Crested Gecko Viv. Construction (pic heavy)

[drm1217]

This thread is me building a viv for my future Crested Geckos. I started construction on the tank around July, but I had started to plan it out in June. Before I tell anything I would like to thank Froggsong for answering my many many questions. My vivarium uses Mhbirds ideas and allot of his background architecture. So I made modifications on his plans because he probably has one of the smartest ideas fr a waterfall that doesn't require drilling.
Anyway the materials I used were:
-Driftwood
-18*18*24 exo terra tank
-Peat Moss
-Great Stuff (Regular and Lank/Pond Black)
-Pump
-Tubing
-Silicon
-Cork bark
-Exacto knife
-Egg Crate
-PVC pipes
-Slate Chipping
All of this was quite expensive in the end (probably around 150 dollars) and I still have not bought anything
to put in it!

[drm1217]

This picture (above)is of the pvc pipes I used to hold up my egg crate and false bottom. They are glued with silicone to the glass floor.
I then cut and measured to egg crate to fit the tank. In this case it was just a square. The 1st pic. is of the egg crate sitting on the pvc pipes. I also laid down netting so soil would not fall through when I laid it down.
The 2nd and 3rd one below is of the cork bark curls I used. For anyone thinking of buying cork bark, I suggest to buy it from a taxonomy website. I bought to medium sized cork barks from Van Dykes and was surprised to find a large package, in it being to large, beautiful cork bark sizes. It was only for about 18 dollars, but zoomed asked 18 dollars for a little ugly piece. But, anyhow, I cut the piece of cork bark I liked in half ,because they are circle of bark.
Now comes the fun part, the pumping system. In this vivarium I put in a waterfall. The waterfall is fed by a pump that is underneath the egg crate it is in a false bottom. In the false bottom is a water table, which the pump pumps into the waterfall. The tubing from the pump to the waterfall is concealed by the cork bark.
The 4th picture is a pic of the nozzle coming out of the cork bark and the 5th is showing how the tubing will work. I also cut a rectangle in the egg crate that will be large enough to put the pump in, as seen in pic 1.

[drm1217]

These are just pics of my pump system. The last has a red blothch in the Great Stuff. This is the plastic planter that covers the hose so great stuff can be applied over it.

[Tiamat]

I am getting this live!

Very nice so far.

[drm1217]

The pump system and the Great Stuff background go hand in hand. The cork bark has to be sealed in by Great stuff and the plastic planter is also covered in Great Stuff also. I sprayed in the Great stuff, and when it tried I carved in the slate chippings. All I did was make a small slit with a knife and slid in the slate chippings. In the 2nd picture you can see the chipping placed in. In the 1st picture there is a cup placed in. The foam was dried around it so, naturally, a cup like indent is formed. This will allow to put a plant up there. Eventually I took the cup out. Also in the pictures there is black stuff on the white foam. the black stuff is Black great stuff. But sadly the nozzle broke on it so I could not get that much out of it. I suggest using black incase you miss a spot when packing on peat moss.
After this I applied silicon to the dried foam. When I applied it I immediately packed on peat moss to the silicon. Allot of people also use coco fiber, but I like Peat moss better for its look. I used brown silicon, so if I missed a spot I would not be the end of the world. The 3rd picture shows the end result. There are some spots, but I plant to fill them with java moss.
Also on the 3rd pic you can see driftwood coming out of the cork bark. I glued it, using silicon and hot glue, to the driftwood. This eventually falls down, so I later hold it up with another piece of driftwood.
Also the waterfall does not feed into a stream or pond, I have it sinking through the soil in a pond less waterfall.
Now comes the fun part, plants and landscape! This is where I need ur opinion. In the 4th picture was my old plant layout. Eventually the fern in the corner dies of stress (actually I am currently nursing back it health, because it is barely clinging to life, but plants can make a miraculous recovery). And the money tree in the corner is almost died from the replant but is doing allot better now. All of these plant were transferred from my 1st viv, this is my 2nd. In a bit I will post my current vivarium pictures. These one are from almost 2 months ago. I actually have the pics but the dimensions are to big to post.

[drm1217]

Thank you Tiamat for being my first commenter. I was the first, also, on your ant thread.

[sinflspeed]

Very nice build. I might suggest sealing the top of the cork, or using the GS to extend it upward. The food and herp will find everyway they can to escape and that will will be the fist place they go. I am no plant expert, and have run into the same issues with my Exo's. I try to use a light variation to get as much light to the bottom of the tank. Might removing and repacking the roots. I find it difficult to get enough soil in the bases of planters and air pockets can cause problems when replanting.

[froggsong]

Very nice! I am glad I have been able to help you in the past with your questions. What is that plant is the bottom right of the last picture? I had one of those, I think, but it was not labeled. Are the bottoms of the leaves purple? It didn't do very well in my tank. I agree that you should seal off the top of the cork bark. If you don't want to put GS over it, you could devise a way to cover the top with another piece of slate in a way that you can take it off if you need to access that area, but the animals cannot get under it.

[drm1217]

Oh I see what your saying and I see your point. Maybe I can make a lid, because my crested gecko could get curious. I need access so I screen lid would be cheap and easy to build. In the bottom right corner I have a bromeliad, it was from Lowes and was unlabeled. There is also another green plant that was bought from Black Jungle. I think it is some plant with the word Mexican in it, but it has no purple under its leave, though the bromeliad has some purple in it.

[froggsong]

Maybe it just looks like my plant from the top. Mine was a gorgeous bright purple underneath the leaves with green on top shot through with lavender stripes. It had the look of a brom, but wasn't, to my knowledge. The stripes on yours look the same as my plant did, but mine didn't have the same exact shape to the leaves. Yours is rounded on the ends, mine was pointed.