that if using a rooting hormone, the ivy will have roots within two weeks. It will be at least a month before the hermies make their home in this new crabitat.

The tank is currently receiving light 24hrs with a 13W compact fluorescent bulb. This is not the best light for a planted tank, but my grow lights are currently in use in the seed starter greenhouse. Thankfully, all plants chosen require only moderate lighting.

Why Choose Live Plants in the Crabitat?
There are many great reasons to opt for a living crabitat over artificial decor.

Natural Cleaning. As long as all damaged, dead or dying plant material is quickly removed, this will hold true. Living plants will remove harmful substances from the substrate, including natural waste from the hermies. This will reduce the risk of buildup of harmful gasses. Also, on this note, the plants will help keep the air fresh for the hermies. It will remove the gasses from respiration and convert them to usable oxygen for the hermies.

Humidity. The substrate for these plants alone will help keep the crabitat humidity up. Of course, the plant leaves will also help hold in and disperse moisture.

Food source. The crabs will love to nibble on the plants. This will cut down the cost of feeding your hermies commercial food as well as provide them with extra nutrients they would not get from dehydrated crab bites. You will have to supplement the vegetation diet with crab bites or nutrient blocks to ensure they get the proper amount of calcium.

Balanced ecosystem. With the exception of adding water and calcium supplements, it is very possible to establish a completely balanced ecosystem which will require far less cleaning and maintenance than an artificial crabitat.

Small and Simple

My current hermit crab habitat is a 5 gallon glass aquarium.

There are 4 small hermies residing here, two of which just recently joined the family. They have just the bare essentials, basic sand substrate, a hut, a few extra shells, food and water. There is no heater, no humidity gauge, no thermostat, no light, and the tank is loosely covered with a piece of plastic wrap.

I own plenty of extras for the crabitat, but we're sticking to basics for now :)

The tank decor is cleaned weekly. Each piece is rinsed in near-boiling water. At this time the hermies take their weekly bath in a bowl of room temperature, dechlorinated water.