# First vivarium, Detailed Exo-Terra build w/ pictures



## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

I picked up this ever so slightly used Exo-Terra for $28
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=006
The screen top was warped by heat lamps. I knew I didn't need it, and the damage lowered the price.
I have since gathered these supplies together to begin my build.

SUPPLIES LIST
Exo-terra 18x18x24
24x24 inch piece of black egg crate
Fiberglass screen
Black acrylic sheet for pond walls
6’ of vine material
5’ of black 1” PVC (eggcrate support)
5’ of black 1.5” PVC (water feature)
3 cans of black handi-foam
5 tubes of black silicone
10 pieces of Malaysian driftwood
3 pieces of swahalian drift wood
5 pieces of corkbark
1 grape wood (knotty root)
3 coco bricks
1 gallon of Magnolia leaves 
8 quart bag of peat moss
Bag of orchid bark
2 ½” bulk heads
1 ehiem canister filter
1 Current 2 x32 watt Compact fluorescent retro kit
1 100 ( now 50) watt heating cable w/ thermostat
Misting system from Josh’s Frogs
1 Zilla Terrarium Hygrometer Thermometer 
Various plumbing
Various Anubias & Cryptocorynes
Springtails

The first things I did were throw away the background and the screen top. Then I cleaned out the Exo-Terra with a vacuum & a hospital type disinfectant. I followed this up with an extensive bath to remove the disinfectant. The next item on my list was getting a glass top. I went to Lowes and had a top cut to 17x15" Of course it was cut wrong, and a little to big. I shaved it down with a wet stone, and also hit the other edges to remove sharp surfaces. I then cut a few indentations in the top to fit the bumped out area for the front door hinges. I also used a piece of the plastic for the back of an aquarium top to be able to run electrical and other equipment into the Vivarium.

















I also have soaked and cooked the driftwood, and coco bedding for the background. Further updates to come as they progress.


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## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

The next item was drilling, and installing the intake bulkhead for the filter. I decided to renforce the bulkhead area so as to not have problems from the weight of the plumbing. I have cracked glass when plumbing on less than 1/4" glass in the past.









Next I cut a bunch of 1" black PVC pipe to the length of 3". These are to support the eggcrate. I then cut four small channels in the bottom of each of these for drainage.









I then siliconed these in place.









Next I started fitting the black eggcrate. The small hole in the back left is for running the heater and grounding probe. The cut out area in the front left is for the small pond area.


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## brettlt (Oct 5, 2006)

Is the 100 watt heating cable made to be underwater? Is that where you are using it? I am a little confused.

Also, are you going to hide the false bottom?

It is looking good. Nice score on the cheap exo terra.


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## Mustang (May 2, 2007)

Been busy LOL
You may want to look at the pond area I found that I need more room (bigger hole) so the side were not to steep when I finished

Are you planning on running a sump? Or just attaching the canister to the bulk head? I think you are going to find that canister way to much flow. I bought a small mini pump and had to even throttle that back. The flow was so much it splashed the tank and kept the whole area too wet.

How much room do you have above the eggcrate? It hard to tell but do you have enoght room for the substrate?

I also am looking at the misting system how do yo plan on turning it on and off? I am worried that if it get stuck on I will have a flood.


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## HaikuWarriors41 (Jun 15, 2007)

looks like you're exactly where i hope to be soon. nice deal on the exo-terra - still deciding whether i'm going to spend extra for a nifty new tank when i've got access to older, lower-tech ones. but i'm aiming for a 18x18 with false bottom and pond, with a driftwood-and-foam background. planning on raising 1-2 azureus froglets.

a couple questions: what are your plans for the water feature? something going back into that channel cut in the egg crate? i'd love to place a waterfall, but i'm not sure how to position it in relation to a shallow pond in the front of the tank (against a side?). also, what sort of plumbing are you going to be running? i'm curious to know what gets so heavy as to potentially damage the glass. finally, where are you acquiring your plant material from? local store, sponsor site, otherwise? thanks so much - appreciate the pictures and will be watching your progress!


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## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

brettlt, I went to place the 100 watt cable I had, and decided it was to much. I'm replacing it with a 50 watt cable. It will be placed in the water under the false bottom. To hide the false bottom I am using black vinyl shelf paper around the outside with the exception of the pond area. I plan to close of the pond area from the false bottom with black acrylic sheet. The acrylic will be drilled for water to pass through. 

Ken AKA Mustang, Yes I have been a little busy. Made MASM director & Team MR in the last few days as well as this. I was going to use the canister filter for the waterfall. The water feature is to be more of a brook that falls into the pond. I have a real cool plan using the 1.5" PVC. The filter has a 104GPH flow. Might have to just put in a few more bulkheads in. There is 3" above, and below the eggcrate. I also plan to slope the substrate higher toward the back. I plan to use a battery backup digital lighting timer for the misting system. 

HaikuWarriors41, I have answered the water feature question as much as I will for now. There is a cool surprise in the future. As to the bulkhead I have just had some problems with thinner glass in the past, and I have done that as an over built precaution. I will not be putting heavy plumbing on it just don't like glass under a 1/4". The plants will come from Josh's Frogs, Littlefrog Farm, Preuss House of Pets(a Titan local store), and local hobbyists.


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## Hopkins (Jun 3, 2007)

Tagging along!


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## HaikuWarriors41 (Jun 15, 2007)

thanks much for hitting all my questions! while i was initially considering a frontally-placed rock spring feature flowing into a corner pond, after thinking and reading all day i'm now leaning towards concealing an internal filter in a 4" PVC cut into the back corner of the tank, and using this to feed a waterfall, stream, and into a pond, running across the tank at a diagonal. haven't decided if i want to tackle a stacked slate waterfall, or just keep it to half PVC pipes, like this one by BrOsK. we'll see.









layout something like this one by by memnoch1970:









and with the pump stowed in the corner, i might consider extending the background onto two sides like this one by MJ:









best of luck with yours, wbeavers - looking forward to see what's in store!


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## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

Welcome aboard Adam!


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## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

While I was waiting for my 50 watt heating cable I decided to place these five pieces of Malaysian driftwood on the back. I cut a flat on the back of each piece to increase the area the silicone contacted the wood. I also adde a piece of 1.25" PVC for running the equipment into the false bottom area.









I got my shorter 50 watt heating cable in today. I put this in the bottom of the tank with the provided suction cups. The suction cups were not sticking well so I augmented them with a dab of silicone in each one.


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## dopederson (Mar 26, 2006)

What part of the country are you living in? Most of us do not have a problem keeping out tanks warm (don't need a heater) its keeping the temps down that is the problem generally.


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## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

I thought I might want the ability to control temperatures up and down. I read that in the wild the temperatures are higher in the day and lower at night. I have a half plan in my head to have temperatures slowly ramp up during the day, until around 8, and then have the temperatures slowly decline into the night. I have a small peiltzer unit that could help with cooling.


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## pl259 (Feb 27, 2006)

Couple "half baked" thoughts on the heating cable. (Pun intended)
Consider at your own risk.

Heating the water in the false bottom is not that efficient. The air under and in the substrate, and the substrate itself, will insulate pretty well. Bottom line is I think you'll need to heat the water several degrees higher then what the air above the substrate ends up at. As an option, consider installing the cable in the substrate.

Providing a uniform heat under the frogs gives them no place to go if the temps should rise to far. Consider laying out the cable in a non-uniform way in order to create a temperature gradient in the tank. In other words provide a cooler side they can go to so they can self regulate their temp too.

Consider using a good thermostat to control the cable if you haven't already.

EricG.NH


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## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

I have a thermostat already. The water in the fase bottom will be circulating throuh the water feature. The water in the bottom should completely be recirculated every 2-3 minutes. I had considered putting the heater in the substrate, but I was unsure about how well the heat would be transfered. I felt it would be transfered quicker through the water than the substrate. Heat moves much quicker through water than air. The heated water will then be moved up through the water feature. the thin ribbon of water will have a great surface area to exchange its heat to the air.


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## sebastiaan (Apr 19, 2007)

The way ur dooing it u actually get a positive effect on ur humidity since lots of water will evaporate, creating a cooler area on the ground is very easy by just adding lots of substrate ( meaning if u have higher ground somewhere it will be cooler ). This way of heating is quite common in Holland only we just use aquarium heaters much cheaper and safer (less risk of electrification  )


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## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

My terrarium is using a double silicone insulated heating cable. If for some reason the heater were to leak, I have a grounding probe that is connected to a Ground Fault Interrupter(GFI) outlet. If I get any voltage to the outlet it shuts down. I find that there is no such thing as a reliable aquarium heater. I have had many different brands fail. Even Ebo-Jagers. I now use a separate temperature controller for reliability.


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## pilo0024 (Aug 22, 2006)

this looks sweet. i think i'll be payin attention. keep us updated and happy building.


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## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

Been kind of busy with work, overtime, and side jobs. I got the second bulkhead drilled and installed. I also put the first part of the water feature in. Have to post pictures later. I also got a few 10mm hole saws for drilling the glass top to install the misting system. Ken if you want one let me know.


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## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

Did the preliminary fitting of the aqueduct tonight. Post pictures when I'm sure it will work. The design is that the water goes into a small pond made of a cut down coconut half. From there the water falls into a PVC aqueduct. The sloping curved PVC drops the water into a the larger pond on the bottom; second waterfall.


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## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

Well here is the promised progress picture.








I still need to cut the top off the PVC, and trim it a little. After I get the fit right, I plan to glue the supports to the PVC with weldon 16.


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## the_noobinator (Jan 14, 2007)

how are you going to conceal the aquaduct to make it look natural?


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## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

The piers will be buried in the substrate. I plan on sanding the PVC when it has been cut. When the PVC is sanded it takes on an almost stone like quality. If I am unhappy with this then I will line it with something.


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## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

Here is a better picture of the aqueduct after cutting off the top of the pipe.


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

Everything looks great Bill, can't wait to see the finished product.


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## the_noobinator (Jan 14, 2007)

i see, i see. dial that pump down so no one gets swept away haha!


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## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

Well here are some progress pics.
The first is a whole tank shot








The next two are of the pond area,
















I added more Malaysian wood, and some corkbark to the background. I then used some spray foam, and covered it in silicone, and coco. I then added the black eggcrate, followed by the coco panels on the pond sides. I added the piece of wood for the frogs to climb out; just in case.


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## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

Here are some pictures from tonight. This will get leaf litter and more plants tomorrow. Here is my fully functioning Dual pond, dual waterfall, brook feature.


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## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

I got this a little more planted today. It is almost complete. 

The total picture









The left side









The right side









There are 22 species of plants. I seeded the substarate with two types of springtails, and woodlice several weeks ago in a seperate container of substrate and leaf litter.


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## wbeavers (Jun 7, 2007)

I was not happy with the front right hand corner so I added a few more plants tonight. I added the four green and black Costa Rican auratus today. So currently the viv has 25 species of plants, 4 species of bugs, 1 species of nematoid worms, and one species of frogs. Here is a pic of everything just before lights out.


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## frogsanddogs (Jun 21, 2008)

I know this is an old thread.. so not sure if you'll ever see my question, but hoping someone knows where you can buy that BLACK egg-crate? Thanks!


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## jausi (May 14, 2008)

hi question

did you glue the corck first with silicone to the back wall and them apply the great stuff?? or did you attach the cork with the great stuff???


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