Next I bought a fan for air circulation. It was a bit difficult to find what I needed because I don't know wiring too well. People said to get a 120v computer fan, of which this was the only one i could find. Its from radio shack. I then just bought a normal power cord and cut off the end and attached it to the fan. This fan is a little loud which I did read in the reviews, but I'm fine with it for now.
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And heres the tube I made from corrugated plastic
I put cut off pieces of a wire hanger through the corners for the fan to sit on
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I mounted the tube to the back with silicone, siliconed in the side glass, and then put down a base layer of Great Stuff.
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Planned the layout of the wood
And then foamed in all of the wood, rocks, and planters.
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The next day I came out to see that people weren't joking when they said that Great Stuff expands more than you expect. So after carving it back some, I started the headache that was siliconing eco-earth to the foam. I completely underestimated how much silicone I would need for this. It took 6 tubes. I should also say that the enclosed area of this terrarium is 40x17x13. So thats 40 inches of foam to cover.
After a few hours, I had covered pretty much everything i could see, but once I started to look closer I noticed a lot of crack anc crevaces that I couldnt get to with my fingers, so I just covered them up with moss. Some of the moss is sheet moss from Josh's Frogs, and some is Exo-Terra Forest Moss.
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As you can see, I also siliconed in a piece of glass to keep in substrate as well as any critters that are on the ground.
So then I distressed the paint a little to fit in with my taste.
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I bought this light from Petsmart.
Theres 2 60watt equivalent cfl's in there, but I think I'm gonna want a little more light.
I also bought this humidifier from Walmart after searching all over for a humidifier that vents from one specific spot rather than a general area.
I chose to do the fogging system this way because I read too many bad reviews on the Repti-Fogger, and also because this can run for 18 hours before being refilled. I was having a problem with it shutting off after a few minutes, but I think that was caused by the fact the my tubing was too long, so on its way to the humidifier it had to make a turn back up, allowing water to build in the line. I think that the humidifier was sensing a block and shutting itself off.
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Last night I moved it up to my room (getting it up the steps by myself was fun).
I also found some sweet moss in the woods. I hope it lasts in here
I have some more ABG substrate coming tomorrow as well as a culture of springtails.
So the next step is to plant it. I also want to find some isopods for it.
I'm not sure whats going to be going in it. I wanted to get it all set up and running to see what kind of temperature and humidity it could maintain. right now its at 73 degrees (my ac's on) and about 80% humidity.
Im leaning towards Red Eyed Tree Frogs or Crested Geckos, but I would love your oppinions on what species of frog or reptile, as well as how many. As I mentioned, it 40x17x13, minus obviously some room from the background. Theres a reptile show that I'm going to on the 20th, so hopefully will be getting something there.
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My first build - custom cabinet build
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