My Big Project

[Polishswimmer]

Ok so I got my 48x12x21 (50 gallons) aquarium from my cousin. My dad told me he didn't want it anymore so I called him within seconds telling him I would take it. He has three turtles in it, so I have to go find them a new home, going to an exotic pet store soon to ask the owner if he wants them. But anyway I am constantly doing research, and reading threads and stickies watching how others do them. I fell in love with Martys 90 gallon tank that he made. I think it is just beautiful. So I decided to make a quick list of things I will need, and ask questions about things that hit me along the way, such as product reviews and what not.

I know I will need the following items:
• Egg Crate
• PVC Piping
• Great Stuff: Pond and Stone
• Silicon
• Peat Moss
• Fogger
• Mister
• Tubing
• Baskets
• Malaysian Driftwood
• Grape Vine
• Gravel
• Moss
• Plants

I am planning to make it land and water, 3/4 land, 1/4 water, and I am also planning to make a waterfall. I have been looking for pumps for waterfalls, and I was wondering if this pump is fine. Also, will a water filter be necessary? Will I have to get 2 seperate pumps or a 2 in 1 thing for both?
Another thing is does anyone know good ways to hide pumps, any tips and tricks. I was thinking of getting cork bark thats a dome shape and hiding it behind that or I will just cut egg crate out the right shape so that I can fit the pump in there.
Also, I want to get a fogger. I want to create holes in the background and have multiple areas where fog comes out of the background. I think it looks so cool. Anyone know any good foggers that will allow me to make this possible?
For land-water vivs is any type of drain necessary? How do people mist there vivs like daily without getting the soil just saturated in water?
Last thing I can think of at the top of my head right now is when is a fan necessary?
Thanks so much

[Grimm]

Im assuming since you have egg crate on your list you are planning a false bottom???.... If so it should be easy to hide both a pump and a filter underneath it. Or you could hide a pump under a group of rocks, in a small cave, or behind a bunch of submerged plants.

As for the fogger....A humidifier such as the one Demon is using will be better then a ultrasonic mister, as you can attach tubing and run/branch it where ever you want.

For a drain some people just syphon out water when they notice the level raising to high. Others drill a hole in the side of the tank at the correct level and use a valve to drain it into a bucket...And others will even attach this drain to their home plumbing lines...It all depends how complex and self maintaining you want your tank to be.

[Polishswimmer]

I am planning to use egg crate for my background the 2 sides and the back are my background. My dad made a wall in our basement where the the tanks are visible in the front and you gain access to them by going around. So it is nice in the front and all the cables and food and stuff is in the back. I have a picture and a vid in one of my previous threads of my tanks in the wall. So it will look cool with a full background. I am also planning to use egg crate with the PVC as my false bottom.
For the drain if i siphon wouldn't I also be removing water from the water feature portion of my tank?
Also, if I have a false bottom with egg crate, and the pvc piping holding it up, and the fiber net covering the egg crate, is it necessary to have hydrotons underneath it all?

*Edit* Added picture of my current dart frog tank and fish tank in wall. The one I am working on will go on top where the butterflies and moth is. I also noticed how ugly my dart tank was back then, looks so much greener and more planted now (props to www.Vivariumforum.com )

[DazzleDiscus]

Not sure what is the best way to keep the soil from becoming oversaturated, but the tank I am building now has a false bottom with a planting area. I have siliconed window screening (double layed) to the egg crate so that the soil can drain with out the substrate getting washed away into the false bottom. I have blocked off the planting area with greatstuff foam and sillicone to make sure that very little if any soil can get through the cracks.

People sometimes use a lecca + layer of moss + then the soil technique to keep their substrate out of the water. Although I havn't tried this technique before, it seems like a mess waiting to happen.



My mental observation- I think that it would look better if you install the fog tubing near the top of the viv background, maybe in a small, concealed pit or cave. . That way the fog will drift down, looking like the fog came from further up the "cliff/mountain" instead of mysteriously emerging from a hole in the middle of the background.
It would also look good coming from the source of the waterfall.

Wish you well with the setup! It sounds like it will be really cool! ^^

[Polishswimmer]

Using the power of Word and Screenshots this is somewhat I am planning for my tank to look like. I am going to find a nice domed out natural piece of wood that the waterfall can go on. There is going to be all sorts of plants and woods and vines but I am just showing the basics in the tank setup.

[Polishswimmer]

Yea I was going to make them come out of caves and stuff, and yea I was thinking about just siliconing the portion of egg crate that will come in contact with the water and have complete seperate areas. So I can just siphon water out of the land portion w/o affecting the water portion.

[Polishswimmer]

I was looking around for ideas and stuff and I found Epiweb branches.... If only I can get my hands on some I think my new project would look golden. Anyway to get hold of some? or anything similar that I can use that works equally the same? By the looks of it Epiweb is impossible to get online... except one website

[froggsong]

Wow, those branches are pretty neat. I bet I could make something similar to that with some of the thin open cell foam sheets I have. I'd be willing to make them and sell you some, hehehe... Seriously though, I bet I could make that easily, and moss will grow better on foam if that's what you're looking to do.

One benefit to having a FB is that you will have a larger volume of water, which will give you better water quality and stability. Yes, siphoning water out will lower the water level in your pond, but you'd generally be doing that when it's time to clean the pond anyway, just like with a fish tank. If you keep misting and misting and never removing water, your pond is going to turn your land into a swamp, and then a lake!

Your design looks pretty good. One suggestion I have is that instead of having a straight line where your land meets the water, you should make it more dynamic. Add some curves, make it more natural. You're not likely to see a square edge between the land and a pond in nature.

I agree with Dazzle about the fog, you should have one spot coming out of the waterfall. It will cascade down the water, which looks totally cool. Also, put the outputs higher than in your design. the higher they are, the more natural it will look, and the more life you can have growing on your BG.

If you're interested, I'll be listing some tree ferns in the Classifieds here shortly. I'll be selling plain unproven roots, and proven roots (the proven roots have ferns growing out of them already) each root section will be between 2 and 4 inches long. They are easy to grow, you just staple it to the BG and cover with moss. The roots will put out ferns that will grow through the moss. They stay relatively small and look really great. They would be nice for your current dart setup as well. They can take a decent amount of heat as long as they are kept hydrated, so they are good to use in just about any setup. Let me know if you want some. I can also sell them pre-sterilized if you'd like. I'll be harvesting them from local tree (I'll be sure to leave plenty to fill in the spots I empty). I haven't decided on a price yet, I've got to do a bit of research and see how much similar ferns are going for elsewhere online.

I'll also be listing various types of mosses. I'll have pictures or each type available, and they can be sold sterilized or bio-active. With lots of outlets for fog, moss should transplant well into your vive. Let me know if yo'd like some and I can send you pictures if I haven't gotten the ad posted yet.

[Polishswimmer]

The design I posted is just so people get the jist of what I am doing, it's just a quick sketch if I may call it that

For the branches what kind of foam are you going to use?

Also for a FB in a Paludarium I am confused on how to make it with the drain. I posted pictures I don't know if any of these are the proper method of doing it.

Also thanks for the plant offers, I will look into it once I start designing my tank. I don't know what plants I am going to have yet. I want to see what kind of shape Driftwood I am going to have and how my background is going to be structured before I start planting.

[Polishswimmer]

The drain thing I got from Demoniks sticky