GRIMM's Vivarium Build #2

[Grimm]

Well it seems the nice weather has gotten everyone motivated to work on their vivs...I am no exception

Finally a little progress! It isnt as crazy and elaborate of some of the current builds but I like it. I used Titebond III wood glue, with peat moss and co-co fiber. It is very hard and I'm not sure how confortable a frogs will be standing on it. My hands are scratched to S***. I'll definately be looking for vines that will make a carpet over it.

Ill be doing a test run tomorrow to loosen all extra particles, and hopefully leaching some of the tannins from the background. After, I'll be adding more glue, and sticking moss spores to the surface on the areas that will be constantly moist.







I have a full unopened bag of dark brown Flourite to use as a water substrate, but I'm leaning towards white sand again. I just love how clean it looks. We'll see what happens.

[claymore]

Its looking great Grimm!

Is that Vine a 100% man made or did you add a piece of wood to it?

Not only does White sand look cleaner/better it also reflects light better.

[Grimm]

The vine originally was an "extra" that came with my 1st tank. It wasnt the most appealing shape, so I bent it a bunch. It is made of a wire, covered in a thick foamy material. Apparently the covering material does not like to be bent so it ripped at the seams. I used my Titebond mixture on parts of it to hide my destruction haha. I think I managed to make it look somewhat natural. I may cut a small hole in the top of the blob on the right side of the vine. Then I'll use the hole to plant some pepperomia or some ficus pumula and wrap it around the vine.

[claymore]

I couldn't tell if it was real good Job!!!

[Grimm]

I did a test run last night and everything seems to be doing fine. I had a small leak when I first bought the tank and it is fixed fixed now that I added silicone. It was only a pinhole to be filled so I'm positive this will be permanently fixed.

I noticed one "problem" that will need to be fixed however. When I did my 2nd BG layer to coat the bare spots, I must have mixed too much glue compared to the amount to substrate used in the 1st batch. Now when those areas get wet they are shinier and lighter in colour. Due to my perfectionism I will need to redo those spots or they will drive me crazy (even though I'll be selling this tank once finished)

I'll keep you guys posted on any progress I make. I'll be looking around town for some peperomia and ficus pumula, aswell as some smaller "filler" plants, then I will be placing a fairly large online order of Broms, Neos, Mosses, and leaf litter for both my tanks. I'm excited

Ive been looking around the good places to buy thread, aswell as googling for plant distributors, however it seems the only place to buy broms/noes is Hawaiian Botanicals (I need to ship to Canada). I would love to order from NE Herp. However I'm not sure if they ship to Canada with minimal effort. I doubt it but I sent them an email so we'll see.

[D3monic]

Looking pretty freaking sweet!

[Epiphile]

Originally Posted by Grimm

Ive been looking around the good places to buy thread, aswell as googling for plant distributors, however it seems the only place to buy broms/noes is Hawaiian Botanicals (I need to ship to Canada). I would love to order from NE Herp. However I'm not sure if they ship to Canada with minimal effort. I doubt it but I sent them an email so we'll see.

NE Herpetoculture won't ship to Canada.

Try putting a want ad up at Canadart to see if you can get someone to ship you pups.

I'm also sending you a PM...

[Grimm]

Originally Posted by D3monic

Looking pretty freaking sweet!

Thanks buddy, hopefully once stocked with plants I can get it looking almost as good as your viv!

[Grimm]

Originally Posted by Epiphile

NE Herpetoculture won't ship to Canada.

Try putting a want ad up at Canadart to see if you can get someone to ship you pups.

I'm also sending you a PM...

K thanks I'll check it out rite away. Bummer that they wont ship to us igloo folk. Their selection looks to be the best I can find anywhere.

[froggsong]

I recommend lightly sanding the background if it's very rough (mine was too, because I added too much sand). It really helps.