Build Log

[ApxWingman]

So I am officially hooked on this hobby. Wife will probably kill me eventually if I keep getting more tanks! lol. I recently finished building my FBT enclosure and love the way it looks. I was able to get a 40 gallon cube tank from a guy from work (free! yay!). I want to start building another one. I have to clean it out, guy had saltwater fish in it. It also has a hole in the tank near the top for a sump, may end up putting a fan there to help with air circulation. Any suggestions or ideas on what I could put in it?

Some of the ideas I was thinking was using eggcrate and pvc tubing and have the land area at the back half of the tank and leave the water for the front. May not be exactly half depending on what I put in it. I would, however, like to put some kind of fish (freshwater) in the water area. This being said, I would like to have a herb that will be able to live with the fish, hopefully without eating them. Any ideas on what I could do?

I am fairly new to the hobby, but I have, and always will, do my research before I put any animal into it. The last thing I want is to get an animal and not be able to take care of it properly. I first went with FBTs because they are easy to take care of. I would like something that may be just as easy or close to as easy to take care of.

I plan on making a waterfall, and perhaps a stream that leads into the water area. For the background I will be using GS foam. I also have small plant pots that I will also be putting into the tank, and some water plants as well. For the background and on the sides, I plan on making areas for climbing and hanging out for the herbs. This is really all the ideas I have so far, and may even change throughout the build.

This build will take a bit for me to finish, as I want to make it look as natural as possible, without anything showing (eg. cords). I will post pictures as soon as I can and will provide pics throughout the build. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If I am doing something wrong, please tell me!

Thanks in advance

[DonLisk]

Nice deal on the new tank :-)

There is a thread here somewhere on or with a link to installing a computer fan using some PVC couplings to place the fan into but for the life of me I can't find it. If I find it I'll post the links for you.

You will have plenty of fun building the new viv and can't wait to see your progress.

[John]

Good luck with dealing with you wife. I feel your pain.

[ApxWingman]

Nice deal on the new tank :-)

There is a thread here somewhere on or with a link to installing a computer fan using some PVC couplings to place the fan into but for the life of me I can't find it. If I find it I'll post the links for you.

You will have plenty of fun building the new viv and can't wait to see your progress.

Thanks for that. I was able to find out how to do that on another forum (Vivarium Forums). The guy that gave me the tank is also going to give me a bunch of stuff as well to use in the tank. Not sure yet what I am getting, he is just letting me come over and go through all his extra stuff and let me take what I want. He is in the aquarium hobby, so I am not sure he will have too much for me, but will take what I can get. I already have a pump for the water fall. I am going to be getting eggcrate and pvc tubing in the next week or so and start getting it ready.

[ApxWingman]

So it has been a couple weeks, and I finally got around to getting eggcrate and cleaning out the tank. Here are some pictures. Let me know what you think. The tall section on the left is going to be for a waterfall feature. I have a pump, just need to get the hose, and it will be falling into the pond section. I am going to use GS foam to form the waterfall. Since it will be under constant water, what would be recommended to use to cover the GS foam? I will be using the black GS foam for this as well.

The area to the right will be the land area with a ramp into the water. I am also planning on making a background with gs foam, covered in cocofiber and plants. You will also notice I have a ramp going up the tank. Any opinions on it? I was just thinking some kind of higher ledge for them to climb up onto. I was also thinking I could use it and make some sort of stream of a downward slope. If I have it as a ramp, the waterfall hose would stick right out just beneath the ramp. Not 100% yet, still toying with some ideas. Any thoughts would be great.

Next, I will be getting black GS foam from Home Depot, and start getting the pots, and background finished. Any thoughts, opinions, or critiques would be appreciated.

The New Tank:





Waterfall:




Land Added:



Ramp:

[ApxWingman]

I also have a small square piece of eggcrate left as well. What my fiancee was thinking was move the long slope piece more towards the middle of the tank so it is away from the waterfall, and use the small square piece for something else, like a ledge attached to the waterfall. I was also thinking about making the slope just as land instead of a stream. Then I would take the small square piece and have the hose for the waterfall come out and poor water into a pool (made from the small square piece) and then have it overflow into a waterfall. This would create another area for them to soak in. (Does this make sense? lol). Any thoughts?

I will be going out this coming week to get the foam and start creating the waterfall and the rest of the tank. I will also need to pick up some tubing for my pump and make sure that it works and see how quickly it is pushing the water.

[ApxWingman]

What kinds of plants would be good for FBT? I am going to be putting in live plants, where as in my current setup I only have 1 bamboo growing in the water section. I want something that will be pleasing to the eye and provide a lot of colour to the whole setup. I want plants in the water and in soil. I will be using small pots that I will gs to the background

[ApxWingman]

so I finally went out today and got some GS foam and started to create the background. I have put in 2 pots, and will put another one in attached to the waterfall. Not sure yet what I will be putting in, but something will go there sooner or later. Here are some pics.

[ApxWingman]

I took the other can of gs to the waterfall section, and added more pots for plants. Where the hose is coming out from is the mouth of my waterfall. Put the hose in place to avoid having to crave out the hole later. The section on the side of the water fall I left open to allow water into the pump area. I plan on covering that up with a water filter and rocks, which will ultimately create a second waterfall. After all this is cured, I will start carving, and gs the sides of the tank, adding more pots. I plan on having a lot of live plants in here to help with the air quality and the humidity. Anyone have any ideas on what plants I can get, and where?

[ApxWingman]

any thoughts? comments? questions? critiques anyone? Whats the best place to get plants here in Ontario?

[nagol]

Understory Enterprises would likely be your best bet. I believe they are in Chatham but, apparently, come to GTA often. They also ship plants and frogs.
I've never personally worked with them, but have heard good things about them.
Home | Understory Enterprises
Also, I've always just bought Pothos from regular plant stores. Cleaned them well before using in a tank, but they are strong, grow well and are almost impossible to kill.

-ry

[Heatheranne]

Your viv is coming along nicely .

[ApxWingman]

Thanks for the link to the website. I am not sure yet what I will be getting at the moment, and I am still a bit away from getting anything. I know I want to get java moss for the water portion. I do like the looks of bromelaids and ferns. Any suggestions?

[ApxWingman]

So I got some time today and made it out to home depot and got myself another can of GS. What I have done is made a ramp from the land area up to the side of the waterfall to give another area to climb. This is also creating a bit of a dark area in the back that could be used as a hide once everything is in. The plants will grow out enough to make it a nice hiding area.

I have carved out an area in the waterfall near the hose. I have carved this into a bowl shaped area, where the water from the hose will pour into, creating a small pool like area. The bowl will then overflow into the pond area, creating a nice waterfall effect. I added more GS at the bottom of the waterfall. I will be carving this into an landing area, or shallow water, where the animals will be able to sit in the water to soak. If the waterfall works as I am planning/hoping, then the soaking area will be behind the waterfall. After I am done carving, I plan to silicone stones to the gs to the walls of the waterfall, to give it a stone look. Here are some pics.

[ApxWingman]

wow I didn't realize it has been this long since I was able to work on the tank. Have had a lot of things going on in the last couple months. We have re-arrange our living room and made room for a stand where the tank will sit. I have also started working on the background. By that I mean, I got silicone and started to add the cocofiber to the background, and the rocks to the waterfall. Right now I am about half way done all of this and have gone through 3 tubes of silicone and will need more. I will post pics as soon as I get them, and will try and update this more often. I am aiming to have this up and running within the month. Depending on money and if I have to order the plants and have them shipped or if I can go into a store and pick them up there...keep you guys posted...I welcome any suggestions/ideas

[ApxWingman]

So I got a lot more done in the last week. I finished putting silicone on the background and used a cocofiber mix for the background. Put the gravel in and shaped the ground in the water. I tested the new pump I got for the water fall and put in the filter from the current tank. When I was building my waterfall, I used aquarium rock and used silicone to put in onto the waterfall wall. This was probably not the best way to do this, thankfully I used black silicone, as some of the rocks would not stay put when lightly touched. This is not too big of a deal for me because I am looking for a plant that will grow down the waterfall from the pot above the spout. As you will notice in the pictures there are no plants. I am currently looking for what kind of plants that I want that will fit in here. Any suggestions?

At the moment I put some plants in the water. I have 1 bamboo stick (might be getting another one), and 2 java ferns. I am also trying something else I saw in the local petsmart. It is a moss ball, that helps keep the water clean and clear. Anyone have any luck with this? The water is all in it now and the put my 2 FBTs in their new home. They both are getting used to the new home, but seem to love it so far. I added in 2 snails as well. I am thinking about adding some kind of small fish, but I am not 100% yet. Here are some pictures of it now. I will post more up once I get the plants in.

[NatureLady]

What a neat log of your build! It looks great and I look forward to seeing what plants you do pick! IT looks as if GS foam is in my future!

[ApxWingman]

thanks....I've used GS foam for both bulilds that I have done, and it is soo easy to use and shape. When I finally do another one, I will use GS foam as well. Any suggestions on plants?

[NatureLady]

Any suggestions on plants?

I think a fern would look amazing above your waterfall area and it would look very natural in placement.