# Vert terrariums and vert kits?



## Hornet (Sep 29, 2010)

Hi all, i've seen some nice vertical terrariums here and see vert kits mentioned alot, what is the purpose of the vert kit, is it just all the bits needed to convert i terrarium to a vert terrarium? What would one normally contain? Also vert terrariums normally have a false bottom and empty space under it, whats that for? Sorry for the newb questions, i'm from the land down under and we dont get this stuff over here, with the absence of dart frogs we dont see many of these extravagant terrariums here. Any help would be much appreciated :

John


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## fleshfrombone (Jun 15, 2008)

Ok so to address your questions point by point yes vert kits contain all the pieces you need to take a standard tank and turn it upright and build a vert. Most come with a screen vent, a bottom piece to keep water in, a joint (generally a living hinge), and the door with a handle. All you do is buy the tank size you want silicone in the kit and bingo you got yourself a vertically oriented tank. The false bottom design is to make the tank lighter, drain well, and also acts as a temperature stabilizer. Welcome to the forum and G'day mate, throw some shrimps on the barby for me


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## Hornet (Sep 29, 2010)

cheers mate  with the false bottom, wouldnt it be just as light without it and to keep the same amount of substrate? Also assuming if there is going to be standing water for fish the false bottom wouldnt be used? Look forward to learning lots more and constructing my own viv shortly  and btw we call them prawns here lol


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

No water should be in contact with the substrate (it will rot the plant roots and create a bacterial/anaerobic condition) - which is why the substrate stays above the water level with a false bottom, or something like a layer of gravel, leca, etc under the substrate (with a divider like screen or landscape fabric between them)


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## Hornet (Sep 29, 2010)

ahh k, cheers mate, so in a normal horizontal terrarium a layer of lecca would work fine? How deep should it be and how deep should the sub be?


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

Vert or horizontal shouldn't matter for what you use for the drainage layer it's all preference, start with maybe an inch and a half of each layer, experiment before frogs, and adjust from there depending on your needs, also, look into some of the build threads on here


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## fleshfrombone (Jun 15, 2008)

Then prawns on the barby chop chop! Yeah LECA would be fine. I don't use false bottoms personally. I just toss in a 2" or more layer of cleaned LECA down, put weed blocker on that, then substrate generally around a 3" layer, and on top of that a nice layer of cleaned and boiled magnolia leaves. The idea is separate the substrate and drainage layer so the substrate doesn't become soggy and gross. You want moist not wet. Like Chris said I'd look at the construction journals so you can see for yourself step by step the techniques used for viv creation. I've been doing this for a long while now and I still love construction journals. Some of the stuff people on here pull off is extraordinary.


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## laylow (Apr 6, 2009)

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/beginner-discussion/11865-good-threads-read-beginners.html

These are great threads to stard reading on if you haven't already done so. They'll answer lots of the normal beginner questions. 

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/care-sheets/27889-making-pdf-vertical-tank.html

This will help you understand the steps of building a vert. They really are quite simple. They're my favorite tanks to build!!


Shaw


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## ProjectPurity (Jun 26, 2010)

For me, the false bottom will allow me to use less drainage material (flourite, gravel, Hydroton/LECA, etc). I will have an approx 2 inch tall false bottom covered in landscape fabric or flyscreen and under that will be my water feature pump that powers a little trickle run down some wood (not a large feature) to a little pond. If i weren't using the false bottom, i would definitely have to buy more drainage material and i would have to dig up my pump every time i needed to clean it or change its filter. I also need the false bottom to ancor the wooden parts of the water feature to... Great Stuff wouldn't be too affective bonded to a bunch of gravel, but when it grips the false bottom, it'll hold pretty well and i shouldn't have to use the great stuff against the back to hold it up, the clay background should do.

Especially on horizontal tanks, some people like to build their ground level with some pretty big hills and this can lead to deep substrate or deep drainage layers if you don't construct a false bottom system to free up that space. And if you don't think it'll save you weight, go pick up two or three bags of gravel!

One thing that i haven't heard anyone mention yet regarding the Vert Conversion Kits yet is the need to silicone the black plastic rim that comes with the typical aquarium. They are tacked on with a little aquarium silicone in the corners, but will leak profusely if you don't seal the inside of that rim with a good layer of silicone before installing the bottom piece of the conversion kit. The "How to Make a PDF Vert Tank" thread mentions this in a little more detail, but i figured i'd make mention of it here as well.


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

ProjectPurity said:


> They are tacked on with a little aquarium silicone in the corners, but will leak profusely if you don't seal the inside of that rim with a good layer of silicone before installing the bottom piece of the conversion kit.


If you decide to build your own, I suggest putting the lower glass panel INSIDE the rim, so that you can silicone it directly to the glass of the tank for a leak-free, long lasting seal.


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## Hornet (Sep 29, 2010)

cheers for your input guys  was going to get started on my 40gal viv today but my fiance went into labour last night lol. Going to head off and grab a smaller tank approx 10gal , she needs to get moving a bit to help the process along, best bit is today is the due date lol


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## fleshfrombone (Jun 15, 2008)

Wow dude, if all it takes is your wife going into labor to keep you from constructing your vert I don't think you'll make it in this hobby. Kidding! Congrats man.


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## Hornet (Sep 29, 2010)

also since the hydroponic shop is shut today cant get any leca to start it off anyway. Got my tank anyway which will be home for my tree frogs  will have to read a few of those construction journals lol


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## ProjectPurity (Jun 26, 2010)

> If you decide to build your own, I suggest putting the lower glass panel INSIDE the rim, so that you can silicone it directly to the glass of the tank for a leak-free, long lasting seal.


This is true for the junglebox kits which, from the pictures on the site, pretty clearly show them siliconed to the rim? How would the door open then if the door is living hinged to the bottom piece? Maybe i'm reading this wrong? Maybe your saying that if i were to go to the glass shop, i should design a system that puts the bottom glass inside the rim, but if i buy a kit like the one from junglebox it would just have to be siliconed to the rim. Am i right?


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

ProjectPurity said:


> This is true for the junglebox kits which, from the pictures on the site, pretty clearly show them siliconed to the rim? How would the door open then if the door is living hinged to the bottom piece? Maybe i'm reading this wrong? Maybe your saying that if i were to go to the glass shop, i should design a system that puts the bottom glass inside the rim, but if i buy a kit like the one from junglebox it would just have to be siliconed to the rim. Am i right?


Our (JungleBox) kits use a hinge that allows the lower panel to fit on the inside of the rim, while the door and vent are on the outside.


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## laylow (Apr 6, 2009)

Dane said:


> Our (JungleBox) kits use a hinge that allows the lower panel to fit on the inside of the rim, while the door and vent are on the outside.


Shoot, Ive always silliconed the lower panel to the plastic outside of the rim haha, Must have skipped over that part of your instructions Dane haha..... Oh well, Im at a year+ with no issues!!


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## Hornet (Sep 29, 2010)

how do you attach the living hinge to the tank?


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