10 replies to this topic

[linuxman]

Hi,

I'm thinking of constructing a cephalotus tank and was wondering if there's any advice out there? In this thread Martin Hingst uses a 40x25x25cm tank. Is this a reasonable size? Any drawbacks etc? This example is glass but I was thinking of using acrylic sheet cut to size and glued. Does this sound OK? Any suggestions on sheet thickness?

Cheers,

[ada]

The thin acrylic sheet is no good for your tank,its too bendy and can go brittle after a bit.It also scratches easily.
Lexan,would be better,its 1/4" thick and you can hit it with a hammer and it wont break,but its expensive and hard to cut to size unless you have a table or wall saw. It still scratches easily too.
An old or second hand fish tank would be a lot easier and probably cheaper in the long run,plus you don't have to mess about siliconing it together and it will be well cured and no chance of any chemicals leaching into your compost.

ada

[mobile]

Here's a bad panoramic shot of my tank. It's an 18" glass tank, lit with two daylight CFL. It's still maturing, but the Cephalotus are starting to produce adult pitchers.

[pmatil]

Very nice mobile!

What kind of soil have you got there? And is there drainage of any kind?

[ada]

Looking good Carl.
Are they all seed grown or divisions of the same plant?
ada

[mobile]

ada, on 12 April 2012 - 14:57 PM, said:

Looking good Carl.
Are they all seed grown or divisions of the same plant?
ada

Thanks. There is a mixture of Hummer's Giants, Big Boy and typicals cuttings, plus some seed grown typicals.

[snowwy]

It will turn out to be a stunning setup after couple of good growing years!

[mobile]

pmatil, on 12 April 2012 - 10:36 AM, said:

What kind of soil have you got there? And is there drainage of any kind?

The soil it Moorland Gold (reclaimed peat). There is a drainage layer of LECA at the base, which is covered with a weed suppressant fabric, then the Moorland Gold is on top of that.

[linuxman]

This is what I've finally come up with using a 'starter' aquarium. The idea was to create a sort of seepage bog - hence the watering tube. I drilled several holes down its length so all depths get some water. Unfortunately I suspect the holes should have been a tad smaller as the water drains too quickly. Time will tell.

I've planted it with 6 of the 'Eden Black' selfed seedlings I've grown. Now I just need to wait 10 years to get a good show.

[mobile]

Do you have a membrane between the soil and the LECA? My first attempt at a very similar setup (shown above) didn't have one and I found that the soil washed into the LECA, which somewhat defeated the object of using it. I rebuilt mine by placing a weed control membrane between the soil and the LECA, which allows the water to pass through, but not the soil.

[linuxman]

mobile, on 28 April 2012 - 15:35 PM, said:

Do you have a membrane between the soil and the LECA? My first attempt at a very similar setup (shown above) didn't have one and I found that the soil washed into the LECA, which somewhat defeated the object of using it. I rebuilt mine by placing a weed control membrane between the soil and the LECA, which allows the water to pass through, but not the soil.

Yep, followed your example for that