# just started my 8x4x3 (in FEET) deep viv



## timmygreener (Aug 22, 2011)

Had the day off due to rain. And randomly started this, with minimal carpentry skill's, lame tools, and a 12 pack later... This is the stage it's at for now.

I got a free piece of 44x88 inch long 1/4 glass off craigslist, so I had to use it for something.

I plan to do the foam/drylok stone like my other Viv's they seem to work well.

I'm just playing by ear and see where it ends up, so far the cost is still cheaper then a new exoterra!


I may not have a chance to work on it for a while, its the busy season at work for me, but as I get some done I'll keep updating.


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## yerbamate (Nov 3, 2013)

Wow. I have visions of doing this level of project and then try to put it out of my mind. so all wood backing? What will you use for water prooofing and how long does that last for?


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## timmygreener (Aug 22, 2011)

I'm going to coat anything wood with drylok, I made a small plywood aquarium with it as a beta test you can say, and its held up great, I don't plan on having any water features, so it's not going to be as saturated as I'm hoping.

After a few coats of drylok, I'll start carving foam to shape the rock, then drylok that again also. I may even put pond liner on the bottom half to sleep better at night.


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## xTimx (Mar 14, 2013)

given the HUGE dimensions, i will pop up and say....that stand is no where near tough enough to hold all that weight. you're gonna need to build a better sturdier stand. my 120gal viv is 4x2x2' and it weighs literally 300lbs plus. so before you go off buying a whole bunch of drylok and tank materials, first build yourself a better tank stand bud  

this is the exact design on how i made my tank stand and it can hold ALOT of weight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN4Y9AYuwcQ&index=88&list=UUM9oZkV3tGJuUUhgZaiGZkQ

even though the vid is about aquariums, it still applies to the fact that you're building a huge tank.


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## Mohlerbear (Feb 20, 2014)

Could one just put pond liner along the inside of the wood? Or is that silly? 


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## timmygreener (Aug 22, 2011)

Are you talking about the pond liner material line in rolls, or paint?

And yes, I ran short on 2x4 for the stand but had to build in the house because ot doesn't fit through any doors. So once I can steal the minivan away from my wife I'll pick up some more. 

I have the first coat of drylock on already


Tomorrow picking up wood and more drylock for the stand. It has center braces already for more legs I wish I wook more pics as I pieced it together


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## Mohlerbear (Feb 20, 2014)

Yes the liner. I know you are doing drylok but did you consider it? If so, why did you defer? I have wanted to do something similar and wondered why it would or wouldn't work. I feel like it would. 


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## timmygreener (Aug 22, 2011)

I considered it, I still may use it for the lower say 2 foot or so.

But drylok is cheap, and easy to work with, even if I used the liner I'd be worried about some kind of moisture building up underneath it between the wood and would want drylok in there just to be safe.

I wouldn't know how to make the seal between the glass and liner too, with the drylok I'm going to use tons of aquarium silicone right into the covered wood.

I got the ideas for this off monster fish keeper. They cover all the pros and con's of each application. And id consider this a light duty tank compared to there fully aquatic tanks


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## timmygreener (Aug 22, 2011)

Here are some update shots, slowly making some headway


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## Mohlerbear (Feb 20, 2014)

This is going to be awesome!! 


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## Razzi (Oct 22, 2014)

Wow! I could only DREAM of having an area to build a viv this size! I will be subscribing!


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## Jeremy M (Oct 19, 2012)

Neat idea, I'm subscribed. Do you have any pics of the smaller test plywood build with the dryloc? I had always had plans on converting a large, sturdy wooden book cabinet into a multi-tiered viv while leaving the shelves in. I'd have to construct individual doors and have lights for each layer, then have large holes interspaced in the shelf floors with structures through them that animals could use to move between layers. This is really just an idea at this stage and I don't have plans to start it in the near future... but every time I see a big wooden shelving unit now, I start to daydream.  My biggest worry is with how I would seal it. Do you think dryloc would work for this?

In an unrelated note, what's the blowtorch for?




Mohlerbear said:


> Could one just put pond liner along the inside of the wood? Or is that silly?


I've thought about this too. The only issue I can see would be getting a seal, no matter where you put it. If you want it in the bottom, it would be presumably very difficult to tightly adhere the plastic liner to the sides of the viv, whatever it will be made out of. If any moisture were to get between the liner and the wood, it would stay there and rot the wood, so it's still a good idea to seal the wood. Traditionally for pond liner to work, it has to be one solid piece, so the edges would not be able to lie flush against the walls- you would have to either fold the corners in like wrapping paper, or fold little triangles all along the perimeter. I believe you would need to staple it in for strength at some point, so then you would have to cover up those punctures directly and I'm not sure what could adhere to the liner reliably for long periods of time. If you figured out a way to do this, I believe it could be done. Or, if you found a material that bonded well enough to the liner, I guess you could cut the liner into panels and just cover one wall with one sheet, then generously apply the glue along the edges.


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## timmygreener (Aug 22, 2011)

I went over the foam I used to carve the rock with, gives it less of a repetitive, more spontaneous texture and look, so it looks less man made, plus fire fun


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## Aldross (Dec 30, 2013)

If you went with a pond liner could you maybe use the plastidip to seal it together.


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## timmygreener (Aug 22, 2011)

Got the rocks painted, don't mind the over spray, I'm thinking about covering the walls with epiweb (if I can find it) or coco fiber mats.


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## timmygreener (Aug 22, 2011)

One to try and show the depth


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## Aldross (Dec 30, 2013)

timmygreener said:


> Got the rocks painted, don't mind the over spray, I'm thinking about covering the walls with epiweb (if I can find it) or coco fiber mats.


Go to firstrays.com they have something that is about the same called Ecoweb.


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## Bob1000 (Jan 15, 2014)

Use the pond liner from top to bottom trust me.. My first enclosure build only had it from the mid way point and it developed a leak somewhere.. A project this sized will cost you a total of around 2k to 3k.. Glass and track alone is close to $400.. Just to give you a heads up.. If you spend less than that your enclosure will be lacking and develop a leak somewhere.. The smallest enclosure I have built in the last year or so is 180gallons and the largest is 1200gallons..


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## Mohlerbear (Feb 20, 2014)

Ha I just replied to your thread in the members Viv section. 

Great info. So the 180 and 1200, were those out of wood too? With pond liner? How'd you seal it?

Anyone ever seen that stuff on the infomercials called flex seal? 


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## Bob1000 (Jan 15, 2014)

Silicone to seal it to an epoxied surface..


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## ssdart (Jun 4, 2011)

At home depot they sell an epoxy resin called glaze. My bother in law used it to waterproof his American alligator enclosure. The price is around $150 per gallon.


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## timmygreener (Aug 22, 2011)

Decided to fiberglass the bottom half just to sleep better at night, I also got the led lighting, and ordered that eco web you so graciously showed me.

Should be plant ready sometime next week I hope, ill be in Disney for a few days so as soon as I get back I want to finish it


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## timmygreener (Aug 22, 2011)

Can't wait to cover the walls with ecoweb. It will make it seem like its actually going somewhere haha


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## timmygreener (Aug 22, 2011)

Started planting


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## ryangreenway (Apr 30, 2010)

Looking good! Any thoughts on inhabitants?


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## timmygreener (Aug 22, 2011)

I have an idea on what's going in there, and the haters gunna hate, but it's going to be mixed ( let the frog lords awaken and chime in).


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## FroggyKnight (Mar 14, 2013)

timmygreener said:


> I have an idea on what's going in there, and the haters gunna hate, but it's going to be mixed ( let the frog lords awaken and chime in).


That depends, I'm ok with mixed vivariums but they must be large (check) and the inhabitants must not be able to interbreed (check... maybe?). Preferably they should also be from the same geographical region, such as some Amereega locales and R. imitator. I'm not going to hate on you if you do not follow my own standards, but I hope you've read up on the possible consequences that may result if you don't. 

Good luck with this tank, it looks great so far! 

John


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## jturner (Nov 26, 2014)

timmygreener said:


> I have an idea on what's going in there, and the haters gunna hate, but it's going to be mixed ( let the frog lords awaken and chime in).


First of all that looks awesome and I have always wanted to build something that big. The biggest I have gone is 3' wide 2' deep and 4' tall which houses a male and a female green green basilisk . I know this is a dart frog forum but have you thought of putting some larger creatures in it because I just feel like dart frogs would get lost in such a big enclosure. I don't know if you like reptiles but Basilisks, water dragons, mountain horned lizards... could be pretty cool. Just a thought


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## DartSolo (Sep 7, 2014)

I like how you decided to create a giant tank out the blue haha it would probably take me a couple months before i even decide if I want to do it or not! Its Looking great!


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## timmygreener (Aug 22, 2011)

Will be finished tomorrow, going to put the river rock in after the glass, to make it a little easier to move.

Then I have to make a dolly to move the 36x36x18 exoterras I have behind this new tank so I can then move this into its final place.

So maybe by Monday it will be in its final place, and I'll let it "cycle" for a bit and see if there's anything I need to tweek before frogs go in.


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## bwagner (Nov 17, 2014)

Looks good, I like the stuff hanging from the top.


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## timmygreener (Aug 22, 2011)

Finished up! Now I have to move the old tanks to slide this back and I can sit back and enjoy.


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## Coqui (Jan 17, 2013)

Congrats, on finishing up. Looks amazing.


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## FroggyKnight (Mar 14, 2013)

Looks pretty good! Nice job!

Any ideas on who will be living in there?

John


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## timmygreener (Aug 22, 2011)

Some tincs, terriblis, luecs, and some auratus.

Clearing out there current tanks to make room for my thumbnails ( who I will not mix ever) 

I'll still have species specific tanks set up with the breeding pairs of the above, the only guys I'm putting in are the things Iv kind of just have that are not part of a breeding group, unsexed frogs.

I don't plan to mix or cross breed anything. But if and when it happens, I'm not going to offer them for sale at any time to anyone, I'll toss any mixed moprhs in a small tank and put it in one of my daughters rooms for a pet.

I'm interested to see if they group up in there own little clicks in there and just watch them claim there spots


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

timmygreener said:


> Some tincs, terriblis, luecs, and some auratus.
> 
> Clearing out there current tanks to make room for my thumbnails ( who I will not mix ever)
> 
> ...


It would be much simpler to mix frogs that *can't* breed with each other...

(Tincs and Auratus can reproduce in large numbers!)


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