# 18X18X24 Twisted Root Build



## Geckoguy

Been a while since I've built a viv but I am working on a new 18x18x24.

First time using a false bottom but I thought I'd given it a shot. So far I have two pieces of wood attached and I am thinking about doing the wood in the other corner in the last pic or maybe a couple pieces of overlapping cork bark instead.

Landscaping, plant and frog suggestion welcome.


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## Geckoguy




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## austin

The last picture looks like a great start!


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## C los7

Looks awesome so far. Love the wood.


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## Geckoguy

Considering this peice as well.


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## chillplants

Geckoguy said:


>


I like this one better.


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## Redeye_Mar

I have to agree with chillplants. The setup without the cork bark looks much better. Can't wait to see the final product.


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## Mohlerbear

chillplants said:


> I like this one better.



I vote for this one as well, all wood pieces and no cork


Loading bowls and building vivs! Braaap!
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## Geckoguy

All foamed up stay tuned....


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## Geckoguy

Finished foaming added some film canisters and carved it up. Tried to get a bunch of ledges and usable surface on the background.


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## Redeye_Mar

Nice. I like the idea of foaming in the film canisters. Looking good!


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## Geckoguy

Got the rock edge of the pond area done. Used some really light sand stone and my tetris skills! Made sure all the tiniest holes were plugged and sealed up with silicone and stone. Nice slope for easy exit. Took a few hours to work it out but I think it looks fairly natural.


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## Redeye_Mar

That turned out really cool. Do you plan on running a pump or filter?


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## JenniBee

OMG that's a beautiful pond area! Can you come to Nova Scotia and do one for me like that? Fantastic work!


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## Geckoguy

Redeye_Mar said:


> That turned out really cool. Do you plan on running a pump or filter?


No just utilizing it as an area to remove excess water from. If it wasn't for that root shape I probably would have done it smaller. I considered a moving water feature but I have done it before and didn't feel like dealing with that again.


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## Redeye_Mar

What I normally do is use an external canister filter and only run the hoses inside the tanks. Hiding the hoses in a corner and covering them with cork or some wood piece. I leave the hoses under the false bottom. It helps move and clean the water. If ever I have problems, I can always disconnect the hoses and the filter is outside the tank. No hassles. No problems. It's to hard to run those little pumps on the inside. I may have to copy your rock formation on a future build. I really like the look of it.


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## Derbucher

That tank is looking good I love the look of the wood looking like a tree. I can't wait to see the finished product. What kind of frogs are going in there? 

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## mysticdragon72

Ooo.... really, REALLY like the way this is evolving! Please keep posting more pics as you go along so that all of us can watch!


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## Geckoguy

Derbucher said:


> That tank is looking good I love the look of the wood looking like a tree. I can't wait to see the finished product. What kind of frogs are going in there?
> 
> Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk


Not sure yet I was thinking maybe Anthonyi Santa Isabel but am open to suggestions. 

Just covered the background last night more pic to come later.


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## Geckoguy

Finished up the background now just needs to cure and while and then time to plant.


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## Redeye_Mar

Geckoguy said:


> Finished up the background now just needs to cure and while and then time to plant.



Wow. It looks even better with the background complete. I would definitely look for a species that will utilize the heighth of the tank. You can almost picture a little guy climbing that tree. The hard part is choosing!


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## SLEEPiNG GiRL

Love that tree root on the left and the pond area. Can't wait to see what you do with the planting.


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## GandalfTheGrey

Amazing! I'm subbed!


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## JonRich

I really like how this tank came out. Especially the front rock feature. I'm in for this one. 

~Jon


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## Darby

This looks great!!!!

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## Geckoguy

Worked out my glass top today. Totally sealed the back peice and did two half size peices on the front. Was able to super glue two little support legs and a slide pull on top. I can go from zero to about 3.5 inches open vent.


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## Darby

Cool idea for the top! Where did you get the wood? It's nice!!

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## Geckoguy

Darby said:


> Cool idea for the top! Where did you get the wood? It's nice!!
> 
> Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk


Collected it in the woods... spent a while looking for it.


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## Darby

Geckoguy said:


> Collected it in the woods... spent a while looking for it.


You do a great job!!!

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## Geckoguy

Got plants in today. Going to try to post weekly grow in updates.














































Plant List:
Marcgravia 'Shingle Plant'
Ficus pumila Variegata 'Creeping Fig'
Davallia tyermanii 'White Rabbits Foot Fern'
Spathiphyllum 'Petite'
Alsobia dianthiflora 'Lace Flower'
Streptocarpella sp.
Neo. 'Mo Peppa Please'
Neo. 'Wild Tiger'
Neo. Liliputiana x smithii
Neo. 'Little Jewel'
Neo. 'Gene McKenzie 
-All above from Joshes Frogs 

Java Moss 
Feather Moss

Going to let this grow for a couple month and seed with spring tails before I start looking for frogs. Any suggestions for frogs?


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## SLEEPiNG GiRL

Looking great! 

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## GandalfTheGrey

Amazing! Keep us updated


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## JenniBee

Thumbnails


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## Palex134

great job! love what you did with the hardscape, espc. the rockwork around the roots. great choice in neos as well!


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## tardis101

I've been following for a bit now, and it looks just great. I really like the way you did the rocks under the twisted part of the wood. I might try something like this.


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## Redeye_Mar

I vote for Highland Lamasi/Sirensis!


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## Redeye_Mar

Geckoguy said:


> Going to let this grow for a couple month and seed with spring tails before I start looking for frogs. Any suggestions for frogs?


Sorry. Should have posted your quote with my reply of Highland Lamasi/Sirensis.


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## Gibbs.JP

Really a great looking vivarium... very inspiring! I love the bromelaids and really like your rock ledge. Great job!


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## Geckoguy

Pretty bummed out... a few days ago I noticed some black slime running down the back of the viv and on a plant. Poked around a bit an found several places where the silicone was oozing out of the background. Not sure what happened gave it plenty of time to cure but it is a total loss. May have gotten a bad batch of silicone. Ripped everthing out time to start over at least I didn't have frogs in it  I guess at least I get to do another build!


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## Gibbs.JP

Geckoguy said:


> Pretty bummed out... a few days ago I noticed some black slime running down the back of the viv and on a plant. Poked around a bit an found several places where the silicone was oozing out of the background. Not sure what happened gave it plenty of time to cure but it is a total loss. May have gotten a bad batch of silicone. Ripped everthing out time to start over at least I didn't have frogs in it  I guess at least I get to do another build!


OH NO! What a total bummer!! That tank really turned out awesome, that really sucks. Obviously it isn't worth asking now if you could have just taken out the bad silicone... I'm sure you didn't have that choice apparently. Were you able to save all those nice plants at least??

Keep us posted on your forward progress. If the new one is anything like this, it will definitely be worth following. 

Sorry again about that... how lame.


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## erikm

Geckoguy said:


> Pretty bummed out... a few days ago I noticed some black slime running down the back of the viv and on a plant. Poked around a bit an found several places where the silicone was oozing out of the background. Not sure what happened gave it plenty of time to cure but it is a total loss. May have gotten a bad batch of silicone. Ripped everthing out time to start over at least I didn't have frogs in it  I guess at least I get to do another build!



Sorry to hear. Did you still smell silicone?


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## Geckoguy

No didn't smell at all it was like the surface was cured but not underneath then it all started almost melting in some spots... really weird never had this happen before.

I was able to pull all the plants and clean them off and throw them in a spare tank. They were just starting to establish themserve so I hope they don't get to shocked from replanting.


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## stang2000

I don't believe you had bad batch of silicone, i believe you had air tight seal which caused the silicone not to fully dry. you have to remember its the air that causes it to dry out. this also happens with spray foam as well.


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## Geckoguy

stang2000 said:


> I don't believe you had bad batch of silicone, i believe you had air tight seal which caused the silicone not to fully dry. you have to remember its the air that causes it to dry out. this also happens with spray foam as well.


Can you explain the "air tight seal". I left the doors open and the top off for all of the stages of curing.


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## Geckoguy

Ripped it completely apart and started over....


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## GandalfTheGrey

Looks better than the first time!


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## eaglerock

Geckoguy said:


> Ripped it completely apart and started over....


Love the pond at the front for pulling/feeding tads. Any particular kind of sand on the bottom?


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## Vinegaroonie

Geckoguy said:


> Pretty bummed out... a few days ago I noticed some black slime running down the back of the viv and on a plant. Poked around a bit an found several places where the silicone was oozing out of the background. Not sure what happened gave it plenty of time to cure but it is a total loss. May have gotten a bad batch of silicone. Ripped everthing out time to start over at least I didn't have frogs in it  I guess at least I get to do another build!


Oh no! This was such a nice tank, too... That stinks! How long did you give the silicone to cure? Most likely it was a bad batch.

Are you using the same design as before for the new tank, or something different (I vote same design, although probably not as fun for you). It looked amazing!

Good luck, at least you get to keep building!

-Niko


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## Geckoguy

It's just pain't old aquarium sand and a little bit of small aquarium gravel mixed in.

I added some leaf bunches to the top of the viv to fill it in a bit think it looks pretty solid now. Going to let it grow in for a few months then start looking for some frogs.


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## Telly80

Oh my gosh that sucks!!! I'm so sorry!!


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## Wy Renegade

Bummer on the silicon, nicely done the second time around though. How hard was it to pull out the original? Where you able to retain the original pond area or did you have to pull that as well?


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## Steuss

stang2000 said:


> I don't believe you had bad batch of silicone, i believe you had air tight seal which caused the silicone not to fully dry. you have to remember its the air that causes it to dry out. this also happens with spray foam as well.


Hi Stang2000.

I hope you'll forgive me if I add a small correction of sorts. It's nit-picky as all get-out, and somewhat inconsequential, but I wanted to add it just in case there are any lurkers who don't know about silicone's curing needs.

Silicone doesn't exactly "dry," it instead "cures" (I told you it was nit-picky) As counter-intuitive as it may seem, in order to cure, it actually _needs_ moisture. This is why in some place like Las Vegas it will usually take a lot longer for silicone to cure (even with it being 115 degrees), than someplace like Seattle.

If I'm working on a project when it's really dry out, and I know the silicone is going to be hidden, I will usually mix in a drop or two of water-based acrylic paint to my silicone to assist with curing.


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## Geckoguy

Wy Renegade said:


> Bummer on the silicon, nicely done the second time around though. How hard was it to pull out the original? Where you able to retain the original pond area or did you have to pull that as well?


Not too bad just about 2 hours with a razor and it was all cleaned up nice. I planted all the plants in a grow out tank and they did well didn't lose any and they started growing pretty nice. I tossed all the rocks too and got new ones. I think I like the rebuild better anyway I learned a bit from my mistakes the fist time.


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## Logan Pittman

Hows this tank coming along now? have you added any inhabitants yet?


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## Pufferboy7861

Sweet looking scape! Hoping to do something like this when I get my tank!


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## Geckoguy

Been a while since i updated. This has been growing in since April and i think it is looking pretty good and a big difference since i last posted; the shingle plant has really taken off! I took out one big plant cant remember which one but it was shading out everything but was producing consistent purple flowers. The lace flower is covering the ground quite well and starting to climb but has only produced one flower. The creeping fig really has not done well i think too much light for it. I added some fresh rhododendron clippings to the top as well to help shade the upper levels which dry out. Since i added the shade the moss growth has improved in the upper areas as well.

I am getting ready to get some inhabitants after i recover from Christmas spending but i am concerned about temperatures. I have consistent high 70's daytime temp and high 60's night time temp in the summer (located in the finished basement) but now that it has gotten colder at night i am running low 70s during the day and low 60's at night and dipped to 57 the other day when it was single digits outside. Are my temps too low and any suggestion to increasing them? we keep the house set 70 but the basement doesn't get as warm. Top is completed covered with glass with a sliding vent i can open from 4 inches to completely closed; completely closed now.

All suggestion welcome as well.

Last photo is a Cape Sundew bog tank i am working on - going to try growing them from seed.


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## rigel10

I appreciated your thread. I really like your viv, hardscape is gorgeous. I especially like your pond rock edge: it looks so natural!


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## Ravage

I'm so happy it worked out after the Silicone incident. Is that Duck weed in the pond area? How's that working out? When I've had duckweed in aquariums it always turned into a nightmare- taking over every inch of water surface, and then cross contaminating every other tank. The stuff can regenerate from a leaf fragment, dried even; very aggressive stuff. Just wondering because it is cool looking.


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## Geckoguy

Ravage said:


> I'm so happy it worked out after the Silicone incident. Is that Duck weed in the pond area? How's that working out? When I've had duckweed in aquariums it always turned into a nightmare- taking over every inch of water surface, and then cross contaminating every other tank. The stuff can regenerate from a leaf fragment, dried even; very aggressive stuff. Just wondering because it is cool looking.


It really took off at first but then it kinda died back and has just remained around the edge. This is duck weed that I have had in different tanks for ever just transplanting a little bit when I make a new viv.


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## HBD

That looks fantastic.


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## Marcello

That's horrible news and frightening because I'll be starting a similar build. I'm not sure it will be quite as nice.


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