Starting journal of construction custom viv

[Rusty Shackleford]

So I am looking at building a new viv currently I dont have any crabs but if all goes well I will look at adopting. I guess ill start by saying I live in rural east coast Canada, so materials can be hard to come by. Anyways most of the work I will be doing myself. Previously to this ive spent some time building frog vivs and enclosures for boas that ive housed over the years. Ive had crabs briefly but were only pet sitting them for about a year, now I would like to getting some of my own. I will start off with my themes and go into detail about achieving care requirments later. I want the viv to have a very primordial beach/dried lagoon feel so ill be using a lot of natural vine and most likely a 16 inch layer of sand maybe a bit of coco tossed in for texture. I want to have a rain system built in like I had for the frogs this should keep the humidity very high almost to high so ill keep an eye on it with the probes in the first little bit. The roots and vines I use are collected from either the beach a wood lot or around, I am very particular about what and where I gather and will go to extremes to get a good piece. I start this usually first as curing and sealing can take a long time even cleaning can be a bugger. The viv is going to be 2'x4'x4' so two feet wide four long and four high. This is why ive already gathered sand and am looking for roots and vines that I can start prepairing to fill the space. Hermit crabs I have found will use 100% of the space they can get to so I am excited about all the detail such as moss pits, hiddy holes and other features I can add. So the tanks going to probably have a custom stand with space below to put iso tanks and small spaces to breed live food and another for raising tank cleaners, maybe even a bit of blank space for storeing things needed for the crabs such as hommade food treats and or salt those things you want on hand.

I still dont know what sealers or proper epoxys I can get in the area but I know what to look for one thing I am curious about is liquid pond liner has anyone used it with long term results?

Things im going to be needing to hold back on is the use of expanding foams and clay to build and shape terrain, id like to build in water features but with the things I do know about herms they would shread my work I could use solid stone as I can source it for free but even if the top stays mint below ground would cause so many issues to drowning crabs, toxic shock, smell, horrid fails and trouble. A false bottom would be do able very hard though because of substrate weight and crab behavior. A subtank would probably be the best bet for setting up a large water feature. But I would like to get bubblers for one or both of the water dishes they are a 12 inches across and maybe 2 inchs deep ill use sand and stones to graduate in and out of them. Ive been collecting rocks for awhile and want them to all have the same theme I will have to post pics but they look like space rocks round black and full of holes like a sponge. They are a type of slate that formed with tones of small geodes in them then the geodes fell out.

I might get lucky and get a large section of grape vine one large enough to do the entire viv if I do I will take my time and quarentine it and toss it in to either maybe live or just die as either way ill get years out of it. I have to do a bit of looking around to do with what plants are safe but I have a pretty good start with some dos and donts. Live plants can be tricky with vivs because of contamination in so many ways so usually I only use plants that wont leech things nasty into the soil or water then grow them from nursery stock or ones from around the house. Puting in store bought live plants is a big risk if done right away.

Moss pits hides and many places to climb are a big priority because I love buying really fancy shells that look crazy or are really blingy I grew up by the ocean so I love the MOP and the look and color in shells from around the world. I bought some awhile back but plan on buying a few more. I have some wood working hand dremmils I might by some shells and carve my own stuff into them on empty shells of course ive even thought about adding gold trim to one of the mop shells I have but im getting off topic. What other things do people make?

Once I have some more materials gathered I will take some pictures and list materials. I will try to detail my collection process and post more content if anyone has any comment questions or concerens ill be around.

[piratetoothgir]

Interesting!
I think aussieJJDude has experience with vivariums, so he is better help than I am

[JoeHermits]

Be careful with the automatic misters. Too much moisture getting into the sand can cause floods and anaerobic bacterial blooms.


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[ciaraalston]

following because this sounds like it's going to be killer awesome. Good luck!

[aussieJJDude]

Oh. This is going to be a fun build, I look forward to the pics!

I haven't had much experience in building a vivarium - like from scratch, scaping doesn't count - but I certainly have done my homework as I was planning to do similar but soon realised that the lumber itself was going to cost me an arm an a leg - I feel its not that cheap in Aus compared to the rest of the world....

Anyway, try to avoid the 'paint on' pond liners. The crabs will have a field day ripping that off, which will lead to it being pointless in the first place. A german crabber - use to frequent this board quite regularly and they pop in from time to time ; did a custom tank using the pond liner 'mat' thing - you know the sheets of flexible pond liner... that - to line the bottom where substrate would go and epoxied the entire thing.

Even Wod used epoxy, and last time I remember talking about it, she still rated it highly... We'll let her comment in due course, and give her option - no point of putting words into peoples mouths.

A good epoxy to use is one designed for boating, water - particularly salt water - resistant off memory. When I was reading on the subject, I recall someone mentioning that its often far more durable than some other epoxy. As for brand, I have no idea what you have for sale over there... I'll let someone that knows the market comment - if not, google epoxy for reptile tank will lead to some leads/results.

From my research- though dart frog forums, would suggest looking through them! - the corners and edges is where the majority of the problems start, and moisture seeps through. To combat, many have had great success lining a bead of silicone along all edges, and hopefully if done well the crabby claws will not go to town on the silicone.

Anything will and can be used as a convenient boredom control - aka crabby claws go snip snip! - so keep that in mind if you decide to do the fancy spray foam route. Make sure you research it throughly (like carve it to expose a rough surface to allow your 'layers' to stick on better), and would highly reccomend sealing it in various layers of cement - at a bare min - to keep their claws away from it.

If I missed anything, feel free to shout out... I may of forgotten half of your post and their questions... But I'm sure there's a few individuals on here that can offer some guidance on the substrate, so I'll also happily wait for them to offer their two cents.

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[Rusty Shackleford]

So I’ve finally been able to work around my poor internet issues and can finally post some updates and pics. So far I’ve changed my design a few times around. After running a preliminary test on the area where the viv will be placed. Since I bought this property I’ve realized it’s a lot colder than my old place in the city. Because of this heat transfer and insulation are now key elements in my design.

Any use of glass has been cut from the design as it transfers heat to quick, viewing windows will be plexi or acrylic glass. So in order to circumvent having to seal wood or other really costly means of building the viv body I decided to use a 55 gallon black plastic tote from master craft. It’s large and 2 feet wide about 3 feet deep and just over 3 feet high.

I like this bin it can hold about 400 pounds and is made of thick black rugged plastic with it titled properly it gives me a foot of substrate and over 2 feet for viewing and putting in some of my prized drift wood pieces. Still living in the Atlantic Ocean so is love to find some opinions on fresh seafood mucles fish and scallops, no other crabs or lobster. Anyways I’m off topic back to how and why I’m choosing to insulate my viv in a cold weather environment.

The inner walls of the viv are basic foam insulation, this is to help retain heat the outside is now being coated in many layers of mortor, this will later be sealed by some krylon spray sealant supposed to be a tough inert water proof layer. My big concern here as I am sure most of you are thinking there tough little legs after a fresh moly and the incessant need for destruction.

The drift wood I chose is a mass of roots from a well aged and worn down piece it’s been baked stripped.

As for the recon for viv materials I have lots of sand, stone and other tidbits I’ve collected

[Rusty Shackleford]

. Viv body with a few layers done going to be adding a hard coat mixed with gravel, the ledge has about 4-5 inches of depth and will be used to hold the bulk of the living vine material. I have some virgina creeper I would like to use but will probably go with regular green pothos. Keeping the detail on the skull has been hard, and I am trying to keep the weight down as this whole thing will be installed into a display unit.

[Rusty Shackleford]

this is the root mass I would like to use... though it’s pine so yeah I am still on the fence I’ve used well weathered pine in vivs before but I might end up passing. I figured out how to fix the pics!! Yay

[aussieJJDude]

Idk if anyone else is suffering this problem, but I cant see the oics...

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[JoeHermits]

I can’t see them, either.


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[Rusty Shackleford]

starting to come together it’s in that ugly stage of construction though. Still on track for the price of 100$ even for the sculpted and insulated viv body and window.

[Hermiesguardian]

I can see the pics now. I couldn't before.

[RiNiKy506]

I couldn’t see them before, I can now. It looks soo cool! Your doing an amazing job, I can’t imagine how hard this must be to build. I can’t wait to see it finished. Your making this all under $100? Did I read that correctly!?


Rod♡Salty♡Bob♡Squirt♡Crabina♡Who
»-♡-> Our Purple Pinchers <-♡-«

[Rusty Shackleford]

Thank you I am going for a cheaper alternative to doing the build out out of wood then sealing it, costs are relatively as follows construction: tote 26$, mortor 30$, sealant 25$ door and hardware closer to 40$ because I am buying extra. Silicone and foam I have on hand.
The display shelf that the tote will be secured inside off will cover the tote entirely and you won’t even know it’s there once completed. It will be made of old closet doors and old barn boards for appeal, then painted. It will probably cost me nothing to put this together as I have everything needed left over from a house remodel and we’ll I save everything.

Lights and heating will cost roughly 60$ going to be going with a side mounted heat pad with a dimmer. The lights will be sealed and mounted above that will then be accessed by a pannel in the front of the display shelf.

Later tonight I’ll add some more pics of the rocks I have gathered and try to go into a little more detail.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Sitting on the boat to go into town for a couple days since I’ve finally managed to get a job. Since I’ll be able to pick up some supplies, I wanted to right a list and maybe use this time to reflect of my methods and goals.

The I need more mortar the material used above was supposed to be finishing the bathroom Reno, but we are stuck between a white subway tile or copper panels. So since I need some more for both projects I’ll get a lager amount. With the past few layers I’ve been mixing it to a thick soup consistently this has worked well and has only cracked in spots where the seams are weakest, these cracks I expected and will become solid after this next layer. This next layer will be a mixture of acrylic paint, mortar and gravel to give it texture. This layer will also be applied in a thicker heavy coat as it sets rocks will be set into it these will mainly act as detail a way to save material and to stop attempts at burrowing into the side of the background though tests have proven it to be almost rock hard. After this is all done I want to apply a spray on clear coat hoping to find something from krylon as it comes highly respected in dart frog and salt water reef forums.

If I could on a side note ask does anyone have any figures or opinions on the pressure exerted by an adult let’s say jumbo PP’s legs I have a real horror story about this topic I’d share it but it involves a trapped jumbo named George and well George wasn’t hurt nor any other crab or animal other than myself it was just brutal.

I am going out to look at heating options as well this week I am hoping the viv walls don’t inhibit my ability to attach it to the side but if they do I’ll just cut it out and patch over with new material I am keen on getting temperature straightened out early on as from experience humidity won’t be an issue with this build. Being in a cold climate I want to test the cage in operation so I can measure heat retention and see how hot it could get.

Shells well I already have the list made of what I want and don’t want I like the selection of Nepal’s seashell company though I have no previous experience with this sight. On another note I found a really mint shell with some after market modifications I will post pics once I get it. I am going to have to make a new post in the shell forum about it as I want to run some tests on it to determine how these modifications where made.

So I’ve seen a lot of people trying different tote viv’s as my build is primarily a tote with some mods and then set inside of a custom cabinet. I would like to share some of what I’ve done in order to seal plastic on plastic where silicone would either not be strong enough of a bond or a long lasting seal is required. Usually I resort to either using plastic right angle brackets and then using plastic nuts and bolts to fasten each piece together. Silicone will work in most cases I use a dab or two too fasten plastic hinges to custom doors, though silicone in my experience doesn’t like right angels and smooth surfaces especially if it’s exposed to wide temperature fluctuations. Pre drilling holes and using bolts in most cases is the way to go though as it allows for easier replacement and looks really sharp.