# Very First Vivarium Build! [Pic/ explanation heavy]



## Monstera (Dec 10, 2020)

I’ve just finished my first from scratch vivarium build for my crested gecko! It’s been a long road but I’m glad to have it done. I found that finding information for the type of tank build I wanted to find was difficult, so I wanted to post my steps and materials in hopes that someone else might find it useful. 










Finished product here ^

my base was the 12x12x24 exo terra paludarium. I read that some exo terra tanks had an issue with leaking, but since the paludarium tanks are silicone sealed it hasn’t been an issue for me.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the spray foam/silicone/ coco husk technique as I was picturing something more rocky as my final product.









I picked up some blue insulation foam from rona to carve into this tall rocky formation. I cut the foam with a hot foam cutter into various shapes and essentially just stacked the pieces to essentially make stairs. I read that insulation/ polystyrene foam works best as it doesn’t leave small styrofoam balls everywhere during cutting. In this picture you can see I’ve just sort of taped the pieces together, this was just to help me get an idea of what I wanted before committing. 








Once I decided on a layout I carved the pieces to look a little more rocky, putting cracks and texture on them and cutting out holes for my plant pots. I stuck the foam together using skewers, silicone, and hot glue. The skewers provided a bit of structural integrity as some of my pieces stuck out from the back a fair amount. I also carved my background piece to fit with my layout and I carved “feet” in the bottom to allow for less water contact in the bottom of the tank.










here is a close up of the lower level hide that I built. You can see that I accidentally stuck one of the skewers through a bit far, however you’ll see later that this gets covered up.










I used white original drylok to coat the foam pieces in order to waterproof and colour them. I used quikrete cement dye in charcoal to colour the drylok in small portions before painting. The drylok has some sand mixed in to it which is nice as it gives some texture.










I ended up doing about 6/7 coats of drylok over all of my pieces. I kept putting the pieces in the tank to make sure they fit along the way, and any less coats was easily scratched and left exposed foam. The drylok completely filled in the cracks of the styrofoam and covered up my mistakes, while still leaving enough carving detail visible. I do recommend carving a bit deeper than I did for some cracks or rock texture as it does fill in a fair amount. I did read the some people liked to mix sand into the last layer of drylok for more texture, but I felt like after the 7 coats it had enough for what I wanted.










my next step was painting. I picked up some non toxic water based acrylics and mixed them with the drylok to create some colours. I used green, black, brown, and beige, using the beige to dry brush over on the last coat. Here you can also see more close up how much the drylok filled in cracks and covered up things like the wooden skewer that was sticking out of this hide.










I made sure everything still fit in the tank as needed. If anyone was wondering, the drylok isn’t rock hard, it does leave a little bit of squish to the foam. Since the polystyrene foam I used was quite sturdy, the pieces were quite sturdy after the drylok. I did however use drylok over some spray foam, and that was significantly more “squishy” that the regular foam. I don’t believe it would be in danger of breaking, but just a heads up in case someone is wanting a specific texture.









I used aquascape black pond spray foam to fill in a few gaps here and there. This is a picture of a failed section. If you do not let it cure completely before carving the spray foam, it ends up shrinking in size and kind of caving in. I had no issues on other sections except for here, but I did only allow it to dry for 4 hours. This is after 2 coats of drylok, the holes do get filled in as you go as long as you’re pressing/ dabbing the drylok in, with the exception of a few larger holes.










this was difficult to get a picture of, but I did seal a very tiny photo of my boyfriend and I inside the hide using minwax polycyclic sealed and drylok on the edges. I’m not sure how this will hold up as I’ve never seen anyone do it, but we’ll see.

[ran out of photo attachments, rest will follow in comments]


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## Monstera (Dec 10, 2020)

The next step was to glue and spray foam everything in. Since I wanted the “tree” to seemingly go through the rocks I had to hold up the branches in position while the foam set. I just taped paintbrushes across the tank and tied yarn around the driftwood in order to hang it in it’s place. I used various boxes and whatnot to support underneath the “roots” of the tree and to keep the top hide in place as the base was










I sprayfoamed in the “tree” and the plant pots and carved them down, next painting them in with drylok. I also used the drylok to seal some of my pieces together as I build them all separate. The rocks I made stuck out too much to be just attached to the background and stuck in, so I had to glue everything in inside the tank.










after the drylok layers were complete I stuck on my moss and dirt and coco fibre. I used gorilla glue to stick everything on. I did use frog moss/ pillow moss, but I regret using it for the small pieces as it is dying off. I read that Java moss worked well to grow on wood and drylok but I was unable to find any for sale where I live. Moss suggestions are appreciated!









All I had to do next was plant my plants in and I was on my way!









Tank floor 









top of the tank, little hide with a sort of basking spot on top










secret mossy bed/ hiding spot behind the umbrella plant.

my next step is to get some black construction paper to stick to the sides of the glass where the hides are. I didn’t create siding for them in the tank as I didn’t want to to take up too much space, but I still want my gecko to feel safe and hidden.

I also have a small single feeding ledge, but I have currently misplaced the magnet for itso it will go in later. I did glue some moss and dirt to it so it would fit in!

The tank is currently cycling with isopods and springtails while I get the hunidity and heat stabilized (my room is freezing in the winter, so heating such a tall tank is somewhat difficult).

it will be all ready for my cresties arrival on Monday!

material list

polystyrene insulation foam (rona)
original white drylok (rona)
sandpaper (rona) (I cut the branches down and sanded them)
quikrete concrete dye (rona)
foam carver (hobby wholesale)
exacto knife
aquascape spray foam (local pond store)
aquascape silicone (local pond store)
net pots (local hydroponics store)
non toxic acrylic paint (Michael’s)
gorilla glue (Home Depot)
wooden skewers
paintbrushes

questions and comments appreciated


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## Gastrotheca (Sep 4, 2020)

The fake rocks look great! It is interesting to see what different people do for crested gecko vivariums. Is this tank bioactive? Cresties produce a lot of waste, so if you are not wanting to clean the enclosure every couple of weeks, then bioactive is your best bet! 

Good luck!

Gastrotheca
-----------------------------
Crested Gecko 0.2.0


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## Ocean (Dec 10, 2020)

Looking good! Cresties appreciate lots of foliage as well so maybe adding some net pots in crevices to add some vining plants or maybe using fake plants would be cool. Getting a crestie is so exciting! I have two myself and Chips (the female) seems to be enjoying her new bioactive tank. And for your heating problem get a small heat mat! small tanks actually heat up and trap heat pretty quickly so a small heat mat on one side of the tank should work. Just make sure it doesn't overheat because they don't really have a temperature control. And to measure temp you can get one of those digital ones from Home Depot. The reptile gauges with the needle suck and break really quickly. 

So exciting getting a new herp buddy!


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## TeddytheFinger (May 8, 2019)

Wow that's a good looking tank!


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## Monstera (Dec 10, 2020)

Gastrotheca said:


> The fake rocks look great! It is interesting to see what different people do for crested gecko vivariums. Is this tank bioactive? Cresties produce a lot of waste, so if you are not wanting to clean the enclosure every couple of weeks, then bioactive is your best bet!
> 
> Good luck!
> 
> ...


thank you! And it sure is bio active! As much as I hate springtails and isopods I thought it would make my life 10 times easier considering I can’t take the background out. I did make sure my hands can fit in to everywhere to clean at least though.

question about bio active tanks though, with the isopods and springtails would you supply them with clean up crew food as well or will the gecko waste/leaf litter/possible mold be sufficient?


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## Monstera (Dec 10, 2020)

Ocean said:


> Looking good! Cresties appreciate lots of foliage as well so maybe adding some net pots in crevices to add some vining plants or maybe using fake plants would be cool. Getting a crestie is so exciting! I have two myself and Chips (the female) seems to be enjoying her new bioactive tank. And for your heating problem get a small heat mat! small tanks actually heat up and trap heat pretty quickly so a small heat mat on one side of the tank should work. Just make sure it doesn't overheat because they don't really have a temperature control. And to measure temp you can get one of those digital ones from Home Depot. The reptile gauges with the needle suck and break really quickly.
> 
> So exciting getting a new herp buddy!


That is a good point! I was thinking of replacing the fern at the top with a couple longer pothos cuttings to get a vining plant in there, but I wasn’t too sure. I was also thinking about a small bromeliad on the driftwood tree I have near the top right, but I’ve never tried rooting one myself and I’m not sure how hard it would be?

I have a digital exoterra thermometer and I’ve been getting 70F in the night 72F in the day. The probe is in the middle/bottom so the top is most likely a bit warmer and the base is most likely a bit cooler. I haven’t quite made it out to get a temp gun but I feel like I need one for piece of mind. Do you think that is enough variation in temp between night and day? I can seem to get it much higher so if I do need higher then I believe you’re right on a heat mat on the side being the way to go.


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## Monstera (Dec 10, 2020)

TeddytheFinger said:


> Wow that's a good looking tank!


thank you!!


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## Gastrotheca (Sep 4, 2020)

Monstera said:


> I was thinking of replacing the fern at the top with a couple longer pothos cuttings to get a vining plant in there


Pothos will stand up to the "heavier'" bodies of crested geckos.



Monstera said:


> question about bio active tanks though, with the isopods and springtails would you supply them with clean up crew food as well or will the gecko waste/leaf litter/possible mold be sufficient?


If the substrate is kept moist enough, and the humidity is constantly around 60%-80%, the springtails should thrive and continue to eat all of the waste that the geckos produce. Sometimes geckos will eat the larger isopods. 

Gastrotheca
-----------------------------------
Crested Gecko 0.2.0


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## Ocean (Dec 10, 2020)

Monstera said:


> That is a good point! I was thinking of replacing the fern at the top with a couple longer pothos cuttings to get a vining plant in there, but I wasn’t too sure. I was also thinking about a small bromeliad on the driftwood tree I have near the top right, but I’ve never tried rooting one myself and I’m not sure how hard it would be?
> 
> I have a digital exoterra thermometer and I’ve been getting 70F in the night 72F in the day. The probe is in the middle/bottom so the top is most likely a bit warmer and the base is most likely a bit cooler. I haven’t quite made it out to get a temp gun but I feel like I need one for piece of mind. Do you think that is enough variation in temp between night and day? I can seem to get it much higher so if I do need higher then I believe you’re right on a heat mat on the side being the way to go.


Your crestie will love some vines! Natural arboreal hides are their thing. A brom may be cool! It could act as a little water dish. As long as humidity is up and the base is generally moist they should root okay. Vriesia have extensive roots but they get huge. Neorgelia dont root as easily but they stay smaller. 

If you have a digital thermometer that should be good. Just be sure things don't get too chilly and you can use the temp on the digital thing to estimate the gradient of the whole tank.


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## Kmc (Jul 26, 2019)

Very nice work! Agree indeed on adding vines, and branchey complexity in that open space under the daylamp. 

With retained prehensility esp, you can see some interesting diurnal sleeping poses. 

They are truly the yogies of the gecko world.


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## Monstera (Dec 10, 2020)

Kmc said:


> Very nice work! Agree indeed on adding vines, and branchey complexity in that open space under the daylamp.
> 
> With retained prehensility esp, you can see some interesting diurnal sleeping poses.
> 
> They are truly the yogies of the gecko world.


i definitely agree with you. Do you have any suggestions at all for a vining plant? I was thinking pothos, but I’m open to any really.

perhaps there’s some sort of epiphytic vining plant I can attach to the driftwood branches themselves?


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## Kmc (Jul 26, 2019)

Im not a plant cat, i used some faux vine i liked because i could 'stay' it where i wanted, near drips and lighting and other climbing architecture.

Im my crested habs, which most of the time were chameleon environments, and watered with a drip. i used the vine mentioned and mucho grapevine branches. Partial opened and intact cork rounds, suspended along the walls, dogwood and birch 'stands' (think : rustic stripper poles)

I had wayward arrow plant craziness and pothos for foliage, and hanging bird coves originally made for naturalistic nesting boxes.

Someone will be able to advise you about live vines.


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