# Vic's Vivarium Building Extravaganza



## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

I finally have glass compiled to start a new vivarium! Eventually I'll be building a much larger enclosure, but I figured I should start smaller so I'm building an 18x18x24 first.

Early in the day









As of tonight


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

nice work, what grade of glass are you using? starphire?


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Nahhh, this is just standard plate glass, 1/8 inch. You can't really tell a difference with low iron glass at low thicknesses.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

inst' that a little too thin though?


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## Azurel (Aug 5, 2010)

1/8th would make me a little nervious to be handling once it was built but that is me.....Looks great though.


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## Mitch (Jun 18, 2010)

Looks nice... can't wait to see where this goes.


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## Vagabond324 (Jan 13, 2011)

Hi Vic, looking forward to seeing this one through. One thing though, for many people who would like to do something like this, could you make up a shop or cutting list of parts so that we could see the sizes of the materials you are using? Many of my woodworking groups do this for others in the group who would like to do the same project in the future. A simple list of parts could go like this
A- top 18"x18" double strength
B- bottom 18"x18" double strength
C- Left side Blah x Blah
D-Right side Blah x Blah
Etc.
Hardware used: Blah, Blah, blah
Also a rough idea as to the costs would be helpful, knowing where to best buy glass to get what you want at the right price will of course require shopping.


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## Vagabond324 (Jan 13, 2011)

Vic, I'm just wondering, are you cutting your own glass? I do that for my lids and then just use a fine foam sanding block under some running water to make the edges a bit polished so as to not cut myself and bleed all over the place. Buying double strength glass can be expensive and to have the edges polished really drives the price up. If you check out this site you can see the thicknesses and weights of glass. Just to give you an idea of how much your vivarium might weight using different thicknesses of glass. http://www.tpub.com/content/construction/14044/css/14044_152.htm


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Yeah I'm cutting and polishing my own glass, I'm getting it from a local glass shop. It is definitely thin, but I doubt it will be a problem at this size. Plus this is really just for practice, I just need to test out all my plans on a small scale first.

The larger tank I'll be building will be 1/4" glass.


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Water test - no leaks!


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Test fitting some wood - I'm running out of stuff to do while I'm waiting on my hole saw bit to come in to finish the top


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

The door is on  I might have to go with thicker glass as the magnets are just a hair too strong for this thickness










Closeup


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## got2envy (Jan 7, 2011)

oooh dats nice!!


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## raelaf (Jan 10, 2011)

I really like that magnet door thing! Everything looks great so far, btw cute dog.


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Thanks! He's always getting in my pictures

Test fitting the false bottom


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

More wood


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## Mitch (Jun 18, 2010)

Nice? Why are you going to have half that nice piece of wood under the false bottom where you can't see it?


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

The front half is going to be a dry river bed, so it won't be buried.


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## Bob S (Mar 5, 2008)

Great job on a demo...cant wait to see your work on a larger scale....I thought I was the only one that built vivs on my eating table..lol


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## cheezus_2007 (Aug 20, 2009)

this is gonna be awesomeeeeeeeeeee


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Bob S said:


> Great job on a demo...cant wait to see your work on a larger scale....I thought I was the only one that built vivs on my eating table..lol


I'll keep it set up with something in it I'm sure  My wife is, um, not pleased with how I've commandeered the table. 



cheezus_2007 said:


> this is gonna be awesomeeeeeeeeeee


Thanks! I hope so.


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

I forgot I had this one. The lens distorts the image making the wood look smaller, but it really takes up a good chunk of the room in the viv.


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## Vagabond324 (Jan 13, 2011)

VicSkimmr said:


> Water test - no leaks!


Well thats good news, any more progress?


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Nothing more than I've posted. I'm still waiting on my diamond hole saw bit from Harbor Freight. 

I placed an order for some tree fern panels and some ABG mix as well, so hopefully I'll get something to play with soon. I'm about out of stuff to work on in the mean time.


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## laylow (Apr 6, 2009)

I'm anxious to see the finished product! Where did you find the magnets?

Shaw


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

K&J Magnetics - Strong Neodymium Magnets, Rare Earth Magnets

They're very cheap but the quality is top notch


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Last piece of the top!

Marked









Ready to drill 









WHEW


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Installed


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Let there be LIGHT!


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## bkm (Sep 14, 2010)

that's looking awesome- can't wait to see it finished!


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

I finished off the vents and moved it off the table. Now I just have to wait for the background to come in


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Ugh I can't edit the previous post. Accidentally broke the link


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

I've got nothing else to do till the background comes in, but I did get it moved to it's final location









Closeup of the vents


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## Vagabond324 (Jan 13, 2011)

Nice, something about an all glass terrarium that just looks so much better without the black trim work you see on most available stuff like Exo-terra, etc. I like the mister that you have set up, it just looks like it may be difficult to hide the tubing that's going to have to run to it on the outside. I think I myself would prefer to come in the back wall and figure out a way to attach it to the roof of the terrarium. I'm not faulting your way, but it's so clean looking that I feel that the tubing running around the outside and over the top will take a bit away from it's simplistic beauty. Love what your doing and I'm learning a lot, thanks again. Jon


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

The tubing for the mister will run behind the tank and should be hidden by the background. It feeds down into a basket underneath that holds the reservoir/pump. As an added bonus (that I didn't plan), the light fits over top of the nozzles so it hides the tops of the nozzle assembly and all the tubing.


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Test fitting the background


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## frugs (Oct 27, 2007)

Very nice job


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## mcadoo (Oct 16, 2006)

Looks great, anxiously awaiting updates. Nice work.


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Thanks! I'm pretty pleased with it  Hopefully this weekend I can secure the background and start adding substrate.


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Securing the wood...


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## vegas chad (Jul 21, 2008)

Any problems at all with the GS adhering to your mat and supporting the wood?


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

I carved out some sections so the great stuff could adhere to the glass, but it sticks fairly well to the ecoweb too. I don't think I would try to attach a piece of wood that way though


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Substrate added (ABG mix)


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Setting up the misting system...

Reservoir marked for bulkhead

Misting Reservoir by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Bulkhead installed

Bulkhead installed in Reservoir by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Pump plumbed into the reservoir (and checking for leaks)

Pump and Reservoir by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Reservoir hidden in its basket

The reservoir hidden in its basket by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Light modified to accommodate tubing

Light modification by jasonwithers, on Flickr\

Hidden tubing

Closeup of the hidden misting set up by jasonwithers, on Flickr


Plants came in as well but I've moved the pics of this tank over to the member's vivariums section since construction is complete
Vic's 18x18x24 Euro Style Vivarium


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