18x18x24 planted viv w/ DIY backround crestie build

[fallenangelfyre]

hey guys, time for a new build!
last one was a custom dry desert build for a leopard gecko. this one is going to be a tropical planted viv for either just one male crestie, or maybe a pair of female cresties.
after surfing CL for months looking for a deal on a terrarium or appropriate aquarium i said screw it & just bought everything new at the evil empire of petsmart. so after dropping about $200 at petsmart, wally world, & lowes here's what i came home with:
- 18x18x24 zoo med terrarium (wanted the exo terra b/c they seem a little higher quality, but with a price difference of $100, went w/ the zoo med)
- 18" exo terra compact light topper.
- 2 6500K CFL's
- brick of coco husk
- 3 cans of greatstuff big gap
- 4 tubes of GE silicon II (brown)
- 1 large chunk of craft styrofoam (prolly going to need more)
- 10lb. bag of dark color non-sanded grout
- 3 foam paintbrushes

so my vision is to do a hybrid DIY backround of both the styrofoam/grout stonework & GS/silicon/coco fiber BG. leca balls, mesh barrier, & organic mix of some sort covered with leaf litter & moss cover for substrate. planted with live plants.

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ok, went to the evil empire again and got a nice piece of mopani that will bridge the backround with a rockwall food dish ledge. also got a grab-bag of what i thought was a bunch of malaysian driftwood, didn't read the packaging well enough & turned out to be grapewood (which from what i've read doesn't hold up well in wet vivs). so . . idk.

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i just ordered a kaz coolmist humidifier, so i'm going to have the fog thing going on (on a timer prolly 1-2 times a day for a minute or two)
was thinking of carving up an easter island head thingy, embed it in the bg, and have the fog pour out of his mouth-

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siliconed in all the pvc connectors & what-not for the fogger:

started carving up my statue guy. turned out kinda creepy looking. gonna have the fog come out of his nose (was toying with the idea of having green LED's in his eyes):

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not alot of progress, but have one cool pic testing out the fogger through the statue head-

in the process of applying gs & carving. question:
need a way to seal the grout faux rock wall portions. i used mod podge in my previous build because it was a dry desert style viv, but i've noticed mod podge doesn't hold up well to moisture. i do have some polyacrylic that i bought recently for a furniture project (i believe minwax). toying with using it. i tried reading the msds sheet on it, but honestly i just don't understand all that technical mumbo-jumbo.
anybody have any experience using this stuff? any horror stories? successful attempts?

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grouting-

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this is Eros, the future inhabitant of this viv:

she is being held by Samantha of Crestopia Reptiles until i get the 10gal temp tank set up & my CGD comes in the mail. thanks Samantha!

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fogger test-

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decided not to paint the grout, so just going to forgo the sealant. would rather have painted it to make it look more stone-like & give more depth, but too much of a pain in the arse to locate a critter-friendly sealant. plus i have already completed the silicon/cocofiber portions, got my hydroton locally, & placed & am awaiting delivery of my plants & substrate. now i just want to get it all done. silicon/cocofiber is curing so alot of cocofiber piled up & not too pretty to look at, so no pics right now. plant list:

Sanseveria 2.5" Pot
Item# $3.95 USD 2 $7.90 USD

Selaginella Kraussiana "Spike Moss" 4" pot
Item# greenspikemoss $4.95 USD 1 $4.95 USD

NE Herp Vivarium Substrate Mix
Item# NEHSSUB $9.50 USD 3 $28.50 USD

Peperomia Japonica 3-4 clippings
Item# $4.95 USD 1 $4.95 USD

Selaginella Kraussiana Variegatus "Frosty Fern"
Item# $6.95 USD 1 $6.95 USD

Neoregelia "Eoz"
Item# $9.50 USD 1 $9.50 USD

Neoregelia Olens
Item# $9.99 USD 1 $9.99 USD

Standard 20G Viv Kit - 6 Tillandsias, 2 Wandering Jew Clippings, 2 Asst ivy clippings, 2 qty 12X12 Moss
Item# 20gkit $42.95 USD 1 $42.95 USD

 

[wakeskate420]

Looks awesome so far, can't wait to see it when its all finished, very cool fogger idea too!

 

[soccerdad]

looking good

 

[LzzrdBoy]

Awesome setup my friend. I'm working on the same at this very moment. I do however have a question... By not sealing the grout isn't there a risk that your Gecko may lick and ingest grout particles? I've read everywhere that this is a potential problem and does happen when sealant is not used. Thanks and again, Nicely Done!

 

[tlbowling]

Wow! I can't wait to see when its finished! It looks awesome already!

 

[fallenangelfyre]

need to do a little touch-up of the silicon & cocofiber, but-

 

[fallenangelfyre]

QUESTION:
so this is my first time doing the silicon/cocofiber action & i am noticing that some of the silicon refuses to cure properly. it just stays kinda mushy. has anyone ever experienced this before?
-starting to regret not doing clay/kittylitter BG-

 

[tlbowling]

What does it look like from the sides? I want to do something like this, but don't want to see the great stuff, silicone, etc. from the sides.

 

[WulfSC]

Justin/Amy (not sure who's posting...LOL), the set-up is looking awesome. Can't wait to see the finished product. Unfortunately, I can't answer any of your question because the only thing I've made so far is a few hides for some leopard geckos, and a rack for some of my snakes.

 

[fallenangelfyre]

What does it look like from the sides? I want to do something like this, but don't want to see the great stuff, silicone, etc. from the sides.

going to mask off & spray paint black the areas that have exposed "guts"-

 

[WulfSC]

Just curious... is it possible to (or would it work) if you laid some wax paper (or other medium) on the glass before spray the GREATSTUFF on it? I like the way it looks, and the workability of it, but I'd want it to be removeable. Also, is it possible to embed some magnets in the foam to make the ledges, etc... removeable as well? Just wondering. Thanks.

And again, amazing job.

 

[fallenangelfyre]

Just curious... is it possible to (or would it work) if you laid some wax paper (or other medium) on the glass before spray the GREATSTUFF on it? I like the way it looks, and the workability of it, but I'd want it to be removeable.

yes, it's possible to make it removable, but it's difficult. what i've seen people do is line the glass with wax paper, then build a "frame" out of eggcrate light diffusers as a base for the GS to go onto. the only problem is GS kinda shrinks as it cures, so it pulls the walls in as it cures & everything doesn't fit as well anymore.

Also, is it possible to embed some magnets in the foam to make the ledges, etc... removeable as well? Just wondering. Thanks.

very much so. it's quite easy- i've done it before. this website has some really strong magnets for quite cheap.

thanks

anybody have any answers to my silicon question? ? ? ?

 

[houseb]

QUESTION:
so this is my first time doing the silicon/cocofiber action & i am noticing that some of the silicon refuses to cure properly. it just stays kinda mushy. has anyone ever experienced this before?
-starting to regret not doing clay/kittylitter BG-

Depends on how thick you made the silicone, it can take weeks to fully cure in a warm dry environment if you put it on super thick. This is a thread from the hermit crab association forum from someone who experienced something similar: http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=79703

 

[fallenangelfyre]

THOROUGHLY discouraged. put on some latex gloves, grabbed some paper towel and started wiping the silicon/cocofiber to remove any uncured or possibly bad silicon. i'd say about 85% came away. way more than i expected. impossible to get all of it out of all the millions of crooks and crannies of the GS. also left a thin film on the glass of uncured silicon.
so now . . . idk. not only do i know if a newly applied layer of silicon would even adhere properly over all the leftover film of uncured silicon, but i'm afraid that it will be impossible to get all the uncured silicone covered & pose a toxic threat to my gecko.
here is what the tank looks like now-

@ houseb:
yeah, i did do it pretty thick, though no where near 1/2", i'd say prolly more like around 1/4". so i think that definitely contributed to the problem a lot. but i think another thing that contributed is a couple tubes of bad silicon. i noticed when it was coming out it looked kinda gritty, like there was some sand mixed in it. if you look at the pic above, you can see the parts on the top that cured properly? well that was a different type of silicon that i got when i ran out of the other stuff.

 

[houseb]

I think if you just give it some time to air out, it'll be fine. Then just apply the good silicone really thin on a small area and see if that works. I'm sure this project will work out for you, it might just take a bit longer than expected. Sunshine and open air I'm sure will do wonders. I hope everything cures for you, it's a really awesome set up.

 

[fallenangelfyre]

ok, so i finally got over the bad silicon & went to work on the tank. got as much of the bad crap out that i could. tested a small section before going doing the whole thing & when it worked, i went ahead and did the rest of the tank. after a few days cure-time, cleaned it out, & put in the hydroton, screen barrier, & substrate mix. then went to town planting. this is what i've got so far: (some of these plants are not planted, just sitting in there for the benefit of the light, humidity, & protection from the devil-cat i.e. the frosty fern & english ivy sitting in the front, the wandering jew clippings, some more hoya, as well as all the tillandsia's are just sitting in there)

 

[acharpenter]

Wow - that turned out great! I love the fog - when does Crestie move in?

 

[fallenangelfyre]

so i decided on tillandsias placement and mounted them. cleared out the plants i won't be using in this viv atm and put down the live moss. i kinda doubt the moss is going to do well or even survive in a crestie viv, but we'll see. anyway, looks a lot better now.

what do you think?

@acharpenter: idk. she's still a bit on the little side to be in this big guy. plus i kinda want to give everything, especially the moss a chance to acclimate & mature some before i put a gecko jumping all over everything in there.

 

[tlbowling]

It turned out really nice, I love it!

 

[Phil]

Crazy nice looking. Congrats!