plywood terrarium

[ieatflys]

Hi all I have seen lots of plywood fish tanks built befor so why not a plywood terrarium. so I have planned it out a little and I have gotten two delemas.

1. is there any other type of paint to use besides epoxy paint to use? if not what is the best kind?

2. How can I insilate the lights so that they will not catch the wood on fire.

I will be posting here about these delemas.

ieatflys

[ieatflys]

I have another question or two to add.

is there anything to use besides fish tank heaters to heat the water at the bottom I am going to have?

is there any kind of light I can put inside the terrarium that is yet still cheep.
thanks



ieatflys

[ieatflys]

This isn,t bad sorry to triple post but only 191 dollars for a huge terrarium

[Redflytrap]

you can use the "modify" button to edit a post, making the use for double or triple posting unnecessary.

[ieatflys]

ohhh sorrry.

thanks Ieatflys

[glider14]

plywood? i think you would have to have some kind of barrier because water would leak through plywood.. but for a terrarium you would still need a barrier because the wood would soak up any humidity. rendering the humid terrarium useless

question 1: i dont know.
question 2: unless you have a metal halide or HPS lamp, i dont think plywood would catch on fire from a normal fluorescent. possibly a stronger fluorescent lamp though.
question 3: not that i can think of.
question 4: T12 fluorescent fixtures. 4ft dual bulb fixtures are like 6 dollars but but bulbs can be 3 bucks a piece for the better kind(daylight 40 watt bulbs)

solution... ive said this like... 4 times before. you are trying way to hard to keep these plants. you have what 4 or 5 nepenthes? get a 10 gallon fish tank for ten or eleven dollars. buy a small sheet of plexi glass and cut it to the size of the top of the terrarium. buy 2 small clamp lights with compact fluorescent bulbs and you are set. cost of that set up: 20-25 dollars. for your setup... much more. start at one place at a time. dont make an enclosure which is too big for what you have. because if it fails you are out of luck.

Alex

[ieatflys]

Ok thanks glider 14. sorry I havent been able to update this Iv been buissy with this thing.

I found a good waterproof epoxy. is should last a while but knowing my luck it might not last.

the barrier is going to be epoxy. its basically like paintable steel. but its literally glue.

I am going to check out the t12 fixture. is it located at a lowes or do you not know. for now Ill look on the internet.

I am going to use silicone caulk for the corners. do you know what I can use besides gutter guard for the plants to sit on. im looking for something that I can put over the water at the bottom of the terrarium. What Im using for my smaller terrarium is gutter geard with wooden pegs in the water holding up the gutter guard.


thanks Ieatflys

pss here is an example I found using the epoxy. www.aquariacentral.com/forums/blog.php?b=578

[justjack]

Glider 14, your discouragement seems a tad harsh and out of place. Why shouldn't he reach for the stars? Heck, managing to do much of this on a budget. Perhaps he's already bought or traded who knows how many new plants. And how is it unwise or trying to hard to build the terrarium before getting the plants? You yourself were a beginner before being experienced, as we all were. If we were this critical of all newbies there wouldn't be a hobby.

ieatflys, I am currently going to experiment with a huge compact fluorescent bulb (300 watt equivalent) I found at a local store. It just screws into a standard fixture, only uses the energy of a 65 watt bulb, and shouldn't get to hot. Just an idea. Good luck and post some pics if you can!

[ieatflys]

Glider 14 I built one. my plants are out growing it. I have room in the thing for no more plants. I don't just grow cps. I have a green house cart that is overflowing with plants I literally had to put smaller pots of plants on the bigger ones. I had to try to sell them I had to throw away 20 to 30 plants last winter because I was out of room this is my hobby And I can not afford a real greenhouse so this is as close to one as I can get If I got a green house It would cover most of my yard even a small one.

here is alist of all the plants out side I need to get in for the winter.

3 small pots of purple heart
1 4 inch pot of purple heart with branches falling off daily because of the wate.
3 5 inch pots of spider plants
1 8 inch pot of spider plants
1 5 inch pot of spider plant
4 2 inch pots of spider plants
1 12 inch pot os sentitive plant
5 or six pots of tomatoes that arent going to be brought in
1 6 inch pot of wandering jew
1 3 inch pot of pony tail palm
3 pots of sage rush
15 miscellaneous plants [don't know the names
1 fern
1 6 inch pot philodendron
2 spider plants in propagation
2 nepenthes ventricosas.
1 8 inch dome of butter warts.
a few tomatoes in propagation
1 4 inch pot of lavender
and many more

I buy gain 4 or six plants in 4 weeks just from propagation. Im not trying to be mean but this is the truth. I am looking t words the future the reson I dont just pitch some of them is becouse I cant afford it.

I only have 6 cps you know why. its becous I dont have the room for them thats what this is for.

justjack thanks for the help I am planning to post pics when I start.

thanks Ieatflys

[glider14]

apologies... i forget sometimes i was in the same place once. here is what i did with my plants.
i bought a 5 tierd storage shelf and bought 8 fluorescent T12 fixtures. i tied 2 fixtures to the underside of each shelf except for the bottom one. i put plants on each shelf under lights and bam! instant growing area. in 1 and a half years i went from this:

to this(actually this is like a year and a half old):

most of the plants you stated are growing outside. if you bring them in and put them into a terrarium thats fine but the problem is putting them back outside because of lack of humidity. everything you stated can grow in less than ideal humidity even the CPs. if you take the rack approach you will have plenty of space for your plants and when not in use you can just unplug the lights. its kind of expensive to start with though. the shelf is around 80$ the lights come to a total of 35$ and the bulbs(mine anyway but you can get cheaper ones) came to 40$ i think. since i have had it though i have only had to buy 3 replacement bulbs. thats all! as you can see i use terrariums also for the more touchy plants. but for everything else it is fair game! the fluorescent fixtures can be found at both lowes and home depot. look for "shop lights".

if you have any questions feel free to PM me. and i apologize again for the way i sounded.
Alex

[ieatflys]

its been rilly humid for the last few years and I had them in there green house cart in ridiculous humidity. I moved them outside later in the year for that purpose. so that the humidity was closer to what they are in. and I could acclimate them in the greenhouse cart to our temp. I kept them in the green house cart this year. some of them I Just moved out. and now every thing is going crazy.

by the waycool setup

thanks Ieatflys

[glider14]

thanks! yea you can adjust everything you have to the lower humidity. i believe they will grow the same in lower humidity compared to their natural humidity. itll probably take a week or so but you wont have to deal with the hazard of over heating or fungus/mold.

Alex

[justjack]

I like to see how collections grow. Good setup glider. How did you get 8 t-12 fixtures for $35?

[ieatflys]

I can answer that there 8 dollars at lowes. Am I able to put those lights into lowland nepenthe conditions with out any problems Crome the humigity. By the way I am going to have misters put in would they affect the lights at all. Or should I have glass under them. Also should I put 1 or 2 lights on I guess the more the better.

[glider14]

i got 2 fixtures for free cause they were just laying around my house the others were like 5 bucks and tax.

ieatflys: i wouldnt put the lights in any contact with water. they could very easily short out and possibly cause fire. what kind of misters were you talking about? misters would be very difficult to install. you would have to connect them to a pressurized water supply such as your house piping. but i dont know if your tap water is safe for CPs or not. misters arent necessary for humidity. water from your pots will evaporate and make it humid. what kind of dimensions is your enclosure going to be? maybe if we got that we could suggest better things and figure how much light you will need. list it by height:length:width.

Alex