# 52 Gal Hex Massive final update page 3.



## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

So after being inspired by 'defaced', I thought i would have a go at my own wood viv. 

We had some old oak (i think) plywood kicking around in work so here it is so far. Hopefully this link to my gallery will work.



















Then I filled the screw holes with wood filler and stained the tank and lid.
I'm just waiting for the stain to dry then i can varnish it. In the meantime i'm going to work on the stand.










Update 06-20

I managed to get the stand done now, Like the tank it needs staining and fixtures and fittings put on, then a coat of varnish for the tank and stand. The drain and fogger holes are drilled now, the stand needs a shelf putting inside also.



















The tank and stand are 65" high, its just a little over our dodge caravan! think i'll need a step ladder for feedeing time!

Update 06-25

I took apart a couple of old fish tank flourescents to mount in the hood and made my DIY light bracket from 26 ga Plate steel. Its flimsy enough to cut with tin snips but strong enough to hold a few lamps.



















This is a shot of both sets of lights, taken in the garage at 1am in the dark with no flash. Ithink this should be enough light, the bulbs are rated at 6000 k and the flouro's are plant lights, they seem to bring out the color and improve the health of my broms. The photo makes the light look blue-er than it actually is.










I still have to stain and varnish the stand yet. My next update should be when the inside of the tank is siliconed. Should be looking more like a Viv by then.

Update 07-06

Well the tank and stand are now stained and varnished, i have cut and fitted the lip in the top that will support the glass lid and mister housings and the whole inside of the tank has been siliconed. It took 7 tubes of silicone to water proof. In the shot you can see a test piece of wood (actually the roots of a long fallen pine hit by lightning in the mountains near where we live).




















I have also made the mister heads, they are quick connects sprayed black for aesthetics and to make all three with brass female couplings and 1gph nozzles cost $22.










Tomorrow is Home depot day for eggcrate and support tubes and a few bits and bobs.

Update 07-08

The plumbing is in for the ultrasonic fogger, the top of the 1" pipe is sealed with silicone and the 'vent' is covered with a very fine mesh, about the same as 'no-see-um' mesh. Its glued in with copious amounts of gorilla glue then siliconed over the top to give a good and hopefully water tight seal.










This is the overflow for the false bottom, incorperated in the same pipe is 3/8" slilicone tubing for the drain. This will sit on the bottom of the tank with a ball valve at the botom. Hopefully i should be able to open the valve and the water 'should' drain out. It needs some fine metal mesh over the end yet to stop debris from entering and clogging the pipe.










These are the 2 1/2" pipe couplers i am using to support the false bottom. Note the notches cut in the botom of each one to stop the build up of stale water









And then we add the eggcrate. I use tin snips to cut it.. much quicker. I also had to use the siver/chrome stuff as Home Depot was out of the white stuff, but they sold it to me for the same price as white so i don't mind too much. It still does the same job.










Next to come, the water test. Is the bottom waterproof? I hope so or its back to the drawing board. Hopefully i will get a chance to test this in the next few days.

This is the mister pump and during test



















And now the pump is installed, you can also see the overflow on the left, the drain in the middle and the ultrasonic fogger pipe on the right.












Update 11 sept 06

Well after managing to get no work done on my project for about 9 weeks, i'm back.

I installed a new drain plug, the old one was silicone airline and didnt stick to the silicone sealant i used to hold it in place. It is now modified with 1" PVC pipe and gorilla glue and siliconed over that to create a seal. 

I now have the ultrasonic fogger (walmart special!) and the pump installed for the mister system. 

I have used Tile guide as the framework to hold the glass in place. It's been siliconed to the wood then nailed in place to hold secure and be watertight.





































Also today i have started to Great Stuff the wood in place. It took me about an hour of swapping the wood around to get the right position. Once i have a few coats of great stuff on i will be able to drop the tank section on its back and sides to put the foam exactly here i want it.










I'm going to be working on this most days now so i will update with more photos in a few days. 

Update 09-12

The Great stuff is almost finished now, i just need to build the background out so it's more 3D and add the 'platforms' to create more footprint and useable ground space. These will also house the small ponds which will be for tadpole distribution one day (along with the bromiliads).




















This is a small selection of the plants going in, i also have taiwan moss for the wood and Antone will be getting a PM off me soon with an order for a whole bunch of greenery.










These are a few photos of the absolutley imperetive mess i have made so far, (i tell my wife i know exactly where everything is!!!)



















*New update 05 Jan 07*

So just before Christmas i managed to finish off the background. Then the tank was water tested one more time, which was left for about two weeks with no leaks.

Yesterday i got the glass cut. Some of the glas was stuff i managed to salvage from a previuos project and some was new.

I also drilled holes in the wood (1 1/4") to accomodate some small ferns i have growing ready to go in.





































Taken with no flash and the lights off in the garage, to give an idea of the light levels in the tank.










I am hoping (and have been for several months now) that my 'little' project will be completed soon and take it's place in the living room.

All i have left is to cut and drill the glass lid, put the final layers of mesh in for the false bottom, add soil and plants etc, leave for about 2-3 weeks then add frogs. Which incedentally are 3 Lovelly man creeks from Bill (elmoisfive). They are currently in holding tanks where the two juvi's (pressumed females) can get some size before being added in with the adult (pressumed) male.


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## Guest (Jun 18, 2006)

wow! 
awesome start that viv is amazing!


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Thanks outcold..

Well i'm in work, nothing going on, I have my tools, the wood and there is no shade and its 108 degrees.. can somebody send me some motivation so i can get building the stand.. please!

Steve


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## Frank H (Nov 3, 2005)

Looking great 
Steve.. Cant wait to see this one fill out.

Frank


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## Guest (Jun 19, 2006)

Geesh, everyones a good carpenter but me. Maybe i need to take some of those home depot carpentry classes or something to learn how to build Vivs like you guys. I am getting way to jealous!!!!


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Bump for update 06-25

Steve


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## 311_dart (May 20, 2006)

wow, looks great so far. i look forward to seeing the progress.


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

> can somebody send me some motivation


Me too. I'm almost to the point where I can start on decorating the tanks I'm on. It wouldn't be bad if I was only doing one tank, but I'm doing six of them - ugh. 

Steve, this is going to look great. I'm very anxious to see the final product. What will you be using on the inside to seal the wood? Did I read correctly, silicone?


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Yeah Mike, you read right.

I found this 100% silicone sealant in my local military store, I ran a thread on it a while back. Its cheap and carries no mildew nasty stuff and it compares with mds sheets to GE. I tested it on some spare plywood, an offcut from the tank, it sticks very well (to the point where i scratched some off with a nail and only the top surface came off, the rest underneath stayed waterproof). I was going to line the tank first but after trying this silicone, i was so impressed i thought i would give it a go. its $3.30 ish a tube (10.1 oz) and i figure i will need about 8 to ten tubes for the whole tank. This fits into a budget Viv. (I wouldn't like to imagine the cost for 6 tanks though, or the time to spread it!!)

I will e-mail you some more pic's soon Mike as i have a few extra not seen on here you may like to use on your DIY Vivs site but feel free to take any of these too if you like.

I'm also running a cost sheet to the cent, on what it would cost to buy all this stuff and for what its actually costing me. For example, the wood for me was free and the lights i had kicking around in my garage. Even after buying all the stuff though it should still be pretty cheap for someone with a small idea of DIY.

My main problem at the moment is what to put in it. I was thinking about moving my Tinct's but my fantastic wife said 'why don't you buy some new frogs to go in there'.. was i hearing right? is this blackmail for a new dress? shoes? a car?.. i don't care, she said i can get more frogs!! So now i need to have a think about what to put in it. I like the idea of retics or Amazonicus but i have no experience with small thumbnails/pumilio? Retics have such great colors? Dilema's dilema's, at least i have about three months to decide anyhow.

Regards

Steve


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Bump for update 07-06

Steve


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Three for 22, that's my MAN!!! Let me know if you need info on finding a pump. 

This is going to look great. I'm really looking forward to the final product. 

So I gotta ask, how'd you avoid burning your nose off working with 7 tubes of silicone? I kill myslef when I only have to do one side of a tank and that takes like half a tube or so.


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Ha.. I didn't avoid the fumes! be a man..! I love the smell of silicone in the morning! only kidding.. i had a 22 inch fan next to my face which made no difference at all cos it just circulated the fumes around the garage, even though the door was open. My eyes were burning and running and i had a stinking headache for two days after but it was worth it.. i hope!

I need to get over to lowes to check out their prices as these nozzles were made from home depot quick connects and i have heard in lowes they are like 50-60c cheaper per connect which should mean you could make three nozzles for between $15-$17. I'm going for maximum budget on this one just to see how cheaply a good viv can be made for.

As for the pump, i have found a Ryan Herco place down the road from me, they sell the flojets mentioned in tthe famous cheap pumps thread, about $41 bucks so i'm gonna check them out and my wife is getting me an ultrasonic mister for my Birthday in a few weeks. Its really hard for her to find me anything i need so this year i said "i know just the thing"

Take care

Steve

P.S when are we gonna see your Plywood beauty's all planted and frogged up Mike?


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Bump for update 07-08

Thanks

Steve


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

My tanks will be planted by tomorrow night/Monday day, so look for a very substantial update on Monday/Tuesday. Right now all of the wood is in, 95% of the GS is sprayed/cured/carved, now I'm just waiting to do the concrete binder/peat moss covering and for it to cure. I've heard it can take a while for that to cure, so it's possible the update will fall short of having plants in the tank. 

Man, two days with a headache, forget that. I was starting to think the silicone thing would be a good idea but I'll stick to joys epoxy bring to the process.


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Bump for update.

Regards

Steve


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## Guest (Sep 12, 2006)

looking good steve. ive been wanting to try a non squae plywood tank. im looking forward to how the glass fits in. also, do you have a material list for the nozzles you made? where did you get the actual nozzle?


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## Frank H (Nov 3, 2005)

Looking awesome!


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Bump for another update and more photos added throughout the whole journal.

Thanks for looking.

Steve


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Dude, this is looking great! I've not read the text, but have you mentioned how you're covering your GS?

Also, did a tag come with this brom (far right):








I picked one up several years ago and ended up losing it and haven't been able to find another since then. Mine was a Vriesea judging by its spike. 

This reminds me, I've got alot of updating to do on my own thread.


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Hi Mike,

It didn't have a tag but there seems to be a lot of them around just now, i was waiting six months to find one, and now they are in home depot, albertsons, walmart they are all around $7 each.

The background will be brown silicone and shpagnum peat.. prepare to get messy. One thing i have noticed which i took for granted was silicone sticks to GS well, thing is GS doesn't stick to silicone well.. i have enough of a bond but it's not the strongest. Ihave been backing up the GS with gorilla glue, i know it's a similar product but it seems to be doing the trick.

Your right you need to update, i'm still waiting on seeing your plywood tanks, grown in and populated, figured you had been busy.

Instead of sending you the photos for this project one by one, i will put them all on disk for you and post them to you for your DIYvivs.com ok.
PM me your new address (i think you said you were moving house).

Regards

Steve


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

defaced said:


> Dude, this is looking great! I've not read the text, but have you mentioned how you're covering your GS?
> 
> Also, did a tag come with this brom (far right):
> 
> ...


Vriesea splendens. Gets HUGE. Will outgrow just about any terrarium sad to say b/c it is a purrrrrty one.


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Bump for New Years update.

Regards

Steve


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Ok, so the tank is almost finished now, it has been moved into it's final resting place and is undergoing temp trials. This is how i got there.

Moved into the living room.



















Checking the Dawn and Dusk lights which come on an hour before the big lights come on and go out an hour and a half after the main lights go out.










Then i checked the fogger to make sure that was good.




























The fog test was good, no fog where there shouldn't be so time to fit the finer mesh in the false bottom.










Then add the stryofoam peanuts, a lightwieght addition in between substrate and false bottom.










Then the very fine mesh to stop the substrate falling into the stryofoam.










Then on with adding the soil. I didn't take any pictures at this stage cos i had soil all over my hands but this is what it looked like after. The soil is in two layers, the first just eco chippings and eco soil, about an inch layer. Then i added another 3/4" of top soil made of sphagnum peat moss, orchid potting soil (eco with no added fertilizer etc) and eco soil and chippings 2:2:1:1 ratio.










This is how it looks in the living room.










This is with the dawn and dusk lights on, it's a bad picture but you get the idea.










This is the engine, or so to speak. This is the bottom half of the tank that holds the timers, misters, overflow bucket and humidifier. Everything is really well sealed as there is a lot of water along side a lot of electricity.




























Then add a few more plants, mainly creeping fig and Taiwan moss.



















Almost done. The temps are sitting at 78 day down to 65-67 night but i have full control with vents, extraction fans and fans to direct heat from the bulbs, it's just a matter of finding the right balance.

Hopefully in about a week i will order some broms from Antone, i'm thinking maybe just four as i don't want to overcrowd the viv.

Thanks for looking and please pass me your critiscism.

Regards

Steve


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Steve, I gotta be frank man, it sucks. 







I could never be that mean. It looks great. I really like your wood layout and how it uses the volume of the viv as opposted to just be set into the background. What color/brand stain did you use? I really really like it.


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Hi Mike,

Your right it does suck, in fact i'll take trade for a ten gallon and a pothos plant. :lol: :lol: 

Everything on this viv was done in the cheapest way. The stain was like $3 from walmart, it's cherry mahogony. I can't remember the brand but i can pm you when i get home from work later and let you know. Incedentally i only used about half a quart can on the whole thing.

Regards

Steve


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## titan501x (Dec 7, 2006)

wow! very nice!


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Steve said:


> Your right it does suck, in fact i'll take trade for a ten gallon and a pothos plant. :lol: :lol:


What did you say your address was? I'll have one out in the mail tomorrow :lol: :lol:


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## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

That tank looks fantastic! I just have two questions: do you plant on using bg cover plants, and do you plan on filling in the bottom two corners?


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Hey Mike, 

can you imagine the shipping on this thing, it weighs like 180 lbs full.

Hi Josh, thanks for the comments, the corners will stay as is for now. Taiwan moss has a habit of growing over anything so it may cover the bottom too, in time anyhow. Whats a BG cover plant?

Regards

Steve


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## RGB (Jan 15, 2006)

Background maybe?

Beautiful viv Steve, gotta love the fact that it's pretty much built from scratch. Keep us updated as it grows in.


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Yeah that would sound about right...

The background on the upper levels will be getting some Broms from Antone in the next week or so, apart from that maybe a little more creeping fig, i dunno, i'll see how it looks with the Broms.

I'll still be updating though, when the broms go in and when the Man Creeks are finally released from their respective holding pens. I just need to get all the systems settled and predictable then in about three weeks the frogs will go in.

Once this is done i will move the post to members frogs and vivs with a link both ways to this topic and the members frogs area. Then every month or so i will update with how it's growing in and how the little guys are doing.

Regards

Steve


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

*Final update 02/13*

Well the broms from Antone arrived last thursday evening so i set about putting them in. I ordered 2xN.Ampulacia and 2xN.Guinea. (Awesome broms and really hold water well, thanks for the advice Antone).

The frogs then went in on Friday and in the final pictures, you will see what i found on Sunday. The eggs went bad, but hey it's a good start.
































































And then the WHOO HOO.....



















Well in the next few days i will put a few of these pictures over to Members frogs and Vivs and this construction journal will see it's final entry today. Seven months of work (on and off) and this is what can be done with a little imagination and some scrap wood!!

I will update periodically in members frogs though as the tank grows in and the Creeks grow a little.

Regards and....

Thanks for looking.

Steve


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Cheers! I'll have a shot of Jack for you Steve. That looks great, and I'm sure it feels good to have it finished and looking this good. I saw your pics in the gallery when I was uploading some and I said to myself "Holy sh_t, he got it done!! That looks damn good too. "


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Thanks Mike,

It is a great feeling to just have finished it, overcome the things that needed over coming and to create a wooden thing that isn't a boat that doesn't leak :lol: 

It was an awesome suprise to find eggs too, i wasn't expecting that for months yet... i wasn't even sure still if i had a male / female mix.

I think i too will be having a shot of Jack when i get home from work tonight.. Updating this was the final step in what seems to have been an endless journey.

Incedentally Mike, i will post you a CD when i get a chance for your DIY Viv's. It will have loads of photo's and some you haven't seen yet. That way you can pick and choose what you want (if any) to use.

Best regards

Steve


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Excellent Steve! If it's anything like my plywood tank page will be, it'll be chalk full of pictures.


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## hopalong (Sep 19, 2005)

Can we get an update?


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## LaserGecko (Oct 8, 2007)

> Can we get an update?


Here's a bit of an update. Steve got called back to the UK with little warning, so it has a new owner now. (Not me, sadly, but they're in a great home!) 

The FloJet pump died sometime in December. It was dead as a door nail. We don't know if it was a mechanical failure or a faulty timer setting that let it destroy itself. 

Either way, _that_ won't happen again with this tank! 










The tank now has a HerpMist Hobbyist Pump (Aquatec 6800) and ART-DNe Repeat Cycle Timer controlling it, so setting the mist cycles involves turning two knobs and tapping a button. This setup will outlive us all since the pump can run dry and/or continuously without failure, but with a two year warranty on the pump and a three year warranty on the timer there's no chance of that happening. Even if the reservoir runs dry, well...just replace the water instead of replacing burnt out hardware. What a radical idea...fault tolerant pumps!

The only "problem" with the new setup is that you have to listen for the sound of _misting _ to know that it's working! Sally asked if the pump was loud and almost didn't believe me when I told her it was already running.  There's a bit of tubing movement that I left into the system so she could tell for sure when it was running. That tank is sealed really well, so you have to be pretty close to hear the misting.


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Hi Guys,

well i am slowly finding the time to get back on here and catch up. Life has been a little hectic just lately.

I miss my DIY viv immensley, unfortunatly these things sometimes happen. I was also saddened to hear the pump and timer system blew, looks pretty nice now though, sounds a lot quieter too from what i can gather. Luckily my Viv went to a very good and enthusiastic home.

Regards to you all,

Steve


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## LaserGecko (Oct 8, 2007)

Did the move go OK, Steve?

BTW, I think my wife may have the bug a bit after seeing the tincts! The baby green and blacks are just too darned cute.


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