# DIY - From "I Have a Tank!" to Done



## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

*DIY - Going from “I have a tank!” to a Fully Functional Setup*
*Introduction:*
This thread will contain a journal on my adventure to construct my second vivarium (first one since high school). As you will soon see, this project will detail the construction of the stand to creating a custom hood for my tank and everything in between. I will give a very detailed description of each piece, how I created it, measurements, etc. Please stay tuned as I update this thread periodically with more images and information.

*About Me:*
Back in 2001 I created a fully custom vivarium for arboreal frogs that resembled today's Exo Terra cages. I was in high school back then and had no money to buy the cage I wanted so I made it. The cage had the following dimensions, 3'L x 3'W x 5'T, with a "custom" rain system. I have no images of the cage to my knowledge nor do I have the plans I used to build it. The cage I built back then was more functional than nice, but I didn’t care then. So what next? Keep reading to find out!

*Tank & Stand:*
I pulled my old salt water tank out of my parents attic and cleaned off the dust that had collected over the years. First I checked the silicon seals to see if the tank could still hold water. To my surprise, it held the 5 inches of water for the 3 days I left it on my back porch. All I had to start with was my salt water tank.

1. My Tank: 55 gallon long tank (48.25" L x 12.75" W x 21" T)
_
Challenge: The tank is shallow from front to back, can I create the habitat I want with the minimal space that I have. Challenge Accepted (-_-)​_
2. I need something to put my tank on so lets get started.. In my living room there is a large wall that separates the kitchen from the dining and living room. Perfect! But I have no stand! So, Custom Tank Stand + matching hood is my first priority.

*Tank Stand - Full Custom*

_*Disclaimer:* I'm not liable for anything going wrong with building this stand, or any other issues during construction, post construction, or anything else with this how-to. I am only giving you the list of items that I used to create my stand and the steps I followed. If you follow this tutorial you are doing so at your own risk.​_
1. All photos can be viewed on my google+ account in more detail. Please visit My Custom Stand & Vivarium
2. Now I have to give credit where credit is due, I found a video on You-Tube showing images of a guy’s 55 gallon tank stand found here. I actually liked the stand, but the video didn't have dimensions or types of wood so I took the structural design and went with it. The following lists follow this format: _# of items - description (Why I needed it or extra information)_.
3. Wood Materials:

a. 1 - 1/2" x 4' x 8' Birch Plywood (for the interior walls, bottoms, and backing)
b. 1 - 3/4" x 4' x 8' Birch Plywood (for the stand top, tank bottom trim, and hood)
c. 2 - 2" x 8" x 8' Construction (won't be seen so just make sure its straight)
d. 1 - 2" x 4" x 12' Construction (same as c)
e. 2 - 1" x 4" x 8' Pine (you can choose whatever you like to match the birch)
f. 4 - 1" x 6" x 10' Pine (same as e)
g. 2 - 1" x 2" x 4' Construction (same as c)​
4. General Materials:
a. Circular Saw with the ability to cut 45 degree cuts
b. Router (I used a hand router as you will soon see)
c. Speed square (or any square will work)
d. Tape Measure
e. Pencil (or other marking utensil)
f. Sand Paper (I'd start with 100 or 150 to remove rough edges)
g. Somewhere to work (ha ha, I had to use my parents house because I don't have a garage)
h. Drill
i. Screw Driver
j. 1.5" finishing nails
k. 2.5" wood screws (I prefer the 20 year decking screws)
l. 1/8th inch drill bit
m. 2 - Foam Brush (cheap cheap cheap.. one for wood prep, the other for stain.)
n. 1 - Purdy Brush (Or whatever you feel comfortable putting on clear coat with)
o. 1 Can - Pre-stain Wood Conditioner
p. 1 Can - Wood Finish (Red Mahogany)
q. 1 Can - Fast drying polyurethane (I used clear satin)
r. 1 Can - Paint thinner (to clean the Purdy Brush)
s. 1 Box - of latex gloves​
5. Time: Approximately 2 days construction and 3 to 4 days Staining
6. Framing:
_** You will need the drill bit, drill, wood screws, square, tape measure, circular saw, 1/2x4'x8' birch ply, 1x2's, 2x4’s and 2x8’s. When complete you should have only scrap of the wood left and won’t need them**_

a. Using the 2x4's, cut 4 pieces at 48.25 inches and 4 peices 9.75 inches.









b. This image shows the final product of joining the 2x4’s together. Using the drill and the 48.25” peices, pre-drill 2 holes on the outside edge of both ends approximately ¾” from the top and bottom. Using the wood screws, attach the 9.75 inche pieces to the inside edge of the 48.25 inch pieces to create a L shape. Pre-drilling the holes for the screws reduces the risk of splitting the wood since it is close to the edge. Two screws per 2x4 attachment should be sufficient.









c. Using the 2x8's, cut 4 pieces at 36 inches
d. Using the wood screws, attach the 2x8's to the inside portion of the frame. I placed my upright 2x8’s 8” from the outer edge of the 9.75” pieces. I used 5 screws in the same pattern as seen on the "5" side of a dice at random distances. Remember to pre-drill the hole for each screw to reduce the risk of splitting the wood.









e. Using the 1/2" x 4' x 8' birch ply, cut a 4' x 36" section to attach to the back of the framing. Using the wood screws, I placed 5 screws on the top and 5 on the bottom aligned with the center of the 2x4 backing. I used wood screws so that I could remove the backing if I wanted to drill out a hole for power cords, tubes, etc.
f. Using the 1"x2", cut 8 pieces at 9.75" long. These will be used for your floor and ceiling supports within the stand. Attach these even with the top (if your looking at the bottom 2x4's) or the bottom (if looking at the top 2x4's). Attach these to the 2x8 using finishing nails. These are not structural pieces.​7. Walls:
_** You will need a hammer, finishing nails, square, tape measure, marking utensil, circular saw, and the 1/2 x 4' x 8' Birch ply.**_
Now that the structural part is complete, you can start to add some cosmetic pieces to your stand. Don't worry if it looks flimsy, I promise when this is finished it will be very strong, sturdy, and look beautiful.









a. This picture shows the inside walls to the outer section of the stand. You will need to measure your space to verify my numbers are correct. We are doing finishing work so it should be very close to the size you have available even if this size doesn't match my own. If you measure all the cuts precisely and do not mess any piece up, you should have enough to finish the floors and walls. My suggestion is plan out how you are going to cut everything on the plywood before starting this.
b. Cut 4 pieces, 12.75" x 8" from the birch ply (or to the appropriate size if your frame does not match those dimensions). These will be your stand 's floor and under ceiling (the bottom part of the top). Using finishing nails, place these into their spot and nail down.
c. Cut 2 pieces, 18.5" x 13" for the center floor and under ceiling. Again, using finishing nails, attach these to the stand.
d. Now for the inside walls. Each wall is approximately 28.25" tall by 13" wide. You will need 4 of them. Place each of these walls within the center of the stand (onto the 2x8's). The outside walls will be made of finishing boards to give it a different look. The image below shows the center section walled off along with the next topic.​
8. Upright Finish Wood:
_** You will need a square, tape measure, marking utensil, circular saw, and the 1x4's and 1x6's.**_
Cut all your pieces and set them how you want them placed around the tank stand.









a. Using the 1"x6", cut 6 pieces 36" long. (Or just below the frame of the tank from the ground. It would be better that you short the wood by a fraction of an inch than be too long).
b. Using the 1"x4", cut 4 pieces 36" long. (Again, see the side note for a.)​
My next thread post will continue on my journey from "I have a tank" to completed vivarium project. Please stay tuned and thanks for tanking the time out to read my post.
__________________
Brandon (iBytenCode)
_In software, we rarely have meaningful requirements. Even if we do, the only measure of success that matters is whether our solution solves the customer's shifting idea of what their problem is.
Jeff Atwood _


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

Welcome back! Last time we finished cutting all the vertical finish wood pieces to length. Please remember to view my google+ account for the larger, more detailed pictures of each step by step.

7. Cutting Horizontal Trim
_**You will need a square, tape measure, marking utensil, circular saw, and the 1x6's.**_
I like to cut all my wood and see how it fits together before spending the time routing the pieces. That way I have an idea on how the finish product will look and what types of routed edges I would like to have. You can cut a piece and then route it if you like. Either way doesn't matter as long as the results are the same.


a. Side Bar: Cutting the horizontal trim will be very similar to cutting the vertical finish wood except for one thing. Four of the horizontal pieces will have a 45 degree angle cut (45DAC) on them to form your corners. There is a small trick I've learned to cutting these pieces so you only have to make one cut per two pieces. Given two pieces that need the 45DAC, you take the length of each piece using the long side (this is the measurement of the wood on the back side of the 45DAC. In other words, if you have to touch the angled wood, flip it over to a side where you cannot see the angle and measure the length. The angle should be facing away from you at this point.) Now, you take the long side measurements of both pieces and add them together plus add an 1/8th of an inch for the saw blade. Cut the board at that length. Once the board is cut, measure one of the long side lengths again and draw your cut line. Be sure that when you cut you cut the 45DAC towards the right end. I cannot tell you how many times I've made the mistake of cutting the wrong angle direction. After you cut this line both pieces will have a 45DAC. Pretty simple eh? If you haven't done this type of cut before, I would suggest trying it on scrap wood first to get a feel for it. After you've done it a few times, its pretty simple.

b. Considering the vertical finish wood will be underneath the horizontal trim we must measure the length of the horizontal trim pieces in order to cover it appropriately. When I measured my horizontal side trim they were 15.5 inches long. (Be sure to cover your back 1/2" x 4' x 3' piece as well). You will need 4 pieces at 15.5 inches. My front side left and right trim pieces were 18" even and my front middle trim pieces were 15.75 inches. I will need 4 of the front side left and right and two front center. After cutting the 1x6's for the vertical finished wood, you should have 2 more 10' pieces for the horizontal trim. I would cut (i)2x 31 and 1/8" long, (ii)2 pieces 36 and 1/8" long, and (iii)1 piece at 31 and 5/8" long. You should be able to get both (i) and 1 piece of (ii) from one of the 10' 1x6's and the rest from the other.

c. Cut the 45DAC on each board as described earlier.

d. Now, place the side vertical finished wood against the stand and place the trim where it should go. You should have a gap between the stand floor/ceiling ply (and 2x4) that you secured earlier and the horizontal front left and right trim pieces. With the left over 1x6's you can cut the piece to the length of the inside areas, my suggestion would be to cut them in half horizontally so that they shorter than the trim you will be placing there. I made my gap fillers to be even with the ceiling and floor ply so that it looks uniform. You can attach these gap pieces with finishing nails. The following image shows you the gap fillers inserted at the bottom.






​
8. Routing Wood Pieces
_**You will need a router, finishing nails, hammer, and your cut pieces**_
Now that you have all your pieces cut, set up against the stand the way you want them, and verified to see that they fit together appropriately, it is time to route your wood. (If you choose not to do this part skip down Putting It All Together.


a. I chose two different router blades for my finishing wood and trim. I wanted one type of route where two vertical finish wood came together, so I used a 1/4" C shape bit that makes a U shape when the two piece were joined. On any outside edge pieces I used a 1/2" round bit to round off the edges for a smoother look.









b. This picture displays the 1/4" C shape bit on the 1x4's that are the center vertical finish pieces between the two 1x6's. As you can see, I used two finishing nails to attach the piece to my shop table in order to hold the wood while I used a hand router to define the edges.









c. This picture shows where I messed up the tops (ya I'm still kind of new to using a router myself and made some mistakes). This image also shows the 1/2 bit used on the outside edges of all cosmetic pieces. I am not too worried about the router mishaps because they will be hidden by the horizontal trim and stand top. If you make a mistake, don't worry we all do, I made more mistakes later that are actually visible, but it adds character (or so I keep telling myself )

d. Now, on the 45DAC pieces, you want to route the side of the wood that will be facing down (if on the top part of the stand) or facing up (if on the bottom part of the stand). You also want to route the edge of the wood that is on the long side of the board (see earlier for what this is again).

_WARNING: On the horizontal trim pieces with the 45DAC, be extremely careful not to round off the end with the angle cut in it. The router uses the wood to brace itself and that wood will be missing._​
9. Putting It All Together
_**You will need finishing nails, hammer, and your cut & routed pieces**_
Now you get to assemble the stand and you are almost finished. One tip I forgot to tell you earlier, depending on the look you like, it is highly suggested that after you nail in a finishing nail, you "in-set" it but using a finishing nail tool that helps drive it down past the wood surface, this way you can fill it with wood putty and paint over it. I like the holes and wood knots for this project, so I just in-set the nails and left the holes open. I usually use a larger nail or a small hold punch.


a. First off, nail to the 2x4's the gap filler pieces as shown earlier if you didn't already. Again, I took my pieces and made them even with the floor and ceiling.

b. Looking at the side of your stand you will notice that the 2- 1x6's and 1x4 are wider than the stand itself. This is okay. If you are looking at the side of the stand, there will be one side with the back 4x3 panel and what will be the front. You want to line the 1x6 up even with the gap filler piece. Nail that piece in using your finishing nails. Do this for the other side as well.

c. Place the 1x4 next to the 1x6 that was attached in the previous step. I made sure mine were as close as possible. Nail this into place using the finishing nails. I usually put 2 to 3 nails on the top and bottom. Do this for the other side as well.

d. Place the last 1x6 as close as you can to the piece in the previous step. Again, using the finishing nails to secure these into place. If you need to see what I am describing, look at the image below.









e. Now the front vertical finish wood I positioned over the 1x8 board. These pieces are centered over the board, the finish wood should have an overhand of about an 1/8 to 1/4 inch on both sides. Before securing these pieces, make sure that your center horizontal trim can fit in snug. Secure the vertical finish wood in the same manner as before. I chose to put the 1x4's to the center and the 1x6's to the outside. You can do whichever you like best.









f. The horizontal trim is just as easy to place as the vertical finish wood. One thing to note is that the horizontal trim should be placed even with or 1/16-1/8th inch below the 2x4 framing. This will insure that the weight of the tank will be on the structural pieces and not the trim. Place the horizontal center trim piece into the center area and secure with 4 to 5 finish nails. Do this for both upper center and lower center.









g. The corners are not hard to put on, but it might take an extra set of hands. First off, you want to put them up against the stand to insure that the corner is together, then secure either the front or the side piece. Once this is secure, you can secure the second piece. My suggestion is about 4 nails in each piece to the gap filler and vertical finish wood. After they are secure you should go from the sides and place 2 finish nails that go through the 45DAC and into the front piece of wood. Be very careful here, as if you nail is slightly angled to the front it will exit out the other piece of wood, which we don't want. Do this for all four corners.​
Now that your stand is trimmed out the last step is to cut, route, and attach the top. My next thread post will continue on my journey from "I have a tank" to completed vivarium project. Please stay tuned and thanks for tanking the time out to read my post.
__________________
Brandon (iBytenCode)
_In software, we rarely have meaningful requirements. Even if we do, the only measure of success that matters is whether our solution solves the customer's shifting idea of what their problem is.
Jeff Atwood _


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

Welcome back, last time we discussed the vertical finish wood and horizontal trim work for the tank stand. This post will be discussing the tank top and how it was created. Thank you for reading my thread!

10. Custom Tank Stand Top
_**You will need a square, tape measure, marking utensil, circular saw, drill, drill bit, screw driver, wood screws, router, and the 3/4" x 4' x 8' Birch Ply.**_
The top part of the stand is the one piece that everyone will see along with the front. Most people look at the front of furniture and then rub their hand across the top. Be very careful not to scratch this piece while cutting or routing. If you do, you will have to spend time sanding down (which I suggest anyways) to make sure you have a really smooth top.


a. Taking the Birch Ply, I measured out my dimensions to 17.75" x 55.5". This was the size of the table top that I wanted. I also suggest checking the "squareness" of the 4x8's natural sides and utilize them so that you have only two hand cut sides on your top. If the natural sides (pre-cut from factory) are square, use them as two sides to your top! Using the circular saw I suggest cutting about 1/8th to 1/16 on the outside of your line in the event that the saw causes chipping. Once the top is cut out from the ply, place that piece on the top of your stand to see how it fits.

b. Placement of the tank stand top is really up to you. I wanted more lip on the front and less on the back because I was placing this stand against a wall. My measurements were 2" off the right and left sides and 1/2" off the back. The rest was overhang on the front. If you measure from the left or right vertical trim work it is approximately 2-7/8" off the front. I liked the way this looked for my stand.

c. The following images show the final product because I was so excited to see this part finished that I totally forgot to take pictures of the non-routed wood.

































d. Attaching The Top - this is a very important step that must take care to do correctly. I decided that I may eventually add lights to the open space in the middle so I wanted to be able to pull the top off at any point (similar to the back). I decided to use the wood screws to attach the top to the 2x4 framing underneath. These screws will not be seen when the tank is on the stand, but I also take some paint to match the stain I chose to "hide" them later. You can see the wood screws in:









I measured the distance to the center of the 2x4 with the addition of my top overhang and pre-drilled the holes for my wood screws. I put 4 screws down the length of the stand on the front side and back side 2x4's to hold the top in place. Then I attached the top to the stand where it was going to be. The top should be solid once drilled down and you should be able to pick the stand up and move it from the top. (At least I tried it several times while it was not stained and finished).

e. Routing the Top - As you can see from all the previous images, I chose the same routing bit as I used on the outside edges of both the vertical finish wood and horizontal trim pieces. In fact, I left the bit in the router over night and didn't change the settings when I started the next day. Once the top is secure, routing should be no problem. Just take your time and route all four sides of the stand top and you should have your completed product.

This is the stand on my wall at the house:











As you can see in the image above, the 4x3 backing play didn't fit quite all the way across on the finish product. (from the light on the right and left sides coming from the back) But I planned it this way because I will add 1/2" round trim later during sanding/staining to cover the hole and add some aesthetics to the sides.​
My next thread post will continue on my journey from "I have a tank" to completed vivarium project. Please stay tuned and thanks for tanking the time out to read my post.
__________________
Brandon (iBytenCode)
_In software, we rarely have meaningful requirements. Even if we do, the only measure of success that matters is whether our solution solves the customer's shifting idea of what their problem is.
Jeff Atwood _


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

The last thread we finished constructing the base of our tank stand (base from here on out). Now complete, we can finish the look of the base by staining it or painting it a color of our choice. I personally really enjoy the look of wood so I will be discussing the staining side.

Prior to Starting: I went to the lumber yard and retrieved two pieces of 1/4 stock rounded that were 28" long to place in the right and left back corner to hide the gap. Applying some liquid nail and two trim nails (one up top and one on the bottom) I secured the quarter stock to the adjacent 1x6 and not to the back panel.

11. Preparing the Wood
_**You will need 220 grit sand paper, elbow grease (this isn't a product you can buy), old rag, old towels, tack cloth, foam brush, and pre-stain wood conditioner.**
WARNING: The fumes from the chemicals in wood conditioner, stains, and clear coats are toxic. Please use these as instructed on the can. You must be in a well ventilated area during use._

One thing I must say before we start. The pre-stain wood conditioner I used required that the stain be applied within 2 hours of pre-staining the wood. Check the wood conditioner and follow the instructions. These steps are how I did things and should be ignored if your instructions are different.


a. Using the 220 grit sand paper, sand down any rough areas that you find. I used a power hand sander for this job. Using light pressure, I went over almost every visible square inch of the base. I highly suggest sanding down the routed areas, any corners, and anywhere there are splinted areas. Splinted areas are those areas where, if you were to run your hand across applying pressure, you would need to pull wood splinters out of your hand.

b. Saturate the old rag with water and ring until the rag is damp but not dripping water when squeezed. Using this damp rag, wipe off all exposed areas of the base. Once the rag is saturated with wood dust particles, wash out and ring until damp but not dripping, and repeat. Once you have completed this task, let the base air dry for about 3-5 minutes.

c. Using the tack cloth, go back over every visible inch of the base. If your tack cloth hangs on rough wood, you might want to spend more time sanding these areas. If you do, repeat steps b and c again. If not, continue on.

d. Once you've gotten 99% (usually we try for 100%) of the dust particles off of the base, it is time to prepare the wood for stain. Open the can of pre-stain wood conditioner and stir it with a wood stir (the paint store should of provided this). Slightly stick the foam bush into the conditioner and apply it with the grain. With the grain is the same as following the lines. If the line runs left to right (or right to left), then you brush this direction. This isn't that necessary for conditioner, but staining and clear coat is a must.

e. Once you have covered every inch of the base (minus the part on the floor), you can start removing any access conditioner with a old towel starting from you initial conditioned area. If you apply a light coat initially you will not need to do this. If you have conditioner running down the wood and/or puddling, you need to get this up with the old towel. Since conditioner doesn't really show up on photos, I have nothing I can show you.​12. Staining the Base
_**You will need old towels, foam brush, and wood stain of your choice. I chose Red Mahogany for my stain.**_

Side Note: Staining wood isn't complex. It is the same as adding conditioner, except the longer you leave the stain on, the darker the wood will take to the stain. My suggestion is to do small areas at a time. If you didn't leave the stain that long and it is too light, you can add more stain and wipe off. If you leave it too long and its too dark for you, that stinks pretty bad, because the only fix is to sand off the stand (and this takes time or sometimes cannot be done properly.


a. Open the can of stain that you have chosen. Stir with a new wooden stir. Now I suggest starting on the back side to get a handle on how stain is applied to wood if you are new.

b. Remember, when adding stain to the wood, it is best practice to paint in the same direction as the lines of the wood grain. For me, the back panel was up/down direction. Using the foam brush and stain, I would add about 4-6 inches thick from the top of the back panel to the bottom and let sit for about 20-40 seconds. Then using an old towel (or old t-shirts work really well), I would wipe off the stain. Since the color I wanted was a deep reddish brown I did not need to add more stain on top of that.

c. Once you have stained the entire base, take a really close look at every nook and crevice to make sure you stained everything. It isn't fun when you are going to clear coat and you find a small wood spot that you missed. Once finish I suggest letting the stain take for approximately 10-16 hours before clear coat to insure the stain is dry.













​
13. 1st Coat of Polyurethane
_**You will need Purdy brush (or whatever you've chosen), and Fast Drying Polyurethane. I chose clear satin for my finish.**

WARNING: Do not shake the can, it causes bubbles in the polyurethane which can transfer to your base.. they aren't fun to sand out._


a. Open the can of polyurethane and stir with a new wooden stir. I suggest doing this every so often while you are applying it to keep the consistency the same.

b. Dipping the very tip of your brush (approximately 1/4") into the polyurethane, apply in the same direction as the wood grain. The first coat is the most shocking because it really makes the wood grain pop out and brings the color of the stain out. Do not fret, the wood will actually become "rough" when you apply the first coat of polyurethane. This is normal.








This image shows the difference between just stained wood and the enhancement of the polyurethane.

c. Make sure every inch of stained wood has a coat of polyurethane and that you haven't missed any spots. I usually leave the top until last. This allows me to touch the top later to see whether or not the base is dry.
















d. Once you have applied the first coat of polyurethane, let the base sit and dry for approximately 5-7 hours (or until the "tackiness" is gone. The wood should not feel sticky when touched.)​My next thread post will continue on my journey from "I have a tank" to completed vivarium project. Please stay tuned and thanks for tanking the time out to read my post.
__________________
Brandon (iBytenCode)
_In software, we rarely have meaningful requirements. Even if we do, the only measure of success that matters is whether our solution solves the customer's shifting idea of what their problem is.
Jeff Atwood _


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

Welcome back! If you are still reading this you are interested and I want to thank you for taking the time to do so! This part of the project I will finish the tank stand and start the hood and tank trim.

14: Finishing up the Base

_**You will need the 220 grit sand paper, an old rag, some water, tack cloth, the Purdy brush, and polyurethane.**_

_Note: You will repeat Section 14 twice before the base is complete. Before starting Section 14, insure that the base is dry by rubbing your hand across the surface. If the surface is sticky or tacky to the touch, let the stand continue to dry._

a. If you are starting Section 14 for the first time, the sanding will be more noticeable since the first set of clear causes the wood to _roughen_ up a bit. If this is your second time through Section 14, lightly sand the surface only to scuff it enough to hold the third coat of polyurethane.

b. Take the 220 grit sand paper and sand the entire surface that has a polyurethane coat on it. Again, if this is after the first coat of polyurethane, then the wood should almost become white as seen in the following pictures:
















c. After you have successfully sanded the surface back down to the same smoothness as pre-polyurethane was you will need to remove any access dust particles. Take the old rag and a basin of water; wet the rag and squeeze out the water until it is damp but not dripping. Wipe down the base until the rag is saturated with dust, rinse, squeeze, repeat until you've wiped down all exposed areas.

d. Let Step C dry for a minute, then wipe down the base with the tack cloth. Again, if the tack cloth sticks/gets caught on a rough surface that isn't suppose to be there, take and sand that area a little more. Remember you don't want to remove the polyurethane, just smooth out the first coat.

e. Once you are positive that you've removed ~99% of the dust particles, open the can of polyurethane and stir with the same stir stick as before. 

f. Apply a layer of polyurethane to the base over all exposed areas that you want covered. If this is the second coat of polyurethane, restart Section 14 when it has dried. If this is the third coat, let dry and you are done.







​
15. Cutting Tank Hood and Trim
_**You will need a circular saw, tape measure, writing utensil, square, and the 3/4" x 4' x 8' Birch plywood.**_

a. The tank hood will have a center brace and have 4 braces, one on each corner. The tank trim will not have any braces because you can either attach the trim to the stand or you can let it just sit there on the stand against the tank. I chose the second method because there is no weight bearing down on the trim.

b. For the tank hood you will need the following pieces of wood, each edge must be cut at a 45 degree (45DAC) and I will be giving measurements on the long side (see Section 7 for what this is)
i. 2 - 6" x 49.75" long side 
ii. 2 - 6" x 14.25" long side
iii. 4 - 2.5" x 5" long side
iv. 1 - 2.5" x 12.625" (square cut) & (12 & 5/8ths)​
c. For the tank trim you will need the following pieces of wood, each edge must be cut at a 45DAC.
i. 2 - 2.75" x 49.75" long side
ii. 2 - 2.75" x 14.25" long side​















d. When cutting these pieces I cut a 45DAC on the edge of my 4x8 as close as I could to the end so not to lose any valuable wood. The saw blade was angled toward the end not the middle. So if this is my wood edge ___| I cut the angle like ___\ and not like ___/. My cut was 3x(6+.125) + 3x(2.5+.125) long. That will give me 3 pieces at 6" and 3 pieces at 2.5" wide. I then cut a normal cut the length of the long side + an inch and cut the other end like /__ so that my wood was /_____\. Then I started from one side of the wood and cut 3 long pieces at 2.5" wide and finished by cutting the 3 remaining pieces at 6" wide. If you start with the 6" wide pieces it becomes much harder to cut closer to the end.

e. Two of the long 6" and 2.5" wide pieces will be the back and front side of the hood and trim respectively. The left over long piece (one 6" and one 2.5" wide piece) we will use to cut the side pieces of the hood and trim. Make sure to follow the pattern /__\ when cutting the wood. After you cut the four pieces at 14.25" (2 at 6" wide and 2 at 2.5" wide) you should have enough left of the 2.5" wide material to cut your corner braces. The center brace will need to be cut from the 4x8 left overs (which you should have plenty cause I still have almost half the sheet in my garage.)​
Now that your hood and trim are cut, the next thread will be routing those pieces, putting those pieces together and hopefully finishing up the stand, trim and hood. Please stay tuned and thanks for tanking the time out to read my post.
__________________
Brandon (iBytenCode)
_In software, we rarely have meaningful requirements. Even if we do, the only measure of success that matters is whether our solution solves the customer's shifting idea of what their problem is.
Jeff Atwood _


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

Welcome back, last time we finished up the tank stand bottom with the last few layers of polyurethane and cut all the necessary pieces for our tank hood and trim. This thread will cover the construction of the tank hood and trim along with fitting our tank.

16. Constructing Hood
_**You will need finishing nails, hammer, square, tape measure, bar clamps, and the wood pieces you cut._

a. Before starting construction you should verify that the pieces fit around the edge of the tank. If the hood is slightly larger than the tank rim size that is okay. If the hood will not fit around the tank then you will need to re-cut those pieces.

b. Before you put the pieces together, it would be a good idea to route them if you want to. Since I used 1/2 inch round for my routed pieces on the tank stand, I decided to route the tank hood and trim as well. For the tank hood I routed both top and bottom, for the tank trim I routed only the top, keeping the bottom flat. 









This image shows where I placed the hood and trim around the tank along with the type of route I put on them. 

c. Putting the hood together will be somewhat tricky. I used two bar clamps in order to hold the wood in place prior to and during the construction. Two things you need to keep in mind is both the squareness of the hood top and whether the top is even horizontally. One way to insure that the pieces are even is to place them on a true flat surface when you clamp them down. In order to create a 90 degree angle you should use the square. Once you have the two pieces clamped down, use two finishing nails to hold them into place. When putting the nails into the wood, you want to drive them through the two 45DAC to form a solid corner. For example, __\| represents the corner two pieces, then you would drive the nail this way __\|-- (nail is represented by --) and then keeping the wood in the same direction, drive a nail upwards through the bottom towards where the nail was horizontal. Continue to add one piece at a time of the hood until you have a rectangle as shown in the following image.









d. Measure either the inside or the outside of the 48" pieces and mark the center. This is where you will place the 14.25" piece in order to support front and back of the hood. I wanted this hood to cover the black plastic that supports the glass of the tank. The tank I have had a 1.5" plastic rim so I measured 1 5/8 and placed the center support. That is to say, there was 1 5/8 inch between the bottom of the center support to the very edge of the hood. Using two finishing nails on the front and two on the back, secure the center brace into place.

e. The next part takes some guesswork. Adding the corner braces is somewhat tricky. I would not suggest trying to nail these into place from the outside. Before you attach the corner braces you will need to check for squareness. That is, if [] is your hood, you need to measure from the top left corner to the bottom right and record the distance. Then measure from the top right to the bottom left and record the distance. These two numbers should be even if the hood is square. If the hood is not, you should adjust the square but pushing the corners that had the longest distance. If you were an inch off you only need to push the corners toward each other 1/2 the distance. Once you have the hood square, it is time to add the braces. My suggestion would be to clamp the hood down on the two sides that you are adding the brace too. When placing the brace, insure that the height from the bottom is the same as the center brace for consistency. Also, make sure that the 45DAC is flat against the inside hood. Using a single finishing nail for each side, drive the nail in at an angle so that you do not pierce the outside of the hood. 
















Once the braces are in place you can add two more nails to each 45DAC on the hood corners as described in c. This provides 6 nails per corner and the hood should be very sturdy. 

f. Using the same technique as described above, create a rectangle for the tank trim. You should only need two nails per corner for the tank trim due to its height.






​My next thread post will continue on my journey from "I have a tank" to completed vivarium project. Please stay tuned and thanks for tanking the time out to read my post.
__________________
Brandon (iBytenCode)
_In software, we rarely have meaningful requirements. Even if we do, the only measure of success that matters is whether our solution solves the customer's shifting idea of what their problem is.
Jeff Atwood _


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## fieldnstream (Sep 11, 2009)

Great thread man, this is gonna be awesome when you are done!


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

Welcome back to another post on DIY - From "I Have a Tank!" to Done. I really appreciate the patience every has taken to read this thread. This time I will discuss the completion of the hood and trim.

_Pre-Note: I added liquid nail to the 45DAC inside the hood (on the braces and corners) in order to provide more secure hood as well as seal off the cracks for when I water proof. You don't have to do this, I chose to just in case I needed it._

17. Hood Prep

_**You will need Acrylic Black Pain/Aquarium grade silicon, paint brush, painter's tape, patience..**_

a. Using the painter's tape, tape off the routed areas of the hood so that you do not get paint/silicon (P/S) on the outside of your hood. You can either apply non-toxic Acrylic paint or Aquarium grade silicon to the inside of the hood to protect against water. I chose to do black acrylic paint because that is what I had at the time. Ignore the sheet of paper, I just used it on there because I was going to really tape it off, but if you are careful you won't need all of that.









b. Taking the P/S, apply directly to the wood. Make sure that you cover all of the exposed areas within the hood's center. You don't want moisture getting in the cracks and damaging the hood, braces, or anything else that would cause the hood to rot. 









c. After the P/S dries thoroughly, I used some plastic boxes and a coffee table (I don't have a garage, I used my parents garage for the base and my living room for staining, clearing, and everything else. So no excuses from anyone out there either) to hold up the hood and trim for staining, polyurethane, and sanding. Following the same directions as in: Steps 11-14 of the tank stand, complete the tank hood and trim. I am not going to detail this again as I don't want to repeat all of that information.
















Here is my finished product after hood and trim were stained and 3 coats of polyurethane were added.






​
My next thread post will continue on my journey from "I have a tank" to completed vivarium project. Please stay tuned and thanks for tanking the time out to read my post.
__________________
Brandon (iBytenCode)
_In software, we rarely have meaningful requirements. Even if we do, the only measure of success that matters is whether our solution solves the customer's shifting idea of what their problem is.
Jeff Atwood _


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## J Teezy (Jan 25, 2012)

looks good but let me add something. When you build a stand you should put braces between the two rectangle frames. From your pictures i can see you screwed the boards to the inside edges of the rectangle frames. What's going to happen is that all the weight put on the stand is going to rest on the screws holding those vertical pieces to the frames. When you place supports in between the two frames you move the weight off the screws and through those support beams

You can see what i'm talking about in this picture. See how i have 2x4's on the inside of the frames like you did, but then i went back and added 2x4's between the actual framing on all corners and middle.










Now this may not pose an issue with the weight your viv is going to produce but just thought i'd point this out, especially for those who may make a stand like this for a fish tank. You definitely don't want the weight of a tank full of water sitting on just screws.


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

I would agree with you in the case of a saltwater reef tank where the potential weight can be in access of 800lbs. However, considering the target audience and being a vivarium designed tank stand, I assumed that the weight would be considerably less. Another point that you missed is that the top evenly distributes the weight between the horizontal framing and the four 2x8 vertical support. So the weight technically is not directly applying the full downward force on the screws. Not to mention the back ply and all the paneling around the stand also helps disperse the downward force. 

What you've done is absolutely good for reassuring that the weight won't crush the stand for full aquariums.

Happy Easter,


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## JPccusa (Mar 10, 2009)

Great thread Brandon! Thank you for taking the time/effort. 

I feel silly suggesting this to a self described computer scientist, but you should post larger pictures so readers don't need to click on each one of them to see more details.

Instead of attaching pictures, try using the "insert image" function. It is much faster too. Just copy the .JPG hyperlink of your picture on the host website (I believe G+ in your case), click the "insert image" button above the reply box (looks like mountains, sun, and yellow sky), paste the hyperlink you copied earlier into the window that just opened, then click "Ok." 

Another way of doing this is to paste the .JPG hyperlink on your reply box, then adding







after it (no spaces).


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

Welcome back to the DIY - From "I Have a Tank!" to Done. This post will be primarily on creating the tank top(s). In my case, the top of my tank is split into two separate, but equal sections. I will discuss how I cut the plexiglass tops and how I made the screen tops. Thank you again for taking the time out to read these posts!

*Custom Tank Top(s)*

First off, I know many people on this forum have had problems with plexiglass warping due to the humidity. I personally have never had plexiglass warp on any of my saltwater tanks (can't get any more humid than that). The problem I think most people have is in how thick the plexiglass is for the distance in which it spans unsupported. 

I will be creating 2x plexiglass top with acrylic knobs and 2x screen tops. Each side of my tank will have screen portion and plexiglass portion. I also cut out plexiglass at the same size of the screen portion in the event that I need to remove ventilation to keep humidity higher.


*Disclaimer:* Cutting Plexiglass must be done using a table saw. I've never tried, nor do I suggest trying to cut plexiglass using a circular saw, band saw, or anything else. I've heard that sometimes you can "score" the plexiglass and break it, but I've never tried that either. If you do not have a table saw that you can get access to, then find somewhere to cut the plexiglass to the dimensions that you need.​
Material Needed:
a. 0.25" x 12" x 48" Plexiglass
b. Table Saw
c. Tape Measure
d. Masking Tape
e. Screen Fabric
f. Aluminum Screen Frame
g. Screen Spline
h. Spline Roller
i. 2 x Screen Corner kits (4 each in package)
j. 150-220 grit sand paper
k. Steel file
l. Marking Utensil
m. Bow saw/Hack saw with metal cutting blade​
1. Plexiglass Tops

a. Cutting the Plexiglass is not hard if you have a table saw with a new blade. The first thing you want to do is apply masking tape to the plexiglass so you do not scratch the side you are pushing across the table. This is key, or else it won't be very clear and you won't enjoy the outcome.

b. I suggest using the sides of the pre-cut plexiglass when you can. It should be straight from the factory and already finished. Lets work smarter, not harder. The larger plexiglass portion of my tank top will be 18.25" x 11.625" (11 5/8). The other part will be the same size as my screen tops, 5" x 11.625" (11 5/8). Since I had lots of left over plexiglass from another construction project, I also cut out the bottom, sides, and top to my Mistking water storage box (more on this later). 
















c. Now, what I originally did was measure a large piece utilizing two factor sides to my plexiglass. The piece I cut was 36.625" (36 5/8) x 11.625, that is 2x the length of my top (18.25" x 2 + 1/8" for the cut). This way I had a smaller piece of plexiglass to work with. I then cut the large piece in two creating both of my tops. This is shown the image above as I was creating my Mistking water storage box. _!!!!!Before cutting, you should add masking tape to both sides where the saw will be to prevent the plexiglass from chipping. This is important!!!!_

d. Verify that the plexiglass pieces fit the top of the tank. After I got the plexiglass to the size I wanted, I used 150 grit sand paper to take off the rough edges, corners, and score marks from the sides. This should give you a milky white edge with a clear piece of plexiglass. You could then use a blow torch to "clear" the sides if you'd like, but I saw no need since it will never be seen anyways.

e. I purchased two acrylic door knobs from Josh's frogs and will update this thread once they arrive.​
2. Screen Tops

This was my first attempt to make custom screens and it was very easy. All the items you will need to make your custom screens for your vivarium.









a. The screen portions of my top are going to be 11.625 (11 5/8) x 5". I noticed that the corner pieces actually add to both the width and the height of the screen top. The corner kits I picked up added .75" to each side of the screen. So when cutting the aluminum pieces you need to subtract 1.5" from the distance in which you want your screen to be.

b. Using the hack saw, I cut 4 pieces at 3.5" and 4 other pieces at 10.125 (10 1/8). This should provide the correct dimensions when put together.

c. Using the metal file, sand off the areas you cut removing the metal burs and hopefully dulling the sharp edges.

d. Make sure when you put the 4 pieces together using the corner kit that you have the small groove all on the same side. Both the aluminum and the corners have this small groove/channel. This is used to hold in the spline and screen in place. 

e. Verify that your screen fits the tank. If it does not, depending on how much it is over, use the file or cut a small piece off. Then test again.

e. Once you have your frame you are ready to add the screen. This is the fun part. Try to lay your screen down, lining up the screen lines with the inside frame. Starting at one corner press the spline into the channel using the spline roller. Then roll down to the next corner. The corner is the hardest part of attaching the screen. Make a 90 and press the spline in using the roller or other object. Then continue inserting the spline into the channel. When moving down you should see the screen pulling tight. If you have a wrinkle in the screen, back up and straighten out the screen fabric then continue on. Once you reach the starting point, cut the spline just short of where you would end and insert it into the channel using the tool.









f. Once your screen is in place, use a straight edge razor or other cutting utensil to remove the extra screen from the frame. Once removed, your screen should be done.









This image shows the screen and the plexiglass piece in place. The plexiglass in the picture has a notch cut out, this piece has been removed and a solid piece has replaced it. I was originally going to run my misting tubes and power cables through there and close off the gaps with screen. As of right now, I am waiting on my Mistking system and water pump so I'm not 100% sure what I will do with the lines until they get here. Also ignore the egg crate, I was playing around with background features and then decided to do something different.​
My next thread post will continue on my journey from "I have a tank" to completed vivarium project. Please stay tuned and thanks for tanking the time out to read my post.
__________________
Brandon (iBytenCode)
_In software, we rarely have meaningful requirements. Even if we do, the only measure of success that matters is whether our solution solves the customer's shifting idea of what their problem is.
Jeff Atwood _


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

JPccusa said:


> Great thread Brandon! Thank you for taking the time/effort.
> 
> I feel silly suggesting this to a self described computer scientist, but you should post larger pictures so readers don't need to click on each one of them to see more details.


Yessir, I was thinking about that but seeing that the size of most posts are really long without large images, I was afraid no one would read it =) I'll make the change on the next post.

Speaking of C.S. - I was really contemplating building my own Environment Control Unit and putting it on here, but I found one already posted on here and I'm not sure it is worth the money at this point. Would be a cool project, but I'm trying to find hobbies that don't consist of computers. Kind of getting sick of them after work. 

Thanks!


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

Welcome back, thank you for taking the time out to view and read this thread. I hope that you've found something of interest in this or have learned something by reading it. 

*False Bottom*
In the first vivarium that I ever created I used a 2" rock sub layer, screen, then the substrate. I liked this setup except for one thing, the weight of the floor. This time I am creating a false bottom using egg crate, screen, and weed blocker. 

First off, you need to know what you want before you start. I made the mistake of just sitting down and cutting the egg crate just to make something. By the time I finished I had blistered hands from the pliers (I'm a computer person, soft hands... =P) I played around with making an egg crate background and was going to use GS to carve a custom coco fiber background. I decided against that. I have approximately 12" from the back glass to the front and I want the most available room for my darts. When I finally figured out that I was creating a center piece vivarium, the false bottom became easy. What I mean by center piece vivarium is similar to:








where there is no GS or coco fiber sheet backgrounds. This is still beautiful and leaves plenty of room for the darts to move about.​
Materials Needed:
a. Egg Crate Sheets (2'x4' ?)
b. Pliers or Wire Cutters
c. Zip Ties (I used about 150 zip ties before finished)
d. Weed Block Roll
e. Scissors
f. Screen Roll
g. 2" diameter PVC Pipe
h. Bow/Hack Saw​
1. Cutting the PVC False Bottom Supports

a. There are two possibilities of using egg crate to fashion a false bottom. The one I didn't choose was the one where you cut the egg crate to fit the inside of the tank and use PVC to hold it up. Usually people silicon the PVC to the bottom and then silicon the egg crate to the PVC. This method, if done incorrectly, can leave the edges with the ability to sag down. Since egg crate is very fragile, I chose another method as described here.

b. The egg crate is 1/2" tall when laying flat on the ground. The squares are 5/8" from the outside plastic edge to the opposite outside plastic edge. Since I will be using the egg crate as a wall to support all edges of the false bottom, this means my PVC will either have to be 3 squares tall or 4. Since I have plenty of vertical space in my tank (remember, it is 21" tall) I chose the 4 squares height instead. From top plastic edge of the egg crate wall to bottom plastic edge, the height was 2.25". So the first thing I did was cut my PVC.










c. The above image shows all the tools I used to cut my PVC. This is pretty straight forward. Measure the height you want the PVC to be at and then cut it. One trick I did here was to cut the V shape out of the PVC and then cut the height. This way I could hold onto a long piece of PVC when cutting my V's. This makes cutting them much easier and safer. _The V allows water to move out of the PVC column and prevents water stagnation. _Once you've cut the number of PVC supports you wish to use, it is time to start construction of the false bottom. 

d. Remember that my tank has a split top hood, this meant that I had to piece together my false bottom because one large false bottom would not fit into the tank with the center support. First off I cut the side pieces of the egg crate (false bottom walls). My suggestion when cutting the egg crate is to cut the center of the plastic that you want to separate. Then using a pair of pliers, put them as close as you can to the plastic wall and bend/fold them to get a clean break at the perpendicular plastic piece.










e. Once you have the walls finished for the false bottom, it is time to cut the top. The image above shows the square walls temporarily set up and the false bottom top to the right. See the corner cut out? This will be where I put another "false bottom/pump cover" using egg crate and screen. After you have all your egg crate pieces cut out, it is time to assemble them together.

f. Using the zip ties, join the top and walls together. I tried to keep the zip tie head (the square that you feed the tie through) inside the false bottom to keep from having bumps or sharp tie cut offs close to my weed blocker. After all of the zip ties are in place, you can cut the extra zip tie off if you'd like. I did.

g. Covering your false bottom with weed block is pretty simple. I have seen videos where people used aluminum wiring to hold the weed blocker on and I've seen zip ties used. I went with the zip ties method because; A - its plastic and plastic has a rot time of "a really long time" years. B - aluminum wire (I assumed welding grade wire) is pretty expensive for the same affect. If you get small enough zip ties, they will feed through the holes in the weed block. 









Adding a weed block or screen covering is like wrapping a present. Start at one end, secure the middle, secure the edges, turn it around, repeat. One trick I did was to roll the weed block up where I would zip tie it to provide some extra strength. Other than that, just make sure the top is somewhat taught and you should be fine.










h. I wanted a water feature, but due to some suggestions I will have a water hole instead. The one thing I will be doing is pumping the water around in the bottom to keep the water moving. So with this in mind, I am creating a false bottom for my water hole. This will allow me to pump water under neath the water hold towards my pump, circulating the water. So the false bottom in my water hole needed to be more porous so I am using screen. The false bottom was 1 egg crate bock high.










I used the same technique as step (g) when applying the screen to my water hole false bottom. This was the final result showing the difference between the false bottom and the water hole false bottom.










i. I created four different false bottom pieces. 
i. The water hole false bottom is : 1.125"H x 8.5"W x 8"L
ii. The pump cover is: 5.75"H x 4"W x 3.5"
iii. Square False Bottom: 2.875"H x 17.125"W x 10.625"L
iv. False Bottom - Water Pump Cutout (Starting from the top side): 17" x 10.625" x 21" x 6.875" x 4" x 4"​









The reason why these measurements do not add up to the inside tank dimensions is because I wanted a small layer of rock between the false bottom walls and the glass. This way I can keep an eye out on the water clarity, water depth, as well as hide the false bottom walls. This is the final setup inside the vivarium as it sits today. The PVC pieces are setting on top of the false bottom pieces to show where I will place them when it is time. I should have more items coming soon in the mail including Mistking system, water pump, rocks, drift wood, digital humidity and temperature guage, leaf litter, ABG mix, lights, etc.
























My next thread post will continue on my journey from "I have a tank" to completed vivarium project. Please stay tuned and thanks for tanking the time out to read my post.
__________________
Brandon (iBytenCode)
_In software, we rarely have meaningful requirements. Even if we do, the only measure of success that matters is whether our solution solves the customer's shifting idea of what their problem is.
Jeff Atwood_


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## exboyz04 (Mar 20, 2009)

Nice work on your base and tank build


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

Well, I'm still waiting on all my stuff to arrive from several different places. So while I wait I will discuss how I cleaned up the tank, the drift wood, and the rocks. 

*Cleaning The Gear*
_Warning: This is the way I cleaned my tank items. I used very diluted quantities for each item and let soak for hours. I also used a soft bristle brush on most items except the rocks. If anyone thinks I did something wrong, please post with your reference links to why this was bad. Thanks!_

Materials Needed:
a. Straight Razor (Straight Edge)
b. Water
c. Vinegar
d. Paper Towels or Cotton Rag/Towel
e. Bleach
f. Somewhere to clean​
1. Cleaning the Aquarium
As you can image, the aquarium that I have was an old saltwater tank. I cannot tell you how dirty it was and the pictures just do not do it justice. Remember, this tank has been sitting at my parents house for a long time. Dust, possible chemicals (cleaners, or sprays, whatever my parents used to clean house). So first off I needed to get the glass cleaned up.
















Yes, that is buildup from years of sitting there. I never really did a great job of cleaning it up after I left the saltwater market. So that unclear glass is salt, calcium, and no telling what else. The yellow/white line around the bottom at about 4" is where I had left saltwater sitting in it for weeks stagnant. Clean tank = happy animals later.

a. First you need to add some vinegar to the tank. Not much, I did about 3 table spoons full maybe 4 per side of glass. Now how I did it was laid the tank on its side, the side I was cleaning. Using the straight edge, come at about a 45 degree angle and apply even firm pressure. Then carve away. Cleaning all the grim off my tank took about an hour or so. I had to go back and do it again after the vinegar dried. The second time I used just the straight edge without water/vinegar. 

b. After you've cleaned all of the grime off the tank with vinegar, you need to take RO or Distilled water and paper towels and really give it a good scrubbing. This is to remove most of the vinegar from the tank. 



















This is the results of all my effort. Also while I had it on the ground, I bought some of those hardwood floor protectors for furniture so if I needed to slide my tank around on my new stand I wouldn't scratch it.

_Note: If your tank smells like vinegar still, wash it again. You don't want any vinegar smell in the tank at all. Keep washing with cold RO or distilled water until the smell is gone._​
2. Cleaning the False Bottom & WeedBlock/Screen
This is also very important, especially if you bought any of this at home depot or another hardware store where the garden equipment is stored with poisons, fertilizers, etc.

a. I went to my extra bath tub and filled it with cold water. Then I added a 1/10 ratio of bleach to water as a rough estimate. I let the items soak in the bleach water over night. 










b. After getting back to the tub the next day, I let the tub drain and rinsed off each piece separately. I left these pieces in the tub after the rinse. Filled the tub back up with water and gently sloshed water for about 20 minutes. Then let the water drain and shook the water off the pieces. 

c. Before letting them dry, actually smell them. If they smell anything at all like bleach, wash them again. Continue to wash them in cold water until the smell of bleach is gone.​
3. Rocks and Drift Wood
I've read all kinds of posts on driftwood cleaning. I've heard people say boil it, bake it, etc etc etc. I see it this way, it is found in nature naturally. Minus the man added chemicals and trash in the waterways, it is there on purpose. I want to kill in native bacteria that might be on the wood, so here is how I did it.

a. Using a 1/20 ratio of bleach to water I took a medium bristle brush and scrubbed the wood. Let the water drain, repeat without bleach about 3 more times. 

c. The rocks I purchased from the local hardware store for about $4 dollars per 55 pounds. So, this rock isn't very clean at all. In fact, its muddy. So I took your dollar store sieve and strained a hand full of rocks at a time. Make sure to do this outside with the water hose. The mud could clog your tub up and that wouldn't be good.

d. After the mud was washed off, I added the rocks to the same concentration of bleach/water as I did the false bottom and weed block. I also added some extra screen just in case I needed it. Let sit four about 24 hours. Please make sure you don't let rocks go down the drain, if you thought mud will clog a pipe... rocks are much more damaging if something happens.










e. Let drain while hand pushing the rocks around. Fill the tub back up with cold water and continue moving the rocks around. 

f. Repeat e several more times and strain the rocks shaking vigorously. Then add cold water to the tub and let sit for several more hours. Drain and let dry. Pick up random samples of rocks and smell them. If they smell like bleach, continue to wash, move, and sieve them in the water until the bleach smell is gone.​
The image above is the cold water soak. I added the piece of driftwood that I purchased for the tank. I was thinking it was going to be bigger, but it will do. I ordered another piece of drift, but have no idea when it will arrive. However, by Saturday/Sunday this week I should have everything else I need to get the tank up and running with plants so please continue to watch for this thread as I will have updates with many more pictures.

My next thread post will continue on my journey from "I have a tank" to completed vivarium project. Please stay tuned and thanks for tanking the time out to read my post.
__________________
Brandon (iBytenCode)
_In software, we rarely have meaningful requirements. Even if we do, the only measure of success that matters is whether our solution solves the customer's shifting idea of what their problem is.
Jeff Atwood_


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

good thing you didn't soak the wood. many people advise against bleaching wood because you might not get all the bleach out. however, since you didn't soak it, you *should* be fine


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

Welcome back! Since the last time I posted I've received many of the items in which I was waiting on! I'm so excited to be close to putting the finishing touches on my vivarium. Without plants and darts this looks really bland. But its getting there!!!

*The Meat and Potatoes:*

_Josh's Frogs_
I normally don't give free advertisement but I just wanted to give a shout out to Josh's Frogs for their delivery. The packaging was amazing, everything was in it, and it arrived just as planned! The only thing I found was the Temp/Hydrometer's battery is dead (I think, it doesn't work at the moment and I will find out tomorrow whether it was the battery.) Other than that, great delivery!

















​
1. Installing Water Pump
_**You will need Exo-terra 200 Water Pump and 3/8" Clear Acrylic Hose. I had to actually go to a plumbing store to find this.**_
Materials:









a. Remember I created a "false bottom" housing to cover my water pump. In order to put the pump in, remove housing piece from the location. Before I placed the pump into location, I had to straighten out the wiring because the diameter of the wire compared to the weight of the pump is a little off. By this I mean, the wire weighs probably 2x to 3x the pump. 


















b. Considering the water pump housing, you need to cut an X where the water hose will be leaving the pump house. I originally placed the cut facing the back of the viv. When I added the hose I quickly realized that it wouldn't work due to the immediate 90 degree turn. Thus, I pulled the hose out and cut another X on the right side of the housing so the hose would run parallel to the length of my vivarium towards the water hole. _My suggestion would be feed the hose into the cover towards the pump since the distance of that piece will be shorter than trying to feed the longer portion of the hose out from the pump cover._


















c. Measure the distance from the pump to where you want the fixture/outlet to be. Once you have the distance you want, cut off the extra hose in order to make it a bit easier to handle. I suggest leaving yourself an extra 5" or 6" because you could change your mind later. After I got the pump and hose placement where I wanted it, I started adding rocks around the false bottom to "hide" the black weed blocker from the glass. This also lets me see the level and clarity of the water. Once placed, you can make an adapter to extend your hose in order to pump water from the vivarium at a later date. I haven't made this yet, will talk more about it at a later thread. 










d. Before adding rocks, leave about a 1/2" gap between the back of the false bottom and the back glass of the aquarium. This is where I want to hide my hose from site. I filled the gap half way with rocks, placed my hose into the gap and then added more rocks on top.


















e. Once you have all the false bottom surrounded by rocks and the hose covered then you can form your water feature. Since I'm not planning a water fall or drip wall, etc. I'm filling the water area with rocks to cover the water false bottom. I'm also adding extra rocks to the back side and along the left side of the water hole in order to create a semi barrier for the dirt. This way there is about 1" of separation between water and ABG mixture so that the ABG mixture does not become saturated with water. This can cause harm to the frogs along with kill all your plants if not taken care of.


















f. At this time I added water to my aquarium in order to see the pump run. I also wanted to make sure that the water pumped into the water hole would filter through the rocks back to the pump at around the same rate. Also, just to test out your pump to make sure it is working. Insuring that the pump is working correctly so that if something is wrong you can find the problem without having to remove substrate and anything else in the tank.








​
2. Everything Substrate
_**Again, shout out to Josh's Frogs for their ABG mixture. You will need 5 gallon bucket, a scoop of some sort, ABG misture, and distilled or RO water.**_

a. The substrate comes in clear plastic bags that are clearly not mixed. I have a confession to make, I am really good at math but I seemed to have royally messed up my math on this. I bought what I thought would cover my tank with 2" of ABG. However, I still have 3 bags left and my substrate is averaging about 2" to 2.5" deep. /fistpump for extra supplies. (The /verb is an emote for those of you who aren't total geeks like myself). I might just add more to my tank before adding frogs/plants.

b. The substrate, as mentioned earlier, is not mixed, So lets get to mixing! Add about 1/2" to 1" of water to the bottom of a bucket. Then add one bag of substrate to the bucket. 










c. When you pour the substrate into the bucket, be prepared for a dust cloud. This stuff is very dry and dusty, so adding water also allows the ABG mixture to soak up moisture for higher humidity. Stir and occasionally add a little water until you have a good consistency. The following image shows the consistency of the moist ABG mixture where I stopped adding water:










d. Add scoop fulls of substrate to your viv as you please. I piled more up on the left side farthest from the water hole and reduced the amount the closer I got to the right. This made a slight slope towards the water hole, however I also concentrated on _not_ making the level/even because this is absolutely *BORING!*


















e. Continuing to add substrate until you have it where you like it. Once I was "done" I added my driftwood pieces to see how they would fit. I haven't messed with the placement yet, but this is my tank thus far.
























​
The last image shows my water hose. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with that, will update at a later time. The next thread I will cover how to install the MistKing setup and show it running. Please stay tuned and thanks for tanking the time out to read my post.
__________________
Brandon (iBytenCode)
_In software, we rarely have meaningful requirements. Even if we do, the only measure of success that matters is whether our solution solves the customer's shifting idea of what their problem is.
Jeff Atwood_


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

Welcome back! Today was a very eventful day. I was fortunate enough to meet a local dart enthusiast named Field (who is also on this forum) today to purchase a light fixture for my Viv. Mr. Field was also really kind and set me up with two different feeder cultures (Spring Tales and White iso starter) and some starter plants for my Viv. But more on those later in the post. Right now I am going to cover the misting system installation as promised last time.

*Misting System Installation*
Materials:
1. MistKing System (you can use another, but I will be installing this one).
2. Drill
3. 1/2 Hole Saw drill bit
4. 9/16th Paddle drill bit​5. 2nd Misting Nozzle
6. 1/4" T-hose connector
7. Crescent wrench

a. First thing first, unpack your misting system and make sure that you have all the pieces. Since I ordered a MistKing system, this is what it looks like when it arrives.


















b. Installing the nozzles wasn't an easy task for me. I couldn't really figure out a good way to permanently install the nozzles. Then it hit me, I have a center brace with large enough areas to place one nozzle in the front and one nozzle in the back. I can then angle the nozzles in such a way as to mist the right and left sides appropriately (or so I think). So I need to adjust my acrylic tops. I ended up cutting one corner off each acrylic top.










c. Actual nozzle installation was pretty simple after figuring out where to put them. Using the drill and the 1/2" drill bit, drill the holes where you want the nozzles located. Be very careful on how much pressure you apply and take your time when drilling. Do not drill to fast, if you do the bit could catch when "breaking through" the other side of the plastic. If the bit catches, it is a good possibility that the force will crack the plastic. This isn't fun nor will it be good for your tank.. I ran my drill at an estimated 30-45rpm's when I drilled the holes in my tank. The pattern I used for my holes looks very similar to the % sign. If the circles represent the holes drilled and the line represents the center brace, I drilled one hole on the back left and the other on the front right of the center brace.


















d. Installing the actual nozzle heads is pretty simple. Unscrew the nut off the nozzle, place the nozzle into the hole from the bottom and hand tighten the nut back on the nozzle. Walla, you are done putting them into the tank.


















e. Now the fun part, time to drill the hole in the water reservoir. If you are using a bucket like I did, you can use a 9/16th paddle bit to drill the hole. If you are going to use something like I will in the future (acrylic reservoir) then it will be a little more complicated. Just use the correct bit for the material you are drilling. The instructions say "DO NOT hollow out the hole" but in trying to push the plug through, I found that 9/16th was a little too small. I ended up moving the drill bit around at different angles or pressing against the sides to create a slightly larger hole. You want a tight fit here so that it has less of a chance to leak so try not to make it too big.










f. Installing the plug is just as easy as installing the misting nozzle except you will need a crescent wrench. Now my suggestion would be to put the nut on the outside and the rubber seal on the inside. This way the piece in contact with the rubber seal isn't spinning causing the seal to rub or tear. Once you have the nut hand tight, give a few turns on the nut with the crescent wrench until you "pinch" the rubber seal.


























g. Creating the line that runs from the pump to the misting nozzles is pretty simple. I always like uniformity so I made the T fitting have exactly 13" of hose on both sides that go to the nozzles. After connecting the T connector and hoses together, I connected the hoses to the misting nozzles. In order to connect a hose to the push connector in the MistKing setup, just push the hose in until it doesn't move anymore.


















After this image was taken, I decided I didn't want my water hoses in my light so I moved the hose to below the cross brace of the custom hood.










h. Now time to test it out. Before connecting the pump to the nozzles I let the pump run water into the water bucket just to insure that no plastic or debris from manufacturing were in the system. Then I turned off the pump and connected the main line to the T connector. This is the result of the water running through the system.










From the looks of running the misting system, I will need to let it run about 1 minute to a minute and a half in order to "damp'n" the entire tank. Probably should of gotten 4 misting nozzles. The great thing about MistKings beginner product is that it is extendable up to 10 nozzles. I will save this for later project.​
*Temp/Humidity Sensor*
Material:
1. Temp/Humidity Sensor - Exo Terra from Josh's Frogs

a. Well, I figured out why my humidity/temp sensor wasn't working. I left the plastic piece in that stops the sensor from working. /sigh - go me.

b. Take the plastic piece that separates the battery from the contact within the sensor box. It is ready to run.

c. Attach the Velcro where you want it on the sensor and attach the other side to where you want to place your sensor. Since I wanted mine hidden I put it inside the hood. Then place the sensor somewhere in the middle of the tank close to the bottom where the frogs will be and suction cup it to the glass or whatever. Done










You can see my sensor in other images on this post. I'm not documenting the exact steps I took because my day was chaotic. My wife went on vacation with her dad to watch him run the Boston Marathon on Monday. Another story perhaps?​
*Hood and Lights*
This is my shout out to Field. Thanks for all the stuff today and the help! Everything turned out really awesome! 

Well installing lights are pretty simple when it comes to you already assembled and ready to go. I unpacked the light fixture and plugged them in. No other assembly or setup required.


























This hood is 48" long with 4 x 6500k lights plus 4 blue LED lights as well. Really nice setup. We will see how hot the lights make my Aquarium tomorrow.​
*Plants and Starter Cultures*

1. Plants from Field
Field hooked me up with some creeping vine and other great plants! I can't remember all the names, but I'm sure he can remind me on here if he sees this later =)

a. The placement of the moss was pretty simple, I placed it half on the driftwood and half onto the ABG substrate.










b. The creeping vine I placed throughout my vivarium directly into the substrate. I hope this was correct because some pieces didn't look like they had roots and others did. I don't want to kill any of it so if anyone or Mr. Field has any insight on how I should do this, I'd love to hear it. Thanks! 

c. The other plant that he gave me (can't remember the name) I also planted directly into the substrate. 








​
2. Feeder Cultures
Thanks to Field, I also have some starter feeder cultures made of spring tails and white iso. Both of which I split into three and two cultures respectively. Using some Ziploc containers (20oz I believe) I added ABG mixture, tomato shavings and zucchini shavings to each culture. For the white iso I also added some cardboard for hiding. I added a little more water to the spring tail culture to insure that it was moist enough. Hopefully in a few weeks I will have 5 cultures of spring tails and white iso. I'm starting to get really excited here! 








Next I need to make my large order of Bromelaids and fruit fly cultures. Then after a week or so of culturing my own fruit flies and giving my tank a good three weeks of growing, I will order/buy my first set of Darts! So exciting! Until then, thanks for tanking the time out to read my post.
__________________
Brandon (iBytenCode)
_In software, we rarely have meaningful requirements. Even if we do, the only measure of success that matters is whether our solution solves the customer's shifting idea of what their problem is.
Jeff Atwood_


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## fieldnstream (Sep 11, 2009)

Looking great man! Hopefully next time we meet up there wont be a level 9 traffic jam
The light looks awesome...kinda wish I had kept it, but I'm glad its working out for you. Most of what I gave you was Pilea nummulariifolia (creeping charlie) which should grow well where they have been planted. The cuttings should root pretty quickly in the substrate, just keep them moist. The other Pilea is "Pan Am." The springs should produce quickly, the isos will take longer to get established. I would have only done one small iso culture (I've found that they take off more quickly when kept in small containers initially), but eventually you will have some nice booming cultures.


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## Dragonfish (Mar 23, 2012)

Okay, what game do you play, EQ? /subscribed.


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

I play Starcraft 2 when I have free time. If that is the game question that you are referring to.


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

Welcome back! I haven't made an order yet for my bromeliads and other plants, but I did receive two more pieces of driftwood and two coconut huts. I also finished off my water feature and re-adjusted my vivarium. Hopefully I will have my order in soon for the Bromeliads and other plants.

Again, thanks for checking in!


































































Next I need to make my large order of Bromelaids and fruit fly cultures. Then after a week or so of culturing my own fruit flies and giving my tank a good three weeks of growing, I will order/buy my first set of Darts! So exciting! Until then, thanks for tanking the time out to read my post.
__________________
Brandon (iBytenCode)
_In software, we rarely have meaningful requirements. Even if we do, the only measure of success that matters is whether our solution solves the customer's shifting idea of what their problem is.
Jeff Atwood_


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Nicely done and very informative. I have to ask about your experience with acrylic not warping on your saltwater tanks. Did you specifically have flat acrylic lids that did not warp? Acrylic tanks don't warp because the edges are glued to other, reinforcing plates. Flat acrylic typically have problems sooner or later because it absorbs moisture. The side exposed to the vivs humidity expands with moisture and the other side does not expand, thus the edges warp upwards. Just keep a close eye on it.


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

yup agree with that ^^^ i need to take a pic of my acrylic top that is warped and post it with a beware of warping sign.


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

I will definitely keep an eye out on the tops. And to answer your question, I had lids that sat on top of the plexiglass rim to keep the salt spray off my lights. Also this kept any fish from actually jumping out as well. For awhile I had some suicidal fish.. =( One thing is for sure, if they warp I will definitely update this thread! Ha ha. 

I have a sheet of glass sitting by a window that would make some great tops as well if I needed it to. Only problem is I don't know where to get that stuff cut here in Altanta. That isn't something I would do myself. I don't have the knowledge nor the tools to do that effectively. 

Now the only thing I need to do is get some Brome's and maybe a few other small plants in my vivarium. Hopefully in a few weeks this thing will look more green than white. I was thinking about either painting the outside of the background black or deep blue just to shield the white wall behind it. Looks a bit bright in the pictures.I

The last thing I need is some darts to put in my Viv. Anyone got some free ones? 

Unfortunately I'm still waiting on the wife to decide what frogs she likes so I can order them. I was looking the other day at Josh's Frogs and Black Jungle and they seem to be out of everything except Leucs. Hopefully when she decides someone will have that dart in stock =(. Gave her the list of very good "beginner" darts and all I get back when I ask about them is "haven't had time babe.. will do it tomorrow" Ha ha ha. By the look of my viv, I got a few weeks until it will be ready. I at least need to get some fruit flies in and start culturing them soon. I have several spring tails and White Iso's already started. Although, it looks like one of the spring tails isn't doing so hot. Hopefully its just a slow starter. 

Question for the Masses: When I started moving around the driftwood to put the new pieces in, one of them had what looked like some fungus growing. Looked a lot like spider webs, but I know there isn't spiders in my vivarium. Maybe if I see it again I can take a picture and post it. Any idea if this is good/bad? 

Thanks again!


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

ibytencode said:


> I will definitely keep an eye out on the tops. And to answer your question, I had lids that sat on top of the plexiglass rim to keep the salt spray off my lights. Also this kept any fish from actually jumping out as well. For awhile I had some suicidal fish.. =( One thing is for sure, if they warp I will definitely update this thread! Ha ha.
> 
> I have a sheet of glass sitting by a window that would make some great tops as well if I needed it to. Only problem is I don't know where to get that stuff cut here in Altanta. That isn't something I would do myself. I don't have the knowledge nor the tools to do that effectively.
> 
> Now the only thing I need to do is get some Brome's and maybe a few other small plants in my vivarium. Hopefully in a few weeks this thing will look more green than white. I was thinking about either painting the outside of the background black or deep blue just to shield the white wall behind it. Looks a bit bright in the pictures.


Instead of painting, you can get the same effect with black contact paper.


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## jacobi (Dec 15, 2010)

ibytencode said:


> Unfortunately I'm still waiting on the wife to decide what frogs she likes so I can order them.


LOL! Good luck with that one.


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## fieldnstream (Sep 11, 2009)

ibytencode said:


> Question for the Masses: When I started moving around the driftwood to put the new pieces in, one of them had what looked like some fungus growing. Looked a lot like spider webs, but I know there isn't spiders in my vivarium. Maybe if I see it again I can take a picture and post it. Any idea if this is good/bad?


If its on the grapevine its probably mold...happens every time. It should go away eventually, especially if the springs start booming.



Pumilo said:


> Instead of painting, you can get the same effect with black contact paper.


That's what I use on all of my tanks...works great!


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

ibytencode said:


> I have several spring tails and White Iso's already started. Although, it looks like one of the spring tails isn't doing so hot. Hopefully its just a slow starter.
> 
> Thanks again!


sometimes the springs just start slow, especially if they were shipped on charcoal as many will get crushed. however give it some time and one day, you'll open the top and you'll see a bunch


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## fieldnstream (Sep 11, 2009)

goof901 said:


> sometimes the springs just start slow, especially if they were shipped on charcoal as many will get crushed. however give it some time and one day, you'll open the top and you'll see a bunch


They were hand-delivered and cultured on abg...they will be booming in no time


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

oh then they should be fine. if they are still on ABG and you have some leaf litter, boil the leaves and put some leaves inside there. I did this in my backup 16 oz culture and now it's booming as well. Pumilo can also support the leaf litter addition as he is the one who gave me the idea. the increased surface area helps a lot


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## J Teezy (Jan 25, 2012)

curious to why you used a 1/2" hole on your mistking nozzle installation? Are your nozzles a little loose? Marty instructs to use 5/8" holes for the value nozzles which is what I think you have and the 1/2" is for the premium nozzles.

What brand is that light fixture and what kind of bulbs is it using T12,T8,T5?

Also for your springtails you may want to move the culture to a 6qt container that has a lid on that still allows some air. I found Sterilite brand at walmart for like .97 cents with a lid that snaps on but does close as tight as though containers you have there. By having them sealed in that kind of container you have you could gas them with the CO2. As mentioned, they will boom eventually. I keep mine in the 6qt container and feed some uncooked white rice grains once a week. I just sprinkle a few on top of the charcoal. Using charcoal makes them easy to add to the viv whenever. Just flood it with some RO water and pour them in.

Also how high does the water level need to be for that pump you are using to cover the water import


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

> curious to why you used a 1/2" hole on your mistking nozzle installation? Are your nozzles a little loose? Marty instructs to use 5/8" holes for the value nozzles which is what I think you have and the 1/2" is for the premium nozzles.


I ordered: Value-L Misting Assembly from Mistking. I also measured them before drilling the holes and they are slightly smaller than 1/2". The nozzles fit just fine within the hole. 

The light is: Odyssea T5 Aquarium Lighting and I'm using the bulbs that come with it at the moment.

For the containers I'm using, I just purchased some ziploc containers and punched 6 small holes (size of a finishing nail, the smallest ones). Figured it couldn't hurt to have air, since we all need it. 

While I'm at it, there is this plant in my gardens that grows really fast and isn't very high. Have no idea what it is but it looks nice on the ground. Any clue anyone? I live in georgia:


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## Tomoko Schum (Jan 14, 2012)

ibytencode said:


> While I'm at it, there is this plant in my gardens that grows really fast and isn't very high. Have no idea what it is but it looks nice on the ground. Any clue anyone? I live in georgia:
> 
> View attachment 29231


The plant looks like Vinca minor to me. It is a shade loving fast growing vine. I don't know if it can survive the high humidity of a viv.


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

Tank Update: Checked the Therm/Hydro meter today and the lowest temp was ~70.3 with 80.4% humidity and the highest was 80% and 89% humidity. The meter is dead center of the tank next to my center log. What do you guys think of these numbers? This is without my custom circulation fan that I made. I can get a random timer that can turn the fan on for ~30 minutes mid day if 80 is too hot. Unless I purchase a Mistking or other digital timer, that is the best I can do.

Let me know! Oh and I should have some plants in tomorrow or Friday! Will update again when it is fully planted!


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## J Teezy (Jan 25, 2012)

my tank stays around mid 70's temp during the day and my humidity around 90%. 80 is probably ok but typically you'd want slightly under that


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

Welcome back! I finally put together a plant list (not going to lie, mostly all Jason from TropicalPlantz.com). He was extremely helpful with getting everything together and getting them shipped to me. As you will soon see, he did an amazing job with picking out a wide variety of plants that I believe will look spectacular in this viv. Another thing about Jason, he always took the time out to explain different things to me and even spent time with different plants and telling me about them. I have to give him a shout out, job well done.

The last time I posted about my project, the tank was a bit bare. Since then, I received a piece of driftwood that I didn't think I was getting. So I've added it to the viv as well. I didn't want to, but the guy wouldn't refund me the money after 17 days no response and no shipping information. Only after I made a complaint to paypal did he ship my stuff. Enough of that.

Cleaning the plants was pretty scary. I didn't want to kill anything I spent money on. So I was very careful. Good thing about TropicalPlantz, all of the bromeliads and other plants were bare roots. The only two that had dirt left were the ground plants (sorry, I'm not good at plant names, nor can I ever remember them. I just look at them and say, "oh that looks nice.. " )

Cleaning, I took and soaked all the plants in a clean bucket of distilled water for approximately 1 hour letting them rehydrate. Even though the shipment only took two days, these are high humidity plants and need water almost always. You could really tell a large difference in the weight of the plants after the soak.

The two plants that had dirt, I went outside and used the water hose to clean off all the dirt that I could get. This took some delicate time since the two plants were really 3 or 4 shoots with a nest of roots! I tried to keep them together the best I could.

After letting the plants soak in water, I pulled them all out and laid them on paper towels. I mixed up a 5% bleach solution with distilled water. Took each plant and thoroughly washed them submerged in the water. I didn't let the plants sit in this solution, I washed them about 45 seconds to a minute and then placed them into the bucket of clean distilled water. Sloshed the plant around and let it stay in the water. I did this for each plant. After I was done washing them I drained the bleach solution, washed it out with cold water, wiped the surface down and refilled with cold distilled water. I removed all the plants from the bucket, washed the bucket out, then re-filled with clean cold distilled water. I then thoroughly re-washed each plant completely submerged in water outside of the bucket and placed them inside the bucket. I continued to do this until all of the non-bromeliads were washed. I then removed them from the water and placed them on clean egg create. I then washed the bromes and let them sit in the water for another 15 or so minutes while I planted the others.

Afterwards, I removed the bromeliads, removed the water from them, and then planted those as well in my vivarium. I do have some questions about Bromeliads if anyone has answers but I will wait until the end to ask them. Here is the plants I received and the final vivarium.

The packaging:









The plants:

















_This plant:_








































_To the plant above_



































































The planted Vivarium:

















Questions:

First Question: This is for the plants in the images above surrounded by "this plant.... to the plant above" Are these plants okay to place in ABG mix? As you can see from the planted vivarium, I have one in the crack of a vine piece that has dirt in it. I was hoping this was alright. I really like those two plants and I hope they thrive within my viv! I want a few more for my next vivarium project (don't tell the wife, I'm hooked on the building process......)

Second Question: The larger brome and several of the others are planted in the ABG mix because I just don't have enough tree space to place them all. I hope this is okay? Also, the far left brome cut out of the image is in the crack of drift wood. No dirt, is this okay? Should I put some dirt up there?

Third Question: See the two bromeliads on the far right? The red ones? Those I placed in rocks. Do they need dirt? The rocks are not watery due to their higher elevation. Will these bromeliads need to be moved to the dirt part of the vivarium?

Thanks for the input guys and I hope you like my vivarium. My next thread post will be on my bug culturing success/failures and my new cultures I will be getting next week.


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

all the cuttings should go in the substrate. the plant (pilea) that came in a pot should go in the substrate. also the 2 cryptanthus (the ones that are called C. something) should be in the substrate. the rest should NOT be in the substrate. they do best on wood. regarding the problem about the big brom, just get a small piece of cork and get that brom rooted to the cork and just place the cork in the substrate if you've got nowhere elso to put it. for the brom in the rocks, why not put it on the wood right next to it?


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

I can't get the bromes to stay on the wood. I don't want to glue them and I bought the green wire stuff but I'm afraid of rust. Any suggestions?

Thanks,


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

here this should help
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/plants/519-mounting-epiphytes-cork.html
if this doesn't answer your question, then ask away


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## fieldnstream (Sep 11, 2009)

Looking great bud! The broms may be fine in the substrate (as we just talked about, I've had neos planted in substrate for years...still alive and pupping). Will it work every time?...nope, but you would be surprised how often it does work. Waiting on updated shots post-gorillaglue


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

another way would be to get some hydroton and make a little section where u can plant the brom. i suppose the should be fine in gravel tho.


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## fieldnstream (Sep 11, 2009)

goof901 said:


> another way would be to get some hydroton and make a little section where u can plant the brom. i suppose the should be fine in gravel tho.


That's definitely good advice...I told him the same thing haha


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

ibytencode said:


> I can't get the bromes to stay on the wood. I don't want to glue them and I bought the green wire stuff but I'm afraid of rust. Any suggestions?
> 
> Thanks,


Photo tutorial on mounting broms. http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/plants/79872-bad-plant-order-good-deal-2.html


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

Okay, after a talk with Field on the phone. I ran up to the store and grabbed some Gorilla Glue and some dead moss. I also readjusted some bromeliads to make a better fit. I decided to remove all bromeliads from the substrate because I honestly don't want to buy anymore for this tank. I want this tank to grow up and go to college and get a job.. or just grow up and fill out =)

So first off, the larger bromeliad in the center I moved to the V shape in the two pieces of wood. I also moved one of the smaller bromeliads and hung it up in the center of my moon shaped log.










Here is the shot of the V where the large bromeliad touches the wood.









Another shot of the two bromeliads closer up.









I then attached three bromeliads to the larger piece of driftwood and the other two the grape vine wood.









I then stuck the moss to the exposed glue to cover it and to provide the plant roots with some moisture during the misting. I don't think the bromeliads need much, but this seemed like a good idea from another thread.









This is a higher shot up top showing all the plants plus the leaf litter. I don't know how to add more of this without covering my plants up. So I'm going to let the plants grow up some and then add another layer of leaf litter.









Now, here is a question. The plant at the very top, (tillandsias) should it be up there or in the substrate? I think Jason told me that these two plants are "air plants" and should not be in the substrate. I just feel like that plant is just going to die up there....









Here is the overall shot of the newly adjusted tank. Hopefully everything will grow in big and healthy and I'll be complaining about having to cut things down.. =\


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Looking good Brandon, but personally I would remove the sphagnum from around the brom roots. Broms get their water from the cups/axils, not from their roots. Their roots are for support and to attach to tree branches. If the sphagnum around the roots stays too wet, it will cause rot.


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

i agree with Pumilo ^^^. you don't need sphagnum at all. some people use it, others don't. i didn't use it cuz i was too lazy to  and my brom is rooting quite nicely. the tillandsia needs to be up high with some air movement and likes it drier. what are you going to put in there?


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

I have 5 D. Azureus coming from Frogzilla a week from this coming Monday/Tuesday. Here are the images of the frogs that she sent me.


















I think they look dang good to be honest. Hopefully that group will be 3 males and 2 females. But you never know. Could be all females or all males. But chances are I have a pair /crosses fingers

=P


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## Shinosuke (Aug 10, 2011)

I agree with the 2 posts above mine - take off the sphag from the brom and leave the till up high. There's a good chance the till will rot out pretty quickly if you don't have a decent amount of air movement in the tank. I'm no expert and every till I've put in my tank has rotted out, but I am having decent luck growing one in less moist conditions. 
Nice start on your tank, and those are some awesome broms!


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## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

ibytencode said:


> While I'm at it, there is this plant in my gardens that grows really fast and isn't very high. Have no idea what it is but it looks nice on the ground. Any clue anyone? I live in georgia:
> 
> View attachment 29231


Hello there Brandon, my name is also Brandon 
I live out in Lithia Springs and I have been wondering the sane cause I have this plant growing all around the house as well. There is also another plant that you can see in the pic that is a nice vine and it produces these purple flowers. I would love to know what that one is as well. I like them both a lot.
Here is a pic of a patch of them from out back.









Btw I am really loving the viv. You can find my build in my signature, although I have pulled a few plants to put them in a grow out tank to make some mother plants cause it is gonna be a while before I am gonna get some PDFs.

If you ever need any white springs in case your cultures crash or anything let me know and I can give you some. I have like 3 large cultures yet nothing to feed them too haha.
here is a video of the cultures but the charcoal ones have picked up a little bit more and the main culture has like 3 times more lol. Here is an idea for how to culture them. Works better than yeast, mushrooms and I never really believed in the charcoal method lol.





Good luck with the frogs and the viv


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## ibytencode (Mar 25, 2012)

The final product:

I received my frogs today. They are really awesome! Here are some photos of the frogs in the Viv. Eating well, I fed them within an hour of receiving them and they were all eating.


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## fieldnstream (Sep 11, 2009)

Very cool bud! Just make sure they are getting enough to eat (which can be tougher in a larger enclosure...if they start to get skinny pull them out and put them into a smaller growout). Setting up feeding stations would be a good idea.
Check this for ideas:http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/71517-water-milk-cap-banana-holders.html


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## Frogzilla (Apr 4, 2011)

They look great in their new home! Glad to see all is well.  Great job!


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