Huge Ecobulb Riparium Jungle for Rare Fish on DIY Branch Stand

several months ago i stumbled across this incredible glass container now the story's a little bit long-winded so i'll leave it there anyway i have several ideas in mind as to what i can do with it but i'm still unsure my options range from a large terrarium to something more elaborate like a paludarium since it's quite large either would look incredible and although the container is great as is i think it would be better with a stand this stand to be exact i made this ahead with a variety of materials i recently had to chop down some dead trees behind my house that were dried and perfect to build with i'll be working with these cherry birch branches to start i secured a single branch through the underside of a board with cabinet screws i'm using this branch to establish the layout and determine where the bottom of the container will be i marked this with tape so i don't disturb the bark then i secured another branch to its right i chopped this flat just above the tape line with the chainsaw i repeated the process on a second branch and test fit the container it looked good so i went on to add a larger branch to its right to frame it in i went and added more branches then i test fit the container once more to ensure everything was still good here you can get a better look at the branches where it sits i probably could use them like this however to ensure it lays flat i'll put a board over top of this i traced our outline onto a piece of plywood which i cut out on a scroll saw [Music] this fits perfectly over the top of the branches i secured this to them with a screw through each one from there i went back and reinforced the branches as is i had each branch secured with two screws i replaced one of them for each with a large structural bolt to make it stronger with that taken care of i can add the details first i have to adjust the height of the tall branches they're just a bit too tall and i don't like the flat edge i marked where i want the heights to be then i cut them down accordingly i also carved on the flat edges to look a little more natural after that i went back and added a few thinner branches in the back for detail since they're so thin i simply screwed them to the back of the main support in the middle the result in my opinion looks pretty cool i did a little more to get it to this point though i went back and roughly carved out the base it looks bad but don't worry it will be hidden later i locked this to the top of a round board for a cleaner look lastly i applied some polyurethane to help preserve and protect the pieces [Music] this also brought out the color of the bark and that brings us back to where we started now i'll discuss and do more with the stand later on in the video but until then i want to get started on the inside after some thought i've decided i want to do something with water that said i don't want to fill this up completely i only want to fill it up about half way which equates to roughly 20 gallons of water what i wish to create is a riparian of sorts in most cases they're fairly easy to create however the challenge with this one is that i'm limited as to what i can fit through the opening so it's going to be a little more difficult it took me quite a while to figure out a solution but i think i came up with something my idea here is to create a floating platform of sorts to make that happen i've selected a crate light diffuser i chopped it up into three pieces with a wire cutter as you can see here the pieces will fit together like so the only way i could create a platform this large was to separate the pieces then once i put them in the container i'll connect them like before however the crate alone won't really work so i decided to wrap it up with cargo mesh fabric which i locked on with zip ties this not only hides the plastic but it will create a growing surface for moss and other plants i also tied a few lengths of fishing line to these pieces i secured it in areas that will allow it to stay balanced after that i sent each piece into the container and roughly aligned them i taped the lines to the outside to keep them in place initially i tried to lock it all together while in the container this was basically impossible with one hand though so i pulled the pieces out and loosely attached the zip ties that way i could still move them around then i was able to get both of my hands in enough to tighten the ties i went back and snipped off the excess with that addressed all i had to do was level out the platform at the appropriate height this took a little while but eventually i got it just right once i did i taped the line to the inside so i could remove it from the outside i cut up a few small sections of mounting tape and placed them over the line in this groove this kept them stationary while i wrapped it all together and since the container has this groove all the lines can be tightly tied to create a sturdy hold i went back and applied a bead of silicone this should help keep it all from coming undone i'll also use it to secure a rope in the groove to conceal the lines here we are after all of that i can use this floating platform to discreetly grow marginal plants without the use of hardscape i'm sure planting it will be easier said than done but that's what i'm going to do next i've selected plants that will do well in a riparian setting including of course garminia saborozuki alternator or facoria hedge green calicia reppins cryptanthus bevitatus cryptanthus nubucola fettonia argyronira hemigraphus alternata hemigraphus raponda java moss syngonium podophylumberi illusion and syngonium podophylum exotic illusion like always i cleaned off these plants prior to use i gently removed whatever substrate i could from the roots and thoroughly rinsed off any remaining bits like usual i began with the large plants i had to get a sense of where i wanted them to go before i could do anything once i did i cut through some of the fabric and broke away bits of egg crate to accommodate the base from there i was able to insert the roots through the opening this keeps the plant securely in place i repeated this for all of the larger plants as for the small ones i was able to simply make an opening in the fabric without disturbing the crate of course doing this all was easier said than done because i had to work one-handed anyway as i added the plants i tried to mix everything up to get a nice sense of texture and contrast then i finished it off with a little bit of moss near the front that was quite the process i got it all planted though and i gotta say i really like how it's turning out with that address though now we can move on down into the bottom area i'll add this mix of substrate which consists of aqua soil gravel and sand i built up a decent layer in the bottom for aquatic plants i've selected krypticorini lutea elodia and nachos hydrocotyleucocephala hydrophyllocormbosa ludwigia reppins micro maria browne and rotala indica i added the majority of these in this area with a pair of tweezers [Music] i went on to place the container on the stand which you'll see looks a little different than before first i glued a rope around the bottom which matches the top of the container then i glued patches of preserved moss all over the wooden base i think this added a lot of interest and goes well with the branches i also glued a few patches on the areas up top as well after that i glued a piece of neoprene to the top of the stand i probably didn't need to do this but i felt it would provide a better base for the container i concealed the edge of this and plywood with more moss lastly i brushed it all with polyurethane this made it look alive and will help preserve it further after all of that i went on to fill the container i did this very slowly to ensure everything stayed put once it was full i added the remaining plants [Music] there were a few other details i needed to add first was some preserved lichen i think this was a nice embellishment don't you as for lighting i have this wicker basket that i drilled a hole in i hooked it up to a pendant light fixture and a deformable led light i'll need to get a brighter one at some point but this will do for now i also dropped an established sponge filter in the back so i can add the inhabitants immediately with that addressed i'd say that it's pretty much done and ready for the inhabitants for this one i've selected a few things first up are some pink rams horn snails i also have a nice group of orange medalka rice fish these are incredible nano fish that i'm so excited to add to this setup [Music] [Music] and there you have it the new riparian ecosphere jug or something like that i really like how it turned out and i think it would be a cool piece to add to the room my favorite part is definitely the area above the rim i really like this concept and will likely use it again moving forward as with any riparian setup these plants will do the majority of the work when filtering the water of course the sponge filter aquatic plants and substrate will play into this as well but emergent plant growth is very efficient i'm also really excited to finally do something with this container since it and the setup are so unique i felt that it made sense to go for something rare like these rice fish plus as i said before they're great for a nano style setup i want to know what you think though let me know down in the comments as always i hope you all enjoyed the video and learned something new until next time surprise squad take care and peace [Music] me you

Channel: SerpaDesign

Views: 2,175,525

Keywords: riparium, ecosphere, aquarium, fish tank, live planted, aquascape, fish bowl, low tech, ricefish, orange medaka ricefish

Id: FaNtLHy5wVo

Length: 11min 17sec (677 seconds)

Published: Sat May 07 2022