Terrarium Pics

[Beverly]

It took all summer and part of the fall to complete our new terrarium. Pics:

http://www.lostmymarblz.com/42galterrarium-nov18-1.jpg

http://www.lostmymarblz.com/42galterrarium-nov18-2.jpg

[UnderWorldAquatics]

do you keep any critters in there???

[albert_dao]

Whoa, that looks like it took monster amounts of work! Very showy!

[Beverly]

Whoa, that looks like it took monster amounts of work! Very showy!

I was going to set up a vivarium and researched what a vivarium actually was. It's an environment for sustaining animal and plant life, which is not what I wanted considering we have three reefs, a 90g ball python habitat as well as a large indoor finch aviary :eek: A terrarium sustains only plant life, which was more suitable for our needs. So, long story short, no animals in a terrarium.

Albert, Yup, lots of work which is why it took so long :eek: Most of it was done on the kitchen counter. Pieces of glass were measured and cut according to the layout of the hex tank. Each piece of glass had washed river rock siliconed into place. Once the various pieces of glass were siliconed together, the rest of the work had to be done standing on a chair and leaning down into the tank.

There's a false bottom to facilitate the waterfall. Landscaping fabric covers the areas of the false bottom where the potting soil and plants are. And some dummy, who shall remain nameless, dumped a bit of potting soil into the water while planting the plants. Now this dummy, okay it was me :redface: , has to do weekly water changes to get rid of the tea-coloured water.

All in all, the work was worth it and we now have a beautifully lit area in our hallway that would otherwise be dark :cool:

[andestang]

Very nice Bev :cool: I have a few critters that would love to move right in :mrgreen:

[Gujustud]

That looks ever soo insane! I like the looks of the rock very much.

Any good websites regarding these?

[Beverly]

Here are a few sites I found that helped inspire me:

http://www.frognet.org/gallery/Tincs-com-viv_construction

http://retirees.uwaterloo.ca/~jerry/orchids/light.html

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/vivarium/vivarium.html

Message boards:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/terrarium/nph-ind.cgi?type=gal&random=11281

http://www.dendroboard.com/phpBB2/index.php?sid=79f7ea35157a1044b78a7352318a2715

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=25

[Gujustud]

Thanks!

Since its only plant life. Did you setup a false bottom? If so, what did you use for substrate?

[Beverly]

Yup, has a false bottom to accomodate the waterfall. The waterfall is the most difficult part of the whole setup. It has to NOT leak anywhere, which requires testing, testing and more testing before any substrate goes into the terrarium. Even after the substrate's been in place for 3-4 weeks, I find I STILL have a small leak into the substrate portion :evil: Wish I had taken lots of pics during construction to show how I did it all.

Anyway, substrate consists of one brick of CocoEarth soaked in RO water to expand it and about two cups of worm castings. Bought all the hardware and substrate at a local hydroponics store.

The false bottom is made of eggcrate from Rona. Lego supports the eggcrate. Landscaping fabric goes over the eggcrate so the substrate doesn't go into the water.

BTW, all of the rock is mounted with silicone on pieces of glass.

[Gujustud]

Yup, has a false bottom to accomodate the waterfall. The waterfall is the most difficult part of the whole setup. It has to NOT leak anywhere, which requires testing, testing and more testing before any substrate goes into the terrarium. Even after the substrate's been in place for 3-4 weeks, I find I STILL have a small leak into the substrate portion :evil: Wish I had taken lots of pics during construction to show how I did it all.

Anyway, substrate consists of one brick of CocoEarth soaked in RO water to expand it and about two cups of worm castings. Bought all the hardware and substrate at a local hydroponics store.

The false bottom is made of eggcrate from Rona. Lego supports the eggcrate. Landscaping fabric goes over the eggcrate so the substrate doesn't go into the water.

BTW, all of the rock is mounted with silicone on pieces of glass.

Thanks for the details. I've been reading some of those forums, they actually look really sweet.