# 39 Gallon Custom Vivarium ft. DIY LED Lighting Build Journal



## Profe (Jun 24, 2012)

Hey Dendroboard,

I wanted to share my new vivarium build with you all. This is my first build since I was in high school, so I'm pretty excited. I've been lurking here at Dendroboard a while, following the Parts & Construction forum pretty closely getting ideas and learning new techniques. One of the biggest sources of inspiration for me has been Grimm's Peninsula build, and if were to set a benchmark for the quality I'd like to achieve, Grimm's would be it. 
So here are the specs: 

Dimentions:

(L x W x H): 18" x 18" x 29.125" (Height determined by the Golden Ratio, in case you're wondering about the odd sizing Golden ratio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.) 

Lighting: 
-MakersLED Heatsink MakersLED - Now Placing Orders! - YouTube
-RapidLED 7 LED solderless retrofit kit Rapid LED
-DIM4 LED Sunrise/Sunset Controller LED Sunrise and Sunset Controller

Substrate: 
-False bottom with ABG mix, Leaf litter

Air circulation:
-50mm case fan salvaged from old computer
-PVC pipe air circulation duct heat formed to resemble vine, and covered with silicon/peat.

Background: 
-Greatstuff/silicon/peat
-More artificial vines

Below you can see some images of my Sketchup drawings. You can see that in the back there is a panel to access the air circulation fan without disturbing the inhabitants too much. Also there’s enough room to access a submersible aquarium heater (optional), check water quality, check plumbing (not drawn yet), etc. Instead of covering the vent between the enclosure and access panel area with screen, I’m probably going to cover it with Eco-Web, so moss will grow over it and it’ll be impossible to notice. Also the access panel door pivots on a silicone live hinge, and has silicone gaskets to help keep the humidity inside.

Anyways, most of this is still in the planning stages. Right now I’m working on getting the parts for the DIY LED lighting. I’ll talk more about this soon as this is going to be really cool. 

So, as far as glass thickness, what size should I go with? I drew it up with ¼”/6mm. I’ve been considering 3/16” since it’s significantly cheaper. What do you all think? 

-Profe


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## Profe (Jun 24, 2012)

I reworked the air circulation liana ducting and added another liana twisted around it. Looks much better I think:


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## Profe (Jun 24, 2012)

An earlier version of the design with some bromeliads and orchids. If I have time, I'll add them to the updated version.


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## Profe (Jun 24, 2012)

Improved with vegitation:


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## BethInAK (Jul 12, 2011)

your drafting skills are awesome!! I'll be watching. what are you making the vines from?


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## ConFuCiuZ (Jul 13, 2011)

Nothing beats Google Sketchup


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## Profe (Jun 24, 2012)

BethInAK said:


> your drafting skills are awesome!! I'll be watching. what are you making the vines from?


Hey thanks! My skills have been improving a lot since I started playing around with sketchup. I used to use another program called Alibre, which is good too, but sketchup is free and has so much to offer. I highly recommend it to anyone who. Very helpful to visualize you projects before starting them. 

I make the big vines out of PVC pipe using a heat gun to form the curves and covered with silicone and peat. Smaller vines (not shown) out of poly rope covered with silicone and peat as others have done.


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## Profe (Jun 24, 2012)

A look at my progress:


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## Duff (Aug 4, 2011)

Wow, everyday it gets better and better - very cool! When does the work begin?  I like the back side set up. 

Would it be better to have it on the side of the tank for easy access or will you be able to access the back side with no issues? Just thinking about mine and it's near impossible to get to the back, but then I have mine on the top of a low bookcase that can't be moved easily. Great job, looking forward to see it come to life!


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## Profe (Jun 24, 2012)

Duff said:


> Wow, everyday it gets better and better - very cool! When does the work begin?  I like the back side set up.
> 
> Would it be better to have it on the side of the tank for easy access or will you be able to access the back side with no issues? Just thinking about mine and it's near impossible to get to the back, but then I have mine on the top of a low bookcase that can't be moved easily. Great job, looking forward to see it come to life!


Hey thanks! Yeah, I'm a bit anxious to begin the actual construction too. Right now, I'm waiting on getting the parts for the d.i.y. LED lighting build that I'm going to incorporated into the vivarium. I've been trying to buy all the components first before construction so that I can incorporate them into the design instead of having to retrofit them in latter. It's taking a bit of discipline because I'd much rather just start building something, but I think the results will be worth it. Another expensive component would be a mist king system. I'd like to have the actual misting heads and see how they spray before drilling holes in the glass, and also want to drill the holes before assembly in case I break a pane. I'd hate to have to remove broken glass after all the work of assembly. Anyways, my play money budget isn't huge, so I sometimes have to wait till the next month to buy something. 

Glad you like the access panel, and good question about the placement issue. In an earlier design, I came up with a quasi-hexagonal shape that would allow access to the back from the sides without having to move the whole vivarium away from the wall, but also makes it so you really can't see the access panels from most angles. I'm kinda proud of the idea, but since I'm not confined to a bookshelf, scrapped the drip wall and changed out the square air circulation shaft for the pvc pipe desguised as a vine idea, I'm going with a little more simple rear access design. Hopefully, I won't have to access the back that often, but if I do, its there just in case. Here's the earlier (unfinished) quasi-hex design:


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## Profe (Jun 24, 2012)

Worked on the background today:


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## hockeyboy (Oct 7, 2012)

The 3d sketches are really cool


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