# First Build 18x18x24 Exo Terra - Waterfall - Complete Guide



## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Hey Everyone,

Thank you to everyone who has been answering my many questions over the past few weeks. I am finally ready to get going on my Viv. My plan is to document and photograph each step of the process and when done compile all that I have learned / materials and methods used to a pdf file to help other new viv builders.

Tank - ExoTerra 18x18x24

Background - GreatStuff + Silicon + EcoEarth
Waterfall - Carved GreatStuff + DryLok
DriftWood - Malaysian Drift Wood, Mopani, Cork Bark
Substrate - AGB + Leaf Litter
False Bottom - Egg Crate + PVC Supports

Plants - Coming as soon as I figure out what I have

I will be posting photos starting tonight of the progress I have made so far (not much). Please feel free to point things out that are wrong or make suggestions as any point in this build. Again thanks for all the support this forum has provided!

***All Photos as progress will be appended to this initial post to ensure they are easy to find***


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## tnwalkers (Jul 15, 2012)

good luck on the build ima tag along for the ride


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

There is a new post that mentions the use of Titebond III which you may want to consider instead of the Drylock...Drylock as far as my experience goes, dries white...and after having gone online about the III, seems as though it may be better to use...just suggesting you take a look.


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

I have purchased a gray DryLok and I plan to add acrylic paint to achieve the desired color. I will have to look into the titebond is it a wood glue or am I looking at the wrong thing!


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Well it looks like I can't edit the first post anymore so I guess you will just have to skip through this thread to find all the pictures  I will also put them up on a blog if you want to see them all in one place!


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

First Round of Pictures

The Tank:









Preparing To Silicon The Background Area of the Tank:
--Following the instrucitons on NEHerp I am doing an initial layer of black silicon before doing the great stuff foam.









First Silicon Layer Applied:









Supports for The False Bottom:
--I drilled the supports so that water doesn't stagnate inside them.









My First Attempt at making Vines:
--I used some normal rope, split it up into its smaller fibers and then covered it in black silicon (very messy) then I dipped it into a box full of eco earth and sphagnum moss. Did about 6 inches at a time. I like how they look but not sure how well they will hold up, we shall see.

















Some shots of the Plants I currently have:
--Currently housing them in a small tank with a false bottom and sphagnum moss as a substrate.
--Need to get some broms would love advice on best place to get them.

































Hopefully my second can of greatstuff will arrive soon and I can get working on the background / waterfall.


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Here is the blog, it may be a bit behind this thread but I will try to keep it updated.

Vivarium Construction


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## jeeperrs (Jan 14, 2010)

Nice work!


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Thanks, building a vivarium has been a dream of mine ever since I was really young.

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## guylovesreef (May 3, 2012)

it looks good so far! keep the pictures coming


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

I think I'm going to go with titebond 3 instead of silicon, so much praise for that method. Any reason I shouldn't?

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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Made a little more progress.

I made a rough skeleton of where the waterfall is going to be so I don't have to use so much greatstuff.



















The Backside of the egg crate









Here is the drift wood I will be using.










I finally got my second can of greatstuff today. I think my plan now is to get another tube of silicon and figure out where the wood will be going and silicon it in place. Then I will fill in the background with the foam. 

As always please let me know if you see something wrong with my plan or have any advice.

Thanks


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Lots of progress has been made!

Top of waterfall covered, what a mess. Was starting to doubt if it would look good:









Waterfall and back wall covered in greatstuff, with first piece of cork foamed in. Pretty flat right now will go back to add depth.









More wood attached and minimal carving done:









A lot of carving refoaming and carving later we are getting closer to having the background and waterfall shaped. Still need to add some more foam around the plant cups and blend them in and add some details to the wall but progress is being made.









Next step is to finish carving foam in the plant cups and then drylok the waterfall and make sure it functions!


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## Nismo95 (Jul 30, 2011)

Loving the vines, Wanna make me some? haha


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## AReaHerps (Jul 27, 2012)

I have a question about your vines. Are they rigid enough to wrap around larger pieces of wood? What kind of rope did you use? Thanks 

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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

I used regular type not sure what it's made of but it's not nylon. They are certainly flexible enough to wrap around branches. I used some wire to give them some rigidity so that they can be shaped better. Now I just to find a place in the tank to fit them!

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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

looks really good...did I miss the access point for your pump?? hope it comes out exactly as you visualized....like the way you are using your wood...


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

I am going to use an external pump / filter. I read to many horror stories of people having to tear apart tanks to get at broken / clogged pumps so I decided it would be best to spend a bit more money and get a good external pump. If you look carefully in the back right corner you will see a patch of duct tape. This is covering a pvc pipe that goes to the false bottom for the pump intake.


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

This is after the first layer of drylok, currently have two layers on but haven't taken a new photo. I think I will do four layers and then some color layers.

Thinking about getting the cascade 500 filter to power the waterfall.


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

I have two layers of drylok down but the bigger change is I have finished foaming in all the pots and shaping the background. Its a bit hard to tell from the photos but there are lots of bumps and cracks. I didn't want it to be flat do I did a lot of shaping.


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

I think for the background I am going to do an eco-earth base and then add crushed up tree fern over top. Does that sound like it will work?


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

I went ahead and purchased the EHEIM Classic 2211, should be here on Saturday so hopefully I can test the waterfall soon.


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Holy moly this filter is huge, how come no one wanted me  

Also I now have way to many plants. Should have the background done this weekend.

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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Lots of progress, better pictures coming later. So excited getting closer!















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## Duff (Aug 4, 2011)

It looks great! Did you test the waterfall? How did it go?


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Water fall test will hopefully be happening within the next few days. Need to figure out how to set up the pump and let a few bits of silicon completely cure. I'll post a video of it once I test it!

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## Duff (Aug 4, 2011)

I'm not sure if I can tell if your going over the top or drilled the tank in looking back at your posts? I have a 2211 on a 12x12x18 exo-terra and found that the filter media can also help/hinder the flow. I needed more flow in my little tank and used bio-media and filter floss and it helped the flow quite a bit. I originally had thicker foam in it and the flow was very weak (going over the top of the tank). So if you need lower flow you can also play with the media to help reduce it a bit and then tweak it from there using the quick connects. Looking forward to seeing the next update!


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

I am going over the top of the tank. May need to purchase longer tubes if the pump really needs to be below the tank like I have read in a few threads.

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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Performed a quick waterfall test last night just pouring water into the input pipe from a water bottle. Didn't want to have water in the bottom of the tank yet so I stuffed a bunch of paper towels at the bottom of the falls to catch the water. From the two seconds there was water flowing it looked great so I am very excited to getting it up and running for real. Will hopefully be testing the pump outside the tank tonight to ensure it works and that I can achieve the proper flow rate. 

The only thing I have left to purchase are the lights. I think I am going to go with led lights since they have gotten a lot of praise on this forum. If you have recommendations for led lights / enclosures I would love to hear them.


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## kingfisherfleshy (Mar 17, 2012)

Looks cool. 

Im having a hard time deciding how I want my waterfall to be powered. 

I do however have an eheim filter...the smallest "clasic" one they make. 

I just worry about it running dry or getting air in it with how small the false bottom is (2") for me. 

Eager to see this come together. It looks nice.


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

I would think that 2" would be plenty as long as you ensure the input tube is almost touching the bottom of the tank.


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## Giga (Mar 31, 2011)

Looks pretty sweet!


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Thank You! I hope to be planting this weekend!


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Plants plants plants so excited!














































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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Hopefully I can get lights ordered today or tomorrow. I also plan on having the waterfall running by tomorrow.

What does everyone think!


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Do you think Southern Ranitomeya variabilis would work in this tank?


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Tonight I will be testing the pump, and possibly if all goes well hooking up the waterfall!


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Well a few set backs. A bunch of the plants I put in have died. Guess I didn't keep the roots wet enough  

Waterfall is working well so far! Now to get springtales producing happily in the tank. It has entered the moldy phase which is a bit scary.

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## fishr (Dec 20, 2010)

Plants probably died because you ordered them BEFORE you ordered your fixture and lamps. In the future you order the lighting system FIRST, then the plants.


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

I would normally agree with you, but I do have a light its not as powerful as the one I ordered but the plants having been growing great in my grow out tank with it for about a month. They only started dying once I moved them into my actual tank. Hopefully things will balance out once I have the real lights. I also need to figure out how to get the tree moss to come back to life. I was told just to keep it wet and well lit so hopefully that works.


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## fishr (Dec 20, 2010)

Why would you move your plants from your grow out tank that had lighting to a tank that did not? Use your brain. In your other thread in the Plants forum, you were wondering why they died. Does your viv even have a fixture on it now?


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Hey now lots of brain being used here. When I moved the plants I also moved the light from the grow out tank to the real tank and added an additional grow light I own. The lighting is not the problem as it has not changed.


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## SLiK JiM (Oct 10, 2011)

Sorry to ask, but is drylok equivalent to this in the UK: Sika® Waterproof Coating Grey 5kg | Screwfix.com

Many thanks!

p.s - love the work so far!


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

I looked around a bit and have seen a few posts that mention success using Sika. I don't know for sure but it does seem very similar. If in doubt test it on a small scale and make sure it works before using it in your tank. Thanks for checking out my tank!


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## Duff (Aug 4, 2011)

Hi there, FWIW, when I first added plants to my new tank it took several weeks to get the "lay of the land" down. Time to figure out the dry areas vs. wet areas and just how much I should be watering/misting each of them in conjunction with the small fan I have. I did lose 2 plants early on and was very defeated but over the course of a month I think I have it figured out and many are now starting to show new growth. I say give it some time and watch each plant carefully and move as needed. in my opinion it does take awhile to figure it all out. Some areas are really dry and then 2 inches away its very wet! Hang in there and if needed you can always move them back to the grow out tank and take cuttings from them and add them to the new tank one at a time. I know not optimal after all your hard work but it may work out better? Anyway - good luck it'll all come together for you!


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Thanks Duff for the advice! I have moved a few plants back to the grow out to try to recover them. I also just ordered a bunch more from NeHerp just to have extras on hand in case I lose more and to get a head start on my next tank because now that I have built one I want more.

I also ordered a culture of fruit flies and springtails to get going so that I can get some frogs soon and make this long and expensive venture well worth the time and money. Any tips for bugs?


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## Duff (Aug 4, 2011)

Oh good, I'm glad you moved a few. Plants are funny when transplanted (at least the garden variety in my yard) I forget how upset they get when I move them. Some end up very happy and other die. I suppose our tanks are the same - finding the right balance. 

I'm just about to add some bugs as well, as I think it's time for a clean up crew. I know very little about them but we have a huge reptile show here this weekend so I was going to go in hopes of finding a frogger to two to talk to in person. I've never seen any of them in person (other then rollie pollies) , so I figured it was better to do at a show to learn more. Though I think bugs are bugs, get em', keep the cultures clean and add to tank! At least in my simplistic mind  I'm sure there will be challenges at first - but we just keep at it! 

What other types of plants did you order?


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

These are the new plants, mostly clippings. I probably shouldn't have ordered the flies yet because I am not adding frogs to the tank until everything is working perfectly. But I guess I can get some practice with culturing them so that when I do get the frogs I have no problems. I think the tank is too humid now, seems to be stuck around 90% even with the glass top propped up.

Peperomia Obtusifolia
Peperomia argyreia - Watermelon Peperomia
Lemon Button Fern
Prayer Plant
Dischidia ruscifolia
Wandering Jew Clipping
Tillandsia Albertiana
Ionantha Mexican


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Ok according to amazon my fan / voltage controller should arrive today so I will hopefully be able to get that hooked up tonight and get the glass cut tomorrow. I will also get some new photos.

I can't wait to have the frogs but i'm going to wait until I am sure the tank is thriving before I do so. Has anyone else used the Tree moss from Josh's Frogs, and if so how did they get it to grow again since it comes dry.


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Some more photos. Still suffering plant death. Now have the lights from Todd, using leds, added a fan to pull air or of the tank. 









































































Has anyone gotten the sheet moss from Josh's frogs to come back to life?

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## dynekevin (May 24, 2011)

Very cool! I love the hard scape!


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Thanks!

Going out in a bit too hopefully buy a grow light to help the plants.

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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Now have two lights on top the tank. I also bought a digital timer for the fan. I am going to run it for ten minutes every hour and see how that works in terms of maintaining humidity.


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## herpkeeper10 (May 1, 2012)

looks like you need some air circulation to get rid on condensation. i had that problem in my tank.


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## danagui (Aug 21, 2012)

Thanks a ton for posting this build! I'm actually prepping to do a build with an 18" Exoterra cube...been trying to figure out how to get past the false bottom showing at the front...doesn't look possible to avoid...love the waterfall...u have actually convinced me to use great stuff instead of polystyrene!

As for plant death...I've learned from my own gardening experience, reading numerous online and published sources, and also my botany class that when u do a transplant u obviously shock and stress the roots of ur plant...when there's root damage theres top damage...the best way around this is before u transplant trim ur plants...that way u can reduce if not avoid leaf dropping...and while ur add it u may as well root those clippings! 

Again thanks for this thread!


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

danagui said:


> Thanks a ton for posting this build! I'm actually prepping to do a build with an 18" Exoterra cube...been trying to figure out how to get past the false bottom showing at the front...doesn't look possible to avoid...love the waterfall...u have actually convinced me to use great stuff instead of polystyrene!
> 
> As for plant death...I've learned from my own gardening experience, reading numerous online and published sources, and also my botany class that when u do a transplant u obviously shock and stress the roots of ur plant...when there's root damage theres top damage...the best way around this is before u transplant trim ur plants...that way u can reduce if not avoid leaf dropping...and while ur add it u may as well root those clippings!
> 
> Again thanks for this thread!


Thanks for taking a look, I will be posting a bunch of better pictures a little later today. I will have to try trimming the plants back and see if that helps. As for hiding the false bottom I plan on using wood veneer to cover all the areas the background covers as well as the front where the false bottom is.


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Better pictures more plants!

Just a look at the front of the tank. Condensation isn't much of a problem anymore now that I have the fan on a timer to run 5 minutes each hour.










Closer Up






















































































































My Springtails from NeHerp, going to let the culture grow a bit then add some to the tank:










As always if you see a plant that you think is in a bad spot or something that doesn't look right please let me know!


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## Duff (Aug 4, 2011)

Looks fantastic! Looks like you have most of the plant placement sorted out and they are happy. Very nice


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

We shall see, I put a bunch of the plants in yesterday when they arrived from NeHerp so hopefully they take hold and don't die I can't afford to buy more. I really want the tree moss to start coming back to life.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

looks terrific...you won't be able to see your frogs!! I'd love more details on your fan--I went to a computer store yesterday and saw how large the 80 mm fan is...so am curious how you did the install...how large a hole, the wiring, etc. And since you have an out of viv pump, do you have any access to whatever is below the substrate if there are any issues??


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Haha, Well I am hoping the frogs will be bold and want to come out where they can be seen. I will get some more photos of the fan tonight. As for accessing what is below the false bottom, nope no way to access it. Hopefully nothing ever gets down there that shouldn't be.



Judy S said:


> looks terrific...you won't be able to see your frogs!! I'd love more details on your fan--I went to a computer store yesterday and saw how large the 80 mm fan is...so am curious how you did the install...how large a hole, the wiring, etc. And since you have an out of viv pump, do you have any access to whatever is below the substrate if there are any issues??


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Anyone have a good recommendation for a moss that does well in low light?


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

I think I am going to try to make a fogger to help keep the humidity up while I am at work. I have been trying to find a cheap ultrasonic humidifier to build from but have not yet found one less than 60 dollars which is too much. Hopefully I will have one soon and have pictures of that. I added some more plants from NeHerp as well as the moss I will try to get more pictures up soon!


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

check some old posts on DB by Philsuma and how he converted a Kaz cool humidifier..and there were other contributors as well, but his is the only name I remember. Try the search function using that phraze...


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

I actually found a bunch of those posts a few days ago which is what made me want to make the fogger. The problem is that at the moment there are almost no humidifiers on ebay for a decent price. I checked walmart but the ones they had would not be easy to convert. I also checked target but the cheapest one was 60. If you know where I can get one cheaper I am all ears.

Thanks


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

Sometimes you can find them at Goodwill...or check Craig's List...maybe under Baby type items...


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

I just did a water change of the water in my false bottom because it looked pretty brown. The water I pumped out smelled horrible is that ok. Will it stop smelling once the tank stabilizes?

Thanks

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