Final Product

**_kai_** · 4th Sep 2011, 00:31

Finally done.

**_kai_** · 4th Sep 2011, 00:32

More Pics. Enjoy

**David Moses Heng** · 4th Sep 2011, 09:19

looks good. care to share your journey and the costs involved.?

**_kai_** · 4th Sep 2011, 11:38

Originally Posted by Altum_lover76

looks good. care to share your journey and the costs involved.?

sorry but i dont have progression photos... Never took any... but total cost is a lot.
Cost of materials
-Foam - 5 cans $85
-Silicone - 4 Tubes $45
- Plants total - $100+, about $150+/-
Sorry i have not been taking notice of the4 cost...
However, i can say the steps i did to build the viv.
1) I cut styrofoam pieces and siliconed it to the back and sides of the tank
2) I foamed pots onto the styrofoam pieces as well as foaming the entire boards
3) I carrved the foam with a knife
4) Upon completion of craving the background, i reliased i did not put a divider between land and water(this is where i screwed up)
5) I made a divider using egg crate and foamed it up, however, there were a lot of holes and thus there is a leakage from water to land area
6) I painted the entire background using folkart paint, White, black, green, light and dark yellow(took me many weeks, about 3 or 4, as i only worked on weekends and plus sometimes i was lazy

)
7) I sprayed folkart extra thick glaze 786 to coat the paint which makes it waterproof

I added some sort of beads used for gardening as a false bottom
9) I added a layer of top soil
10) I added the gravel and rocks in the water portion
11) Followed by a layer of coco peat
12) I placed all the driftwood and plants in
13) Finished the waterfall yesterday at 11pm
14) Waterfall is up and running, completed.

It was an overall fun and enjoyable process with much thinking on the way and in the beginning too, but the finale was all worth it, i really love and enjoy my tank, i hope u all do too

.

**David Moses Heng** · 4th Sep 2011, 12:51

your tank is 2 feet? BTW, watch your sms lingo ya?

Share with us more on the progress and maybe when I do up my 422, i can share my journey too.

Regards.

**_kai_** · 4th Sep 2011, 13:01

Oh sorry, forgot about my typing. My tank is 3feet, 90cmX30cmX30cm.
Progress as in the time taken to do each step?
Well i spent 1 to 2 weeks or so finding the correct and suitable materials. The plants was the best part, i enjoyed shopping for the plants. I bought mine from Woon Leng orchid farm and World Farm at bah soon pah road if im not wrong. The driftwood and rocks were all from my old scaping and tank set up so i did not have to search for them. However, there was this piece of driftwood that was too big and i had to saw it into two pieces. Carving the styrofoam was a fast process, finished it in a day. Painting however, was a hassle. I took a few weeks to finish the painting (as i mentioned before i did only on the weekends) and also because i put many coats on. If u look closely at the pics there are some bare spots that shows the foam but i will cover it up with moss and hopefully the moss will grow over it. I am not sure how much more of the progress i can share as this is pretty much all i did, it was finished setting up early this morning at around 12 30am.

**David Moses Heng** · 4th Sep 2011, 14:41

what do you intend to put inside for fauna?

**_kai_** · 4th Sep 2011, 14:45

i was thinking vampire crabs but im reconsidering that right now. The water is murky and foamy, i am not sure what's wrong, but if it continues than ill just leave it empy i guess. Im only setting this up for the experience and its beauty. I have another upcoming project at the end of the year using a slightly smaller tank, but if i am not wrong, it is higher. But the tank is not a cube or a rectangle, more of a hexagon shape where the sides bend to form a rather protruding look. I do not have a picture of it right now though. It will be fun again

.

-EDIT-
Forgot to mention, i added a few more bromeliads and another cryptanthus in my tank, will post some pics later

.

**David Moses Heng** · 4th Sep 2011, 16:32

murky and foamy? Did you allow your painting to cure fully? You also mentioned that you used leca as false bottom. Those are ok. and did you manage to do a water parameter test? Pictures?

**_kai_** · 4th Sep 2011, 16:34

Yes i let the paint cure for an entire week. I finished the paint job on the weekend, let it cure all the way to the next weekend and than i finished my vivarium on that day. Ill get some pictures now but i cannot get the pictures of my false bottom as i painted my tank to hide it. Its quite unsightly.

**David Moses Heng** · 4th Sep 2011, 16:45

leca is ok. I use leca for all my palu/viva too but I have never encounter murky foamy water for more than 1 day.

**_kai_** · 4th Sep 2011, 16:48

It could be my substrate(lava rocks) but i washed it...

**dkk08** · 4th Sep 2011, 17:44

Bro Kai, the foamy water should be due to the waterfall splashing, try and redirect the water flow so that they won't be splashes, the foam should clear up in a day or 2. The bromeliads selection are great though, David, looks like it's time to visit World Farm again ya?

**_kai_** · 4th Sep 2011, 17:50

I see, ok thanks bro! World farm has a very nice variety of plants. I initally wanted to get more but not enough cash on hand

.

**dkk08** · 4th Sep 2011, 22:29

Mind telling us what are the species of Broms you have and the price?

**_kai_** · 4th Sep 2011, 22:32

I lowered the flow of the water output and the foam is decreasing.
Bromeliads i used are as only 2
-Neoregaelia sp "fireball" - $8 (World Farm and a plant shop near my house located around bedok, very big plant shop too)
-Neoregelia Carolinae - $18(World Farm)
Others are guzmanias, ferns, tillandsia, crypthantus, moss, liverworts, 1 venus flytrap and some unknown plant.

**cdckjn** · 6th Sep 2011, 08:54

Pictures of your tank and setup will be great. Thanks.

**_kai_** · 6th Sep 2011, 19:03

Sorry i think i may have accidentally taken down the pictures while clearing the attachments. Here is a tank picture, and my tillandsia first bloom and a newly added venus fly trap, enjoy.