# 6x5x3 arboreal vivarium...



## TheMetaphysicalNinja (Aug 18, 2009)

If your a paper towel fan, look away now 

Got a HUGE vivarium (6 feet high, 5 wide, 3 deep) coming soon, and it's going to be full live planted, teeming with custodians and general bugs and big fancy plants and the like... 

heres the inspiration:

Google Image Result for http://rfadventures.com/images/School%20Images/rainforest%20edu1.jpg

Google Image Result for http://www.realfuture.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/ecuador-rainforest1.jpg

This will be the biggest vivarium I've ever done... heck, the biggest I've ever seen xD Going to have to go serious plant shopping though! 

I'm thinking about 4 more good sized bromeliads, (got 3) 
buckets more moss to hang
Lots more pillow/live spag moss that will hopefully grow into a carpet of sorts over the substrate
a few more air plants too for foilage further up
Already have some air plants & mosses, plus seeds for a few more, annnnd a couple of climbers which are shooting up (inch plants  )

Has anyone used anything that they would recommend? 

And lots more polystyrene, sealant & grout for the background xD

it will look like a small chunk of rainforest when I'm done lol. 

Got nothing at all to show for it yet, but I wanted to shout about it, just cuz I'm excited :blush:

I'm going to have great fun with this


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## keencarper (Nov 3, 2008)

Sounds great can't wait to see it in progress let alone done:2thumb: not got know advice at all but like the whole concept.


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## chondro13 (Aug 18, 2008)

that sounds awesome - whats going in it? did i miss that? Its late :blush:


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## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

i think you should put a pygmy cham in it... just the one


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

*Don't skimp on the lighting.*

I wouldn't use grout, there's much more natural looking alternatives. Maybe some cork bark pressed into some clay.

Eco earth/spray foam etc etc

Find some interesting bits of wood and spray foam them on the back wall, attach bromeliads to these and it will look awesome.

4 Bromeliads? I'd say you'd need at least 10, depending on size.

The german sites are much better for tropical plants, delivery is a bit extra but nothing crazy.

And also...PLAN. Make sketches so you know where you're going with it.

Moss is hit and miss but people seem to be having luck with local collected moss somehow! Mine is still thriving.


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## TheMetaphysicalNinja (Aug 18, 2009)

chondro13 said:


> that sounds awesome - whats going in it? did i miss that? Its late :blush:


Haha, nope, I didn't say  

This guy is:









Acanthosaurus capra, my angry little mountain horned dragon :lol2:
He'll be getting a girlfriend when the new tanks all set to go and the spares set up for her quarantine. 



Meko said:


> i think you should put a pygmy cham in it... just the one


:roll2: it'd get lost xD 



Morgan Freeman said:


> *Don't skimp on the lighting.*
> 
> I wouldn't use grout, there's much more natural looking alternatives. Maybe some cork bark pressed into some clay.
> Eco earth/spray foam etc etc
> ...


Thanks, lighting's the thing I'm thinking about at the moment, got about 3 different lights I need to get on and get, plus a couple of other ideas. 
The background, the idea was really that the climbers would swamp it and completely cover it, I've never actually done a full background before so can see it going horribly wrong if I try anything complicated. The spray foam idea sounds good though, will look into it thanks  
Yeah I'm going to need wayyyyy more plants, but need to find some decent & not too overpriced ones first. 
Mosses... I've got tropical pillow moss at the moment, doesn't look like it's doing too well though... Again, it's something else I'm in need of more of lol. 
: victory:


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Yeah, personally I never bother with a super complicated background as it's the plants that create the look. There's plenty of climbers that will reach the 6ft mark easily enough and cover the whole area.

House plants. Home of indoor and office plants delivered across the UK does fully grown plants if you fancy getting a bit of growth in there straight away.

Ben's Jungle Online-Shop

E.N.T. Terrarientechnik

Dartfrog - Everything for the Amphibian Keeper

For other plants.


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## andy123 (Oct 23, 2008)

oooooo, ima keep my eye on this im also doing a natural jungle viv but not quiet as big but 4ft x 20" x 4ft for my male chameleon with live plants and background hopefully  will be good to see yours finished


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## TheMetaphysicalNinja (Aug 18, 2009)

Morgan Freeman said:


> Yeah, personally I never bother with a super complicated background as it's the plants that create the look. There's plenty of climbers that will reach the 6ft mark easily enough and cover the whole area.
> 
> House plants. Home of indoor and office plants delivered across the UK does fully grown plants if you fancy getting a bit of growth in there straight away.
> 
> ...


Thanks  



andy123 said:


> oooooo, ima keep my eye on this im also doing a natural jungle viv but not quiet as big but 4ft x 20" x 4ft for my male chameleon with live plants and background hopefully  will be good to see yours finished


Lol, your welcome to any genius ideas I come up with  


What about air drying clay, could it be used to make a entire background? 
Or used to attach branches/climbing things to the viv? 
something like Newclay 25Kg Reinforced Air Drying Model Clay on eBay (end time 16-Oct-10 14:13:17 BST)

: victory:


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## andy123 (Oct 23, 2008)

air drying clay is very heavy and if some breaks off and drops will damage alot of things maybe even the animals in it, small quantities could work for like the branches but still if they drop they could do damage


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## s6t6nic6l (May 15, 2010)

no tips here, just subscribing to thread. sounds like a great venture. good luck

p.s. when you say "on it's way" is this your custom design or ready built to buy.


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## krox2008 (Aug 9, 2009)

sounds class m8 but the one thing i can think of is if do fake rock background you might need to be able to take it to bits as if it is 3ft deep it wont go through a normal door:2thumb:


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## VdubS (Jul 15, 2007)

Sounds awesome mate, id love to do something like this when i have my own place, i havea 4 foot herptek which im setting up naturalistic but nothing live in it apart fro mthe snake lol.

What is the viv going to be made from im guessing its going to be water tight? Just thinking of mould etc with wood..look forward to some pictures!!:2thumb:


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## TheMetaphysicalNinja (Aug 18, 2009)

s6t6nic6l said:


> no tips here, just subscribing to thread. sounds like a great venture. good luck
> 
> p.s. when you say "on it's way" is this your custom design or ready built to buy.


Yeah pretty much, custom job one. Thanks  



krox2008 said:


> sounds class m8 but the one thing i can think of is if do fake rock background you might need to be able to take it to bits as if it is 3ft deep it wont go through a normal door:2thumb:


Lol, the viv is coming in through the patio doors, it's too big for the front door :lol2:
The backgrounds probably going to be made of bits of scrounged poly lol, nothing the actual size of the viv : victory:



VdubS said:


> Sounds awesome mate, id love to do something like this when i have my own place, i havea 4 foot herptek which im setting up naturalistic but nothing live in it apart fro mthe snake lol.
> 
> What is the viv going to be made from im guessing its going to be water tight? Just thinking of mould etc with wood..look forward to some pictures!!:2thumb:


Thanks  It's laminated beech, all sealed up, plus I'm adding a liner to the bottom of it to protect the wood even more, don't fancy this thing going rotten anytime soon : victory:


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

If it's a wooden viv and you want i8t to last, get some cheap pond liner, and silcone it to all the side, roof, and create a sealed try on the bottom. Do the bottom first though. 

This is what i have done and my planted vivs, if they are wooden. 

here is mine, thought not quite as large as yours http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/foru...ropically-planted-community-viv-pictures.html

Jay


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## TheMetaphysicalNinja (Aug 18, 2009)

Cheers, I've got one plastic sheet for the bottom, need to get some more though lol. 

Right, lighting... how does this sound then?



2 x compact 2% UVB's for plants
150w zoo med daylight bulb
6500K daylight energy saver (general lighting)
75w nightglo bulb
10% UVB tube x2 (making use of the starters I already have)
Should light it up as clear as day :lol2:

The tank itself is FINALLY coming next tuesday...


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## TheMetaphysicalNinja (Aug 18, 2009)

I may have slightly forgotten about this thread... 

PHOTOS 

(I can't get far enough back to get it all into one photo lol)




















































I'm sure you'll have noticed by now, it's distinctly lacking in a background... Mainly because I'm distinctly lacking in monies. :lol2:

Anyway, waiting for the plants to grow in now... taking a while as I started with cuttings/seeds :whip: but when they do, they *should* cover the back and sides and everything else well enough... I hope. lol.


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