Designers Block, need help/ideas

MA70Snowman · #1 06-10-2010, 01:34 AM

Hello all, I finally got my account fixed, so I can happily start posting, however during my problems I've had TONS of time to do nothing but read almost every inch of this forum. There are soooo many excellent ideas, it leads me to my big plight.. I don't know what to do. Yes thats a very broad statement so here's the story. I recently got into terrarium/viv/palu designs, I did my first one MANY MANY years ago, and the bug never quiet left me. I got my feet wet by doing a simple 20L viv, w/ a simple river comming out of a rock out cropping into a pool at one end. This was a test build for a monster that i've been sitting on. It is approx (I haven't taken the tape measure to it.) 4' Lx2.5'Wx3'H its been sitting in my Garage while I've been comming up w/ how I want to do it.
Attached is a VERY.. VERY simple idea of the basics that I want. Essentially a "Pond that takes up a 1/3 of the length at the right hand side, w/ a small "channel/River" running along the front, a "grand" waterfall in the rear corner dropping a couple of steps into a slight pool that leads to a river running through the land that'll go into a min-waterfall that leads to the "channel"
This will of course be a "tropical" palu w/ the primary inhabitants being D. Leucs, w/ some type of small fish, shrimps in the water, w/ maybe a gecko and or tree frogs. I'm not here to discuss inhabitants, however any input regarding that is appreciated via PMs, as I frequent other forums regarding Fauna. I saw one thread where the OP had used blocks of "green styrofoam" and had crafted a large waterfall, however I can't find that post again to save my life. I have a creaters block and can't figure out how to put everything together. I've essentially taken in so much information I can't actively apply it. ANYTHING would help, heck even a "great idea" or "bad idea" would be welcome at this point. Constructions tips, or ideas of how to implement the ideas in my design would be greatly appreciated, plus ideas for the "brown" area in the "Front" view would be welcome as I can't figure out what to do w/ that part either. Thanks in advance this is one of my favorite forums, the General populace is very friendly.

aquariumreef · #2 06-10-2010, 02:24 AM

Those all seem like horrible ideas! J/k!

Seems like a great plan. You should carve most of that with g/s.

Aquariumreef

Epiphile · #3 06-10-2010, 06:44 AM

It sounds like you're onto something, and you've been able to describe it clearly, so you're likely off to a good start. I think it's all feasible- I can only recommend a lot of testing of the water feature to make sure it runs consistently the way you want it. You certainly don't want to have to tear the thing down because your waterfall's acting up or whatever.

As far as that back wall, I could recommend making sure it sees some moisture and planting the hell out of it, but that's just my personal preference.

Oh, and here's the thread you'd referred to (I think)- all 16 pages of it.
my method of building fake / faux rocks

MA70Snowman · #4 06-10-2010, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Epiphile

Oh, and here's the thread you'd referred to (I think)- all 16 pages of it.
my method of building fake / faux rocks

Finally my search is over for that thread! So many titles w/ faux/fake rocks I'd see one and swore I'd already re-rechecked it. I'll keep in mind about the water feature. I guess I'll to have it constructed and allow it to run bare (no substrate/plants/animals) for a little while to see if any of the system is indeed leaking.

I plan on putting an ultrasonic fogger in a hidden pool at the top of the waterfall that will be fed by the pump and then the overflow will create the waterfall. Do you think the moisture from the fogger alone, would provide sufficient moisture for plant watering that the back wall as you mentioned? or do you feel that a separate misting system is in order? I'm really trying to shy away from a misting system as that will be alot of extra plumbing and potential complications i'd rather not have. Plus if I use outside water I'm essentially adding water into an enclosed system, that I feel could be potentially allowing for water overflow( in pond/waterfall), or risk overtime flooding the falsebottom. agree?

and yes for the most part I plan to use GS I ordered a case of the POND STUFF and got a heck of a deal on it.

Epiphile · #5 06-10-2010, 10:06 AM

That's definitely a good point regarding adding extra water into the system.

I bet if you picked your plants right you could get by with a fogger. The trouble is that they're not terribly reliable, especially when they're installed inside the vivarium. Another thing is that it's pretty tough to control which way the fog is going to go, especially with any kind of air movement in the tank. Play around with one beforehand and you'll see how finicky they are. There's also some chance of a risk to your animals, from what I've read, but I haven't had any experience there.

froggsong · #6 06-10-2010, 11:05 AM

I highly recommend that for a fogger, you buy an ultrasonic humidifier for people and plumb it to run into the tank. You can easily set it in your stand to keep it out of view.

That's all I've got atm... I slept late today and my brain isn't working yet, lol.

beckdg · #7 06-10-2010, 08:04 PM

misting systems are easy to set up believe it or not. i don't know about other brands but mist king systems seem like there's pretty good chances of having it leak proof once your finished. if you order the timer with it too you probably won't have to worry about over watering as it's a seconds timer. the premium nozzles and the zip drip modules really help in the event you have nowhere to put your reservoir but above your pump since it really does a great job keeping the system from constantly dripping.

don't count a misting system out if you're planning on a planted b/g. it'd be nice to be able to aim your watering where you need it and it is really cool to see your tank rain as opposed to constantly spritzing it.

if you're trying to stay on a budget, i understand though.

MA70Snowman · #8 06-11-2010, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by froggsong

I highly recommend that for a fogger, you buy an ultrasonic humidifier for people and plumb it to run into the tank. You can easily set it in your stand to keep it out of view.

That's all I've got atm... I slept late today and my brain isn't working yet, lol.

The concept for my fogger is that there will be a "Bowl" at the very top of the waterfall that will be filled by the pump, at the bottom of this bowl will be the ultrasonic fogger. I'm going to use a fiberglass mesh at the mouth of the waterfall, water out frogs can't get in. this way I won't have to worry about constantly refilling the water for the fogger.. Plus I got a fogger from a friend for free its the exoterra fogger and from some of the tests I've done i'm pretty pleased w/ it. Plus I'm thinking that the flow of water will create a slight movement of air along the top of the water "carrying" the fog w/ it

Quote:

Originally Posted by beckdg

misting systems are easy to set up believe it or not. i don't know about other brands but mist king systems seem like there's pretty good chances of having it leak proof once your finished. if you order the timer with it too you probably won't have to worry about over watering as it's a seconds timer. the premium nozzles and the zip drip modules really help in the event you have nowhere to put your reservoir but above your pump since it really does a great job keeping the system from constantly dripping.

don't count a misting system out if you're planning on a planted b/g. it'd be nice to be able to aim your watering where you need it and it is really cool to see your tank rain as opposed to constantly spritzing it.

if you're trying to stay on a budget, i understand though.

There's no "budget" per se.. cheaper is better as long as it doesn't come at a cost to the animals or the viv, it just means its going to take longer setting it up. I like the point you made about being able to aim the nozzles. I think I could easily get away w/ three of them. front left aimed at the middle of the tank and the middle and right one aimed towards the back wall. Figure maybe run the fogger early morning when the lights first come on for a min, then have a afternoon "shower" w/ a light fog rolling in in the evening.

Here's another question, I've seen alot of this Egg-crate. However for some reason I just don't like the idea. My current thought is to section the "water areas" (pond/channel) off by using siliconed plexi-glass dividers. and for the land section i was thinking of going w/ the clay balls (forget the name) and an ABG soil on top of that. In the back corner I will have a 4" PVC pipe behind the waterfall that will go to the bottom that will allow me access w/ a shop vac to suck out any excess water if needed. Can anyone suggest a better alternative or does this sound like a good idea?

beckdg · #9 06-11-2010, 12:16 PM

clay balls work fine. the names are usually brand names. however we do use leca as a generic term. as long as you don't have too much fun playing with them we don't really care what you call them.

i would go with a 3" pipe. it should give plenty of room for access with a shop vac as well as minimize the amount of space used for its purpose.

plexiglass and silicone is definitely a short term solution. they don't play well together over the long run. i would suggest either going with an acrylic tank and using an acrylic/plexi adhesive composed of methylene chloride or sticking with only glass for your divider. one thing i would suggest if you choose to go with glass is to knurl the edges. in the event that the glass gets exposed somehow it will be much safer as it will eliminate the possibility of your pets cutting themselves wide open on sharp edges.

MA70Snowman · #10 06-11-2010, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beckdg

plexiglass and silicone is definitely a short term solution. they don't play well together over the long run. .

mind clarifying that? I'd much prefer plexi or lexan as I can heat it and bend it to the curves i want. This is the first time i've heard of plexi/silicon having problems.