Leoslizards
New Member
- Messages
- 7
- Location
- Homestead FL
My fatty has been a good boy this year so I decided to surprise him with a new bachelor pad so I was wondering how a fatty will do in a tropical terrarium setup? This is what I basically want interior style wise. A rock wall with many caves and ledges, some random sphagnum moss patches with live exotic plants, maybe a piece of driftwood resembling a tree, and a small water fall with a lake on the bottom of the cage and a fogger system. Think of one of those amphibian terrarium setups.
Here's a great example from Exo-Terra.
I will be using one of these cages preferably the tallest one since I can't seem to find a long horizontal version of these cages. I like the all glass look and must hold water on the bottom.
The down side to this cage is the lack of walkable surface especially with the lake on the bottom, but I plan to build a series of caves and ledges into the rock wall which will allow him to climb all the way to the top.
For heating I will embed heat tape in certain ledges and caves which will be made of concrete or some other suitable building material.
The waterfall/lake will have it's own filtration system underneath the terrarium which will consist of a wet/dry sump system since I already have all the materials need to make this sump setup, but will most likely require me to drill the tank for the overflow which I'm not to excited about. Another option would be to use a canister filter because there might not be any glass drilling involved. The system will also include a UV water sterilizer, an inline water heater canister (holds a regular aquarium glass heater and plumbs it into the system), and a misting system for the live plants and moist den with a digital timer.
Lighting will be for the live plants. Not sure what I will use but I found some affordable led panels that are supposedly for plant growth.
The only concerns I have are with the humidity levels being to high. Maybe I could remove the misting system from the humidity cave and leave all caves dry? Maybe a circulation fan? I also wanted to add some small freshwater fish to the lake, maybe some fancy guppies, a beta, glow fish, or some cardinal tetras? Keep in mind that this will also be my fatty's drinking water supply. I would like to add some live freshwater plants and possibly use a co2 gas injection system but I'm afraid these added luxuries might harm my fatty. The canister or sump filtration system will include carbon, to remove color, oder, and other impurities, and also (GFO) Granular Ferric Oxide to remove excess phosphates from the water to inhibit the growth of algae.
My budget for this project is currently $200 but will increase with time as needed. Keep in mind that I already have almost every thing except the cage, cement (rock building material), lighting, and canister filter. The lighting and filter can wait. I prefer to spend the budget on the cage itself and rock building material. It would be great to stay under $100 for the cage unless spending a bit extra on it would be worth it.
I've got the heat tape, some driftwood, moss, UV filter, water heater, water pumps, extra aquariums for wet/dry sump (1x30g, 2x29g, 3x20g, and 6x10g.), the misting system with digital timer, some halogen lighting fixtures (may get too hot, but could replace the bulbs with leds), and florescent tube fixtures (t8).
So the main thing to focus on would be the cage itself. I couldn't find that exo-terra cage at a good price yet but I found this Zoo-Med
one for only $91.99.
This Terrafuana one looks decent for $119.99. I have a 29g tank similar to this one, maybe I could cut the front glass and make it just like this one?
This Exo-terra one would be perfect but it's over my budget. I could also possibly make this using an old 30 gal I have laying around.
Any advice and or ideas on this project would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Leo.
Here's a great example from Exo-Terra.
I will be using one of these cages preferably the tallest one since I can't seem to find a long horizontal version of these cages. I like the all glass look and must hold water on the bottom.
The down side to this cage is the lack of walkable surface especially with the lake on the bottom, but I plan to build a series of caves and ledges into the rock wall which will allow him to climb all the way to the top.
For heating I will embed heat tape in certain ledges and caves which will be made of concrete or some other suitable building material.
The waterfall/lake will have it's own filtration system underneath the terrarium which will consist of a wet/dry sump system since I already have all the materials need to make this sump setup, but will most likely require me to drill the tank for the overflow which I'm not to excited about. Another option would be to use a canister filter because there might not be any glass drilling involved. The system will also include a UV water sterilizer, an inline water heater canister (holds a regular aquarium glass heater and plumbs it into the system), and a misting system for the live plants and moist den with a digital timer.
Lighting will be for the live plants. Not sure what I will use but I found some affordable led panels that are supposedly for plant growth.
The only concerns I have are with the humidity levels being to high. Maybe I could remove the misting system from the humidity cave and leave all caves dry? Maybe a circulation fan? I also wanted to add some small freshwater fish to the lake, maybe some fancy guppies, a beta, glow fish, or some cardinal tetras? Keep in mind that this will also be my fatty's drinking water supply. I would like to add some live freshwater plants and possibly use a co2 gas injection system but I'm afraid these added luxuries might harm my fatty. The canister or sump filtration system will include carbon, to remove color, oder, and other impurities, and also (GFO) Granular Ferric Oxide to remove excess phosphates from the water to inhibit the growth of algae.
My budget for this project is currently $200 but will increase with time as needed. Keep in mind that I already have almost every thing except the cage, cement (rock building material), lighting, and canister filter. The lighting and filter can wait. I prefer to spend the budget on the cage itself and rock building material. It would be great to stay under $100 for the cage unless spending a bit extra on it would be worth it.
I've got the heat tape, some driftwood, moss, UV filter, water heater, water pumps, extra aquariums for wet/dry sump (1x30g, 2x29g, 3x20g, and 6x10g.), the misting system with digital timer, some halogen lighting fixtures (may get too hot, but could replace the bulbs with leds), and florescent tube fixtures (t8).
So the main thing to focus on would be the cage itself. I couldn't find that exo-terra cage at a good price yet but I found this Zoo-Med
one for only $91.99.
This Terrafuana one looks decent for $119.99. I have a 29g tank similar to this one, maybe I could cut the front glass and make it just like this one?
This Exo-terra one would be perfect but it's over my budget. I could also possibly make this using an old 30 gal I have laying around.
Any advice and or ideas on this project would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Leo.
