Dragon Strand Large Atrium Enclosure

[Virgil1972]

I want to get a large atrium enclosure from dragon strand and want to know what people who have them think off them. I also want to know if anybody has a "Large Atrium Drip-Easy Drainage System" and what they think of that as well.

 

[OldChamKeeper]

I've seen them up close. I'd recommend one.

 

[Virgil1972]

I've seen them up close. I'd recommend one.

They do look pretty awesome and seem reasonably priced for what you get.

 

[Peachypink]

I have it. And I have the tray. It's huge!! Look for my thread- Holy Huge, Batman!!

I didn't have the tray yet with those pictures. The tray does not slide out, it is a piece that you place the atrium on and then there is a screen piece that fits inside the bottom of the cage. Identical to the top screen.

I really really like it.

 

[Virgil1972]

I have it. And I have the tray. It's huge!! Look for my thread- Holy Huge, Batman!!

I didn't have the tray yet with those pictures. The tray does not slide out, it is a piece that you place the atrium on and then there is a screen piece that fits inside the bottom of the cage. Identical to the top screen.

I really really like it.

How much water can the tray hold and is it easy to empty?

 

[Shuladog]

I have the Dragon Strand large keeper cage with a drip easy drainage system (tray and screen bottom) and I LOVE it! The screen bottom is the way to go, it looks great!!

My tray can hold a lot of water but you will not want to take it out to dump it. They are very flexible and almost impossible to carry with water in them. I use a Bucket Head wet vac ($20 at Home Depot) to suck the water out of the tray (which is what I think Mr Strand recommends). It is very efficient.

I have also seen others drill a hole in the tray and plumb it to drain into a bucket.

One thing to be aware of with the drip easy drainage system is that you should not keep any potted plants on the floor of the cage as they will eventually wear out the screen bottom. But that is the beauty of the dragon ledges...you don't need to keep anything on the floor!!

 

[jamest0o0]

I love mine!

 

[Peachypink]

How much water can the tray hold and is it easy to empty?

Since the cage sits on the tray you can't easily take it off to dump it. I do like @Shuladog does and wet vac it. When I get a stand built for it I plan to drill holes and have it drain into a bucket. Right now I have it on a desk.

 

[Big Gulp]

I have the Dragon Strand large keeper cage with a drip easy drainage system (tray and screen bottom) and I LOVE it! The screen bottom is the way to go, it looks great!!

My tray can hold a lot of water but you will not want to take it out to dump it. They are very flexible and almost impossible to carry with water in them. I use a Bucket Head wet vac ($20 at Home Depot) to suck the water out of the tray (which is what I think Mr Strand recommends). It is very efficient.

I have also seen others drill a hole in the tray and plumb it to drain into a bucket.

One thing to be aware of with the drip easy drainage system is that you should not keep any potted plants on the floor of the cage as they will eventually wear out the screen bottom. But that is the beauty of the dragon ledges...you don't need to keep anything on the floor!!

But what if you have a large Schefflera? How do the ledges hold that?

 

[Shuladog]

But what if you have a large Schefflera? How do the ledges hold that?

If you have a large, heavy potted plant I would recommend the Dragon Strand heavy duty drainage tray and drill holes in the cage's bottom panel instead of using the Drip Easy system.

 

[Peachypink]

If you have a large, heavy potted plant I would recommend the Dragon Strand heavy duty drainage tray and drill holes in the cage's bottom panel instead of using the Drip Easy system.

I don't think the heavy duty drainage trays can be used with the large atrium.

You could always add a little support blocks in the drip try to hold the weight of a heavy plant set on the bottom.

 

[Furciferocious]

I have a large atrium and I think it's great. I'm planning to get a second. Mine is outside so I don't have the drip trays, just the white PVC bottom. I run two branches between the lower dragon ledges, and then suspend the big pots between the branches. You can't go crazy heavy with that, but you can suspend some decent-sized plants.

 

[MedicMan1]

I have the large clear side atrium and drip tray on order. Should be shipping any day now. I will let you know my first impressions after I put it together. I will be drilling a hole in the bottom for plumbing into a bucket and running a MistKing. I built a custom stand for the whole thing.

 

[mattmak_09]

Is anyone using a dragon stand and built a vivarium for their cham? Is this possible? I'm thinking of the medium atrium but i'm new to the viv side of things. DOn't know if the PVC bottom would be the way to go?

 

[MedicMan1]

I have a full Viv rocking with a large clearside atrium. You definitely want the drip tray also. The PVC bottom is inadequate.

The finished enclosure is on page 3 (this is my thread):

https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...nce-very-pic-heavy.155114/page-4#post-1335475

 

[Mchartier]

I am waiting on my medium atrium, hoping it arrives by the weekend. I was planning on cutting pvc to place under the plant container. The pvc pieces would have slots cut in them in attempt to keep water from building up inside, well thats my plan but can change once I start working on it.

 

[OldChamKeeper]

But what if you have a large Schefflera? How do the ledges hold that?

Wire the pot to two dragon ledges. How?

Put it in a corner and first wire it to one ledge on a side of the cage and then wire it to a ledge attached to the rear. That distributes the weight nicely. Be intelligent about how you go about it and you should be fine.

 

[mattmak_09]

I have a full Viv rocking with a large clearside atrium. You definitely want the drip tray also. The PVC bottom is inadequate.

The finished enclosure is on page 3 (this is my thread):

https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...nce-very-pic-heavy.155114/page-4#post-1335475

I saw you setup- looks awesome.
I'm thinking of making it bioactive. Wouldn't a solid PVC bottom be good over the screen? I just don't know how the screen bottom would be able to hold dirt/leaves etc? Ive been trying to figure this out for a while. i was assuming to use the PVC bc its solid then figure out how to establish drainage- thoughts?

 

[Striders_mom]

I saw you setup- looks awesome.
I'm thinking of making it bioactive. Wouldn't a solid PVC bottom be good over the screen? I just don't know how the screen bottom would be able to hold dirt/leaves etc? Ive been trying to figure this out for a while. i was assuming to use the PVC bc its solid then figure out how to establish drainage- thoughts?

Hi there, I'm in the process of doing a bio-active set-up, though in Dragon Strand's large,clear sided atrium (cage is on order )!! Bill from Dragon Strand and I had to consult a bit, as he says no one has done a bio-active in his large atrium cage before.

I wonder if his advice to me would work for you? Per his suggestions, I've ordered the drip easy tray, and he's custom building a substrate tray for me that should be about 6" deep. Perhaps message him and see if his breeder box would work for your purposes? Then you could drill the drainage holes in it, and have that on top of the drainage tray. He did say a lot of keepers use his systems for bio-active set-ups.

As Bill suggested, I'll be drilling holes in my substrate tray. From my other research, I'll also install a false bottom using "egg crate" lighting diffuser and screen material, so that the soil will drain well (into the aptly names "drain tray"). My next hurdle is figuring out how to drain the drainage tray...which brought me across this thread.

In the meantime, I've got my isopods culturing, and am about to order my springtails!! I'm also sourcing out the ingredients for ABG soil mix, etc. All of these things are a little harder to find in the wilds that are Canada!! This is quite the project, and so far has taken months of researching!!

I'd love to know how you are progressing? (Sorry, just noticed you posted over a month ago, this all may be old news to you!! Posting anyway, just in case at all helpful )