# Y0urbestfriend's Vertical Vivarium



## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

It’s been about 6 months since I completed my first vivarium (I might post pictures of this tank). I’ve learned a lot of that. And like many of us, one vivarium just isn’t enough. I decided to go with a 30ish gallon (36x16x12) vertical glass tank that I still have to build.

My goal is to make a vivarium that houses a group of thumbnails so I can watch them do their froggy things. I’m going to try to make it so that it does most of the work by itself (automatic misting etc.). And it also has to look good, because it's going to stand in our living room. I want people that come here to take a closer look and then find out there are adorable little dart frogs in there sitting in broms, climbing glass and jumping around. 

For the people that only wanna see pictures. This (Y0urbestfriend's Vertical Vivarium - Album on Imgur) is the link to the album where I’m going to post all the pictures.

This is the layout of the wood I’m going to use. If you guys have suggestions on re-placing some pieces to make it look better, please tell me.










The background is going to be made up of 6 pieces of wood secured by greatstuff to a plate of plywood, the greatstuff is going to be carved to make it look natural and then covered in silicone and peat. The rest of the background (the white parts in the first picture) is going to be filled up with tree fern panels. 

These are the 6 pieces of wood I bought for €35,- (good deal I think, maybe?)























































English is not my first language so I’ve probably already made a lot of mistakes but I hope you guys don’t mind. 

It’s going to be a slow build because of school, money and me wanting to make it perfect. 

Any suggestions or feedback will be highly appreciated.


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

Update:

Here you can see the pieces of wood stuck to the background by greatstuff.










Then I cut away the eccess greatsuff on the sides.










After that I covered the greatstuff in silicone and peat.










The last think I did was cutting the tree fern panels and siliconing them on the background.










Ohh, and I also made some vines, I'll probably make alot more to break up the flat tree fern panels.


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

And by the way, how do I fix that all my images are either gigantic or distorted and stretched. It could just be my monitor though.


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## Mohlerbear (Feb 20, 2014)

Looks awesome so far!


Loading bowls and building vivs! Braaap!
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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

This is the design I did for the tank.
As you can see there is a door on the right side instead of the front. I think it will look cool to have a full glass front. 
As far as ventilation goes, I plan on having 2 fans and 2 ventilation strips as seen on http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/71866-vics-display-paludarium.html, he said it worked great. Since I don't like fruitflies all over the living room I decided to go with an air tight'ish magnetic door as seen on vic's and jae le's vivariums.


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## Wusserton (Feb 21, 2014)

Im doing 2 side by side 10 gal verts right now, basically the same wood on a smaller scale and want it to look like one scene that if needs arise could also be independent from each other. Great job! looks awesome, wish I had more space but my house needs to grow in size or I need to finish the basement and since we plan on moving soon Im not sinking a ton of $ into my house if you know what I mean 


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

Today I finished the background, I made 4 more root things, and then I siliconed all 8 of them on, I also added 2 pvc pipes near the top. I might get some better pictures later. The next thing I have to do is making the glass terrarium itself. I still don't really know if I want a side door or a front door. 

This is the picture where I got the idea to do a side opening viv(I don't know who its by, sorry):









Some pros and cons are:
Pros:
- clean looking front (I mean, look at the picture, it looks amazing )
- less likely for frogs to jump out maybe?
Cons:
- more difficult to reach inside the terrarium
- more difficult to clean the glass

I'd like to hear your feedback on the door.

At last, here is the picture of the background/hardscape.


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## hun73r (Jul 1, 2013)

Is that plywood marine grade or treated in some way to keep it from decomposing and warping due to high humidity?


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

hun73r said:


> Is that plywood marine grade or treated in some way to keep it from decomposing and warping due to high humidity?


I actually don't know, It is an old piece off the back of a kitchen cabinet. It feels pretty sturdy. Also the back is coated in a smooth white layer which makes it even sturdier.


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## Igofastr (Jan 16, 2015)

I like the side doors. I have 4 10 gal verts that I built that way several years ago, and I think that they look much less "busy."

I rarely have reason to open them up more than just a bit to feed and water, so access isn't much of an issue. So long as you can get in occasionally, I see no downside.

Nice design.


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## Wusserton (Feb 21, 2014)

A side door definitely looks cleaner, with a large tank like that you could just use an extendable squeegee to clean the glass lol that wood might be a problem though, its gonna rot eventually and possibly swell real bad with the moisture, you could do it on a piece of plexi glass and it would never rot, most hardware stores can cut plexi and regular glass to exact specifications and usually do so for free if you buy the material from them


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

This is a quick video of the finished background 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_HhzpD0Gbg

I've already ordered the magnets for the door. Next week I'm going to get the glass and build the actual tank.


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## chillplants (Jul 14, 2008)

Looks like you're off to a good start. I've never seen a side door, but I really like how clean the front looks. I may use that idea on my next build too.


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

I have finally found some time to build the tank itself. The bottom holds water which I'm really happy about, it would be a pain to reseal it. I have not yet put the top 3 pieces of glass on because one of the 3 pieces still needs to get the holes cut for the mister nozzles and if I put the other 2 pieces in I wont be able to get the background in the tank. Luckely I thought of this in advance xD. 
On to the pictures then:









Front view-ish picture









The side of the door









The profile the door rests on

The silicone job is not all that clean but im still quite happy with it, most of you will know that it's really difficult to get it perfect.

I will post more updates soon when I put the background in and when I glue on the magnets that will hold the door up. I've already tested the door and it's absolutly fruitfly proof.


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## Mohlerbear (Feb 20, 2014)

What kind of glue are you using for the magnets?


Loading bowls and building vivs! Braaap!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

Mohlerbear said:


> What kind of glue are you using for the magnets?
> 
> 
> Loading bowls and building vivs! Braaap!
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I don't have any idea what I'll be using, but it seems that you know what glue/silicone I should or shouldn't use right?


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## Mohlerbear (Feb 20, 2014)

Y0urbestfriend said:


> I don't have any idea what I'll be using, but it seems that you know what glue/silicone I should or shouldn't use right?



Haha no I do not know actually. I don't know what adhesive would work. When you do it/find out, indulge me! 


Loading bowls and building vivs! Braaap!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

The last 2 days I've made alot of progress, I've put the background in place, I almost have the whole glass tank finished. I only need to put in the last of the 3 top pieces because it still needs the holes drilled for the misting heads. I'm really happy with how it turned out so far and I cant wait to install the elektronics and put in the plants and water and stuff.  









Really shitty picture of the front (will post better pictures once it is in its final place.









Side shot Showing how the door and the top look.









A picture of the bottom of the tank showing that there is no gap between the tank and the door, it also shows the false bottom thing I made out of some random open cell foam we had.









A side shot so you can see how much room the background takes up in at the bottom of the tank. The top still looks kinda flat but im planning on putting lots of big broms there.









Topview


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## Mohlerbear (Feb 20, 2014)

Did you use magnets? What kind of adhesive did you use?


Loading bowls and building vivs! Braaap!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

Mohlerbear said:


> Did you use magnets? What kind of adhesive did you use?
> 
> 
> Loading bowls and building vivs! Braaap!
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk











This is the glue I used


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

I have a Question about the Lighting, maybe some of you can help me with that.
The tank is 90 cm or about 36 inches high so I obviously need a powerfull light The one I've been looking at is this:

30W LED Bouwlamp Zwart - LED bouwlampen

It is in dutch but I'll translate the specs for you guys:

• IP-rating: IP65
• Angle of radiation: 120°
• Kleurtemperatuur: 7000K (cold white)
• Weight: 3,0 KG
• Dimensions: 180*140*105 mm (l*b*h) 
• Power: 30W

So I want to know if the plants at the bottom will get enough light and if the plants at the top won't get burned.


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## my_shed (Feb 8, 2013)

Y0urbestfriend said:


> I have a Question about the Lighting, maybe some of you can help me with that.
> The tank is 90 cm or about 36 inches high so I obviously need a powerfull light The one I've been looking at is this:
> 
> 30W LED Bouwlamp Zwart - LED bouwlampen
> ...


I'm using a similar LED floodlight to that one, it's in a 4 foot high chameleon viv and seems to throw a lot of light all the way to the bottom, without burning those at the top. I believe mine is 20 watts, but is used in conjunction with other lighting. I'd say it's definitely worth trying.

Dave


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

*UPDATE!!!*

(click on the images, they are streched really weird on my pc, not sure if that will be the case for you guys too)

I've made a lot of progress since the last post, I baught and installed all the electronic things like the fan, the misting system and the light. I fixed a leak that the tank had, added extra magnets at the bottom of the door. Here is a picture of the hardscape under the light.










AND I ADDED PLANTS!!!
I got 9 bromeliads which is enough for now, (I absolutly loooooove the bottom 2 bromeliads, you can see them in the last picture, it looks like they've been there for years) i might add some more creepers and/or ferns later, here are some pictures of how the viv looks now, it still needs a floor and stuff but that will come later.




























Plant list:
Vriesea guttata dark form
Neoregelia Anteia
Neoregelia punctatissima dark
Vriesea corcovadensis
Neoregelia schultesiana Hawaii Red
Neoregelia punctatissima
Vriesea? … ?
Vriesea? … ?
Neoregelia ... ?

The 3 plants that still need to be identified are the big one and its pup on the bottom right, the big red one in the middle left and the green one in the middle right.

If anyone has any questions about the electronics, the tank the plants the background, where I got some of the stuf or anything else, I'd be more than happy to answer them.


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## Ryandean360 (Apr 29, 2016)

Hey there, possible to get an update on this tank? Looks fantastic!


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

Ryandean360 said:


> Hey there, possible to get an update on this tank? Looks fantastic!


Here are some pictures of when it was at its best. Now most plants at the bottom half have died because of the lack of light, I should have baught a higher wattage LED


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

Apparantly uploading the pictures didnt work so ill just post the links here. Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet
Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet


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## GOSKN5 (Dec 31, 2011)

Wow that's awesome.. i love the height and shadows... 

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## Lokirathehunter (Oct 16, 2015)

Just grab an evo 6500k they're like 40 bucks and they make it 36"


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