I'm brand new to the whole vivarium world. About 5 years ago I went into a home that had an awesome viv and was so interested but had no means of starting my own. I had forgotten completely about it until a few weeks ago when I somehow ran across this site
Mauricio G.'s Vivarium which inspired me.
I have since found your site and have learned so much just by looking at the photos and reading old posts.
I began building my own viv about a week ago in a 29 gal tank I had sitting around and have been pleased so far. I wasn't ready to start spraying GS all over my tank so I decided to build not only a false bottom but also false sides and back. This did take up a little extra space and time but it did make it easy to spread the silicone and work on everything outside of the tank. I then put the entire setup into my tank and sealed the edges to the glass with silicone. I hope that makes sense.
I will begin planting soon and am trying to figure out what plants to use. I am on a bit of a budget and was hoping to get all my plants done for around $20 if possible and then slowly add more later. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I haven't decided on any particular animal and would be content if this just ended up being a terrarium for now until I really know what I want to do.
I also have a 55? gal hex shaped tank that I would love to convert if all goes well with this first one.
I have taken some pics and will post them soon.