# Vivarium project Step:3 & 4 Ventilation & Great Stuf



## Jason (Oct 14, 2004)

I am in the process of making a new vivarium. I have never made one from scratch, but it is time I give it a shot. It will sit in the corner of a room like a diamond, with 2 sides facing the room and 2 against the wall.

The 2 sides facing the room will be euro style with sliding doors. It will have a sump in the stand underneath, so I can heat the vivarium with warmed water from the sump. The water will pass the air vents infront of the tank like a stream/pond. I may even include some fish. I am doing this because the temperature in the room stays in the low 60's almost year round and I would like to control the temperature of the tank a little better and have a water feature as well.



My main concern is that there will not be enough support for the glass top, light and hood with having both front sides sliding doors. I decided to add a few peices of glass highth-wise for added support, but am still a little concerned. Any sugestions before I go and get the glass cut?

The viv will be 24w x 24L x 36H making it about 90 gallons.











Ignore the person in the scetch, it is not to size. :lol: I only wish.

Any other sugestions and ideas would be helpfull. Many of my ideas for this viv are from all the posts on this forum so keep them coming they are really appreciated.


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## Smogre (Aug 11, 2006)

I'm not going to say your off on your idea but there has to be a better way to heat that tank. The best place for heat is your lights.
Let those fans pump heat in at the top and vent out at the bottom. This way you only pull in warmer air from your lights.


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## Jason (Oct 14, 2004)

True, but at night the temp falls below 62, so heat from the lights would not work 24 hours a day. I had the same thoughts as well. I also would like to put in a few tetras in there so the temp is needed.


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## Smogre (Aug 11, 2006)

Gotcha. Turn that heater up in the sump.


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## wishIwereAnExpert (Jul 18, 2005)

I highly reccommend going with "reverse" euro venting--drawing air in from the top and pulling it out the bottom. 

With your method, all of the hot air from the lights is going to stay at the top of the tank. The warm air will be pulled into the top of the tank and immediately sucked right back out the top. If you do it my way, the hot air more efficiently heats the bottom of the viv as well.

As for your concerns about night-heating, don't worry. A viv this large holds in its heat well. My 120 gallon has no heating at night, and despite the room being in the high 50's at night, it is still warm in the morning. As long as you turn off the fans at night, the tank's warmth isn't going anywhere.

I don't have any info on the glass strength, but if you're worried, you might want to think about supporting the light hood from the ceiling, pendant-style.

-Solly


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## wishIwereAnExpert (Jul 18, 2005)

Oh and BTW, how do you export .png's from Sketchup? I tried to do that and it gave me a black screen.

-Solly


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## Jason (Oct 14, 2004)

*Step 2: Glass is cut, time to drill.*

Well I have had the glass cut for almost 2 months now and since it has been nice outside I decided to put my vivarium project in to full swing.

I used a garden hose and a glass drill bit to drill the ventalation holes. Some will house fans, some will just be open. I will be able to play around with them to see what works best.



























A good tip to keep the drill bit from wandering around the glass when trying to get it started is to hold it at an angle.











Here it is together for the 1st time.




























The aprox sixe is 21w x 21d x 36 h.

Step 3: Vents


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Very nice. That is exactly how I drill holes in glass. I've not found the need for anything such as a press or guide - just a good drill and a source of water.


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## RGB (Jan 15, 2006)

Nice, i'm starting a custom tank that's almost exactly that size. What thickness is your glass, i got mine in 1/4" for strength and its FREAKIN HEAVY!


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## Jason (Oct 14, 2004)

1/4" Yea, very heavy, but I too did it for the strength. I plan to have a decent water section in there.


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## dopederson (Mar 26, 2006)

What type of glass are you using for the tank? Is it plate or tempered? Keep us up dated, I really want to see this tank shape. Good luck


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## Jason (Oct 14, 2004)

Must be plate, cause I drilled through it. I do not think you can drill through tempered.....It is just glass :lol: I don't know I got it from a glass shop.


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## Jason (Oct 14, 2004)

*Step: 3 @ 4 Ventilation & Great Stuff*

Slowly but surely my project is coming along. putting together all the aluminum peices took some time. Many, many trips to the hardware store.









This is my ventalation system. Since there are 2 openings on the front it was a little trickey trying to creat a L shape vent. I tried it with window screen boarders, but it did not look right, so I opted to stick with the brushed aluminum look.

I basically cut 1 peice of aluminum screen in the shape of a L. Folded down one end and silicone to attach it to the glass and finished it off with a peice of brushed aluminum. After the silicone dried on that peice I siliconed it under the track for the sliding doors.









The PVC in the back will be the tree trunk.









Looking at it from the front with all the aluminum trim added.









I am holding a peice of aluminum in place while the silicone dries under the door track to hold the screen in place.









This is where fresh air can get in and will also be a place where I can view my water feature/plants/fish









Great stuff is fun. Here is the start of my tree with butress roots and vines along the tree fern.









I have some shallow areas on my water feature and decided to great stuff the boarder around it so I get less substrate in it. 

Also you can see here the water inlet on the right and 1 of the drains on the left. This drain will have a filter in it and I can adjust it a little to adjust the water level in the tank. I have a back-up drain in the back that is fully open and will allow the tank to drain if for some reason the main drain gets cloged up. It is for an emergency so I don't get water all over my house.  









The tree and vines from the right side. You can also see the upper vents here. I just drilled out some holes and used some PVC peice that fit and siliconed window screen to them.










Full tank shot. The light on the top is a sun systems compact floursent, but I think I may go with a metal halide.

Next step. Moss wall for the water feature. Here is where I got my idea from !
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/pla ... _Wall.html


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## spydrmn12285 (Oct 24, 2006)

Could you go into more detail as to how you're doing the sliding doors and tracks? And where did you get the parts?


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

That Viv is looking VERY proffessional,

Keep up the good work and i look forward to seeing it's completion.

Regards

Steve


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## Jason (Oct 14, 2004)

spydrmn12285 said:


> Could you go into more detail as to how you're doing the sliding doors and tracks? And where did you get the parts?


I am follwing what *Pigface* has done in the past. Here is the link to his vivarium and where to get the aluminum peices.

http://www.dendroboard.com/phpBB2/viewt ... ight=shape

http://www.brunnerent.com/Tools/Portfol ... ze=0&lngDi

My glass is 1/4 inch. So here is what I did. I took a F shape peice and used silicone to attach it to the glass. The F part slid over the glass.



















Here is the F shape peice slid over a section of glass.

This provides support for the aluminum door track, which I siliconed on top of the F shape channel.





































Aluminum door track siliconed to the top of the F shape channel.


The website where I ordered them from has very nice stuff and they will make 1 cut for you so they can ship it. I think they can only ship up to 6' sections. 

I also found that my local hardware store (Menards which found in the midwest and is like a Home Depot) has many of the same peices, although the quality was no where near as good. They did not have the door though.


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## pigface (Apr 28, 2006)

I thought some of this looked familiar  It's looking real awesome so far ! It's a heavy monster isn't it ! Get that baby planted , I can't wait to see it done . What do you plan on putting in it , have you deciced yet ?

As for lights and heat ,On mine 2. 55 watt & 1. 13 watt CF's . keep the top levels at around 80 deg with 2 fans in the hood . The bottom stays around 74 deg , But it could use a little more light on the bottom though .


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## Hassan347 (Jan 8, 2006)

wOW....thats amazing...im inspired


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## pigface (Apr 28, 2006)

Jason , I was thinking while I was feeding my big tank this morning , I don't know if you noticed , in the bottom of the the sliding door tracks there are small grooves . To make the doors slide easier I cut small thin pieces of plastic and slid them in the bottom grooves , that way the glass is sliding on the plastic and not on the aluminum track . And also I lube the bottom tracks with wax too , this helps also .


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## Jason (Oct 14, 2004)

Cool, thanks!


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## Jason (Oct 14, 2004)

Well....2 weeks after I set this bad boy up, the bottom cracked. Not sure why, but maybe there was a tiny rock or something between the bottom glass and stand. Anyway...I replaced the bottom last week and finally planted. Over a year since the project started, it is finally up and running, with a little engineering change.

Without plants.









With.


















I hope to get some more plants at MWFF.


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## gretchenellie (Aug 7, 2007)

that is an awesome tank!

that large branch flows perfectly with it.

nice work!


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## Riley (Sep 20, 2008)

Nice broms! If I keep reading posts like this I'm gonna go broke.


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## kristy55303 (Apr 27, 2008)

wonderful jason. as always. kristy


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## Derek Benson (Feb 19, 2004)

Where did you get the aluminum track? Maybe you mentioned it? Do you put anything on it to let the glass slide?


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## pigface (Apr 28, 2006)

I really like how you made it a corner tank and the two sides are viewable . 

Wow the bottom cracked ? I bet that was a PITA to replace ! My last couple bigger tanks that I did I laid down a piece of cardboard under them to cushion the bottom . I don't know what's going to happen after time if it gets wet though . 

The only thing I regret not doing now is not making the doors go all the way to the top , mine collect alge in the top section like crazy . 


Aluminum Track From CabinetWare Too bad they the smallest they sell is 1/4" .

What I did when I made mine , if you look closely at the lower track there are groves at the bottom of the track were the glass will slide . I cut to fit a piece of plastic and slid it into the groove so the glass slides on the plastic instead of the metal . Do this before its final instalation ! The glass slides better than on the metal . 
My journal must have got lost in the changeover . 










After a while when it gets gummed up with fruit flys and crushed snails , I clean the grooves out and use some parifin canning wax as a lubricant .


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## Jason (Oct 14, 2004)

Thanks for the compliments.



Derek Benson said:


> Where did you get the aluminum track? Maybe you mentioned it? Do you put anything on it to let the glass slide?


I got mine from the same place I got the other aluminum pieces.
Door Track, Threshold and Sign Frame - Brunner - aluminum channel, extruded aluminum angle, anodized aluminum shapes, aluminum pipe, bar, tube, square tubing connector,aluminum channel, extruded aluminum angle, anodized aluminum shapes, aluminum pipe
Except for the aluminum track, I nows see you can get most of it at your local do-it-yourself center.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

gorgeous vivarium Jason!! how long did it take for you to build??


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