New Construction Thread

[Mcbobs]

Welp, I was given a nice aquarium recently that I've decided to do something a little different than what I am used to doing. Anyways though, I'm gonna try and take as many pictures as possible and just explain things as I go.

Here is a picture of the aquarium. It is a 28 gallon bowfront.


When I first got it, it had a pretty large crack in the bottom that I had to fix before doing anything else, so I decided to try gorilla glue for the first time. At first, I was kinda confused as to how it would work out, but after about 10 minutes and watching it expand, I slowly relaized what it did. It is just like a cross between silicone and great stuff where it slowly expands to fill cracks and gaps.

Anyways, in order to fix the crack in the bottom, I just spread gorilla glue across the entire bottom and laid in a piece of glass cut to fit across the largest portion of the bottom.


After a couple hours, the gorilla glue had expanded and firmed up and now the bottom is the sturdiest part of the entire aquarium! I have absolutely no fear of any leaks at all now.

Next, I dry fit a large piece of driftwood into the aquarium to see how it would fit (if it even would at all) and started getting some good ideas for how I wanted it to look in the end.

The driftwood has all kinds of protrusions sticking out from it that extend almost to the sides and the front really making great use of the space. It really has a driftwood stump feel to it and in the end, I plan on mounting all kinds of bromeliads and other epiphytic plants to it.

The back of the driftwood is somewhat flat so I'll end up filling the gap in the back with great stuff and then just siliconing and coco fibering the great stuff. Other than that, there will be no other background on it because I'm really going for an open feel to the viv.

Here is a shot from the front.


Here's a shot from the right corner.


And a shot from the left corner.


Hopefully you can kinda see what im envisioning in this viv and can give me any good/constructive criticism you have!

-Matt

[John]

Thanks for sharing Matt. Looking forward to more . That piece of driftwood is awesome, where did you get it? And what's going to live in here?

[Mcbobs]

Thanks for sharing Matt. Looking forward to more . That piece of driftwood is awesome, where did you get it? And what's going to live in here?

I'll be putting a 1.2 standard imitators once I get it done. Right now, they're in a 20 gallon vert that I set up for them, but I made bad choices on my bromeliads (home depot specials) and they have completely outgrown the viv.

For this one, I plan on making it with a ton of epiphytic plants and bromeliads. Mainly neoregelias because of their ease of propagation with bright lighting.

As for the imitators, they had their first froglet come out of the water 2 days ago which makes the little guy the third generation from these frogs. They've been super prolific for me and never seem to stop breeding once they get going.

-Matt

[John]

Those imitators are going to be spoiled with that terrarium . Got any photos of them?

[Mcbobs]

Sure do!















-Matt

[John]

Very nice, thank you for sharing. Ever since my Tarapotos started breeding in January I've been bitten by the imitator bug in a big way.

[Mcbobs]

They're really great frogs. These were some of the first frogs I got forever ago and they've been nothing but successes for me so far.

Tarapotos are absolutely stunning frogs as well. I've always wanted them as well, but more recently got struck by the larger darts and their beauty.

-Matt

[Julia]

Thats a beautiful piece of wood, I cant wait to see the finished enclosure!

[Kurt]

Really cool, but I would off set the drift wood to one side or the other, compositionally speaking. Dead center just doesn't look right from an aesthetic point.

[SludgeMunkey]

Really cool, but I would off set the drift wood to one side or the other, compositionally speaking. Dead center just doesn't look right from an aesthetic point.

I disagree, centering the wood and allowing space at the corners for big bushy-viney-lush plants can look fantastic.

So far this looks like an interesting build in the making.

[Tropicok]

I agree, great piece of wood. You can offset the composition with plants and rocks. Several tall plants on one side and some low plants and rocks on the other..I wouldn't put a whole bunch of plants in the middle. It's going to look wonderful.
I am still working on a tall tank and got too creative with the Great Stuff. I also needed a rubber cork for the drain because I don't intend to use it right now. Do you know how hard it is to find rubber corks? Going to the nursery in a few minutes to get plants. I'll take a pic.

[Kurt]

Have you tried a brewer's supply house?

[Wembley]

I must agree on that wood, it is beautiful. I have such a hard time finding nice driftwood for my tanks.

[Mcbobs]

With no background except for filling in behind the driftwood, There's not much to do on this viv. Really pretty simple.

I'm headed to Home depot today for eggcrate, great stuff, silicone and a piece of glass. Other than that, there's nothing else I need to finish the viv. I'm hoping to have it done by Monday.

As for whether or not to center the driftwood, I probably will be because I want it to be the definite focal point in the viv. At ground level, I probably wont do much in the way of planting except for some low lying plants and possibly one larger fern in one of the corners.

-Matt

[Mcbobs]

I've always found rubber stoppers Ace hardware in the small drawers with the rubber o-rings and synthetic washers. You might try looking somewhere like that.

-Matt

[Tropicok]

Yep, rubber stoppers, I called them rubber corks and I got them at Ace Hdwe. but naturally the one closest to me doesn't carry small items like that. Had to drive to the big Ace much farther away. I should have posted my long story here but have it under Terrarium Waterfall instead. This tank is driving me crazy but I've learned a lot of "what not to do." I found a plant called Irish Moss...anybody used it before?

[Tropicok]

"I decided to try gorilla glue for the first time."

This is a good idea, I love Gorilla Glue.

[Mcbobs]

This weekend, I've been hard at work again trying to get this viv finished.

Yesterday was Fake St. Patty's Day here in Manhattan, so I didnt get much done then, but got quite a bit done today.

Hopefully I can have this sucker up and running before this next weekend.
On to the pictures.

First thing I did was to make a false bottom for drainage below the soil. I made it out of white light diffusing egg crate and wrapped it in screen mesh to keep the soil from falling through.




Next, I filled in around the egg crate with pea gravel to build a facade so that the egg crate was not visible and had a more appealing look from the front. I really dont like how false bottoms look when you can see the white shining through.




After that, I fit the driftwood center piece back into the viv (which is a pain in the *** because it just barely fits with the center brace in the middle). Using great stuff expanding foam, I great stuffed the driftwood to the back glass to seal off the cavity behind the driftwood. I dont want any curious frogs slipping back there and never coming back out!


Once the Great stuff had cured, I slathered on the brown silicone and pressed peat into the silicone to give a textured natural look instead of the yellowish/white look of the great stuff. The key here is to use your materials in EXCESS. It all seems to produce a better product when you dont skimp on the silicone and peat moss.






Next step is to add substrate, plants, a glass top, lights and FROGS!

It's coming together super fast!

-Matt

[John]

Very nice and thorough walk-through thread, Matt. Many thanks for sharing this with us. I'm currently working on a "fancy" 10g vert using the same principles, but with LECA/hydroton instead of the egg crate.

[Mcbobs]

Hydroton/LECA also works very well, but with the heavy piece of driftwood, I didnt want it settling into the false bottom over time. Also, with larger aquariums, although hydroton/LECA is very light, it can still get too heavy to move easily. That's why I prefer to use egg crate with a pea gravel facade in front of it. It provides the best of both worlds (weight vs. appearance)!

In any case, plan on more pictures tomorrow! I'm trying to get this one done as fast as possible and still look really good. At first, it might be a little sparse in planting, but this weekend, I'll be picking up a ton more plants when I go home to KC. It should be 100% done by this time next week.

-Matt

OH! John! Don't forget to put up pictures of your fancy 10gallon when you get it done as well! I LOVE seeing other people's finished vivs!