75 gallon Australia Paludarium/Vivarium

[daybr4ke]

I think it is a bit ambitious, but I feel like I've learned quite a bit from my preliminary builds to help me construct this. Plus lots of reading lol.
If you ever find Pinnatum, I'd love to get a cutting sent over. They're in the Exotic Angels selection from Costa Farms, so I keep checking Wal-Mart's. I got a Pearls and Jade a few days ago, though. Not like checking doesn't still pay off. I made some posts on Gardenweb and Dave's Garden recently looking for the plant. No results yet.
As for the orchid, there are a few other possible orchids I could get as well. I'm glad to hear they aren't overly troublesome. I think one problem I remember reading about is they need additional nutrition to bloom, and tou can't spray them with nutrients in the frog's tank safely.
Even if it wont bloom and it just sits there, that's cool. I figured I'd plant it in a hollow cork log filled with orchid bark. I'm planning to read more about the care of the orchid before getting it, rather than just the national origin lol

[daybr4ke]

Alright, other things:
I am currently checking plant ranges since sometimes there's erroneous info on plant range on Wikipedia.
Plant placement is another beast entirely. Ferns need some shade, for this build specfically the Cadiaeum will need to be away from the Ficus Benjamina(which will require some bonsai type work). I don't want the ficus to be too tiny. I want it to give partial shade to a lot of the tank, with the ferns and pothos ground cover below. Dwarf Umbrella Tree was my alternate for this role. I dont think there is room for both, even in a 75 gallon tall tank. I think the codiaeum in to the left so it gets light with the ficus slightly on the right.
I have some questions: in a full scale vivarium/paludarium, how many plants are usually used?
Should I use 2 or 3 embedded plants on the back wall?
I could use 2 cultivars of epipremnum Aureum, like Golden and Manjula or something. I want one for Pinnatum. Maybe the spider plant should be in one.
Should I put a foam backing on the sides? I was thinking of putting foam on one or both sides in addition to the back. I want to make this a really nice tank, but I dont know if that's going overboard.
Thanks again everyone.

[elly]

I don't think foam on the sides is going overboard. It just depend on if you want to see the tank through those sides.

I wish I had given my plants more space than I thought they needed, though that's hard to do with Pothos because it will take everything available. I guess I just want to say, remember, some of them will grow like crazy.

[daybr4ke]

Thanks for the advice on the plant spacing and the foam on the sides. I think I'm going to put a background on one side, maybe with a ledge, possibly a planted ledge.
Also, I checked around and the following plants have conflicting origins from different websites:
Codiaeum Variegatum, Chlorophytum Laxum. Some sites dont mention Australia.
http://bie.ala.org.au/species/http:/...01574#overview
This one is for normal spider plant rather than bichetii grass. Spider plants seem to be naturalized in australia anyway. Wikipedia says Bichetii grass is from Australia in addition to other locations. I found bichetii grass online, but I don't wanna buy it if its not native to Australia.
The codiaeum is similarly listed as from Australia in Wikipedia, but not some other resources.

[daybr4ke]

Alright, another update!! Today I went out and bought plants and did research on native origins. First off, new plants, pics, and where I got them!

That's all the plants. From left to right: Spider Plant, Weeping Fig(OSH), Gold Dust Croton(IKEA), Bird's Nest Fern/Asplenium Nidus(OSH), Neon Pothos(OSH).
OSH had some really nice stuff. I really liked both the dark and white splash weeping figs, but I went with dark green.


There's a close-up on the Croton(Codiaeum). I think its a very pretty plant. I finished research on Bichetii Grass and Codaenium, and found not only were they in Australia but they were both from Queensland. All the plants I plan to put in are from Queensland, except the Gem fern which is a hybrid anyway. Technically I seem to have designed a Queensland Vivarium. I also found another plant candidate, also native to Queensland. Hoya Australis. I can substitute Hoya Carnosa if need be. I might not bother with the orchid. I have to see about floor space and plant space etc. I'm going to ask Larry Wardog for advice on that, I think. I need to figure out how many plants I'm using. I don't have the tank yet, so I can't just place them inside and see how they look space-wise yet. Right now I have 5 plants bought with at least one more I plan to get.
I'll post with anything new.

[daybr4ke]

I picked up the frogs and the tank. Unfortunately the tank suffered a major crack while being moved into the car, pictures to follow(also a probable separate thread about repairing, replacing or substituting the glass.). It is a very nice tank, however, and after some work I think it is going look very cool. I also have Cebu Blue pothos ordered.
I'm most interested on the pink rock orchid, but if It's hard to find I'll just use a common phalaenopsis since they are found in australia as well.
I need to pick up peat moss, expanding foam, some branches and cork flats, some false bottom materials and do some work on the tank for step 1.
This is what I have been using to check Wikipedia on plant range:
http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/ur...names:532931-1
http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/ur...:names:85073-3
http://plantsoftheworldonline.org/ta...:names:98382-1
The above link should link to some of my possible plants. The site is pretty useful for checking plant origins.

[daybr4ke]

Alright, UPDATE!! Epipremnum Pinnatum, "Cebu Blue" Pothos has arrived! I am so excited!!

It's a pretty nice looking plant. Looks healthy! I patched the cracks and put a layer of silicone down to help seal the tank's drainage layer area, after cleaning it with vinegar and rinsing it. Next is putting in backing. I'm starting on that tomorrow. Photos of it coming soon!
The other day I bought all the materials I need except springtails and some wood, which I need to order, and bichetii grass, my last plant, coming via Amazon at the moment. It should be here next weekend. I also need to construct the false bottom. There's still a lot of work, but it's getting there!