The Rainforest Exhibit VLOG: Follow our BIG VIVARIUM BUILD!

[The Rainforest Exhibit]

Carving, scraping, wire brushing, etc., working on the high density foam insert (one of them) for The Rainforest Exhibit!

Slowly getting there.

Here you can see the high density foam slowing turning into an eroded mud and rock wall.
The colors will be dark brown, dark gray, black, burnt umber, etc.
Black sand, gravel, and tree roots will stick out of these areas. In between that will be moss, ferns, marcgravia, and other tropical plants.

I will leave that there for now!

I am actually seeing through the piles of thoughts, plans, sketches, drawings (more trashed then implemented), and can now see tangible results. Still a LONG WAY TO GO!!! Little by little.
THANK YOU, DUNAUSA!!! @

Also, thank you, to Scott Allen at
Vivarium Works for the faux rocks!!! Thank you to Amy Chambers at
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LifeIsBeautifullUniq
for the driftwood...I needed it!

Please check out our Vlog and Subscribe:
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Also, check out our website:
www.therainforestexhibit.com

[The Rainforest Exhibit]

We just posted Vlog #6 Bromeliad.com Unboxing, on The Rainforest Exhibit Vlog YouTube Channel!
If you like bromeliads, this is a cool video to see. About 34 bromeliads were given to us by www.bromeliad.com and their awesome owner, Alex A.
Go check it out:
https://youtu.be/S0CsCvHo9HA

[The Rainforest Exhibit]

Started working on the plumbing for the inside of The Rainforest Exhibit.
It was a bit hard, since the sump inlet plumbing had to be created from 2 bulkheads inside the exhibit but I worked it out. Also made a 'L" shaped drain tube for under the false bottom. Originally I was going to wrap it it a foam pad, but decided this raised it too far off the floor and removed it.

I saw this article on how to make PVC look like wood. I made the waterfall inlet PVC Tube look like wood. No one is really going to see it since it is in the back, but if they do look, it will be interesting to see their reactions.

Finishing the draining top/sides around the false bottom using clay balls, drain tiles, and weed cloth. Once this is 100% finished and tested, I will begin the outside/under tank plumbing, plumbing the Seamless Sump Filter (from Custom Aquariums), Mistking Advanced Misting System, ultrasonic humidifier for fog, UV Sterilizer, etc.

Here are some pics of the plumbing for the inside of The Rainforest Exhibit, the sump filter, false bottom drainage tube, and the waterfall inlet PVC tube.

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[The Rainforest Exhibit]

WOW...it has been quite a couple of weeks over here! Besides getting a bit farther on the interior plumbing, we received our quarantine tanks from Custom Aquariums. Two 30 Gallon tanks(17.5” High x 21.5” Length x 17 5/8” Wide) and one 75 Gallon (30" High x 24" Wide x 24" Length).

These were slightly used or "Dented/Scratch" models, but that didn't matter to me. They just needed a couple of things like, lids, being cleaned, tweaking here and there. The one issue, was Holy Mother of Hubbard, these things are HEAVY! The 30 Gallon tanks made the old All-Glass Aquariums look like a child's toy! I debated even putting them on my trusty old template glass desk from Sharper Image (bought the desk a LOOOOOONG time ago), but this desk has been through 5 to 6 moves all over the USA, down South, up North, the Arctic chills of the North, and the humid heat of the South, and both in NYC, and hurricanes, an earthquake (minor one, but it sure adds flavor to this post), well, you get the point.

So, they are on the desk and I think it will be fine. Since they are my quarantine tanks, I won't be stuffing them with aesthetically pleasing vivarium stuff, so it won't add too much weight.

The 75 Gallon. HELLO!?!? What the what the what!?!?!?!
Another behemoth! It has to weigh 200+ pounds, I don't know, just shockingly heavy! The glass is 1/2" thick, so it figures it would be heavy.

For this one, I used parts of the beautiful crate the came in and built a stand for it. 25" wide x 25" long x 36" tall. I wanted it to be to my height, hence, the 36" tall stand. I had some red spray paint and I went at it. I may put panels over the frame, so the color really doesn't matter, besides I have a gloss orange wall to the left of it, so, well...I'll just leave that there.

I normally would build the stand beefier, but since there is no water involved, I am sure it will be fine.

So, let me know your thoughts? I love advice and I have already received some awesome advice on Instagram, that really helped me out!

I want to say something here, and I hope it comes across the way I mean it...when I built vivariums in the late 90's, there was NOTHING like this, no forums, social media, no back and forth with other hobbyists. This is such an awesome thing going on, with so much information and people having all levels of experience! If you need information, assistance, help, etc., it is pretty darn set in stone that someone will have an answer or can sway you in the right direction. I really do hope that it isn't taken for granted.

I should have some more updates within the week or so!