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12" X 12" X 18" Planted Viv

14K views 131 replies 27 participants last post by  hydrophyte 
#1 ·
12" X 12" X 18" Planted Viv

This is just a placeholder for now, but I hope it will remind me to start this project.

I am going to do a planted viv setup in a 12" X 12" X 18" Exo Terra. I haven't settled on any specific kind of livestock yet, but I have some ideas for pretty cool plants to use.

I would have started this thread over in the Riparium/Vivarium/Terrarium sub-forum, but it is a but sleepy over there and I hope people can get a chance to see my work.

I might get a couple of Ranitomeya frogs to put in here eventually
 
#8 ·
No, I've had it for 8 or 9 years. I started to take pictures at the beginning but got lazy. it took several months to build. I estimated about 40 hours. The tank was so heavy I couldn't lay it on its back. So I had to prop up pieces of wood to glue them in. Ive moved it twice.
 
#9 ·
I got the Forest Floor false bottom plate cut. This is a prototype plate, not the regular manufactured part, but this is the design that it will use.



Last night I was up late fixing the enclosure. It had one busted glass pane, but I got it put back together again.
 
#11 ·
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#14 ·
I also have the kits here ready to go with two different models and more models on the way pretty soon.

The shop that cuts them for us uses a CNC router. They cut some prototypes with their laser cutter which made nice burr-free edges, but the plastic melted a little bit.

This is a fun way to manage the terrarium plants. In addition to the kit designs I am also trying to figure out the best kinds of plants to use and ways to design appealing terrarium layouts.
 
#18 ·
Exo Terras come with screen tops, and a good deal of humidity escapes that way. People who keep dart frogs in Exo Terras usually retrofit them with tops that are more tightly sealed to maintain higher humidity. A bit of air does circulate through those gaps, but it is minor compared to the air flow through the screen top.

Very nice! This is quire inspiring. Makes me want to convert one of my tanks now hahaha.

Keep us updated!
Just let me know if you might like to try one of these out. The 12" X 12" and 18" X 18" Exo Terras are usually easy to find and not too expensive and the same is true for 20 High and 30 X High fish tanks.
 
#19 ·
I got back to work on this thing again in the middle of the night.



I liked the one in my 37G viv a lot and decided to make one of these manzanita features designed to hang from the top for this one too.



I left the manzanita in my 37 bare, but I'm going to plant this one with mini orchids and ferns. I'll have to maintain very high humidity in the enclosure.
 
#34 ·
That's a pretty cool look. When I first saw it I thought to myself "That looks good, but it'd look even better if he turned it right side up (or upside down lol)". So I immediately flipped my laptop upside down... I was wrong. Looks better the way you have it. Good stuff.
 
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