# Terrarium Room Build (Pic Heavy)



## TysonUnderwood

Let me start off by saying hello. I've been reading the board for a while now, but this is my first post. About 5 months ago I started on a new terrarium in my garage. It has been a very slow project and I wanted to get fairly far along before I started posting about it. The dimensions are roughly 7' x 9' all the way up to the ceiling in the back corner of my garage. I have some pictures and can tell you a bit about the process up to this point, but I feel like I'm just getting to the exciting part.

This picture is my before shot. I cleaned up the space a lot from how it was when I first moved in, but is shows the area well.









My first project was to open up the walls and install some insulation. As this is being built in the garage, my biggest hurdle will be getting the temperature normalized in the correct range. For this reason, my build process will be a long one while I monitor temps and make adjustments.









I used ultratouch insulation, which is made from recycled jeans, hence the blue color.









I then closed the wall back up and started framing in the rest of the room. 









For paneling, I used concrete backer board as moisture and leakage is a concern for me. I'm sure I overbuilt this, but the last thing I want to do is tear it up to repair water damage. (the pictures got a little distorted when I combined them)









At this point I took a break from building to gather some more supplies. I spent the weekend at Lake Tahoe, and just happened to be next door to a lot where the park service was clearing manzanita bushes for a fire break. I was able to gather a bunch of branches and found one nice trunk piece. 









Since I started this project, I'd been wondering what to use for a door. In a previous enclosure I build for an iguana in my closet, I used a shower door. I was planning on doing the same, but new doors were ridiculously priced at the store, and fairly small. I decided to call around to some glass shops to see if they had anything laying around and I hit pay dirt. One of my local shops had just redone the doors for a 7-11 and still had the old doors on hand. They let one go at $40 which was a great deal. It is an aluminum, weatherized door, with some great windows in it.









Here is a picture of the door installed.









With the door installed, I made a push to finish the paneling so it would actually resemble a room.









At each of the joints in the panels, I used some mesh and fortified thinset mortar. This took a bit of time, but added a surprising amount of strength to the walls. You can't shake them at all after this step. In this picture, you can also see the rafter going through the area and above that, the holes I left for my lighting.









With the walls finished, the next thing I did was to actually waterproof them. I used RedGard waterproofing. You paint on the membrane and when it dries, it is waterproofed. I did the seams first.









I got tired of painting that stuff on, so I did a little more work on the lights. I finished up the electrical, and turned them on for the first test. There are only a few bulbs in this picture, but the "hood" holds 8 bulbs. I'm planning on having 5 of them be the daylight bulbs, and the other 3 be a lower spectrum for flowering. These lights are in addition to two 2' square skylights I installed in the center of the terrarium.









Here is the room, first coat of waterproofing done. After the second coat, it looked much more uniform. The line coming out of the wall is for my misters which will be connected to my yard sprinkler system and timer. You can also see the rafters which I wrapped with plastic and sealed to protect from water.









My plan was to build a tree up one wall and across the rafter. Here is the frame of the trunk with a bit of great stuff on it. I built the frame with chicken wire and had quite the time getting the great stuff to stay on it.









And the rafters on their way to becoming branches.









I finished up the great stuff, did a bit of carving, and here is the first coat of grout on the tree. I used standard sanded grout with some concrete bonding fortifier added. You can also see the pond liner I installed underneath the tree on the floor to make sure there were no leaks. (Told you I overbuilt it.)

















Two coats later, it was starting to look something like I had planned. I still will need to do some coloring and touch up as it gets dinged from working around it.









Here is the full tree. You can also see the extra liner I have added to the back wall which will become a bit of a waterfall.









From inside the terrarium looking out, I decided to make the wall look like some temple ruins or similar old stone building. Here is the shot of the Styrofoam placed on the wall before any coats are on it. The stack of bricks will end up looking like a fallen stone, which I intend to use as a seat if all goes according to plan. You can also see the window that lets light into the front part of the terrarium.









And my last picture for now, is the start of the other side wall, which will be a rock wall with ledges. I still have a lot of work to go, but it is a start.









So that is it in a nutshell. I obviously still have a lot to do, and as I seem to only be able to get anything done on weekends, it has been slow. Plus, when I do work on it, it is kind of big so it will eat up 8 hours of work like it was nothing. Let me know what you think so far, and as I get to some of the more technical parts of construction as far as designing for inhabitants, I'll have a bunch of questions.


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## eos

I'm watching. *subscribed*


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## dom

::jaw just dropped::


speechless.......


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## ChrisK

They should put you in jail. Just kidding  check this thread out you might be able to snag some ideas from it: http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/me...370-gal-viv-indoor-greenhouse-const-jrnl.html


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## fleshfrombone

This is going to be good. Don't leave us hanging.


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## nathan

OMG

subscribed

im pretty sure you should take a leave of absence from work , shut your phone off and stock up on beer or pop or whatever it is you prefur and lock yourself in your garage untill its done . . . . Im sure all of us who see this thread dont want to be left in suspense !!!


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## melas

Wow! That door is awesome! I just hope whatever you plan to keep in here doesn't ever learn to read and actually "Push" the door open! 

So what ARE you planning on keeping in here? (Sorry if I missed it above)


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## jeffr

Subscribed 


That is awesome. If it were mine I would put either basilisks or chinese water dragons.


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## Jason

That is going to be cool!


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## mtolypetsupply

I, too am in awe, speechless. You're on my list of heroes!!!! That is amazing!!!


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## SMenigoz

When I first opened this up, I thought you were cleaning out a corner of your garage to create a room, mount a few shelves and place a few tanks in there. Little did I know...when I saw that tree start to "grow", I knew I was in for something unique!
Scott


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## Brien

I love your idea keep us up to date with the latest development thanks


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## TysonUnderwood

Thanks for all the great compliments. At this time, I'm thinking of putting leucs in there. It seems they will be best suited to use some of that height and I might actually see them in the terrarium. I'm open to suggestions though. Due to the size, I'd like to stick with easier frogs as it probably won't be possible for me to monitor every frog in there to see how they are doing.


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## JoshH

Awesome! Whats the lighting plan? Tree looks good!


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## salix

My main comment is ........let me know when it's finished. I live in the foothills right above you and would love to come and see this in person!

Great job so far. 

Deb


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## beachbabe18509

This is going to be amazing make sure to keep us updated!


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## Julio

wow, this is a great project!!


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## Boondoggle

When I read "terrarium room" I just assumed....wow. I thought you were really overbuilding until I saw the tree and realized the scope of what you were doing. Crikey, thats a project! I can't wait to see how it goes.

Also, It's nice to see another NorCal frogger. Good Luck.


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## boogsawaste

Excellent! I thought this was going to be a frog room like the standard ones. Shelves and tanks! I'm definitely going to watch this as I always wanted to build something like this for some kind of aboreal snake. Very very cool!


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## MeiKVR6

Very cool.


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## Brien

I think if I built that room I would put basti's in there I have two proven pairs and they are always out and with the size you won't have to worry about competition and put a lot of broms in there and you will see them breed just put lots of springtails in there. I love my basti's also you can mix up the colors and wont have to worry about in breeding because they can throw yellow, orange, red, white even if you only breed two of the same color. So you should check them out.


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## MattySF

This looks incredible. Are installing a mist system? Is there a drain in the room?


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## Eric Walker

I think something like that would be a dream come true for a group of 
green tree monitors. 

I think I remember someone here talking about putting a hamock in a walk in 
viv awhile back


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## chinoanoah

1. I'll be back in CA for my winter break. I live in Contra Costa County, can I stop by?

2. I love it.

3. Subscribed

4. I love you.


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## Howiedoit

You are NUTS!!!! and by nuts I mean Totally Freaking Awesome! lol, I love it.


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## RarePlantBroker

WOW! And I thought I designed large vivariums.... I now have something new to try and convince my wife to let me do.... Going to look awesome, and you have some room for some nice size plants!


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## NickBoudin

RADICAL! I'm lovin' it, I cant wait like the others to see it finished. 


Though, a lot of these awesome vivs never get finished.. 


Like others have said, DONT LEAVE US HANGING!


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## TysonUnderwood

I do have misters in there. I put the system together from Home Depot parts. Depending on how it holds up, I'll look more into the Mist King system. I also purchased an ultrasonic humidifier to set up as a fogger per some of the other posts on dendroboard. 

Unfortunately, I don't have a drain due to the concrete slab I built over. My plan is to make a bit of a slope with the drainage layer so I can siphon out any excess water buildup. I'll be testing the system a bunch to keep the humidity up while avoiding too much excess water.

For the lighting, I'm just using 8 CFLs in addition to the two skylights and window. I believe the space is large enough that there won't be much heat gain from the window, it faces east, but I'll be watching. Three of the bulbs are 2700k and the other five are 5500-6500k (can't quite remember off the top of my head).


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## Occidentalis

I'm wondering if 8 CFL's will be enough. For most systems this size, I've seen metal halides exclusively. Haven't seen any that combine window light and skylights, though.


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## TysonUnderwood

Currently, with 4 on during the day, it is pretty bright in there. I haven't actually metered it though. I have to figure out how to do that with my camera. With all 8 lights, I'm sure it is plenty bright for most of the common houseplants and whatnot. I'll have to see how orchids and broms react in there though. I'm trying to avoid and of the big lighting systems as they tend to be expensive to set up and run, not to mention the heat they put out. As most of the intense lighting is for the plants and not the frogs, I might just have to be very careful where I stick everything. I'm about to start experimenting with some potted plants on the floor though which will tell me how it works at the darkest spot.


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## TysonUnderwood

*Measuring Lumins with an SLR*

OK, I did a bit of research online, and my project for the weekend will be to measure the light the light in my terrarium. I'm posting the directions here in case anyone else reading this is interested.

You can use the light meter built into a 35mm camera that has manually adjustable settings. To determine the number of footcandles of light reaching an area, prop up a large sheet of white paper or cardboard at a 45-degree angle. Set the camera’s ASA dial at 100 and the shutter speed at 1/15 of a second. The f-stop reading you get can then be translated into the approximate footcandle level, as listed below.

At ASA 100 and 1/15 second: 
f/1.4 = 1.25 footcandles
f/2 = 2.5 footcandles
f/2.8 = 5 footcandles
f/4 = 10 footcandles
f/5.6 = 20 footcandles
f/8 = 40 footcandles
f/11 = 80 footcandles
f/16 = 160 footcandles
f/22 = 320 footcandles

Lumens = Footcandles x 10.764


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## chinoanoah

*Re: Measuring Lumins with an SLR*



TysonUnderwood said:


> OK, I did a bit of research online, and my project for the weekend will be to measure the light the light in my terrarium. I'm posting the directions here in case anyone else reading this is interested.
> 
> You can use the light meter built into a 35mm camera that has manually adjustable settings. To determine the number of footcandles of light reaching an area, prop up a large sheet of white paper or cardboard at a 45-degree angle. Set the camera’s ASA dial at 100 and the shutter speed at 1/15 of a second. The f-stop reading you get can then be translated into the approximate footcandle level, as listed below.
> 
> At ASA 100 and 1/15 second:
> f/1.4 = 1.25 footcandles
> f/2 = 2.5 footcandles
> f/2.8 = 5 footcandles
> f/4 = 10 footcandles
> f/5.6 = 20 footcandles
> f/8 = 40 footcandles
> f/11 = 80 footcandles
> f/16 = 160 footcandles
> f/22 = 320 footcandles
> 
> Lumens = Footcandles x 10.764


How do you do this with a digital SLR?


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## TysonUnderwood

I'm using a Canon, but basically set the camera to shutter priority mode (TV mode on mine), then set the iso to 100 and crank the dial to 1/15 seconds. Looking through the viewfinder, whenever you push down to take a photo, the display lights up and shows the f-stop. You can see it changing as you move the camera around to other targets. Aiming at my monitor, I get 7.1, so that is somewhere around 30 footcandles. 30x10.764=323 lumen/sq meter of light hitting my monitor. It is a very rough measurement, but it is a start if you don't have an actual meter.


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## EriksReptiles

Awesome Build! Can't wait to see the finished product!

Thanks Erik


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## Fishman

I am now subscribed as well... Very cool.


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## TysonUnderwood

Quick update...

I put a couple coats of grout on one of the walls. I still need to do at least one more to get the final stone color I'm looking for. Currently, the grout is fairly strong, but I can push my finger through it if I try. Hopefully the 3rd coat will make a difference in this.









I also took some light readings this morning. They are obviously low, so I'll have to see what they look like later on today. Here are my readings so far (Roughly measured in lumens with my camera.)


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## TysonUnderwood

*Pump Question*

I have a quick pump question. I'm looking at getting a Via Aqua 1300 to power my water feature. The head of the outlet is about 5 1/2 feet high, although it is still adjustable. I'm hoping to be able to get a steady stream of water coming down the wall without it being overbearing/dangerous to frogs. Does anyone have any experience with these pumps or any other suggestions?


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## Energy

*Re: Pump Question*



TysonUnderwood said:


> I have a quick pump question. I'm looking at getting a Via Aqua 1300 to power my water feature. The head of the outlet is about 5 1/2 feet high, although it is still adjustable. I'm hoping to be able to get a steady stream of water coming down the wall without it being overbearing/dangerous to frogs. Does anyone have any experience with these pumps or any other suggestions?


According to the link you provied the maximum head height is 6'. The output is 370 gph but that is probably at zero head height. At 5.5 feet I would guess you will be getting maybe 50-100 gph. 

Find a chart on it. Are you familiar with head height charts? Most pumps have them and if they don't- then avoid that pump. 

The chart will tell you how many gallons per hour it will pump when the output is anywhere from 1-20 feet above the pump.

Mag pumps are very reliable and can be either submersed or out of the water which makes them versatile. They also have a fairly good head height output ratio. I think they are one of the best "multi-purpose" pumps around. They come in a variety of sizes that all relate to their output. For instance a "Mag 9" will generally output 900 gallons per hour at zero head height.


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## Energy

Pond & Fountain Pumps: Pondmaster Mag-Drive Pumps

Here you go.

There is a flow chart under"more information" according to it a mag 7 will pump about 400 gph at 5.5 feet of head height.

hope that helps.


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## jubjub47

Mag-Drives hold up really well also. We use them at work in our service trucks and they hold up to all sorts of abuse.


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## geckomann

update please.


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## chinoanoah

More pics! it's been 3 days!


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## SoCalSun

TysonUnderwood.....You are my hero!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love people like you who take hobbies to the next level, that is the sweetest project ever. Your the man and thank you so much for sharing your project with us! Definetely will subscribe to this thread and cant wait to see the progress brother!! 

Keep up the good work!!


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## pygmypiranha

Like many people I too was expecting just a room filled with some tanks and such...

It's good to be wrong sometimes.


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## TysonUnderwood

Here is a quick update. I've started the base coat for the wall backgrounds. It is very time consuming due to the amount of wall to cover and I don't have a whole lot of time to work on it. Seems like weekends are all I get these days and I'm lucky at that. These 2 shots are of the upper wall with 2 coats of grout over the base foam frame. I am keeping these fairly simple compared to the lower part of the walls because I don't think they will get nearly as much activity on them, mostly just plants. After one more coat of grout, if it seems strong enough, and I like what I see, I plan to use a mixture of red sculpting clay, peat, and some sphagnum moss, to fill in cracks and smear on various parts of the surface to create more depth and hopefully give some plants places to anchor.


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## kristy55303

awesome, incredible, can't wait to see it finished


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## winyfrog

Thats awesome! My husband and I have been talking about doing something like that.. Great inspiration! I can't wait to see this finished.


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## boastud

awsome cant wait to see the final product


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## soccerpunkid

too cool.......insta-subscribe!


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## shockingelk

Aim your camera at a flat white piece of cardboard so it fills the entire viewing area.

Lux = 50 * f-number² / (exposure time in seconds * ISO film speed)



TysonUnderwood said:


> it is pretty bright in there. I haven't actually metered it though. I have to figure out how to do that with my camera.


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## geckomann

update please.


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## ladyfaile15

UPDATES!!!! please..


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## waterbed fred

awesome tree buttress!!! great idea using a door, and an even greater idea on how to shop around for a cheap door(or any other items)! updates!!!!


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## TysonUnderwood

I'll try to get a few pics this weekend. I've been working 65hr weeks so haven't been able to do too much, but I should be getting some more time in a few weeks. Currently I've been building the stream base out of sand and concrete, which I'll then line with some pond liner.


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## bricespice

I am jealous, excited and mad all in one.
Jealous because I live in an apartment and can't do this.
excited because there are going to be some very happy frogs.
Mad because i can't do this!!!!

I'm looking forward toward a follow up.


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## TysonUnderwood

One weekend late.. but here you go. This first picture give you a good feeling of the various walls and what not I've built so far.









This next one shows some of the vines. The one on top of the "branch" is my mist line with moss siliconed to it and the one hanging down on the right is where my humidifier will pump into. The left branch is a long piece of rebar, covered with brown silicone and moss that will help to support some real branches.









Here you can see the stream base that I built. I basically mixed sand and cement to make deck mud, then built built up the walls in the shape I wanted the stream, making sure all the walls were deep enough for the water to cover the pump.









I then took some more pond liner and covered over the stream bed. After siliconing the edges to the wall, it looks like this method will work well. I will wait a few more days before I actually water test it though. In the first part of the stream, I put some large pipes down to create water channels. I wanted to make sure there would be a larger volume of water in there, but didn't want it all that deep. I will be covering the pipe over with gravel and hopefully it will end up with a very shallow stream but a large volume of water.









On a side note... I've noticed some cracking appearing where I grouted over some great stuff on the walls. It occurred a month or two after I had finished grouting. My only guess is that the great stuff continued to expand slightly. Where the grout was covering sheet styrofoam, no cracking occurred. I have been slowly looking for the cracks and patching them up, but ladder work is a bit awkward in there. The misters are working well, but still need a little adjustment and I'll probably add one more head, but overall, things seem good.


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## Geckoguy

Looking good; Im sure I speak for everyone but I cant wait to see this finished product!


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## Tony7781

completly AMAZING!!! I wanna live in that room! lol


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## ynotnad

This is an amazing project. Can not wait to see the how it all comes together.
Thank you for sharing.


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## TysonUnderwood

One more pic to add..

This is the stream again, but I've added in the background base. I've tested the water and it seems to be working great and staying within the target areas. Once I get a few coats on this I'll update the photo as I'm sure it will look a lot better with a uniform surface. As far as the Greatstuff that was cracking the grout, after greatly increasing the humidity in the room, it would appear that everything has settled down and I've seen no new cracks appear. It seems like the Greatstuff just wanted a little more moisture to fully cure. I do have to say the worst part of this project is covering everything with the grout. While exciting to see the forms develop, it takes a lot of work and the multiple layers don't add a whole lot of change to the look of it. That being said, I think I will be doing an extra layer or two in the water feature to make sure it doesn't erode too much over time.










As far as the lighting, I've thrown a flat of various mosses and a few other plants in the room and they seem to be thriving, so that is reassuring, as they are the furthest possible distance from the lighting. For plants that need higher light, I will have to make sure they sit closer to the lighting and skylights as I want to avoid installing more powerful lighting if possible.

As a last note, here is the link to my photo album if you want to look at all of the photos together. http://s599.photobucket.com/albums/tt79/TysonUnderwood/Terrarium/


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## ashb

Everything is starting to come together! I'm real impressed with everything you've done so far! Good job!


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## geckomann

have you made any progress recently?


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## yumpster

You just blew my mind all over the place.


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## dendro-dude

Dude!!! what's going in there!!!!??!?!?!?!

I am amazed...


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## Chris155hp

Speachless


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## NickBoudin

We need more images! 

Whats the square footage of the room?


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## Taron

Awwww now thats a histrionicus cage.....just the right size  lol.....Thats pretty nice set up so far and can't wait to see the rest. The tree stuff reminds me of bass pro shop in Missouri and boy does it look good when its done.


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## TysonUnderwood

As far as what is going in there, I'm leaning towards leucs, although I'm certainly open to sugestions. While I will add food for vitamins and whatnot, I hope to have a fairly self sustaining enclosure. I certainly will not be able to go in and search for tadpoles or count every frog. For this reason, I'm looking for a frog that is fairly easy to establish, does well in groups, and doesn't need any help with tadpoles. Obviously, the higher they climb, the more space they will have. This Sunday, I hope to finish the first coat of the waterfall. I'll post some pics of that when it is done, I've completed about half of it so far and I like how it is shaping up.


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## akraemer2

If there was ever a place that you could put two species together...  

Maybe a more terrestrial species and one that is more arboreal? 

I look forward to the newly painted waterfall!

Cheers,
Andy


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## Small Geezer

I am blown away by this. So many ideas floating around after viewing this!

Now I want a new house with a decent garden, in which there will be a glass sided room (facing the house) in which I will build something like this! 

Now to convince the wife that it is worth spending thousands of pounds on something that will not add any value to a house!


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## Jarhead_2016

OMFG, well i guess you dont have to go on vacation, now you can simply push the door in your garage open and magically you are transported to the middle of the jungle while still being in your own home. Looks totally Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## TysonUnderwood

I have some updated pictures... I'll post them when I get home tonight. Currently the misting system is up and running. You certainly get hit with a blast of wet air when you walk in. I've been spending some time insulating the rest of my garage, but I still have a bit to do. Some of the walls were already finished, so I'm having to cut holes in them and stuff loose insulation into the bays... not fun. I have yet to get an AC though, which I'm sure I'll need come summer. I'm pretty confident that my heater will keep it warm through the winter, but I won't be putting anything into the terrarium other than plants until the summer is over and I'm sure I can keep the temperature in the correct range.


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## poison beauties

That would be a perfect setup for some high end tokay geckos or black tree monitors. Might be easier than feeding the luecs in there. But it looks very nice.


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## snmreptiles

WOW...can't wait to see this done!!

Mike
Welcome to the home of


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## TysonUnderwood

Here are a couple of shots that show where I'm currently at. Both of these have the base coat of grout on them. I plan on doing 2-3 more thick coats as water will be running over most of this. After a few more coats with a uniform color, the different textures should come together nicely.


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## nathan

Looking good

I think its time to take a week off work to focus on this project


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## Herpetology101

This is really starting to shape up! can't wait to see the final.


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## afterdark

Pumilio! Throw a few pairs in there with lots of broms and you'd have a frog farm!

Subscribed to this awesomeness.


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## Mia

Wow! This makes me really wish I owned my own house! Still a college student >.< Good luck!


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## AJ50504

LOL , Somehow I feel like less of a man. I am in the trades and I dont know if I could pull that off. I live in sonoma and would love to check it out/help if you need it. 

AJ


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## Nicholas

Soooooooooooo I think I speak for us all by saying...

CAN WE HAVE A UPDATE PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Thank you


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## geckomann

Update please?


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## champagnerob

As long as he doesn't say, "The room is finished and looks great, but my camera is broken." everyone will be ok. haha
Imagine working for a zoo and getting paid to do stuff like this.
This thing has great potential.


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## TysonUnderwood

OK, here's the update. Nothing too exciting, but I know how much annoying it is to have to wait. I have done the final coat of grout on all surfaces except for the waterfall area. It currently has 2-3 coats of grout on most of it and I need to get another 2-3 layers before I'm happy with its strength. Work has been slow as we decided to landscape the front yard, including tearing out the driveway and re-pouring it in a fairly complex design... The rock is being delivered tomorrow, and I'm hoping to start pouring next weekend. 
In the terrarium, I've gotten the humidity up pretty high, and now am fixing some problems that is causing. Number one on my list is the Great Stuff. If anyone plans on doing a similar project, I'd recommend skipping the great stuff. It seems that the high humidity continues to cause it to expand to some extent. Considering how many months, it has been on the walls, I did not expect to be repairing cracks still. Everywhere I used Styrofoam is fine, but the great stuff areas continue to crack after 4 layers of grout and I'm slowly tracking all of the weak points down. I've started using fiberglass mesh to repair the cracks, and that seems to be working well. I'm slowly making progress on the rest of the waterfall, but the main thing I want to make sure of is that I tackle all the problems before I get too much further. While it seems like a large area, I need to use a ladder to get to the higher spots and there isn't very much room to negotiate with the vine down the center and the stream along one side.
I have a few bromeliads in there and so far they seem to be doing well. The misters I have currently, while effective at increasing the humidity, aren't really hitting where I want them to, so I will probably be upgrading them to directional heads. They are hooked up to my sprinkler system and not a pump, so I'm going to have to figure out my options for better heads. I'll try to test my pressure next weekend, but I'm expecting it to be about 50psi.


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## wetpiggirl

Great stuff shrinks over time. I'm not sure how many layers of grout you would need for it to hold it self up regardless of the decrease in foam volume behind it. However you are mentioning "expansion". Have you been keeping the grout constantly hydrated or is it drying out a bit before they misting system is kicking on?

What type of Fiberglass meshing are you using to work on the cracks and repairs?

BTW Great project, Now if I could just convert an entire room in my house into a giant "tank" : ). Keep up the good work!

~PiG


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## Lunar Gecko

That is really cool! I cant wait to see more. Im wondering if when I visit my family in Sac I can come by and see it. Maybe you should charge admission... after I come by you can start. 

Sent you a PM.


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## rcteem

I cant believe ive missed this til now!!! This is amazing!!! I know what you mean bout doing Leucs but seems like sure a waste doing them...lol. I vote for something more exotic!!!


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## wimvanvelzen

This is great indeed - shouldn't have been 'room terrarium' in stead of 'terrarium room'?


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## tclipse

wimvanvelzen said:


> This is great indeed - shouldn't have been 'room terrarium' in stead of 'terrarium room'?


you could always call it the TERRORROOM and throw in terribilis with their natural diet  oh, the terrar. 




......yeah, i know


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## TysonUnderwood

For the layers now, I'm trying to wet down the base layer a bit so it won't suck all the moisture out of the new layer immediately, then it dries for a few hours before the misters kick on usually. The fiberglass mesh is a tape used to tape concrete backer board joints, and seems to be doing its job well. I don't get any problems where I used it. In the future, perhaps I will try to get some fiberglass fabric that I grout over to provide more support. 

For those waiting for more pictures, it is currently my plan to put in some hours on Monday, and I'll update the progress at that point.


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## TysonUnderwood

Here is the most recent photo. (Don't mind the ladder. It is pretty hard to move in and out.)









This is the right side of the stream. It is now fully grouted. I also put another layer of grout under the waterfall, so just one more over that one and I will be completely done with grouting the entire terrarium. I didn't put up a photo of the waterfall, because it doesn't should up very well yet. I used many different colors of grout for the under layers so if it wears through it will look more interesting, but until the final color gets on, it doesn't show up in photos very well. I have started placing a few cuttings of plants around that should root with just the humidity to test the conditions a bit. Once I get the last bit of grouting done, I will start looking at the MistKing stuff to see if I can figure out a better solution for my misting system.


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## Lunar Gecko

TYSON!!! We need an update!

BTW I hope you are keeping track of how many cans of GS and how much grout you are using. I want to know what this would take.  Im thinking it would have been good to have gotten stock in them before you started this project?


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## keith campbell

NICE!!! I wish I had the space to attempt a project like this. Skimming through this thread, I think that your cracks might coming from the sky lights. IMO the sun is causing the foam(air pockets) to expand and contract and also drying the grout too quickly. I have ran into this problem before. I would try covering the skylights and keeping the room wet for a week or so. 

If all else fails, I think I have seen some rocks with cracks before in the wild..I'm sure with the WOW effect this thing will have once finished and grown in, they will go unnoticed.

Keith


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## TysonUnderwood

I hope to have some more pictures tonight. As far as supplies, I used 30-35 cans of greatstuff and I used 4 sheets of 8'x4' Styrofoam. I think I'm hitting about 250lbs of grout and that should be enough. If I were to change anything, I would have used more sheets to build the background and the greatstuff to just fill in cracks.


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## Vermfly

This is incredible. I'm in Sacramento and I'm looking to start my first build. I'm definitely going with something much smaller to start. I'd love to see this thing in person. So amazing. Your setup is going to put the Reptile House at the Sacramento Zoo to shame.


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## TysonUnderwood

As promised, here are a few photos of the waterfall...

This first one is a shot of the whole thing dry.









Here is the base of it, while running.









And lastly, the whole waterfall section while running.









I filled the stream bed in with some rock, gravel, and sand so far. Overall, I'm very happy with it. The flow is very gentle and there are tons of places to easily enter and exit the water. Once the water clears up a bit more, I plan to play with the depth a bit, but it seems nice and safe for the frogs. Now that the waterfall is up and running, I need to make a few adjustment to where it is flowing. One part has a constant drip that is outside of the stream, and there are a couple other areas that need minor work.

Here is the link to all of my pictures so far if you missed the one earlier. http://s599.photobucket.com/albums/tt79/TysonUnderwood/Terrarium/

Comments and suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks,


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## Vermfly

So the question I have is where are you going to walk when you have it completely done? Are you going to have some areas that are just clear of plants and litter to view the frogs from? I'm trying to picture it in my head. It would be nice to have a couple diagrams showing the walkways and various habitat areas. The waterfall looks pretty awesome. I hope the stream works out like you hope because it looks like it is going to be really cool.


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## TysonUnderwood

I have some 12"x12"x4" bricks that I have grouted to look like the black stone walls. They make a path so I can get around without stepping on the substrate. Not that there is any substrate in there yet. In the photo I posted on 3/6/10, you can see one of them before I grouted it black (It is the brown square in the foreground.) I haven't quite figured out how I would get a ladder in there if I need to though. I suppose if I put the ladder upside down, the top could rest on a stepping stone. I figure these stone would also give a nice place to feed, as there would be no immediate place for the little critters to hide.


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## Vermfly

Nice. I see the stone. Seems like it might be easy to step on a frog with such little foot area but I wear size 15's and tend to be a little clumsy.


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## Vermfly

Had anymore chances to work on it? I can't wait to see it with the substrate down and planted.


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## Lunar Gecko

Looking great so far! Cant wait to see plants going in! My problem with vivs normally is I cant use BIG plants, this is going to be great!


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## Mapp

What are you going to put in that monster of a viv? I think you might of said something about luecs? (forgive me, I'm too lazy to go through the thread again )


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## TysonUnderwood

I've made some slight progress, but none really noticeable. Mostly I have been playing with the water flow to make sure all of the drips from the waterfall are landing in the stream. I also took some time to find a source for sodium bentonite and iron rich clay. I will need a lot to patch fill in the walls and the base. Luckily, I found a local source and it looks like they have laterite, sea red clay, and sodium bentonite. Now I just need to figure out how much of each to get. I need to read through The ultimate clay-based substrate thread again and figure out what recipe I am going to use. I'm open to suggestions. For the walls, I'm thinking of 40% bentonite, 40% peat, and 20% laterite or sea red clay. Not really sure which would be better. There is only a dollar difference in cost between the 50lb bags so cost isn't an issue. For anyone wondering the 50lb bags are $5.40 for sea red, $6.20 for laterite, and $10.60 for sodium bentonite.

Haven't quite decided what I'm putting in, but leaning towards leucs. I will certainly have a few larger plants in there, but I'm going to try to have mostly smaller ones to create a little more texture and more micro zones for the frogs to choose between.

My next project in there is to perfect my misting system. I'm just not quite happy with how it turned out so I'm looking to get a MistKing system. I need to have the pump be inline (no reservoir). If anyone is able to offer some help/suggestions with planning it I'd appreciate it. Looking at the MistKing site, there are a lot of choices for the various parts. What are people finding most useful?


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## froghobbiest

This is awesome. Ive read through the whole thread and I have always dreamed of doing something like this but as somebody said earlier im also in college and stay in an apartment so I lack the space..Now my dad has a huge garage but I doubt he'll go for something like this but it would give me a reason to go over there more  On another note Im about to start a project with a 40 gal breeder for my Fire Bellied Toad and you have given me some ideas on the background. Ima have to look around my local stores to see if they sell any grout.


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## CrazyAirborne

Any Updates on this awesome build!!!????


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## NickBoudin

I think most people here will recommend using a reservoir for the mist king system only because it will last the longest/preform the best when used with RO water. I know a lot of people will just use dechlorinated tap water, but I think that for the longevity of the misting nozzles it's better to use RO water from a reservoir. 


On another note, maybe look into some sort of RO pre-filter before it gets used in your in-line pump if you decide to go that route.


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## Vermfly

Any updates on this project? I'm really interested to see how it is coming along.


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## tclipse

Agreed.. love to see how this is coming along.


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## pygmypiranha

We certainly do need an update. How's the project coming... in the last several months have there been any plants installed? What's the haps!?


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## Marty

I'm curious myself how things are progressing...love the large walk in viv.


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## TysonUnderwood

It certainly has been a while, but here is the update. After working with Marty, I purchased a Mist King system and a reverse osmosis system that recycles the waste water. I'm not worried about the waste concentration building up as we have very clean water here. The only reason I'm using the RO system is due to the high mineral content. Here is a shot of the system all set up.








I'm still playing with the misting times a bit but think I'm pretty close. There is very little water pooling on the floor now. I just have to clean up the water that has collected over the past few months of playing with the stream.
In addition to setting up the misting system, I purchased a decent sized group of mini orchids from Oak Hill Gardens. 

















Between these orchids, and the random bromeliads I've been sitting on, there have been a lot of plants sitting on the floor of the terrarium. I finally got them all mounted and put up on the walls today. 









At this point, I'm pretty happy with the way it is filling in. I will probably make another purchase of 5-6 small bromeliads to fill in a few more holes. I mostly need to find some mini vines that will grow over the background and I think it will pull together. I have a few plants which will go into the ground and I hope to grab a vanilla orchid and train across the branch that is running through the room. If anyone has any suggestions for some nice small wall climbing species, I'd be happy to entertain them. I want to stay away from plants like ficus that will grow too quickly and take things over.
I've purchased a few hundred pounds of "dirt" making materials, but have been holding off until I got the watering schedule setup. Hopefully I will start to play around with that recipe coming up as things are starting to look stable.


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## Julio

are you gonna have any supplemental lighting on this viv or just the natural light from the sky light?


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## TysonUnderwood

There is some supplemental lighting. The two "windows" on the right of the photo are actually lights. Currently they are nothing special. If I notice a lack of growth, I'll beef them up, but hopefully they will be fine. A big part of the problem with additional lighting is that the light boxes are 12' off the ground. My energy bill would be very high if I put lights strong enough to reach the bottom of the terrarium in there.


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## VenomR00

I don't know if this is possible but why not just add lights in the viv to help with the lighting issue.. Just incorportate them into the side walls some how... I don't know if this is possible but I would try it at least... =P


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## NVEOUS

subscribed to read later.


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## klik339

i have definitly been inspired to setup a room like this in my house and when i get my whole financial situation sorted out i will start working on it. that would look great to house a group of tree monitors in.


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## Marty

Can we get few updated shots...Looks great. I'm c urious how it's growing in.


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## HunterB

personally I think you shouldnt worry about getting lights in the sides and what not - plant low light lovers on the ground and so on - on up


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## dendrothusiast

I agree with hunter above, in the shaded sections you can take advantage and plant low light plants such as impatiens species and all sorts of ferns and other shade lovers. Just take a trip to your local nursery and have a look around - you'll be tempted to go with all sorts of shade plants.


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## botanyboy03

I am in awe of this 'terrarium.' It looks to me to be more of an Exhibit than a terrarium.


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## rlaynafassett

Do you have a ballpark cost of your project. It looks amazing!


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## TysonUnderwood

As far as a ballpark figure for cost... I'm going to say about $700 not including water filtration, misters, heating, or a/c. By far, the biggest cost has been my time. 
I don't have any new photos yet, but hopefully I'll get my camera out to get a shot or two soon. I received a few more bromeliads which I mounted. They are mostly fireballs and fireball crosses. I haven't seen any new roots start from these yet, but hopefully they will shoot out soon. 

Today I finished making about 300lbs of "dirt" to put into one area of the terrarium. I'm thinking I'll need another 600lbs or so to fill up the entire floor area. I wanted to test it out first though just in case it turns to mush. I used a few different methods for making the dirt, and by the end, I think I found a good process. The fist batch I made in a 5 gal bucket by soaking the clay, then laying it out on cardboard to dry. This a few weeks sitting in my garage to get dry enough to work with and I would not use this method again. I then tried mixing the powder up in a wheelbarrow and slowing adding water as I turned it. This worked out much better, but it still got pretty hard to turn and break up the clumps. The wheelbarrow method is ok, but you probably can't do much more than 100lbs without it getting cumbersome. The third batch I made I used a tarp. I sprinkled all the ingredients in layers then sprinkled the whole thing with water. By lifting up the edges, I was able to roll the mixture, then I just smoothed it out again. I continued to add water and mix in this way until it was the right consistency of small particles. This process worked well, and I never had to deal with any large chunks of clay. All the ball sized stayed to about 1/2 inch or smaller. On the last batch, I decided to try to modify the tarp idea, and just got rid of the tarp. I did the same thing but on my driveway using a shovel to turn it. This worked wonderfully and is how I will do it in the future. For those without a driveway to do it on, I think the tarp/plastic sheet method is probably the easiest. With all 4 batches made, I mixed them all together and ran it through my half inch screen a few times. When it was all said and done, most of the dirt was a fine particle size, but there were some small balls up to about 1/3 inch in size. I decided not to let it dry completely as it felt exactly like moist dirt when I ran my hands through it. After a few weeks, if the structure is still holding up, I will use the remaining 300lbs of clay that I have and figure out how much more I need. For those interested, here are the approximate amounts of ingredients I used.
Item lbs Ratio
Laterite 200lb 58.31%
Sodium Bentonite	100lb 29.15%
Lime 17lb 4.96%
Alumium Oxide 10lb 2.92%
Mortar 14lb 4.08%
Sugar 1lb 0.29%
Cornstarch 0.5lb 0.15%
Geletan 0.5lb 0.15%

My next step will be to seed the dirt with some red worms and start with the leaf litter. I have a very small mango plant I think I'm going to throw in there and I'm contemplating tracking down a cocoa tree as well. The terrarium certainly isn't deep enough for its tap root, but there should be enough room for all of the surface roots. I'll have to figure out if that is good enough. Other than finishing off the floor, I still need to track down some cuttings of miniature vines to introduce to the walls. Then it is just a matter of letting things grow in.


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## TysonUnderwood

I shot a few photos today and thought I'd throw up what I have. This first one give a good example of what the dirt is looking like. You can also see my new Piper nigrum in the front bottom.
































































This is my new vanilla orchid. It seems to like the spot as it has already put out about an inch of root.


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## Okapi

Looks good, however your vanilla picture isnt showing up for me. I have vanilla as well, but its just a cutting tied to a stake. If I ever build a large vivarium, It will grow in there.


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## Mitch

Awesome! Could you get a full room shot? Also, it needs leaf litter...a lot of leaf litter


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## TysonUnderwood

One Vanilla photo coming up.









I'm in the process of trying to get some plants from Harry. Once I get those, I'll take a full room photo. It takes a bit of work as I have to stitch together a lot of photos for it. I'm starting to add the leaf litter along with some worms, but it is a slow process currently as it keeps raining here.


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## AaronAcker

I can not wait until this room is finished. Will be super sweet to see where it goes, and how it grows in.


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## rcteem

Looking awesome man....keep up the work!!!!


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## DragonSpirit1185

Any updates to this monstrosity?
This thing is EPIC.


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## viv4life

any updates?


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## Dartfrogfreak

We need updates!!!


BTW watch those broms, with the low light in that room they may lose most if not all their color and even get long strappy leaves


Todd


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## TysonUnderwood

Here are a few more photos. I've recently upgraded my lighting. It is now significantly brighter in the terrarium and the plants seem to be responding well so far.
















Here is a full room composite photo. It is a little skewed, but it shows the room well. I've added a few more bromeliads since this shot and I still want to get more leaf litter in there, but at least there is a good base now and I have a decent community of worms and other insects working under it.


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## smk46

this is freaking spectacular a little piece of heaven at home...lol.. i can't wait to see how this progresses and fills in as stated before this should be a frog factory at very least a self substaining population


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## MzFroggie

I agree I can't wait to see this complete!! Awesome job!!

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk


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## Rusty_Shackleford

First time I've come across this thread. What an amazing room!! I'm dying to know what's going in there. Hmmm makes me think about a room with Blue Tree Monitors in it. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## stevenhman

Very nice! More plants!! Muuhahahah! 

You have any ideas for which frog(s) you are going to keep in there?


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## coraltastic

oooowwwwww my ggggoooosshhsshhsh that is awsome tagged.


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## Qfrogs

Get some vining plants in there!!! maybe get some pumilio to take over some of the wall space


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## DragonSpirit1185

How are you gonna mist that monster?


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## tItAnIuMhOpPeR

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> How are you gonna mist that monster?


Mist it!?!?!? He is going to have to make it rain!!


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## DragonSpirit1185

tItAnIuMhOpPeR said:


> Mist it!?!?!? He is going to have to make it rain!!


Lmfao....did he make a rain system? I don't remember seeing it


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## dendrobateslover

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Lmfao....did he make a rain system? I don't remember seeing it


He doesn't need a _system_, he's the DENDRO-GOD!


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## smk46

i think a ginormous staghorn would be sweet in there


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## TysonUnderwood

I have a Mist King system set up in there. So far it effectively keeps the humidity at 80-90+%, but I need to add a few more heads in order to get water to all of the planting areas. There are still some spots on the walls that stay bone dry so nothing will grow there. I thought about throwing a staghorn in there, but they get so big and heavy I'm not sure the structure would support it. As far as other vining plants, I've been keeping an eye out for smaller leafed slow growers, but I seem to always miss them when people have extra cuttings. If someone has some cuttings they would like to see in there, please let me know. I put a couple small cuttings in there recently, but they haven't done much yet.


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## RikRok

This is an awesome build! definitely subscribed...keep the pics coming


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## TysonUnderwood

I went to the Sacramento Bromeliad & Carnivorous Plant Society last night and picked up a few more bromeliads for the terrarium. These three cost me $10, although it is done by raffle so you never know quite how many you will get.








From left to right they are Billbergia Beadle hybrid, Neoregelia Waha x Amplaceae, and Neoregelia Carnival. The Billbergia holds a nice amount of water in the center as well as the leave around it.


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## Mitch

3 broms? I think you need like 100 broms haha...


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## wimvanvelzen

Can't wait to see it grown in. Congrats!


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## Boondoggle

The nice thing about this build is that you aren't limited to the smaller broms that we usually have to use in typical vivs. You could (and should) use a nice selection of large ones as well.


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## TysonUnderwood




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## Marty

TysonUnderwood said:


>


Great build Tyson. Needs to grow in a bit more. I'd drape some mosses on the walls and mist really heavy so they can start growing in and getting established. I think you need to moss it up a notch


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## DragonSpirit1185

Wow lookes great!!!
I wish I had money to do that.

What I wanna do it get one of those storage sheds and make it have a sunroof and make it a greenhouse/vivarium....maybe one day lol

Great job man..
Marty is right tho....you need some more moss.

How long till ya think you're gonna put some frogs on and btw I'd suggest putting up a knee high barrier to keep leaf litter in and stop the frogs from running out quickly....just a thought


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## TysonUnderwood

I'm working on the moss part. I spread out a bunch of spores and they are slowly starting to take, but I probably do need to increase the misting a bit. I'm still trying to balance not over saturating the floor with putting enough water on the walls. As far as frogs, other than temps, it is ready for them. I need to see how hot it gets this summer with the insulation I put in to see if it needs an AC unit. Once I figure that out, I'll go for it.


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## DragonSpirit1185

any updates?


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## jpstod

I think you should have Made the Wall with the Door Glass so you could enjoy a better View without having to go inside the Room..

But Still a Fantastic Job and a Labor of Love..


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## Froggyplush

that is just incredible wow!!!!


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## intelsuit

This is Amazing!!! Seriously Wow! Any updates or recent pics?


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## Jon Mason

Would love to see some updated pics. It is going to be amazing when finished.


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## wirtheim

Amazing Project!!!


Two thumbs up!!!!


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## rvsur

Any photo updates you can make available?

I'd love to see how its come along!


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## Noort

Gorgeous!!!

I second the previously proposed title of 'walk-in viv'.


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## pdfCrazy

Updates! Wheres the inhabitants?


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## jausi

Great Job!!!

Amazin.....


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## KarmaPolice

Been almost a year since last update, can we get an update on added plants and growth, perfected the misting system/nozels, and hopefully some inhabitants to go along with this great build. Good luck in the meantime.


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## tnwalkers

updates please


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## theamazingdman

Nice job! Can we get some updates?


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## pink feet

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG,,, i seriously clicked this just searching for some locals in sac scrolled thru and almost wet myself in amazement! you have taken custom build to a level all its own.. can i freaken live in there!!! you are my hero. omg. im am in shock! GREAT WORK!


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## that Frog Guy

Wow. Super Cool.

I love the door.

What kind of Frogs are you putting in there?

How many Frogs will you have?


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## potogold71

Any updates on growth or inhabitants? Anything you might do differently next time? Thanks


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## DragonSpirit1185

I don't think he is coming back guys 










I wish he did though so we can get an update on this epic build


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## wikiwakawakawee

Anyone know what happened to this guy and his "walk-in vivarium"?


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## Tetra73

wikiwakawakawee said:


> Anyone know what happened to this guy and his "walk-in vivarium"?



Maybe it didn't work out. Sometimes, your taste can change from the moment you started your project until it is finished. I thought the enclosure is too unnatural and too square. 

Lighting a room this size for plants can be problematic. Is not a green house and so you may need artificial lighting.


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## TysonUnderwood

I know it's been a while, but here are a few photos of how it currently stands.

Life has been way too busy so I've done little more than maintain the room. There are no animals in there currently. While I've tried, I've been unable to get the temperatures stable enough to trust putting anything tropical in there. 

If I were to do it again, I would change a few things. For the rocks, I would use a 2 part epoxy instead of the grout for the base coats at least. The grout was a pain to put on. A false floor with reservoir underneath would have helped a lot with the water. Because of how I segmented the water from the rest of the floor, i have to have a separate pump to drain the bottom of the soil area occasionally from splashing. The clay soil also has broken down. I have a good supply of worms in it which keep it aerated and plants are doing well in it, but it is basically a slightly structured clay and has lost any semblance to dirt. If I were to try it again, I'd use more binder/concrete in the original mix to try to get it to hold up better.


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## DragonSpirit1185

TysonUnderwood said:


> I know it's been a while, but here are a few photos of how it currently stands.
> 
> Life has been way too busy so I've done little more than maintain the room. There are no animals in there currently. While I've tried, I've been unable to get the temperatures stable enough to trust putting anything tropical in there.
> 
> If I were to do it again, I would change a few things. For the rocks, I would use a 2 part epoxy instead of the grout for the base coats at least. The grout was a pain to put on. A false floor with reservoir underneath would have helped a lot with the water. Because of how I segmented the water from the rest of the floor, i have to have a separate pump to drain the bottom of the soil area occasionally from splashing. The clay soil also has broken down. I have a good supply of worms in it which keep it aerated and plants are doing well in it, but it is basically a slightly structured clay and has lost any semblance to dirt. If I were to try it again, I'd use more binder/concrete in the original mix to try to get it to hold up better.


Thanks for the update I thought you was gone for good haha
Sad to hear things didn't work out but hopefully you make it happen one day


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## Darby

It takes me forever to get a 20gal the way I want it. I'd pull my hair out worrying about something that size! Cool idea though.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk


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## Aqua_il

I like the way the vines have grown in. Temps can be hard to control, especially with the skylight. But still, looks very nice!


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## Ryandean360

Wow this is great. Any chance of an update on this with some pics? What kind of frogs are in it by now?


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## ryangreenway

Ryandean360 said:


> Wow this is great. Any chance of an update on this with some pics? What kind of frogs are in it by now?


See the above post


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## Ryandean360

Ah sorry didn't see the HERE link button. Looks great


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