# First ever Vivarium- thoughts and advice?



## benalferes (Oct 9, 2020)

Hey all,

This has been a very helpful forum over the past few weeks- just finished construction on my first ever Vivarium. I did a custom background and would love all of your feedback. It’s an attempt at a makeshift corkbark “tree” with a collection of net pots. Plants coming soon. Thanks in advance!


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

I think that's a fantastic first effort, benalferes and welcome to the board  The only things I can think of that you might think about are: 

1) you might consider adding a pipe in someplace that would allow you to drain the drainage layer with a siphon. If you do this, you might also consider siliconing your screen around the edges to prevent the substrate from getting down into the drainage layer. 

2) Are there drainage holes at the bottom of the mesh pots? If there aren't you might want to poke/drill some holes to drain whatever you plan on planting the plants in. They might get a bit waterlogged if they don't have the ability to drain. This isn't 100% necessary but you might have more success with your plants if you do it.

Keep up the good work!

Mark


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## benalferes (Oct 9, 2020)

Hey Mark,

Thanks for the advice! I drilled a bulkhead in the back for the drainage layer. And I also drilled drainage holes for the net pots. Siliconing the mesh is a great idea!

-Ben


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## Tihsho (Sep 21, 2009)

What are your goals for flora and fauna?


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## benalferes (Oct 9, 2020)

Flora wise- lots of bromeliads up top, ferns, begonias down below and lots of bright green moss. Hoping for a lush canopy and spacious floor.

fauna- it’s housing a juvenile PacMan, not the typical inhabitant from this thread haha, and definitely overkill for what he needs, but this was a lot of fun to build and design.


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## Tihsho (Sep 21, 2009)

Sounds like it's going to be a beautiful display!

On the note of the pacman frog... I'd be concerned with the height of the enclosure. Unless you're feeding the frog with forceps, any live feeders are just going to hide in the higher areas of the Viv that are predator free.


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## benalferes (Oct 9, 2020)

Yeah very good point- he’s purely forcep fed though!
Any input of best type of moss? I want a bright green carpeting moss. Tank will be high humidity (>75%) with a high output light


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## Shrimply (Sep 20, 2020)

The tank looks fantastic, I'll be over the moon if my first attempt looks half as good.




Encyclia said:


> 2) Are there drainage holes at the bottom of the mesh pots? If there aren't you might want to poke/drill some holes to drain whatever you plan on planting the plants in. They might get a bit waterlogged if they don't have the ability to drain. This isn't 100% necessary but you might have more success with your plants if you do it.


Can I ask a potentially really stupid question, where do you drain the pots to. Is the usual practice to just drill vertically down through the foam untill you read air?


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## RGilbers (Oct 2, 2020)

In the next two weeks or so I will start with my first ever vivarium as wel and if it will look close like this I will be very happy. Great job!!


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## benalferes (Oct 9, 2020)

Thanks man, good luck!


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## benalferes (Oct 9, 2020)

Shrimply said:


> The tank looks fantastic, I'll be over the moon if my first attempt looks half as good.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah that’s what I did- seems to work just fine


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

Shrimply said:


> The tank looks fantastic, I'll be over the moon if my first attempt looks half as good.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Not a stupid question at all  Yes, I would drain vertically from the bottom-most part of the pot. That will avoid having a bunch of little mini bogs all over the background.

Mark


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## benalferes (Oct 9, 2020)

Some picture updates of the tank- still can’t get my moss to grow, not sure what the issue is. The brims have colored up beautifully though


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## Do_Gon (Aug 18, 2018)

Looks great! What kind of light is that you're using?


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