# 125 Gal Vivarium build (Pic Hvy)



## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

I recently acquired a 125 gallon acrylic tank. It has a few small scratches on the front but i think it will do just fine.

Here are some pics. IM going to do a false bottom style. I also want to drill the bottom and make a sump with plumbing underneath the tank. 

Any ideas questions or concerns would be appreciated.

More pix coming today


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## Frogman8 (Sep 28, 2010)

That piece of drift wood is perfect for the viv. I would do a Foam (gs) backing, few larger pieces of ghost wood attached to back,some brooms & airplants , a sweet waterfall and your all set.What species do you plan on having in there?


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

Thanks,
GS BG is for sure. Here is the layout so far.

You can see the big cut i had to make in the top to fit that piece in there. 

I was going to make the entire thing an overflow system. Just like an aquarium. water will be pumped in through the water feature on one side and flow down into a 10 gallon sump on the other. all the pumps, filter, and heater (if needed but i doubt it for san diego) will be in the sump. this way i can change out pumps if they fail. Any thoughts on that?

Im going to silicone everything in place and play around with some foam tonight.


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## pet-teez (Oct 3, 2007)

Personally I think a sump would be a great idea... also, that giant piece of wood is epic! What kind is it?


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## Frogman8 (Sep 28, 2010)

Very nice layout soo far, keep us posted on new pics and the finished product.good luck


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

Thanks... The wood is just driftwood that sat in the sun for 6 months on the side of my house. from an old aquarium.

I think im going to put a bunch of firbelly toads in here cause they swim around cherp. I would do PDF but i wanted a lot of water.
any other ideas for inhabitants?

I did the plumbing layout last night. I drilled two 1' holes and ran some schedule 40 pvc underneath the tank. Im going to use pvc glue on everything except the connectors so ill be able to detach from the bottom stand to move the tank.

The ginormous pump I got handles the load pretty well. just enough water comes out the top instead of a geyser like my last one.

Any ideas on quieting a pump? I noticed the higher the water the Lauder the pump gets.

I think ill add another pump and line to the back for some drip irrigation or something.

Here are some pix. the bottom of the tank had a paper film on it for so long its stuck there. That's why it looks so nasty. All the fittings you see are in the pvc section at home depot.


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

I got a little more done. Ive been trying to decide what I'm going to do with all the free space between the log and the back of the tank. Ive added a second line and pump just for drip spots throughout the tank. i put a 6 head drip irrigation head on the new line. I'm going to cover the head in a box of crate to hide it and cut a hole in the back of the tank for access to it. there are knobs that control water flow on each. i also started playing around with Rafs idea here http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/57563-pics-my-new-constructed-vivarium.html


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## AaronAcker (Aug 15, 2007)

Thats going to be EPIC!


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

Got foam happy today. All my pieces are in place. Kinda messed up on the log but im just going to work with it. I recycled a few silicone tubes into some plant pots. you can get 2 per tube.


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## fishman72 (Jan 21, 2011)

That is going to be nice. I have a 220 acrylic reef tank which I am plannning to convert. I will be keeping track


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## Lunar Gecko (May 7, 2010)

I can tell this is going to be really nice. I love the large piece of wood you got for the waterfall. I need to go hunting for some more fallen logs. We just had a big storm that downed a bunch of trees but unfortunately they are all covered in snow just now.

Nothing against PDF tanks but its nice to see some big water tanks too.


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## GRIMM (Jan 18, 2010)

Looks like a fun build to watch come together.

I'm not sure if anyone else suggested it, but acrylic can be buffed to a mirror finish if has scratches, even deep ones...Something to think about before you get to far into the build if this plans on being a display tank. A little elbow grease, stages of very fine sandpaper, and finally a liquid compound to make it a crystal clear finish. Ive used a type of compound made by Meguires for polishing my headlights, car paint, and even aluminum to a smooth mirror finish. I dont see why it wouldnt work on acrylic also.


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

Thanks guys..
Grimm i think ill do that. I have an orbital sander and a lot of scratches. Thanks for the tip.

Here's a quick video of my first water test. The log came out better than i imagined. After I took this video I drained the tank and laid the tank down for silicone and coir. Just waiting for the first layer to dry. 

Is there anything i can add to the coir that will give it a less uniform look and still stick in the silicone? im thinking peat or some kind of moss


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

More work done. hosed off the whole thing to get the loose coir off. Ill do another layer or two before I start the background. I bought some different moss from an art store and the pet store. i mixed them together and pressed it into silicone. i tried it on one of the pieces of coir covered tubing. Also some shots of the bottom cause i flipped the tank to dry. here's a bunch of pix


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

more pix of the mix i made and what the bag looks like in case you like the idea.


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

Just foam and tubing. The tank was laying on its back in most of these pix. I needed something to weigh the tubing down and i have a lemon tree in my backyard so guess what i used...

Also I used an old Size C aquarium filter in my modified sump. Its the same filter size as all my aquariums  im going to add bio balls to the pre filter side also. I didn't feel like making a real sump with Plexiglas and all that. This should work for what i want to do. Any thoughts or ideas?


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

its going to take at least 8 tubes of silicone to cover this


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## AaronAcker (Aug 15, 2007)

At least ! lol... Looks great so far. Not sure if I over read, and just skipped through to pics, but did you say what animals you were doing in this?


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

Thanks. Im going to put a bunch of firebelly toads and maybe some newts. Guppies in the water. maybe a beta fish for kicks.


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## yellow dart frog man (Mar 8, 2011)

Looks like it's going to be a nice viv! GOOD LUCK!


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

I had to move the whole thing inside cause its been raining lately. So I set it up in a spot I like and ran the water for a while. My drain cover gets clogged pretty easily and over a few hours the pump will run dry. Im going to make a different style cover. 

I haven't added pvc glue yet so obviously the pipes leak a little. But only a slow drip surprisingly. 

Kinda been broke so once i have the funds ill do another round of coir to patch some spots. Im up to 12 tubes of silicone on that thing. thats about $75  
here are some pix

Any thoughts on plants and locations? i dont know what im going to put in the pots yet so any suggestions are appreciated.


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## amnesia (Jan 23, 2011)

I can't tell from the pics, do you have baffles in your sump? If you use a couple baffles they could trap detritus quite effectively. This would allow you to use something like gutter guard for your drain cover. It would keep most fish/animals aside from tiny little things, from going down the drain but allow sufficient drainage. No more pump running dry.

Cheers,
Scott


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

@amnesia: no not in these pics
But I didnt like my sump idea so ive made a proper sump with a few baffles and a filter. thanks for the idea. I think gutter guard might work pretty nicely... pics soon


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## LemurLad (Jan 22, 2011)

This is awesome! Definitely giving me some ideas for the 125 I just picked up.


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

Ive been working on the stand. The main tank background is done. Ill be putting it all together tonight. Here are the pix of the stand. I sanded what will be visible then stained and varnished it.


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

Here is the finished product. And the new sump with baffles


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

almost done


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## Saviorself (Jun 29, 2010)

Your tank is coming along nicely great job!


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

Thanks for the good words everyone.
I finished the stand and ran the pump over a weekend and ended up frying a pump. the drain wasn't wide enough. I widened it to 1.5 inches and that fixed the problem. I also added "river sand" from the local fish store. It makes a huge difference I'm really happy with it. The only problem i have now is its so fogged up i cant see inside. I'm thinking about drilling a bunch of little holes at the top or something. any ideas?


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

more pix.......


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

more pix.....


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

Added Zoo Med Eco Earth Compressed Coconut Fiber Substrate, a pitcher plant to eat nats, and 3 firebelly toads


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

more pix for you ....... my roomate works on ponds. he gave me some hardy water lilly sprouts


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

more pix. My roomates gf put a pacman in with the firebelly toads. A gift. Im no idiot i know what would happen. But the funny thing is i had to rescue the pac man lol. It couldnt get out of the water in time to not be humped by the toads. I pulled it out and returned it for store credit


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## GRIMM (Jan 18, 2010)

Bahaha possibly the best frog humping pic ever.


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

lol thanks grimm..
the airplants I got from my friend @ forestairplants on ebay are the best. This is the 4th time ive bought from them. Very cool vendor, just search for them on ebay.


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

more and more


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

flytraps and jewel orchid


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

spores from the first mushroom that grew in here have fruited. pretty cool. Any idea if these will hurt the firebelly toads ive got in there?


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## Zorloc (Apr 6, 2011)

the airplants I got from my friend @ forestairplants on ebay are the best. This is the 4th time ive bought from them. Very cool vendor, just search for them on ebay 

I concur I too have bought from this ebay seller and WOW excelent price and selections I will buy from again soon!!


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## Newtnerd (May 4, 2011)

I don't know if you were still considering adding newts to this setup. If you are, I would strongly advise against it. Most newts require much cooler temperatures than fire belly toads and would most likely not appreciate the incessant humping haha. Great setup by the way. It came together quite beautifully. Half land, half water tanks really grab my eye for some reason. I can't wait to see it once the plants are grown in.

Regards,
Dylan


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

I agree Dylan,
After watching my 6 firebellies for a while, I wouldn't subject anything else to the lovefest ... Thanks for the heads up...
Since My last post ive gotten a few plants from my roomate. He works on Ponds so he got me some pennywart, some moss, and a few more surface plants i cant pronounce. Ive also added some pathos and rabbits foot fern from my front yard. All seem to be doing nicely. I get mushrooms if i close the lid for a day and open it again. like clockwork. I threw a couple platys in there and they seem to drop a baby every few days or so. I know how we all love pictures so here are as many as I can get on here for you.


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

more and more


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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

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## mcnertney (Jan 25, 2011)

And finally some fog


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