# Floor to ceiling viv - Build thread.



## MeiKVR6 (Sep 16, 2008)

Glass is approx 4' tall - 18" wide. It should be just a bit short of the low sectioned ceiling in our living room. 

Concept Drawing:




























It'll be made of MDF. The bottom section below the glass will contain a humidifier and a reservoir for the waterfall & drainage area inside the tank. I'm consindering buying another misting pump for this... The top will contain 1 100W Equivalent 6500K CFL and one 275W Equivalent Full Spectrum Greenhouse CFL.  Should take me about 2 weeks to build what you see in that drawing... Sealing the back & filling it will take a bit longer - but it'll get done eventually.

Suggestions welcome! I'd rather change the design now as opposed to later when it's too late!


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## Darmon (Feb 25, 2009)

That looks like quite the cool project. It might be a pain if you ever need to move it. I suggest wheels


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## Trey (Sep 10, 2008)

You might want to thing more about the lighting. That is one tall viv!


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

SWEETDESIGN! I think your lighting shoudl be a 500 watt compact fluorescent.


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## fraser2009 (Jan 4, 2009)

looks real cool man only flaw i see is your lighting might want to look into a small hm to get light all the way into that depth.


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## MeiKVR6 (Sep 16, 2008)

I never really considered it... I assumed 275 was plenty! 

I suppose for an extra $16 - I should just go with the bigger version... In our greenhouse book 'o wholesale goodness - it goes from 55W (275W equivalent) to a massive 125W (625W equivalent)... Think that'll burn the bromeliads? I suppose 4 feet is plenty enough distance...

Where do you guys go for lighting?


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## thelegend76 (Feb 10, 2009)

Looks like it will be gorgeous. I don't know about wheels, I mean yes it would be good for moving it, but what about removable casters? Cuz I wouldn't want to detract away from its design.

What are your thoughts on what you plan to put in there, animal wise? Looks like it will be one hell of a vertical tank. 

Keep us posted, I'm green with envy.


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

thelegend76 said:


> Looks like it will be gorgeous. I don't know about wheels, I mean yes it would be good for moving it, but what about removable casters? Cuz I wouldn't want to detract away from its design.


You could build some sort of a "skirt" (made out of the same material the rest of the viv is made of of course), around the casters so only maybe 1/4-1/2" were to be exposed. That would conceal them and not take anything away from the design. Or possibly even just raise the floor of the bottom compartment to accomplish the same thing and keep a seamless outside.


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## MeiKVR6 (Sep 16, 2008)

thelegend76 said:


> Looks like it will be gorgeous. I don't know about wheels, I mean yes it would be good for moving it, but what about removable casters? Cuz I wouldn't want to detract away from its design.
> 
> What are your thoughts on what you plan to put in there, animal wise? Looks like it will be one hell of a vertical tank.
> 
> Keep us posted, I'm green with envy.


It's being built for Variablis... Probably.  I want a social frog thats out often & will utilize the vertical space. (I'm 100% open to suggestions!) Originally it was going to be built on it's side and used for Terribilis - but that idea fell thru unfortunately. (Girlfriend noticed she was losing 4' of usable space in our living room haha) I sorta prefer the look of a horizontal viv... Although this hopefully won't be bad either. 

It's going on carpet - I was going to use those plastic slider things if I need to move it. Casters would be more functional - but being 18X18X68" - it would be crazy "tippy" on casters. I would be slaughtered if this thing tipped over in our living room lol.


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## alluringeli (Apr 20, 2009)

Sweet that looks like its going to be one sexy viv. lots of frogs. keep us posted....


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## MeiKVR6 (Sep 16, 2008)

What do you guys think of sealing the wood with a ton 'o silicone? Seems easier than minwax stuff - and 100% no risk of chemical issues... Although it's expensive...

Suggestions?

edit: I should mention - the bottom section that'll be filled w/water will be lined with pond liner. I'm not taking any chances there... But as for the rest of the stuff - the walls that won't be constantly exposed to water... That's what I'm really concerned with.


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

How about DryLock?

Here's a link:
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=15020-96-27613&lpage=none


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## fraser2009 (Jan 4, 2009)

for sealing i would go with marine epoxy or the stuff used for ponds so you know its safe.Pond Armor - Non Toxic Epoxy and Polyurea Pond Liners and Sealers​
im not sure on lighting im just think since most bulbs spread the light alot hm are more of a beam you would get away with it id think if you had a food reflector to channel light down 
best of luck cant wait to see this one 
Fraser


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## Tarkah (Jun 6, 2009)

im in the same boat with my sealing.

At the moment I was going to use Clear Silicon and just smear it evenly with an old credit card or something of the like. 

I bought a can of waterbased varathane but apparently its a pain to wait for it to air out and cure.

But i'm going to be adding some styrofoam to give it a rockwall look. Not sure if i want to go with the cocohusk look, most likely just a rocky look. Are you thinking about adding that too? 

So i don't know if i should stick to the first idea and covering it all with silicone or trying out the drylock stuff.


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## MeiKVR6 (Sep 16, 2008)

^^^ Yeah you and I really seem to be in the same boat.

I was going to do a tree up the middle and a rock ledge thing on the side... The more time I take to think about it - the more I realize silicone may be the simplest/easiest answer. It's certainly not the cheapest tho. I'll probably be spending nearly $120 on silicone alone for this thing.  I'll have to coat the wood, then over the great stuff... 

We'll see.


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## bloodraven (Mar 8, 2009)

Most people who build vivs this big (water dragon people) just use epoxy on the wood. It takes about a week to cure for no fumes, but it's totally worth it IMO. Then, just use silicone on the seams and you should be good to go!


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## fraser2009 (Jan 4, 2009)

i say some kind of epoxy would be a hell of a lot cheaper than silicon, you would paint it on just like a varnish but if you go with a pond version your sure its safe plus if i remember right it comes in a few colours. its what everyone seems to use on plywood fish tanks


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## LorenK (Apr 3, 2008)

If you google plywood aquarium, you'll find a bunch of articles with people using marine epoxy to waterproof the wood. That would be more than sufficient for the back of your vivarium.

Also, I there was a good thread where someone took a broken 75g tank and made it vertical (also 4'). On the first pages of that thread is another vivarium (nice show quality) with the some lights installed vertically. he talks about his lighting solution on post 71.

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/plants/33624-new-terrarium-idea.html


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## johnachilli (Feb 8, 2007)

Did you say you wanted to build this from MDF? I would suggest going with plywood, MDF and water just don't get along well.


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## fraser2009 (Jan 4, 2009)

good point you might want to look into marine grade ply bit more costly but that with a coat or two of acrilic of some sort it should last you a good long time.


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## Tarkah (Jun 6, 2009)

bloodraven you have a good eye lol. Well mine any way are for my water dragons. 6 x 4 x 2. I thought it would be a little to big for my frogs. they'd just get lost and that whole "omg where is it? is it dead?" paranoia will happen every single day lol. 

yaaaah the silicon is going to get expensive 

if you didnt carve into the greatstuff, that stuff is waterproof. But if you broke the cured skin then water can seep in if i remember correctly 

my first idea was to use a latex acrylic paint, that contains a sealant, but im not sure if that is a good idea anymore. 

another problem i see with the silicon is that it might cure weird, like if say we didnt spread it out eveny, it'll be lumpy and upclose it might be a little weird looking. uneven and bumpy. or perhaps im just picky


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## jpstod (Sep 8, 2005)

johnachilli said:


> Did you say you wanted to build this from MDF? I would suggest going with plywood, MDF and water just don't get along well.


Actually Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) is not like the old particle board. You can actually pour water onto it and let it sit and it will not raise like the old particle boards. The Glueing makes the product water resistant. In The states virtually all Counter tops that are Laminated use MDF because of this. Very few countertop installers use plywood as a base anymore. 

Another (+) of MDF there are no Voids or Air pockets in the product. I have cut plenty of sheets of cabinet/furniture grade plywood to find layers of laminate loose and it was unusable

If the Finished product will be painted, you will get a much better finish than with wood as there will not be grain to raise when you paint it. 

A Natural Stained wood like Cherry or Oak would be more beautiful than a painted fixture in my opinion


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## Ben E (Oct 1, 2004)

i would be really surprised if mdf didnt fail within a year....all you need is one tiny imperfection and water will find it and the mdf will swell and quickly start decaying (this has happened to me before and i will never use it again)....if you think it will work go for it! you might want to try mdf on a smaller project first and see how it works


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## raimeiken (Dec 24, 2006)

I dont know if you've seen this viv but I'll post it anyway just so you can get some ideas from it and how the light is set up


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

now that is a sweet tank!!


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

MeiKVR6 said:


> It's being built for Variablis... Probably.  I want a social frog thats out often & will utilize the vertical space. (I'm 100% open to suggestions!) Originally it was going to be built on it's side and used for Terribilis - but that idea fell thru unfortunately. (Girlfriend noticed she was losing 4' of usable space in our living room haha) I sorta prefer the look of a horizontal viv... Although this hopefully won't be bad either.
> 
> It's going on carpet - I was going to use those plastic slider things if I need to move it. Casters would be more functional - but being 18X18X68" - it would be crazy "tippy" on casters. I would be slaughtered if this thing tipped over in our living room lol.


I thought I read somewhere (maybe it was the Understory page) that variabilis are more terrestrial than most people think. I think you should go with imitators, Veradero preferrably.


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