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Hey all new to Planted Tank Forums and was drawn in because of an intrest in starting up a planted tank...saw the Terrarium/Vivarium room and thought I would throw this journal of my current setup that I am working on...i've posted this journal in other forum's, so if you have seen it before that is why...
THE SKELETON
I had a 30gal tank that was currently housing two aquatic turtles that I had rescued from some horrible conditions...decided they needed some more swimming room and being inspired by the "turtle pool" down at the baltimore aquarium I decided to build a vivarium around the tank...the vivarium was originally going to house the turtles again but as construction went along i soon found out that there was not going to be enough room so i switched gears, put them in another tank and decided to add a planted tank in the 30 gal to give it more of a natural apperance...welding a stand to custom fit the tank i extend the heigth of the tank by another 36". I then took 3/8" Lexan and attached it to the extended part of the tank and welded its seams together...I also cut a strip and angled it on a jointer to go around the entire rim of the actual tank so that water would not slip down behind it off the Lexan...
THE PLUMBING
...I know through several fish forum's that I am apart of that there is a big controversy over the use of Under Gravel Filters (UGF) but being a fan of them I decided to install one in my tank to help combat the extra waste that will accumilate at the bottom of the tank so I wont have to syphon every other day. I modified the vents on the UGF so that I could attach 1/2" PVC fittings onto them and then plumbed them into a pump that would pump the water up and out of the tank and into a sump that will be located underneath the viv...I also installed another PVC fitting in the left hand corner of the tank for return of water over a waterfall...
(*NOTE*: Since these pictures were taken I changed the plumbing design and plumbed the pump OUTSIDE the tank for easier access for maintenance)
I havent made this setup permenant yet because I am yet unsure if this is the route I want to take...i'm thinking about installing the pump outside of the tank to make pump maintenance easier...i'm also going to install flow meters on the pvc going to the sump and out of the sump so I can easily keep an eye on any blockages that may happen...I know a lot of people say not to use 2 seperate pumps on a sump but for this setup to work with the UGF I need 2 and am going to take my chances...might even install a in-line UV light and some float switch's to help combat the case of a serious problem (one pump shutting off while the other is still running)...lets keep our fingers crossed!!
THE LAND AREA
I found this piece of driftwood down by the bay and instantly knew it belongs in my tank...cutting it to size and sanding a flat to it, i screwed a long piece of Lexan to the back of it...then clamping it to the back of the extended tank i welded into the corner...
THE WATERFALL
...I came up with the idea of vacuum forming a base for one of a material called Kydex. This is the same material that is used to make Samsonite luggage so i knew it could take the abuse...my first step was in creating a mold out of wood...taking varying thickness sizes of plywood i constuctued a mold for a stream that would end in a waterfall...
Making a miniture bulkhead out of some PVC fittings from the local Depot, i attached it to the part and mounted it to the back of another piece of driftwood so that it would look as if the stream was coming out from underneath the log...This being my base, i filled in underneath the plastic with GS and then began building up the surrounding areas with more GS, rocks and driftwood to complete the natural look of the stream and fall...
In the second picture you can see the other land area i created...the idea is to make these land areas jut out over the top of the tank to make them look like an area of a washed out stream bank...
Finally got all the slate siliconed down to the stream...I had to break out the round file and actually file a couple pieces of the slate to get them exatcly in the area that i wanted them but I think it turned out pretty well...then i cut and sanded the GS into a more natural looking scene...
Then I added the Sahara Tan grout that I got from HD...i left it a little thicker then the directions called for so it would clump better on the vertical area's of the GS that I had
I attached a irrigation system hose diverter to the top of the plexiglass...a pump from the sump will pump water up to this and it will divert that water to 9 1/8" hoses...these hoses will be attached to various pieces of driftwood that will be attached to the background...I added another piece of driftwood and more GS to finish up the gap between the two land areas...this last piece of driftwood had some nice "valley's" in it so i took the dremel and connected some of them...i added a hole at the top of it and am going to insert one of my dripper hoses into so i can get a small stream running through it...i then think im going to shave down some of the foam below it to create a mini creek that will also flow into the tank...no a fast stream but something moist that i could get some cool moss to grow on...Note also in the second picture the piece of driftwood i added underneath the stream...this will hide part of the AHS 2x36w ballast i have coming...these lights will be hidden from view but will give me the required light to have a successful planted aquatic tank as well
I only get to work on this a little bit every day so it has taken a while but i will keep updates coming as soon as i can...Comments/Feedback appreciated...
THE SKELETON
I had a 30gal tank that was currently housing two aquatic turtles that I had rescued from some horrible conditions...decided they needed some more swimming room and being inspired by the "turtle pool" down at the baltimore aquarium I decided to build a vivarium around the tank...the vivarium was originally going to house the turtles again but as construction went along i soon found out that there was not going to be enough room so i switched gears, put them in another tank and decided to add a planted tank in the 30 gal to give it more of a natural apperance...welding a stand to custom fit the tank i extend the heigth of the tank by another 36". I then took 3/8" Lexan and attached it to the extended part of the tank and welded its seams together...I also cut a strip and angled it on a jointer to go around the entire rim of the actual tank so that water would not slip down behind it off the Lexan...


THE PLUMBING
...I know through several fish forum's that I am apart of that there is a big controversy over the use of Under Gravel Filters (UGF) but being a fan of them I decided to install one in my tank to help combat the extra waste that will accumilate at the bottom of the tank so I wont have to syphon every other day. I modified the vents on the UGF so that I could attach 1/2" PVC fittings onto them and then plumbed them into a pump that would pump the water up and out of the tank and into a sump that will be located underneath the viv...I also installed another PVC fitting in the left hand corner of the tank for return of water over a waterfall...


(*NOTE*: Since these pictures were taken I changed the plumbing design and plumbed the pump OUTSIDE the tank for easier access for maintenance)
I havent made this setup permenant yet because I am yet unsure if this is the route I want to take...i'm thinking about installing the pump outside of the tank to make pump maintenance easier...i'm also going to install flow meters on the pvc going to the sump and out of the sump so I can easily keep an eye on any blockages that may happen...I know a lot of people say not to use 2 seperate pumps on a sump but for this setup to work with the UGF I need 2 and am going to take my chances...might even install a in-line UV light and some float switch's to help combat the case of a serious problem (one pump shutting off while the other is still running)...lets keep our fingers crossed!!
THE LAND AREA
I found this piece of driftwood down by the bay and instantly knew it belongs in my tank...cutting it to size and sanding a flat to it, i screwed a long piece of Lexan to the back of it...then clamping it to the back of the extended tank i welded into the corner...



THE WATERFALL
...I came up with the idea of vacuum forming a base for one of a material called Kydex. This is the same material that is used to make Samsonite luggage so i knew it could take the abuse...my first step was in creating a mold out of wood...taking varying thickness sizes of plywood i constuctued a mold for a stream that would end in a waterfall...



Making a miniture bulkhead out of some PVC fittings from the local Depot, i attached it to the part and mounted it to the back of another piece of driftwood so that it would look as if the stream was coming out from underneath the log...This being my base, i filled in underneath the plastic with GS and then began building up the surrounding areas with more GS, rocks and driftwood to complete the natural look of the stream and fall...



In the second picture you can see the other land area i created...the idea is to make these land areas jut out over the top of the tank to make them look like an area of a washed out stream bank...
Finally got all the slate siliconed down to the stream...I had to break out the round file and actually file a couple pieces of the slate to get them exatcly in the area that i wanted them but I think it turned out pretty well...then i cut and sanded the GS into a more natural looking scene...

Then I added the Sahara Tan grout that I got from HD...i left it a little thicker then the directions called for so it would clump better on the vertical area's of the GS that I had

I attached a irrigation system hose diverter to the top of the plexiglass...a pump from the sump will pump water up to this and it will divert that water to 9 1/8" hoses...these hoses will be attached to various pieces of driftwood that will be attached to the background...I added another piece of driftwood and more GS to finish up the gap between the two land areas...this last piece of driftwood had some nice "valley's" in it so i took the dremel and connected some of them...i added a hole at the top of it and am going to insert one of my dripper hoses into so i can get a small stream running through it...i then think im going to shave down some of the foam below it to create a mini creek that will also flow into the tank...no a fast stream but something moist that i could get some cool moss to grow on...Note also in the second picture the piece of driftwood i added underneath the stream...this will hide part of the AHS 2x36w ballast i have coming...these lights will be hidden from view but will give me the required light to have a successful planted aquatic tank as well



I only get to work on this a little bit every day so it has taken a while but i will keep updates coming as soon as i can...Comments/Feedback appreciated...