Preface: my viv does not contain any reptiles or amphibians - just plants and a few bugs and earthworms.
Being homebound sucks and it's hard to find ways to keep your mind occupied. As such, I'm always trying to find projects to work on to keep my mind busy and give me a sense of purpose.
One day while watching YouTube videos, I came across a beautiful DIY vivarium and was COMPLETELY entranced by it. This thing was beautiful; bursting with life and color and best of all, plants!
I mean...come on
As a lover (and keeper) of several plants and terraria, and someone with a lot of time on their hands, building a vivarium was a perfect project for me and I just HAD to make one. I couldn't stop thinking about it.
I worked very slowly; sometimes taking breaks of several weeks because I just didn't have the energy. In the end it took 3-4 months and lots of YouTube videos but slowly and surely, I built a vivarium. It gave me a great sense of joy and purpose and although it was hard to do with limited energy, it was well worth the effort.
It's been about 7 months since I finished the vivarium and it's really taken off in that time! It's not the greatest or the most beautiful vivarium in existence but it's pretty awesome for a first-build and I crafted it with my own hands! MY hands! ME! A girl who rarely gets to do anything she wants to do because she's always so ill.
Because it's made with natural materials that are housed in humid conditions, it's going to go through some decomposition. This is normal and a healthy part of any natural system.
Unfortunately, I think this decomposition is affecting the air quality in my house and affecting my airways. I've been fine for the past several months but the last 10 days or so I've been having shortness of breath, congestion, and sticky boogers. My boyfriend is experiencing it too so I figured we had picked up a virus or something but when he got up this morning, he said the house smelled musty and he thinks it's from the vivarium.
I'm not sure what to do at this point but I'm scared and devastated to think my vivarium is making me sick. I worked so hard on it and love it so much! I hate the idea of giving it up.
It's possible that we did just catch a virus but looking at the big picture, I feel like I probably didn't do myself any favors by putting an actively decomposing, natural ecosystem in my house. *Face palm*
My boyfriend wants to try attaching dryer hose to the lid and venting it to a window outside but I'm not sure if that would be enough. I'm worried that the outside air may blow IN through the tube and push musty air out of the vivarium and into the house (the vivarium has a lid but it doesn't cover the top 100%).
Does anyone here have experience with something like this? Or any ideas on how I could keep the vivarium without compromising my health? I'll get rid of it if I have to, as I can't risk any more damage to my health but I'm hoping there's a way to keep it and be maintain my health too.
Any ideas are appreciated!
Being homebound sucks and it's hard to find ways to keep your mind occupied. As such, I'm always trying to find projects to work on to keep my mind busy and give me a sense of purpose.
One day while watching YouTube videos, I came across a beautiful DIY vivarium and was COMPLETELY entranced by it. This thing was beautiful; bursting with life and color and best of all, plants!
I mean...come on
As a lover (and keeper) of several plants and terraria, and someone with a lot of time on their hands, building a vivarium was a perfect project for me and I just HAD to make one. I couldn't stop thinking about it.
I worked very slowly; sometimes taking breaks of several weeks because I just didn't have the energy. In the end it took 3-4 months and lots of YouTube videos but slowly and surely, I built a vivarium. It gave me a great sense of joy and purpose and although it was hard to do with limited energy, it was well worth the effort.
It's been about 7 months since I finished the vivarium and it's really taken off in that time! It's not the greatest or the most beautiful vivarium in existence but it's pretty awesome for a first-build and I crafted it with my own hands! MY hands! ME! A girl who rarely gets to do anything she wants to do because she's always so ill.
Because it's made with natural materials that are housed in humid conditions, it's going to go through some decomposition. This is normal and a healthy part of any natural system.
Unfortunately, I think this decomposition is affecting the air quality in my house and affecting my airways. I've been fine for the past several months but the last 10 days or so I've been having shortness of breath, congestion, and sticky boogers. My boyfriend is experiencing it too so I figured we had picked up a virus or something but when he got up this morning, he said the house smelled musty and he thinks it's from the vivarium.
I'm not sure what to do at this point but I'm scared and devastated to think my vivarium is making me sick. I worked so hard on it and love it so much! I hate the idea of giving it up.
It's possible that we did just catch a virus but looking at the big picture, I feel like I probably didn't do myself any favors by putting an actively decomposing, natural ecosystem in my house. *Face palm*
My boyfriend wants to try attaching dryer hose to the lid and venting it to a window outside but I'm not sure if that would be enough. I'm worried that the outside air may blow IN through the tube and push musty air out of the vivarium and into the house (the vivarium has a lid but it doesn't cover the top 100%).
Does anyone here have experience with something like this? Or any ideas on how I could keep the vivarium without compromising my health? I'll get rid of it if I have to, as I can't risk any more damage to my health but I'm hoping there's a way to keep it and be maintain my health too.
Any ideas are appreciated!
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