Vivarium Progress *updated*

[Guest]

Well I've got my mini tank built, it's 1.5 gallons and I think I'm going to put in a little filter and one or two guppies, or maybe a betta I don't know yet, the sealant has to cure for 1 more day before I fill it then I want it to run for a week at least, before I get a fish.
I've got the back wall finished and planted. I bought 2 tiny bromeliads, which were GLUED into their pots! yes GLUED!! I had a heck of a time getting them out but they're out with (hopefully) minimal damage and installed in the wall. I also put a small African violet and a larger (but still small) bromeliad in the wall.
I expanded my 2 bricks and 1 hockey puck of cocofibre only to find I'll need probably 4 more bricks to fill the tank I really wasn't thinking before, hopefully they're still on sale for $2/brick. I have a fern, another bromeliad, baby's tears (ground cover) and 2 miniature umbrella trees to plant. I don't know if I'll have room for my signature palmtree w/ umbrella chair ornament, but I'll have to make room so the crabs have something non-destructable to climb on.
So I'm off to the pet store this afternoon to get my extra bricks of fibre, then I'll finish my planting.
I have to get John to go worming for me and get me 3 or 4 worms for my tank. I also have to use sealant to glue river rocks to the new salt pool (gotta pick a tupperware for it) and I may need to pick up more river rocks for my pool/feeding area. I've decided to steal an idea I saw on here to feed and have the pools surrounded by river rock to keep the crabs from carting debris into them. Hopefully I'll have it done by the end of the day tomorrow. I'm giving the plants at least 1 week to acclimate to the tank, hopefully set down some roots so the crabs can't tear them out of the tank. I really hope the ones in the wall do well
Here's a few pics:
whole tank as of today http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o265 ... hrough.jpg
Right wall with 2 small bromeliads
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o265 ... ofwall.jpg
left wall with big bromeliad, the violet is centred on the wall
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o265 ... ofwall.jpg

[Guest]

Oh it's not that big, it's only 6 inches wider than my 35 gallon, which ironically enough is 15 more gallons I'm going to be selling my 35 if you're interested

[Guest]

well we had a bit of a set back today, I tried filling my pool and one side fell off So it's sitting out in the living room with a fresh set of sealant around the inside and outside this time. I think I might use black tape and brace the outside as well *sigh* I got my river rocks today so that's all set up, or it was until the pool collapsed, I basically have to wait for the pool to reset before I go any farther, I got the whole works planted though and my worms are going. The whole tank took 1 hockey puck and 6 bricks of cocofibre to fill 6" deep I'll see about uploading some pics I took before the pool fell apart
Does anyone know why my umbrella tree would be dropping leaves? I have a light over the tank to give them light since the plants are all medium to high light plants and until I get my sun glo in there the powerglo will have to do. It's supposed to be excellent for aquarium plants SO I assume it'll be good for these guys.

[Guest]

Does anyone know why my umbrella tree would be dropping leaves?

I would answer that question if I knew what an umbrella tree was.

And that is why I'm not building the vivarium.

[Guest]

lol an umbrella tree, it's also called schefflera or something like that, it's ok my ex-farmer (still a hick though ) b/f says it's from stress. There's a botany masters student upstairs if I get really stuck though

[Guest]

More pics, took these before the little tank fell apart I put sealant on the outside AND the inside this time so hopefully it stays together I'm also giving it 3 days to cure instead of 2 like it said on the packaging.
some of my worms:
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o265 ... s/Worm.jpg
Left side with the pre-falling-apart tank
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o265 ... ftside.jpg
Front view, the fern and bromeliad are in the front middle and my 2 umbrella trees are at the back left, the baby's tears are under the violet, but you can't see them, I might actually move them and let them grow in between the river rocks once I get the pool/food/river rocks section put in.
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o265 ... mfront.jpg

[Guest]

It's going to look good! Are you going to filter the pond?

[Guest]

you're darn tootin' I'm going to filter it, actually right now I'm considering using a trickle filter and making a semi waterfall with it, I'm not sure yet though. I had seen little charcoal filters you stick to the edge of the tank for small bowls, but now I can't find any. I checked the pet shops and Zellers, I'll have to check Walmart next time I'm at that end of town. I want to get the filter running and have the pool going for about a week before I intro the fish... I think I'm going to put in 2 guppies or mollies or neon tetras or something So excited!! Oh and payday is this week SO it means I'll be able to afford more supplies should I need any.

[Guest]

When I was younger I had a tree frog set up with plants and a water side... I used a submersable filter called a Fluval 1 (I think it was a 1... it was the smallest they make)

[Guest]

I don't know if I'd have room for a fish after a fluval lol. I'm getting my pay cheque this week so I'll head over to zellars and walmart and see if I can find that air filter I saw before. If push come to shove we have a box air filter, it's just enormous.

[Tidytourniquet]

I thought I would say this just in case you didn't know but if you decide on the guppies or the mollies make sure you get the same sexes so you don't end up with hundreds in a couple months. I would get males since they usually have better colors and that way you don't get a pregnant female, which can have babies up to 6 times with only one encounter with a male. Neon tetras tend to be a little sensitive to water conditions and usually do better in well established tanks and are a schooling fish so you shouldn't get less then 5 or 6.

Good luck with setting all that up though, I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's all done.

[Guest]

thanks for the tip Tidy, I did know that though I kept fish for like 10 years before I launched into crabs. We had a 55G explode and lost not only the tank but a few hundred dollars worth of fish and that sorta killed my passion for it.
ARGH!!! [smilie=tearhair1.gif] So I put in the tank in and put the bracing pieces of granite in (John has good ideas sometimes) and I filled it and was like YAY! :blob5: It's staying together.... then I noticed water pooling on the OUTSIDE of the tank [smilie=banghead.gif] 3 leaks! 3 bloody little leaks and I have to wait another 48 hours to try again, oh and now I'm out of sealant! So it looks like the crabs won't be going in until, at the earliest, late next week. I want the tank cycling and maybe the fish in before I put in the crabs, I kinda want to stick 'em in and leave them alone. I figure 1 solid week of filtering should give the tank long enough to cycle, it's only 1.5 gallons after all. I also attached (with sealant) a piece of fish netting so the crabs, if they should fall in, can climb back out
So I took a pic of the corner where the tank will eventually sit, it's got the granite slabs in, I haven't uploaded it yet but I will soon and then post.
On the bright side the worms are doing fabulous! Aerating my soil nicely, leaving little worm tunnels all over the place. Most of the plants seem to be doing ok. The poor umbrella trees are wilting though I don't think there's enough light for them. Hopefully they hang on until I can get the crabs in, they're sitting very close to where the day glo bulb will be.
ok well I'm going to go upload those pics, then I'll post them
edit: here is the pic I took today http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o265 ... ortank.jpg

[Guest]

Hi Thaila, cool vivarium.I'm getten a 40b soon and am thinking of puttin a few live plants in there. My petco have a little tank with vivarium plants in it. It doesn't say what kind they are, but it says they work great in medium to high humudity and temp. would these be okay? Agian, it does say they are for vivariums, so I'm pretty sure there not poisonius, but still.

[Guest]

lol you're asking the wrong person about plants! I am a known and confessed plant killer, in fact my umbrella trees are already dying in the vivarium How I picked my plants was... well ok, I went and bought the umbrella plants on impulse then researched if they were poisonous. They are in fact poisonous to vertebrates, animals with tubular kidneys, however they aren't to crabs b/c of their physiology. Under Crab Care FAQ they have a list of safe plants, bromeliads (I have 4) are safe and supposed to be easy to care for. They don't have roots really then absorb their water from the humidity. The fern is also safe, and they're supposedly easy to care for as are the baby's tears and the African violet, one of the few plants I've ever been able to keep alive for any length of time.
The hardest thing about the plants was carefully rinsing all the old soil and fertilizer off the roots. Then I just planted them in the plain cocofibre. I also added worms to help with aerating the soil and fertilizing it. I've been mising the plants daily and will probably water the soil weekly, but I'll have to see how the soil is doing. My success with the African violets in the past were based on the fact that I'd kinda forget about them until I saw them all wilty and awful, then I'd water and they'd perk back up The most important thing about them is not to get their leaves wet, the water will burn them and leave little pale spots

[Guest]

ARGH!! Ok, so I put my pool in and slowly filled it. One cup at a time taking a minute or two to look for leaks, filled it to the brim and waited a few more minutes to see if it's leaking... nothing! YAY! So I take out a few cups of water and put a layer of river rocks on the bottom of the pool, then add the water back and do the landscaping around the pool. Put in the salt water pool, go to put in the 2nd level and look at my fresh water pool.... wait a minute.. it was filled to the brim a little while ago... why is there an inch of water missing.... oh no, yep! it's got a frickin leak!! The darn thing doesn't even have the decency to be big enough for me to see, it is slooooowly leaking from I don't know where. Right now I'm waiting for the stupid thing to stop so I know where the leak is approximately. I'm a little worried it's on the bottom, like the river rocks might have knocked something loose. When it stops leaking I'm going to remove a cup of water, let it dry over night and go buy more aquarium sealant tomorrow and run a new bead up each side above the leak. I'm getting SO mad at this thing. If it's the bottom I might take the whole darn thing apart and recaulk it from fresh. I was going to post pics of my progress but I don't see the point now I'm so frustrated!