The Great Shizuku Thread

[Capraquaria]

As Art was gracious enough to provide us a place to chat about all things emersed-grown here on the new Planted Paludariums and Terrariums sub-forum, I thought we could kick things off with a place to post our Shizuku's! I know @JayP , @BranchScape, @Noahspapa at least have a Shizuku or more. I started this year in New Jersey by attending the ADA Class at Aquashella. My poor Shizuku had a bumpy ride home courtesy of Jersey TSA, but was reassembled the morning after I got home, September 14th. So this was technically its second incarnation.



I didn't realize how much it had grown already. It has had a few modifications since then. At the class I chose to use Jagure stone, but there wasn't any more driftwood that was small enough to fit, so I skipped it, but I added a couple of nubbins of Mopani a couple of weeks later. Plants at the class were Riccardia, Staurogyne repens, Cryptocoryne axelrodi, what I think is Star Moss (they were handing out small pieces, so I didn't see the label), and Eriocaulon quinquangulare. As I was buying some Bolbitis difformis for another project, I added a small one to this to mostly see how well it would grow, as I have heard this plant prefers an emersed setup, and most terrestrial ferns get quite large. Also had a smidge of Bucephalandra Lamandau mini purple from the Manten Stone scape that found it's way in here as well.



Top down view:



I am going to have pull the Eriocaulon forward, as I realize from this view that the wood and the Bolbitis is creating a bit too much shadow. But I can fix that.

A friend and enabler has been fascinated with my foray back into aquariums, and now this, so I decided to make her a Shizuku of her own as a Christmas present. I planted it a couple of weeks ago, so it has time to root and stabilize before I gift it. I stuck to easy plants for this one. Mostly anubias, a little buce, and the bolbitis, as I want it to succeed for her.



Right now it's on my grow rack, and doing well, but she will also receive the DOOA light stand and magnetic light. I figure she can get RO water refills here, too. The very small-leaved plant on the far right is the buce 'Petite Galaxy', and seems to be doing great, both submerged in my Manten tank, and emersed in the Shizuku. Definitely a new personal favorite for finer detail.

Anyhoo, would love to see others post their Shizuku pots here! Perhaps we can inspire a few others?

 

[JayP]

I'll eventually redo my shizuku as well. Not thrilled with how the "show" build turned out. I don't work well under a time crunch.
Without a magnifying glass, I couldn't read what plants I had, but I thought the assistant helping told me I had 3 different stem plants plus the moss. I now think I had just 2 stem plants and the moss. The background stem is definitely different as it has more red coloration. but the two I placed in mid and foreground, are looking very much the same so far. I also should have spent more time placing more moss. My hardscape selections also weren't the best. Having said that, it got me started on the terrarium track which I've been wanting to do for awhile.

Shizuku 2.webp

• JayP
• Yesterday at 5:56 PM

Shizuku 1.webp

• JayP
• Yesterday at 5:56 PM

 

[Capraquaria]

Having said that, it got me started on the terrarium track which I've been wanting to do for awhile.

Exactly. I look at the class as more of a mechanics and care of this style of terrarium, and getting the ball rolling. I had no interest in a sealed 'set it and forget it' jar. I prefer that the Shizuku, and Neo Glass setups, require you to actually interact with them, even if it is just a minute or two every day, and that a lot of the plants we use in our tanks are actually good candidates for these, too.

Our class started late, and felt pretty rushed. I'm with you, I don't do my best work under pressure, and TSA had their own opinions about what I made during the class anyway But I am happy that so far I haven't killed anything, and the plants are actually growing. I did buy the Wabi Kusa mist from ADA, and use that a couple of times a week, if only because it smells good!

The class certainly inspired me to make more, and I am conspiring to add some sort of display case or bookshelf system with several small terrariums when I get the studio rolling (need to replace the floor first this winter to match the rest of the basement we did earlier this year). I can't really add more tanks until that room is ready, but there's always room for a small terrarium. Aquajack's post on the other thread sent me down several rabbit holes looking at glass shelving units at IKEA today that I could potentially use to display several small terrariums instead of buying individual expensive light stands for each one. Grow puck lights are pretty cheap and available these days, so almost any shelf unit could be modified.

 

[JayP]

Exactly. I look at the class as more of a mechanics and care of this style of terrarium, and getting the ball rolling. I had no interest in a sealed 'set it and forget it' jar. I prefer that the Shizuku, and Neo Glass setups, require you to actually interact with them, even if it is just a minute or two every day, and that a lot of the plants we use in our tanks are actually good candidates for these, too.

Our class started late, and felt pretty rushed. I'm with you, I don't do my best work under pressure, and TSA had their own opinions about what I made during the class anyway But I am happy that so far I haven't killed anything, and the plants are actually growing. I did buy the Wabi Kusa mist from ADA, and use that a couple of times a week, if only because it smells good!

The class certainly inspired me to make more, and I am conspiring to add some sort of display case or bookshelf system with several small terrariums when I get the studio rolling (need to replace the floor first this winter to match the rest of the basement we did earlier this year). I can't really add more tanks until that room is ready, but there's always room for a small terrarium. Aquajack's post on the other thread sent me down several rabbit holes looking at glass shelving units at IKEA today that I could potentially use to display several small terrariums instead of buying individual expensive light stands for each one. Grow puck lights are pretty cheap and available these days, so almost any shelf unit could be modified.

Yeah, my basement has been in mid demo mode for nearly as long as I've owned my house. I was going to do a lot of remodel work myself, but have since decided I'm too old for that now, so I need to get some quotes on finishing it, as that will also be my studio. No more room upstairs, and I need my electrical panel upgraded for all the pumps, lights, and heaters getting added to the grid.