Crested Gecko Terrarium (pic heavy)

[mhbird]

Stage one: Collecting materials

First things first I needed a Terrarium, I went for the 18x18x24 inch Exo Terra, as it was the best all-rounder for the price. After that I needed a list of other materials to begin the build...

Expanding Foam (2 cans)
Silicone (5 tubes)
Plastic piping
Plastic to construct a false bottom
T-Shirt (substrate filter)
Grape vine
Cork bark
Slate chippings
Small stones
Eco Earth coco fibre
Sphagnum moss (bagged)
Water pump
Razor blades
Saw

When I began I underestimated the amount of silicone and foam I'd need, and also bought a pump that was too weak to get the water to the top of the waterfall (Reptiflo 250), the guys at reptiles Cymru were nice enough to almost entirely refund me so I could buy a bigger pump (misc european aquarium pump!).

The materials and tools cost in excess of £200 est.







Next up I needed plants, I chose a Boston Fern, Ficus Pumila, Bromeliad and Sphagnum moss.











Stage 2: Construction

Construction was fairly easy, having done the research. The hardest and most time consuming part was dealing with silicone. I first needed to cover the entire back wall in silicone, then cover 2 inches of the base to conseal the water reservoir and false bottom structure that would be there soon enough. After the false bottom was made (for soil to sit on, allowing water to drain through to a lower reservoir and pump), I placed in the cork bark and began to foam it all in (fun part). It took some time but after a while I had the shape i wanted and worked on the water fall and plumbing system.










Final stage: Planting and Landscaping

After the foam was dried and shaped I applied silicone over it then pushed Eco Earth coconut fibre (baked dry) into the silicone. This was the most time consuming and frustrating part, it went on forever - and who knew you could get so high from using silicone?

After that I had to make sure the waterfall led the water the right way, make some corrections (with more stones) and fill the front pond with stones.

Lastly I layed down the bagged Sphagnum moss in the beds, stuck the plants in and then covered them in with damp Eco Earth and Pete. Turned on the pump and admired the work!

Going to get my Crestie some time next week, the tanks been airing out for days already, and just been planted today. Going to cleanse it with dry ice before I put the crestie in too, killing off any bad organisms and boosting the growth of the plants.

Hope you like it........

[janelc]

Awesome!!! Really great job!!!!

[mhbird]

Thanks Alright for my first try!

By the way I'd like to thank everyone on this board! I haven't posted much but using the search feature you already answered most of my questions and you were all a big help. When I first looked on here I was looking to stick a few plant pots in a viv!

[Pufferfan]

WHOA!!!!!!

Looks great!!!

I love it awesome work!

[Waterkeeper]

Greatstuff Pro that doesn't load into a gun???? Pink??? Where do you live?

The Viv is really nice... beats the pants off a couple pots in a tank huh?

[mhbird]

Originally Posted by Waterkeeper

Greatstuff Pro that doesn't load into a gun???? Pink??? Where do you live?

The Viv is really nice... beats the pants off a couple pots in a tank huh?

Cheers :] Yeah I didn't think it'd go so well! Was great fun, too.

It doesn't load onto a gun, nope! Just has a big nozzle to fit to the top. And I live in the UK!

[beefcakemighty]

AMAZING!!!! i wish i had something like that for my crestie in fact i may just have to do that when i get some extra cash, the cork board looks like a zombie face kinda haha

[Rainfrog]

Looks amazing

[MrKing]

Great job, i love the water fall feature.

Originally Posted by mhbird

and also bought a pump that was too weak to get the water to the top of the waterfall (Reptiflo 250)

what size pump did you end up using in the end. Is it quiet ?

[strange_screams]

you did a spectacular job, looks very well planned and professional, nice choice on the piece of grapevine too, its very dramatic