Hi
Very interesting setup though it does look a bit sparse lol.
How was it made?? Removed the top and bottom frames and glass from a standard aquarium?? Have any trouble keeping the upper one in place?? What dims. do you get using this method and how do you gain access?? Apparently no water feature?? Do you feel the actinics are useful??
Why is it getting so hot just from the lights?? Would imagine the humidity drops at that temp??
How was the background made and what is it made of??
The upper section would be a great place for epis not sure which kind at that temp lol.
What type would interest you??
gary

I used the method found on the blackjungle site, expandable foam with coco bedding siliconed over it, I removed the top frame from a standard 30 gallon aquarium and removed the bottom sheet of glass from another (30G)then I stripped the old silicone off with a razor, I then placed a thin bead of silicone to the top of the bottom half and placed the top tank in place, I had no trouble keeping the two tanks together while the silicone dried, then, after the silicone dried, I just pealed the access silicone off the seam with a razor, the dims are 24"long, 30"tall, 12"wide, I used to use an assortment of self made tools but I found that reaching in while standing on a stool or step ladder works just fine! I do have a water feature, a pretty nice one at that, I just thought I would play with the set up first to see what would be the best way to go, if used the water would trickle down the drift wood on the bottom right and drip into a pool, also there is a secondary water feature on the lower left where the gravel is in place instead of coco fiber, you can barely see the gravel in the pics, the heat at the top is due to the ballast, I have two, one running one set of floros and one running the other set, I plan on installing more fans, the humidity is a stable 80/90 at the bottom, 50/60 in the center, and 20/30 at the top, the day floros simulate sun light and I use the actinic blues as they give the tank that "sundown" effect, so they are pretty usefull just for that, I shut down the day light floros first so that the actinic blues stay on for an hour or so, they make the tank look like the dawn, then I switch the blue moonlight leds on and shut down the actinic blues, the blue leds make the tank look like moonlight shining through leaves,I do this so the critters eyes can adapt to the light difference slowly, I read somewhere that frogs cant dialate thier eyes as fast as we do, so I repeat this in reverse in the morning, the floros are two actinic blues 12000K each, and two daylights 12000K each, each floro is 65W, I have a couple of plants in mind and will post them soon as I cannot remember the name right off hand, Thanks much for your comment! =)

These were the plants suggested to me, Im almost pos that I will be using them in the future, I am also open to others, so if you have something for sale let me know! =) "Stoloneforous bromeliads. Basically, they are broms that grow from sticks. The best type to use for vivs are the miniature neoregelia types. All you do...it's so easy...you just clean off the brom, stick its stolon (stick) into the expandable foam, and keep the center of the plant filled with water. Good beginner broms: neo fireball, neo superball, and any other mini neo species. Go to www.tropiflora.com, click on the "cargo report" and you're in bromeliad paradise."

Small climbing fern species like Humata tyermanii are nice for tall tanks. I had a few different species in my terrarium but they soon took over because of their size and aggressive growth in an area that was too small. With an enclosure of that size they would have room to grow without causing problems. Mine basically stopped the light from reaching the floor of the terrarium and would have eventually killed the moss and other plants from lack of light.

I find Tillandsias do the best in the drier areas towards the top of my terrarium but other plants do well if you pay special attention to watering. If I were to build another terrarium I would probably add a drip wall so that I could grow a larger variety of plants with a less intensive watering schedule.

Hi
Just noted that all this was posted on the mist post
Sorry,didn't mean to give you writers cramp I'll try to keep up from now on.lol
There are hundreds of specie of the "airplants" and I'd bet 96 percent would flourish in a terrarium.The main problem is size ,many get large and some demand very high light levels. Do go to the Tropiflora website and check out the hundreds of specie. Look for lowland,small epiphytic types.Stay away from the high altitude sun hogs lol
One I would highly recommend is Tilandsia ionatha.Small very adaptable,turns red when happy and has purple flowers.
and it's cheap !!lol
I have a bunch of different types in my shadehouse but almost none are small enough for terraria,require rest periods or chill hours. Of the suitable ones of other types of plants,most are very common.You could go to any box store and find them for a buck or two. Same is true of the orchids and other epi's that i have.
In my paludarium, I have ,Spider plant,Areca palm, a wonderful type of Philo.,persian shield,Ribbon bush,Java fern,amazon sword, cabomba, sweet flag,pothos,and bloodleaf.
Forgot to mention a mutant form of boston fern that must be pruned twice a week!!lol This is a 75 standard with 10 inches of water on the entire bottom,one floating island ,waterfall and a driftwood island..Sadly, not one of these grows anywhere near as well as in the shadehouse. I have much to learn about terraiums lol.Might mention that all are growing with no media at all.
Was going to write some more about my new setup but will save that for another post lol Would like to hear others opinions on my ideas.
gary

There must be a trick to growing bromeliads in tanks but from personal experience, they tend to do well and then die on me. I would recommend Silver philodendrum, ivy (small leafed variety for space reasons), jewel orchid, and hoya plant. These like moisture and do not die very easily. Air plants can be very temperamental and tended to rot with me (and I only misted them when they got dry). I am attempting a small bird nest fern so I'll post on the forum if it works out. I would go for tropical, moisture loving vines and plants that like high temperatures and do not rot easily if I were you. There are also fake bendable branches in pet stores for lizards to climb up that your anoles would probably like.

Hi Alexis, I have had similar problems with growing bromeliads in my tanks, I only misted them when they were totally dry and they still rotted away, I guess its something to do with the humidity? I will look into the others you mentioned and see what they look like, as for the bendable branches/vines, I tried them in my last tank and they rusted from the inside out, apparently they have metal wire in them like the old bendy toys, I am looking for the real natural vines but they tend to be a bit expensive, will post pics in the gallery as I have five new plants in the tank, I placed two ferns in the tank that I collected on my trip to Puerto Rico, I placed one in a crevass in a piece of driftwood that is in the middle rear wall of the tank, and another in a crevass in the upper left side of the tank, also, I placed two ???? in the left rear corner of the substrate, and some kind of suculant in the upper right, I will eventually find out the name of the ????! LOL!

Trouble with bromeliads? What type were you keeping?

The ones I reccomended...the neos from places like tropiflora...absolutly thrive in a vivarium. The key with these broms is to keep their centers filled with water most of the time.

Here's a list of the ones that died: Tillandsia juncea, Tillandsia funckina, Tillandsia schiedeana var. major, and Vriesea erythrodectylon. I tried a neo but the frog hated it and wouldn't hang out near it. Also, I wouldn't recommend the small leaved ivy: mine just died a day or two ago. I replaced it with a Philodendrum 'Prince of Orange' plant. I think the tank wasn't humid enough for the airplants. I still might try in the future, though.