# Glowing Desert Viv Finished...



## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Ok well mostly, i still have heat pads and fans, and this dehumidifier gizmo i found to add(http://www.eva-dry.com/), and i may buy a different light strip....but anyways here ya go. Oh i'll be adding 1 or 2 Glowing zebra fish to the pond  There is a cave behind each section of driftwood. A low cool humid(with moist moss lining) cave on far left, a med dry hide in middle with dry inside, and the main large high/dry hide on far right.

Go here for the theory/construction thread if interested in more info... http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/lounge/35591-desert-vivariums.html

Can see the moss on the high dry side is dying as i thought, but i drowned a couple plants when i did the initial heavy mistings. I should have let everything dry out before i started planting then spot watered.


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## raimeiken (Dec 24, 2006)

wow, is that healthy? lol


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## edwing206 (Apr 9, 2008)

raimeiken said:


> wow, is that healthy? lol


HAHA, reminds me of that Seinfeld episode with the rat hats
"I don't think that's good for business". "I don't think that's good for anyone". lol


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## DenZ0r (Oct 19, 2007)

AmaZing!! Trully, I really love it! So much better than a standard dessert viv. With some sand , a rock and a fake plant!

You did a god job!

I haven't read the previous thread completely so I ask here? What is going in there?
Some leopards?

Grtz. Dennis

And again NICE!


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Trippy......


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

If my Collared Lizard saw that viv. she`d move the f***k out!!!

John


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## squishy81 (Sep 13, 2007)

really cool!!!!


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

i woudl look into that sand to make sure its all safe.


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## bmasar (Dec 13, 2007)

Dehumidifier huh? That gave me a little chuck.

I had to fight with my new humidifier last night. I blew up the circuit board by plugging it into the wrong rated wart. Took a little electrical work to save it.

Humidifier for some, dehumidifier for others. But it's always a fight, isn't it?


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

T-Rex makes a glow in the dark calci-sand,I`m sure they wouldn`t sell it if was harmful.
You would hope.

John


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## dart_king (Mar 2, 2008)

NICE!

is that a jewel orchid i see? It needs to stay moist, and i think it will die in a desert.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

I've heard the calci sand isnt as digestable as claimed, but that in small amounts its not that bad...plus larger healthy leos from the research i've done rarely suffer from impactation. But its all siliconed in place and in crevices and all...so i think they'll have a hard time getting access to much of it, and hopefully by providing them a dish of eggshells and calcium powder they will be persauded not to try  I'll be watching them to be sure.


That dehumidfier i mentioned is a pretty cool little gadget it actually only plugs into heat up and recharge the crystals that absorbe the water so i think i'll put it on a timer so everynight it goes off and recharges since leos come out at night partially because the humidity is higher. Then it will go back to being active at daybreak removing the humidity.

The Jewel orchid is on the wetside, in one of the lowest and most moist parts, right near the pond plus this tank has better airflow which i think has caused problems with mine in the past in tropical vivs so i have high hopes for it but if it looks like its tanking i'll remove it. There is a substantial humidity gradient in the tank with the high/low substrate layers and their will be a corresponding temp gradient when i add the heat mats on the high dry side, so that left end is fairly tropical or substropical atleast.


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## Steven (Apr 8, 2009)

Enlightened Rogue said:


> I`m sure they wouldn`t sell it if was harmful.
> You would hope.


CFL UVB bulbs, Heat Rocks, Calci Sand, etc.

So many things that are harmful to animals are sold.


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## leotheleopard1 (Jul 23, 2013)

I'm in love with all your work! So amazing! Can you explain how you created the landscape please?


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

leotheleopard1 said:


> I'm in love with all your work! So amazing! Can you explain how you created the landscape please?


Thanks, that viv is basically dead. I kinda fell outta love with the idea of keeping a leo, and at that time ran outta money for the extra equipment I needed to make the desert viv a viable habitat. I will probably just clean it up a bit... add water and a glass top/lights I have and let it be a tropical viv, and maybe re-visit the desert viv idea again in the future.

As for how I did the landscape, It was a long time ago so I have to go off memory and what I can see by looking at the tank, but really except for having a screen top it is basically the same construction as any viv since I never got around to adding the heat pads and dehumidifier. The soil is just a mix of whatever I had on hand at the time mostly...like coco husk, peat moss, sphagnum moss, sand, aquarium gravel etc..etc..

The back wall is just broken slate tiles with silicone used as grout to hold them in place and glow in the dark calci sand pressed into the silicone to make the veins glow...I would paint it if I did it again for a cleaner look. When I turn it into a tropical viv I'll probably paint the edges of the rocks with grey and over the glow sand with glow paint to make it look nicer.

The only other kinda odd feature is an unusually deep substrate layer in most of the tank so that the top soil would be unlikely to get real wet especially with screen top and other equipment added to keep it desert like.

If you haven't checked out my 2 flickr galleries below in my signature, I would do that...I think the build pics probably do a much better job of explaining how it is put together without me having to write a small novel 

But if you have any specific questions I'm happy to answer if I can


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