My Exo-Terra vivarium build pic's.

[Devo]

I’ve recently finished my first vivarium build project. :happy1:

For those that just want to see the build without all the waffle, here it is…start to finish in 4 quick steps.

A standard Exo-Terra 60cm x 60cm x 45cm.

Driftwood in place, & all the foam work all done.

Background completed & back in the viv. Water added, & systems check to make sure the waterfall holds water & it falls where it should.

The set up now pretty much complete…planting in, fish & frogs are in & all seem happy.

If you’re like me, & want to see all the detail in a build...I’ll be posting more pic’s of the whole process, start to finish :spop:

Cheers, Andrew.

[Sophia]

!drool: x1,000000000

let me be the first to :spop: you

:happy2:

[alanmin4304]

I love the way you have included the wood into the background and constructed the waterfall.

[DonnaM]

WOW...that is simply amazing! :thup:

mmmm maybe I shouldnt put that viv of mine on TM after all...... :lol:

[henward]

WOWOW!!!!!!!

holy wow

how much would you charge if i gave you an exo terra terarium and make it like that, identical?

just curious.....i could provide some of the wood as i would have a large collection of wood that may suit...

thats nuts!

imagine a tank like that!

what animal are you putting in there?

[livingart]

a work of art

[superico]

beautiful !drool: !drool: !drool: !drool: !drool: !drool: !drool: !drool: !drool:

what in the background of the first pic

[Caryl]

This would make a wonderful Aquarium World article! (hint hint) :love:

[DonnaM]

This would make a wonderful Aquarium World article! (hint hint) :love:

EXCELLENT idea Caryl!!!! It definately would!

(I loved the last magazine by the way :happy2: )

[Li@m]

!drool: Amazing.

An Aquarium World Article Would be Cool

[Devo]

Thanks for the comments :mbh:

what in the background of the first pic

The 1st pic is taken with the Exo-Terra on our dining room table. That’s a window behind, & out the window is a fence, with star jasmine & a few broms.

This would make a wonderful Aquarium World article! (hint hint) :love:

Now that the forum is up & runnning again, I’m sorting out a few more build pic’s and preparing a bit of waffle to go with it…maybe it would easier to just do that article Caryl

Anyway, you’re welcome to use info from here & I can email you any pic’s you want.

Cheers, Andrew.

[superico]

aww

i thought it was a pro eastern water dragons enclosure

[reptilez]

aww

i thought it was a pro eastern water dragons enclosure

same ! look like a good one !

[redrachie]

wow that is just awesome!!!! well done!! love it

[Devo]

same ! look like a good one !

Now that is a good idea...could be my next project :digH: just dont tell the wife...!!!

Thanks for your comment Redrachie :thup:

[Devo]

Ok, now for a bit of waffle…just to give some background, and to set the scene :yaw1: :yaw1: :yaw1:

I’m a newbie on the forum, but I have had a bit of history with FNZAS. During my life before kids, I kept tropical, coldwater, native & local marine aquaria, along with frogs, turtles, and axolotls. I was involved in a few of the early FNZAS shows, & was a member of the North Shore Aquarium Soc’ (BTW…what’s happened to that group???). I really enjoyed setting up planted tropical aquaria, even had some that took out interclub prizes at their peak.

My reason for this brief historic synopsis is to identify with anyone who has given up the hobby, but held onto a desire to get back into it at some stage.

For the last few years I’ve been into bromeliads, & often I’d come across photos of amazing viv’s where brom’s were used as feature plants. Many of these viv’s were for Dart Frogs, or Tree Frogs, and it seems no expense was spared on some of the elaborate builds. Seeing these viv’s revived my desire to one day get back into keeping a few frogs (even though we only have 3 sp to choose from :an!gry ).

Early this year I had the chance to satisfy this desire to build my own viv. My daughter bought some Whistling Tree Frogs tadpoles from Trade Me, so we decided to set up a viv for them when they morphed. I picked up an Exo-Terra with a light fitting from Trade Me, then I sorted out some bits and pieces I’d saved from the aquarium days, like sheets of poly, a fluval canister filter, gravel, stones etc.

By this stage my daughter really wanted to keep some fish as well…who was I to say no...so we worked out a list of requirements for the viv, to satisfy her & me! It had to provide a good enclosure for the frogs & for fish, feature a few bromeliads, and some sort of waterfall sounded like a good idea.

As I searched the web for viv ideas, I found it really useful to see build projects start to finish, to read about the different techniques, and to discover what problems had to be solved. So hopefully some of the details here will be useful for anyone thinking about a build or rebuild. I’ll put in a bit of detail with the pic’s, and please feel free to fire off any questions / comments as we go :sml2:

OK, on with the pic's :spop:

To line the Exo-Terra a background was made up using 15mm poly. The viv was to sit in a corner with walls behind & to the right, so viewing would be from the front & left sides. As I mentioned, I did have some aquarium stuff stored away, so wanted to use as much of that stuff as I could & keep costs down. The poly was just standard sheets I’d used to sit aquariums on. It was cut to size, & set into the viv in 3 sections, just so I could remove it easily. I made up a cavity for the filter pipe in the right rear corner, & marked out the position for my main focal point. I’d found some nice old gnarly pieces of manuka, & then cut them down to the size. I wanted the main feature piece to sit just right of centre, then everything else could be set up from this point of reference. Also marked out the proposed water level which was dictated by the Exo-Terra front vent.

Next the poly background was removed, & everything set up outside for the next stage. My selected pieces of manuka were positioned, and a few plant pots were added (these were for the broms).

Now ready for the expanding foam…neat stuff to use!

Stay tuned, I'll be back with more soon...

[zeebee]

That is amazing!! :love:

I had frogs once, but gave them away because I didn't have the time to catch them food.

[Devo]

I had frogs once, but gave them away because I didn't have the time to catch them food.

Yeah...they really go thru' the live food. It was my daughters job to catch the frog food, but there's not so much around this time of year, so we've had to buy it! Somewhat ironic as last summer (before the frogs) we paid to rid the house of flies...now we're paying to get house flies &c:ry

OK, a couple more pic's....

Now the background is positioned back into the viv, as I had a few issues to resolve before moving on.

Since we had decided to keep fish as well as the frogs, I had to work out a design that would suit both, plus I wanted a nice transition between water & land. The idea of just sticking in a piece of glass to divide water & land didn’t appeal, as it would have created a “dead” area on the land side that could become anaerobic and possibly stink. I did like the false bottom idea that most Dart Frog viv’s use. After a bit of research, I found the false bottom is typically set up to allow water to cycle, keeping the viv environment healthy. These false bottoms can be set up in different ways, one of which is to use sponge. This idea appealed as I like using sponge as a filter media for biological filtration. So after some trials with different foam, I ended up using one section of filter foam that would work as a pre-filter for the fluval, & a couple of sections of foam from Para rubber. The foam was cut to size, & set into position. Then another layer of expanding foam was applied, focusing on the right back corner, where the waterfall would be created. You can see the filter outlet, it's covered with blue masking tape.

[Devo]

:spop: OK...here's the next instalment… :cofn:

Once the waterfall area had been carved out, I cut the background again, so it could be removed from the viv…I wanted to be able to work on the final stages outside.

The background is tipped on its back, so I can seal it. About 3 coats of pond paint are applied over the foam, then I add silicone sealant to some areas, and work in dry peat.

Now for the fun part :happy1:

I begin to add my “home Made” vines to the background. These vines were made up using nylon rope, silicone sealant & peat. After a number of my home made vines were added, I felt another type of vine / root was needed to link with the manuka wood. A few aerial roots of the pohutukawa did the trick…I added them in bunches, thinking I could easily cut a few out as required.

More pohutukawa roots, & a few more of my vines are added until I think it’s about right.

Then some brom’s are added just to give me a hint of what the background will be like once it’s all positioned back into the viv.

During this part of the process I was also working on the waterfall area in the back right corner. I wanted more of a trickle effect, rather than a full on torrent, so this meant I kept tinkering with the waterfall to get it right. While I could control the amount of water flow with the outlet valve on the fluval, I wanted to have the fall & spread of water about 90% right before the background was put back into the viv. I reckon I could have saved myself about a week if I hadn’t decided to do the waterfall thing, or been so fanatical about it :roll: I kept reminding myself & of what someone had told me… “Including a waterfall will add about 100% to difficulty factor, but it will add about 300% to the enjoyment factor”. They were right!

[zeebee]

you are so smart :nilly:

[mts sufferer]

Wow that's amazing!!!!! :thup: :thup:

What fish do you have in there?

[zeebee]

Its a vivarium for frogs.

[Sophia]

this is really cool, I don't want the story to end :spop:

[mts sufferer]

Its a vivarium for frogs.

:slfg:

I'm not that stupid, but Devo said that he was keeping fish in there as well as frogs.

my daughter really wanted to keep some fish as well…who was I to say no...so we worked out a list of requirements for the viv, to satisfy her & me! It had to provide a good enclosure for the frogs & for fish

[Devo]

Not sure if I'm smart or just obsessed Zeebee...I know what my wife would say :sml1:

There's more to come Sophia... :yaw1: hope all the waffle is not too boring...

mts sufferer (?) Yes, we do have fish in the viv...glad you read it! At this stage there are a school of 10 White Cloud Mountain Minnows, mainly the Gold form plus a couple of long fins, also have peppered cory...which seem to cope with the cool water temps. I want to add a Paradise Fish or 2, but concerned they may give the others a hard time...what do you think?