My First Viv Build: 18x18x24 Exo Terra

johnyrocks, that's what I would have thought too! But when I talked to the lady with the apartment company she was very particular. No animals unless they live completely underwater. And another odd rule is that fish must live in 20 gallon tanks or smaller. I had to argue with her for a bit to get her to allow even an aquatic frog! This is coming from the same "pet friendly" apartment complex that charges something ridiculous like a $200 deposit just to keep a dog or cat (that must weigh less than 80 lbs.). Oh well, I'll be smuggling in a few geckos and tarantulas anyways. And I'm going crazy with plants, since I can have as many of those as I like there.

gootswa, I think that's a really good idea. I'm trying to create an eye-catching tank in the short term, and I can always add some eye-catching inhabitants after the tank has established itself. And boy oh boy, I've got some java moss, Riccia fluitans, oak leaf creeping fig, Rhaphidophora sp., and P. rotundifolia that are gonna take some time to grow in.

Tony says: "Great stuff: IT'S GRRRRREAT!"

Dew said:

I don't think the apartment manager will come in and check if you have tiny little frog. But that is very weird that she would be so strict on pets. I myself living in one, it says to pets, but my manger kindly let me set up frogs. I really can't wait until this is done. You should start a construction journal.

Click to expand...

She was actually really nice, but it's her job to make sure we understand the company's policies, and my friends and I were especially curious about keeping pets. I'm not sure if they'll ever come in to check our apartment either. But until then, what they don't know won't hurt them.

Here's an update. After siliconing the back wall and portions of the sides, I decided to go ahead and silicone the water feature in, so I could position the stream bed as low as possible to minimize splash and increase its stability (since I'd like it to rest on top of the reservoir). Ironically, I found both driftwood-y pieces of the water feature in the river behind my house, so we'll have to see how they'll hold up in the long term. For the reservoir part, I accidentally cut off a bit too much of the wood with the chainsaw, so I built it up with water feature foam (the black kind) and then smeared it with silicone. Later, I'll probably smear silicone on the insides and embed it with aquarium gravel, just to conceal the inner silicone a bit. Other pieces I'm using include two medium pieces of mopani, and a bunch of cork bark. I tried to position the wood in ways to hold bromeliads and plants without the additional support of toothpicks, paperclips, etc.. I chose not to use the net pots I had purchased; I didn't want to sacrifice any more of the already too shallow 18" of depth than I had to. Anyhow, I played around with wood positions a bit and then GS'd it all in place. I did it all in one application, so hopefully it doesn't crack the tank or expand unevenly. I apologize for not having more pictures of the water feature. It didn't cross my mind to photograph it until it was already in the tank.

Messing around with wood position:


Taped stream bed to reservoir at desired angle and position:


Great Stuff:


More to come next week!

Coco husk chunks/fiber added




Prospective plants:
Aechmea nudicaulis ‘Seidel’
Begonia foliosa
Ficus pumila var. quercifolia
Hydnophytum formicarium
Hydnophytum moseleyanum
Neoregelia ‘Scarlet Charlotte’
Neoregelia sp.
Pellonia pulchra
Peperomia ‘Cupid’
Peperomia ‘Little Red Tree’
Peperomia rotundifolia var. pilosior
Philodendron wendimbe
Pilea ‘Tiny Tears’
Rhaphidophora sp.
Rhipsalis sp.
Riccia fluitans
Selaginella uncinata
Taxiphyllum barbieri

Stay tuned!