Starting a new Cephalotus display tank.

Sean

Sean

Plant
I have started a ten gallon Cephalotus display tank to emulate the hillside colony on the SW Australia Coast that Barry Rice has posted photos of with no location data.

I am still working on this display as I have run out of inert sand to create the beach at the bottom and I have lava rock for boulders to add to the bottom of the display.

The pot of German giant I have melted when I placed it under a glass cloche for a couple weeks while I built the display and leached out any minerals from the peat sand mix with top watering and spraying with RODI water. Hopefully the three divisions in that pot come back so I can add them to the display. Most of the material in this display has come from members on this forum as well as a couple I purchased on eBay. I still have ten seeds that have been moist stratifying to add into the mix to add genetic diversity.

This is two links to photos I am hoping to emulate minus all the grasses and weeds mixed in http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-72S2ETivH...c/s1600/Cephalotus_follicularis_Hennern_4.jpg.

http://www.viranatura.com/uploads/media/CEPHALOTUS FOLICULARIS 10 resize.jpg
I expect moss to form eventually on its own.

Now the slow waiting game of watching them fill in.

Cheers,
Sean

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stevebradford said:
How did you make the sand/mud wall and keep it from collapsing?

Great idea, can’t wait to see it filled in.
Click to expand...

Hi Steve,

I used a lot of lava rock and basically created a brick wall at the back mixed with peat moss and built it up then progressively mixed additional sand in with each new layer going forward sort of like stuccoing a wall. The front layer is about 50% sand 50% peat. I had several crevices to place the plants but the lower ones were just stucco'd into place with wet peat. I expect the plants to naturally root in as far as they are comfortable in time based upon the amount of moisture the stratum has dependent on the layer of sand and peat.

I have a water tube at the back that goes to the bottom so it will always be bottom watered and allowed to wick upward.

Cheers,
Sean
 
That setup is going to look great once it fills in! Can’t wait to see it when it does. Please keep us updated with photos if you can :)
 
Good luck.

What amount of light will you give them.

For your oen knowledge, I tried a ceph tank too. I put 2X 24 inches 24W t12 over it but it wasn't enough.
After one year and a half the ceph was looking the same so I put it back under my t5 in a regular pot.
 
I have a combination of Fluorescent Mini Compact 50/50 Lamps with LED on a day simulation dawn to dusk timer. Plenty of light for them all.

Cheers,
Sean
 
I water once weekly through the feed tube on the back right side with RODI so water wicks up from the bottom, I never top water the surface. I have ordered LED grow light strip to see if I can better the plant colour and growth rate.
 
Six month update...
Starting to fill in nicely, I need to finally change the LED lights now that I have them all.
I will also eliminate the canopy top and just replace with a sheet of glass for the top of the tank.
Some peat and sand to fill in the top of the stratum is also needed. I did a top water a few months ago and it etched away at the peat moss.
Two seeds sprouted out of thirty planted, one is growing under one of the other Cephalotus on the left side middle but I have been worried about damaging the roots trying to move it now.
One leaf pulling sprouted top left, top center is a seedling. All these Cephalotus are typicals but some are really bulking up.
I lost the German Giant that I purchased from Bonfield, some lights burnt out and the plants dried out too much while I was on vacation. Some day I will get a couple more to add some size interest to this tank.

Cheers,
Sean

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Looking amazing so far! With my experience they grow way faster this way. I advise everyone to give this a shot! Nice job sean!
 
Great idea and nice setup. I have visited this Cephalotus site in West Australia. I wonder if the salt water spray would have any effect on the plants.
 
I have added the new LED lights and rather than a glass lid I picked up a mesh screen top from PetSmart for $12.00 to allow for ventilation under the hot lights. After only a couple days under the new lights the pitchers are colouring up an nice red. I will take another photo and post in a week or so to show the transition.

Cheers,
Sean
 
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