Getting intimidated, overwhelmed, etc.- design princples

[mtolypetsupply]

So I have my froglets in a 20L tank to grow them out in, until I make my "real" viv for them. I've been playing with some of the construction methods mentioned here, making rock hides for my snakes, testing how the products work, and how to work the product. I'm doing my research on the plants.

But when it comes to being willing to REALLY start planning and designing amd greatstuffing and siliconing and planting the viv, it scares the crap out of me. Its so, well, permanent. Or a rebuild is a major process, with the removal of the bad work. I'm afraid to "ruin" a perfectly good tank.

Most posts about building a viv elaborate on the construction process but don't give insight and honor to the creative process. What about design principle? There are truly some viv ARTISTS on here, how do you know what to put where? How many people just fake it til they make it, and it comes out well anyway? How many people think their viv isn't good, but get tons of compliments?

I may have to just start and see what happens, but I'd love to hear from others, especially those who were intimidated at first, but became Vivarium VanGoghs!

Stephi

[Julio]

well the creativity is your own, that is why they all look diffrent, so just go ahead and build your and you will see that ones you plant it and let it grow a little you can then see how things turn out, some of the vivariums will look great right from the star, but others take time to mature so just take the plunge and start building.

[capitale]

Originally Posted by mtolypetsupply

So I have my froglets in a 20L tank to grow them out in, until I make my "real" viv for them. I've been playing with some of the construction methods mentioned here, making rock hides for my snakes, testing how the products work, and how to work the product. I'm doing my research on the plants.

But when it comes to being willing to REALLY start planning and designing amd greatstuffing and siliconing and planting the viv, it scares the crap out of me. Its so, well, permanent. Or a rebuild is a major process, with the removal of the bad work. I'm afraid to "ruin" a perfectly good tank.

Most posts about building a viv elaborate on the construction process but don't give insight and honor to the creative process. What about design principle? There are truly some viv ARTISTS on here, how do you know what to put where? How many people just fake it til they make it, and it comes out well anyway? How many people think their viv isn't good, but get tons of compliments?

I may have to just start and see what happens, but I'd love to hear from others, especially those who were intimidated at first, but became Vivarium VanGoghs!

Stephi

I totally hear you. I think the key is to start simple, don't go all out on your first 'real' viv, because it's likely that you'll end up disappointed -just start simple and get a feel for the construction materials. I set up a 10 vert just for practice before starting on my 'real' viv and learned quite a bit from it. It didn't turn out the way I expected it would -the driftwood I is now completely hidden by plants, its hard to get an idea of how the plants will fill out until they are actually planted in the viv. I used too much expanding foam (less is more and its very easy to use too much). Experience and confidence are the biggest players in viv construction IME.

[Dendro Dave]

First if you want a crash course in tankscaping (did i just coin a new term?)...Takashi amano does some crazy rad aquarium design. They are aquariums but they look like really good vivaria underwater, and most of the same creative principles can be applied. For a good sampling of his work try this...or just look up the name
Aquarium Art By Takashi Amano

Some advice from myself. Asymmetry, things are rarely symetrical in nature. Mutiple levels, a bottom, middle and top, and depth....a foreground, a middle ground, a background. Basically many aspects of artistic compostion in art/photography can be employed, and are worth researching if "the eye" doesnt come naturallly to you.

I basically work out a rough plan in my head, occasionally doing a rough sketch and then just go to it...bout 50% plan, 50% winging it... Planning ahead as much as possible is good, but be prepared to modify your plan as you go based on available materials and well how it looks as you proceed Sometimes during construction inspiration just hits. Try setting things up, propping them up, even putting your potted plants in the viv as you work arranging them in various ways to help you figure out how you want the layout.

Also making a particular plant, rock, or piece of wood the focal point and designing around that is a good way to go. Try not to place it right in the center of the tank though usually...usually, sometimes you gotta break the rules. A Big part of the "art" is knowing when, and in what way to do that.

Dont forget color either....adding color, or making one particular color the theme of the viv can be a good way to go. Then again sometimes all green is just awsome. Green moss on the wood, on the walls, creeping plant in the background, green everywhere! But with lots of different textures...another thing to consider

Also dont freak out if you run into a design flaw...often you can work around it if you're creative(and sometimes willing to compromise), rather then scraping/scraping out the whole viv and starting over.

K thats all i got off the top of my head...
Here is my best personal example:



Yes im pimping this viv all over the place

[kwazarr]

One of the things that I've found most helpful is looking at TONS of pictures of other peoples' viv's and carefully going over the details of certain features that you like. What kind of feature is it? What about it catches your eye (position in tank, angle, colour, texture, etc)?

When you've got some good ideas about what kinds of features you want and an overall idea of the look you want for you tank, PLANNING it out is the next really helpful thing. Take some time and really work on figuring out how you want everything to go together. Make drawings, buy/collect various pieces that you might use (driftwood, rocks etc) and play around with various combinations in the tank and see how they look. I'm a really big fan of the second idea personally. I know some artists/sculptors will tell you how they do not choose the pieces they make, rather that the pieces choose them. Playing around with various random pieces can be a great way to inspire yourself in ways that are difficult to do just through planning.

Last thing...when you're actually building the "tankscaping", don't be afraid to make mistakes...they will happen. And sometimes even rolling with your mistakes after you make them and continuing on can allow you to create things that your imagination never considered. Anyways, my two cents!

Oh...and don't let the fact that this is your first viv project to limit you in the ideas you want to try...reach for the stars! Only advice I can give is the higher you reach, the more time and planning should go into it!



Ross.

[mtolypetsupply]

Thanks, everyone for the encouragement and ideas! Ross, I did start collecting my driftwood today. Luckily, I live quite close to the ocean, so I did a little beach cleanup and found the following:



and



I have a group of 5 D. auratus froglets. They are (at the youngest) one month out of the water, and in a sufficient but boring grow out tank. The reading I've done says that auratus are more terrestrial, so I'd like a forest floor setup for them in my 20L.

I'm thinking the darker pieces would be more natural, as the sun wouldn't have reached the floor to bleach them, but they could have died and been bleached up in the canopy, then fallen. Also, I haven't found any good stumps, so I'm thinking that I'll either have to create one (which in my perfectionism and intimidated state will keep me from doing anything for fear it won't be right) or go with the feel of a tiny piece of the floor under a very old and dying tree, with lots of that tree's fallen limbs on the ground.

Any suggestions, by number, of the pieces I should use? Arrangement? As I'm typing, I'm thinking maybe one or two pices on the vertical, simulating the base, and a few others on the horizontal/piled as fallen.

Being that my auratus are Panamania, if anyone has any plants of Panamanian origin that they might want to sell or trade for driftwood (hey, no telling me not to use a piece just so you can have it! LOL), I'd be very interested.

Also, anyone have a link for a thread pertaining to "false bottom vs. LECA"? I'm trying to decide between the two, and haven't found a good comparison thread yet.

[mtolypetsupply]

Oh, crap. I numbered each piece of driftwood on my photobucket account, but the numbers aren't showing up here.

If you are really that industrious and want to help, heres a link:

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/q...d/IMG_3232.jpg

and the others

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/q...d/IMG_3231.jpg

[srrrio]

[
Also, anyone have a link for a thread pertaining to "false bottom vs. LECA"? I'm trying to decide between the two, and haven't found a good comparison thread yet.[/QUOTE]

You have been getting great advice on how to lay out your tank and from the care you are taking I am sure your Auratus will love whatever you build.

I will suggest LECA vs an eggcrate bottom. I have converted my both my main Auratus tanks to LECA as the frogs were persistent in finding ways down to the water and had a great time. Not known for my engineering skills they carried many a tad down below that false bottom despite my efforts to prevent them. Eventually there were more then a dozen tads down there and so I replaced with LECA. I left both tanks with a corner pond (as they seemed to appreciate that water so much) and both sets of dads have transported to those ponds and have had beautiful froglets.

More then you probably wanted to know!

Sally

[mtolypetsupply]

Thanks for the input! Sally, when you left a corner pond, how exactly did you do that? Just leave a depression in the LECA? Silicone it in place so as not to lose the slope?

I'm boiling some of the driftwood now. EWWWWWWWW. It smells like Wet-dog-who-rolled-in-dead-sea-critter-and-poop. Why wet dog, I don't know, but it smells like some of that's thrown in the mix. I don't imagine baking them smells any better. I'm going to have to get some propane, and do this outside from now on.

[holidayhanson]

If you want to really get into the artistic side of your viv scape I would search into "principals of design" such as balance, harmony, contrast, repitition, rhythm, emphasis, unity. It's a lot to swallow and then think of how you can apply these concepts to a viv...but if you can achieve some of these concepts you will end up with a trophy viv.

Another place to look into are some photography rules of thumb....ie the "rule of thirds" as mentioned above, don't put anything smack dab in the center of the vertical axis or horizontal axis.

A third place to research is the japanese art of placement known as ikebana. This tends to deal more with arrangement of a few flowers or sticks but the concept of minimalism in a viv might serve you well if you dont have the pocket book for many different types of plants. Consider planting a viv with cuttings from 2-3 houseplants instead of 15-20 individully purchased 2" potted plants or plugs.

Before I set things in thesub strate I just put them in the viv in pots to see how I like the arrangement, leave them there for a few days or week and move them about one at a time over the course of that week. Give some time to admire it over time instead of planting everything all in one sitting.

As for your BG, many people work so hard on these to make them look so perfect and real...but the reality is they get completely covered with green within a year and become barely visible.

Take your time, dont rush, relax, and when things dont go as planned they are known as "happy accidents" and really end up being some of your vivs best features. Its just plants, wood, and substrate, which will survive no matter what happens. Just make sure your false bottom is frog proof, it the biggest thing to stress about. Test a bead of silicone, make sure it cures, before smearing it all over the place as some tubes expire and stay in its gooey film.

Good luck and have fun!