12X12X19 - What to get?

[sedor]

This is my first post and i've decided to take the dive into terrariums. I've been keeping saltwater fish and coral for a while and just recently i've been craving a little piece of the rainforest along side my chunk of the ocean I purchased a small 12X12X19 Exo-Terra cage and now I would like some advice on what to do with it.

To start I would love to incorporate some sort of water feature, my goal is to have a waterfall as the centerpiece as i've noticed a lot of people do. The original plan was a pair of dart frogs, but if I could find some sort of lizard or chameleon, or something similar that I could actually handle I would prefer that. Red eyed croc skinks really appealed to me, but I don't like the fact that they are so shy, and again its not suggested that they be handled. Any suggestions?

I am looking for any and all types of feedback here, please be nice as I am new I am going to be planting live plants as well so some suggestions on where to get those and some good starter plants would be helpful as well.

[beckdg]

crested gecko...

anyway, some help maybe... good places to buy... please add to it! how it's done... favorite links thread

i suggest you build around an animal that way you can prepare it right.

welcome to the site.

[sedor]

Definately like the look of the crested gecko, thanks beckdg! Back to the drawing board Any suggestions on plants for a smaller vive?

[beckdg]

dig into the sites under the plants section of the link i gave you. "good places to buy" you should find a fare share. a couple of the sites even suggest those that are safe or small enough for a viv.

anywho... pothos, diefenbachia, moss, bromliads, ferns, anubias, cryptocoryne... someone else can recommend specifics.

[sedor]

So i've come up with some other questions. I think I am going to go with the crested gecko...thanks again beckdg! I've been watching youtube videos and they seem like a fun species as well as a good beginner reptile. I'll just list my questions below and hopefully someone can answer:

1) Can I keep the CG in a high humidy vive with a full on waterfall and probably 35% of the tank being a pond? What humidity level is best?

2) As far as substrate goes, the tank I purchased came with a couple bricks of coco fiber. For live plants will I need multiple layers of different substrates? Which ones? I plan on using a FB.

3) I have a simple 26W CF bulb, will this be enough to grow the plants as well as provide enough heat?

4) Where can you normally buy a CG, local or online? Average price?

[sedor]

Also, can I just take the background that came with my exo-terra cage and put silicone all over it and stick coco fiber to it? With this background hold up with a water feature?

[beckdg]

1) yes and no... if i remember correctly crested need decent humidity but not astronomical. that being said imo a waterfall can be added to an awful lot of setups if proper care is taken to prepare for it.

2) substrate can be a very opinionated question. there are a lot of options and many will do. layers are only typically necessary to obtain an end result. for instance to make a rolling hill a drainage layer can be sloped or for better drainage in a wet environment.

3) if i remember correctly cresteds don't need an abundance of heat sooo your cfl may do the trick but the more light the better in many cases.

4) cresteds are common pets nowadays. you should have no problems finding one. i will say it's best to get any animals you can from a breeder for health and overall specimen quality purposes. for that reason online may be your best bet.

5) you can put silicone and coco on just about anything except acrylic, lexan and plexiglass. anything natural will break down over time and decompose. that being said it should hold up some time under a drip wall. i don't think i'd give it much more current to contend with myself.

you can find pretty good answers to some, if not all of these questions in the links i gave you and/or the stickies on this site. we will be glad to help you but you need to understand the fundamentals before you go forward with anything. lighting and substrate alone will be more of a debate (without material such as pics and vids to back up different points of view) than it's worth prior to having a good understanding. without having pics of a build going on you'll get a lot of circumstantial advice that may not apply to your overall plans. without knowing what to look for or how to go about it a build may be premature at this point. i understand you're excited and have a lot of questions but please go through what we have... pick it apart to no end... and get a decent understanding so you will have much better results with answers to your questions and in your overall outcome. if you take the time to look over everything twice i truly believe you'll appreciate the end result a lot more... cause they'll be that much better.

[sedor]

Just an update, I have decided on the crested gecko and will (at least this is the decision right now, its going to be another few weeks before the vive is complete) be purchasing from a website called Pangea Reptile. Anyone have any experience with this breeder? I will also start a build as i've begun the construction of the vive, working with egg crate is time consuming

[beckdg]

i have no idea about that site, maybe another member does.

anyway, check this out... Is this a good website