Planted Vivarium Progress (Crestie)

[CWD]

Looking Good Mate

[Mrs Dragon Wolf]

looking great so far, can't wait to see the finished product

[BOAndy]

Looking really GREAT

I was thinking about doing the same for my sons Eco, how did ya make sure that the 2 SIDES kept to 90 degree to fit the tank snug?
Does the sides bend and crack at all?

Do you seal the sides to the glass so no bugs etc can get behind?

KEEP UP THE FANTASTIC WORK, can't wait to see the end product.

10/10 UP TO NOW

[mhbird]

Appologies for the lack of updates!

All that needed doing was painting and varnishing, then I wedged the back in with about 3 inches of plumbing pipe at the bottom so there was no contact with the water in the base... Thennn built the land up with aquarium rocks and drift wood, hydroclea and soil etc.





There were a few guppies in the water, and golden tetras. The guppies didnt seem to like it so got moved but the tetras are very active so I have 6 in there now Water is filtered and I'm adding an air pump and fogger soon. Photos were taken pre-filter so it looks murky

Sorry again for the lack of progess pictures at the end!

[mhbird]

Originally Posted by BOAndy

Looking really GREAT

I was thinking about doing the same for my sons Eco, how did ya make sure that the 2 SIDES kept to 90 degree to fit the tank snug?
Does the sides bend and crack at all?

Do you seal the sides to the glass so no bugs etc can get behind?

KEEP UP THE FANTASTIC WORK, can't wait to see the end product.

10/10 UP TO NOW

I pinned the sides together as much as possible with cocktail sticks, and then grouted it all up knowing it wouldnt be 100% flush, and would probably crack down the centre. But thanks to the flex in the cocktail stick/polystyrene I knew I could push it in flush and allow it to crack slightly. It's in perfect now

And nah I didn't want to use any silicone this time. Everything can be removed and theres no permanent damage to the Exo. So its not sealed to the glass, but it's flush enough that nothing can get behind or over the top (into the plumbing access).

[Morgan Freeman]

Looks good!

Only problem is after all that effort with the background you can hardly see it!

[mhbird]

Haha, you can in person especially when the lights set at the back of the lid.

Oh and before I get any comments about water safety, I introduced the new baby crestie to the water and he jumped right in. Good little swimmer! And besides, they can't sink!

[Ron Magpie]

I was going to ask about the water area- but not from that point of view ;-) I had wondered if you intended to include any fish or frogs- but you've answered that. Stunning viv, mate!

[mhbird]

I looked into putting frogs in, butttt they'd have to be a similar size to the crestie (which is tiny atm... can you spot him in the photo above?), and not arboreal... or pH manipulating etc. Fish on the other hand have no chance of taking out my Crestie, haha.

When the crestie grows a bit I'm going to indroduce a few tropical red clawed crabs. Have a couple of them already they are great - but they do wander on to land and just about everywhere in the viv.

Other than that I'll add a few small sea snails and shrimp then it's complete I think!

Just waiting for the Kyoto moss spores to show some life now.......

[Joel_H]

this is the best natural setup I have ever seen , I want to do something very similar for my brazilian rainbow boa.