Did I Miss Anything?

[Bearnandos]

Hi,
My viv is nearly ready to test the waterfall, rinse the moss that is siliconed onto the poly walls that I carved and to make sure the water temp is correct....then the fun can start and I can add in the other plants instead of just the airplants.
Is there anything else I should check for before I fill it up with water ?? as I do not want to start adding all my substrate and plants only then to have it striped back again.

[Kurt]

That looks awesome! Did you check it for leaks? You would hate having it all completed, only to notice a puddle forming on the floor below it.

[Bearnandos]

Lol - I didn't check at the beginning, only when I was filling it up - I thought.....eekkkkk what it it leaks!
Only problem I really had was that I carved the waterfall a little too much bearing to one side, so most of water never reached my little stream.
Tomorrow goes in my orchids and other plants - so fingers crossed my reed frogs will have a new home for the new year and I can start my darts new viv....yay.

[John]

How did you make the substrate area and stop it from getting into the water and also how did you stop the substrate from becoming water-logged but still allow good wicking of water?

[adawinters]

What kind of orchids are you putting in? What %humidity and temp do you expect to hold in the tank? Ooooh. I love new projects.

[Bearnandos]

The substrate is suspended with egg crate - boxed together to a 10cm height using loads of cable ties to bind them tight. Didn't use silicon as it may 'give' with the weight being laid ontop. Use egg crates in my 400gal marine tank to hold up 380kg of live rock - so I know this method should be OK.
On the egg crate is mesh to stop my moss from falling but allowing the water to pass, then a layer of sphagnum moss - layer of orchid bark to allow for air and moisture, is also fantastic for my tropical springtails and tropical woodlice which I have always used to keep my Orchid Vivariums from getting mold, fungus and mites - these will be introduced after my last layer of coconut fibre.
The water level will only be 8cm at the deepest - so the water does not reach my substrate.
Below my waterfall - I created a stream using egg crate and polystyrene which allows for a drop of 7cm
to 5cm to give a flowing steam effect - it was coated pebbles that have been siliconed onto the polystyrene to prevent my frogs eating my pebbles.
Under the stream is where my aquarium heater is placed - the temp of the heater is set at 22oc which
is the only other source of heating apart from the lights.....this I hope will allow for a decent nightime heat drop.
The orchids I will be planting in are all miniture orchids as most do very well in high humidity and have been testing in my other Vivs.
Oncidium Longipes - amazing little yellow flowers...look like swarm of bubble bees
Dryadella Zebrina - will allow for compact ground foliage with yellow flowers
Bulbophyllum Echinolabium - - peach and red flowers that have a strong fragrance....yummy smell
Stelis Emarginata - orange flowers that have arching flower spikes to create a flowing effect from my
walls.
All my airplants are the flowering types - as I do like colours
These plants are suitable for any small frog viv as the larger frogs can damage the flowers.
I use to only have vivariums for my orchids and other tropical plants - only when a friend of mine came over and said - Oooohhhh stunning vivs....would look even better with frogs >.> .....so after reading about poison dart frogs....bought a couple.....now addicted and have lots lol.....its not a matter of what frog would suit my viv - its now - how do I create a viv that will suit my frogs.
Temp for this viv should be 27-29oc on one side down to 25-27oc on otherside - due to the intensity of bulbs used.
Humidity will be seeing if it is possible to get 70-80% on the top half of viv and 100-90% on the lower half using a fogger placed at the bottom of waterfall and a fan above.
Need a slightly lower humidity for my Reedfrogs.......will be checking this out once my vivarium fans arrive.
My water pool will be filled up with bog wood covered with riccia to give a even taper. My waterfall will be covered with Java moss and the rest of the viv with Kyoto moss.....all in the hopes of having
lots of green like Pandora in Avatar lol.

[Kerry1968]

Sounds fantastic!

I have a similar but much simplified set-up for my Whites.

I've used the polystyrene background in my Exo-Terra to make a floor, sloped it using the cut off piece (the height of the viv is greater than the depth) at the back to prop it up. The background has lumps and bumps in it and I made a hole at the top of a crevice that runs to the front of the tank for the water to run down. I have a small pump underneath the floor with the pipe coming through to the top. I made 'land' areas either side of the 'stream' using spagnum moss and some pothos in the stream to hide the water outlet.
I wanted to use coco-fibre or similar for the substrate, but I'm not sure if too much will get washed into the pool at the front and sucked into the pump.
I have bought some Kyoto moss spores, so I'm hoping I can find a way to plant it on the substrate, once I can be sure the substrate won't end up in the water.

[adawinters]

You guys are inspiring me! I'm planning vivs in my head, now.

[Bearnandos]

My temp requirements did not work so will be replacing the third light bulb to a 26W Repti Glo - was trying to keep one end of the tank at around 25oc so only had a 13W Repti Glo above the waterfall. Think its due to the viv fan which is cooling my tank down. My reeds do need a slightly higher temp to bask on.
Apart from that - all my plants are in..tested it out with my two hardiest of reed frogs - in the morning found a bubble nest under my waterfall.........there goes my betta I was thinking of placing in my small pond.
Here is a update on what it looks like - sry my daughters mobilephone cam is not too great...nor is my pic taking.
Viv should be how I would like it...in around a year, with all moss on walls.
Kerry - I had to use cork bark siliconed to my base structure (egg crate) to make a stopper effect to prevent my substrate falling into my water......then I sowed my Kyoto moss. Its gonna take a month before I find out if it works. Really hope it does as my Kyoto moss on my bonsai is breathtaking in lush colours.
Adawinters - Planning vivs in your head is sOoOoOO much fun

[Kurt]

Looks good.

[Bearnandos]

Thanks hhmmm kinda looks messy in the pic ...it looks more orderly in real life lol

[Kurt]

Messy is fine as nature is rarely clean and tidy.

[Bearnandos]

Nature in my home and garden is pretty formal...kinda suffers from a little ocd lol....my vivs will help me work on it

[Kerry1968]

I think it looks stunning, mine is very bare compared to yours, but I have no background as I used it for the floor! I think it looks like a little piece of nature and it's going to look even more amazing when that moss grows in.

I bought some coco fibre stuff yesterday, so I'm going to use some of the sphagnum as a base with coco on top in the hope of my Kyoto moss growing on top that. All exciting stuff, but my plans never work out quite how I envisage them!

[Bearnandos]

I know what you mean!!! I once tried to recreate the hilltop scene from 'Sound of Music' in one of my tropical aquariums using riccia ....... kinda ended up looking like the plane crash in the swamps of Star Wars after my turtles got to the moss >.<;
My new project for the 'Peru' Viv will be with lots of large dried sponge mushroom siliconed to the background - kinda like a Old tree trunk with mushroom effect. I know you can get a pack of 100 large dried sponge mushrooms for $18 in USA - but in UK they are charging around £3 each...so will be spending the next few days hunting for a cheaper option.
This will keep me occupied while waiting for my Kyoto moss to sprout instead of just staring at the spores and wishing for them to grow

[Tropicok]

Your viv is absolutely beautiful. I want very much to try orchids someday. My latest acquistion is in a very spare tank as I have been warned that they become entangled in organic matter. I too day dream of vivs.

[Bearnandos]

ARRRggggggg.....silly me done it again - forgot to check at the beginning if the new viv would leak.......took ages making my bark background and sticking lots of mushrooms, moss and orchids - got a bit carried away. Left the viv for over a week to 'set' then filled it up with 1 inch water.......drip drip drip a day before my pygmy chameleons arrived.....sigh.
Had to compromise with my whites - husband found out that males can be very loud ... so with all my other frogs he could bare no more croaks lol.....oh well....Chameleons are cute too!
Note to self - must check my next viv if it leaks BEFORE I start decorating

[Kurt]

Didn't I mention something about checking for leaks before doing anything else?

[Bearnandos]

Yeah you did on my last Viv.......kinda got too excited and forgot again lol.

[John]

And that is why I don't intend to buy another exoterra. My one and only exoterra started leaking after about 2 months of use. Useless. Buyer beware.