Vivarium Progress *updated*

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue May 08, 2007 5:48 pm

keep on keepin on, hehe... good luck!!

Have you thought about duct tape?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed May 09, 2007 9:25 am

lol I'm Canadian, OF COURSE I thought about duct tape

I figured the glue might not be safe for them though. I hope this does the trick, I really do think that John pushed too hard on the tank and split some of the sealant. I'll post another update on Friday when I refill it

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed May 09, 2007 6:26 pm

I know I read it in a previous post you submitted but didn't you say something about using a fish bowl in case this sealant thing got the best of you? Kritter Karriers would work, too.... I'm trying to think really hard of things to help you with your delimma but I am running out of options

This is frustrating! I really hope it works out though

Well good luck, can't wait to see the update on friday

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat May 12, 2007 2:21 pm

well I'm not sure if it's leaking or not. I filled it yesterday and it definitely lost a little water over the course of the day but whether from leakage or evaporation I don't know. SO if I get home from work tonight and it's still good I'm going to get the filter running and go buy my fish later this week. I'm thinking maybe just 1 betta, since I don't actually have a heater in the tank and I'm pretty sure guppies appreciate heaters. I'll still think about it though. That rotten Rosebud is definitely under molting, haven't seen him for almost a week, so I guess the plants will have lots of time to put down roots for the next 6 weeks while he molts

Just when Cheery was getting ready to come up from her molt too

This is a big week for me, we're finally getting to bring our finches to the aviary to trade for a baby budgie! SO excited!! They're hand feeding budgies now so we'd pick our baby this week then in a few weeks when he's weaned we'll go back and pick him up

We might get a linnie instead, but we're not sure, I really like the idea of having a budgie named Burt though

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon May 14, 2007 5:50 pm

*sigh* well the good news is I fixed the leak from last week... the bad news is that apparently there were 2 leaks last week and I only fixed one of them

BUT this one is closer to the top than the last one so I'll do the same trick, take out a cup of water and silicone from the water's edge up and hopefully that'll do the trick. Of course Rosebud is down for a molt so now I have time to perfect this thing

For some reason the humidity in my main tank is in the basement lately, I've had to mist 3 times in the last few days

Must be b/c I'm adopting 2 newbies this week and it's trying to make me look bad

We're going to the aviary on Wednesday, so I'll take the camera and get some pics of our new baby whilst still all pin feathery and ugly!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue May 15, 2007 10:00 am

Thalia wrote: I'm thinking maybe just 1 betta, since I don't actually have a heater in the tank and I'm pretty sure guppies appreciate heaters.

betta's appreciate heaters too. they're tropical.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue May 15, 2007 10:09 am

I know they like warmer temps too, but they also do ok at room temperature. I've had a betta in my kitchen for over a year now and kitchenfish is still going strong without a heater. I worry that the guppies would be more delicate than the betta. I've never had good luck with guppies before.

Tidytourniquet · Post by **Tidytourniquet** » Tue May 15, 2007 10:55 am

IME my guppies have always done better then my bettas have in cooler water. I have a couple guppies in with some goldfish, they were culls but my goldfish never ate them so now they live just fine together and actually pop out babies every month. But then again there are some bettas that actually don't like their water as warm as it normally should be and become a little lethargic. Whatever you decide just make sure you take some pics

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue May 15, 2007 10:56 am

They are going to be in the really warm tank... won't that warm it up enough? My mom always kept the "feeder" guppies without heaters and they did really well...

Tidytourniquet · Post by **Tidytourniquet** » Tue May 15, 2007 10:58 am

That's what I was thinking too. As long as it never drops under 70, which I don't think it will, they should both be fine with the temp.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue May 15, 2007 11:11 am

You know Thalia, I don't want to burst your bubble, but if you are having so many problems with this mini-tank now, have you thought about the possibility that it might leak after you get the whole shebang set up?

It would be really awful to have the vivarium up and then come home to a flood!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue May 15, 2007 5:22 pm

Shush Crustine! Actually the tank only holds a gallon or two and it's in a 50 Gallon tank with 6 - 7 inches of cocofibre, so even if it bursts it shouldn't flood the tank, well at least the last 4 times it hasn't

AND I have 6 weeks to get it fixed up and running. The problem is that the tank's sides are all slightly different in width, so when I seal them together there's tiny gaps, that's what we get for cutting our own plexi lol. I figure enough aquarium sealant will get it all patched up

I was wondering about the 'tat temp keeping the water temp up, maybe I'll wait until after I have the 'tat running for a while to see what the tank temp is doing. I could just get feeder guppies then if they die at least I haven't broken the bank. I've honestly never been able to keep normal guppies alive, just the feeders lol.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue May 15, 2007 8:36 pm

The feeder guppies are very hardy.

I'd try those. If they can't live in there I wouldn't put any fish in there.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri May 18, 2007 8:35 am

lol sorry I've been so excited about my budgie, actually I have to go start a few new threads, a whole bunch o molters just came up last night and I adopted 2 new crabs! I even scored some beautiful fake logs from the people I adopted the crabs from which are going in the vivarium! I've gotta reseal that tank today and then I'll take some pics, going to be a lot of posting going on!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon May 21, 2007 2:32 pm

OK here's a few more pics. I got these great plastic wood pieces from the people I adopted 2 crabs from, I'm so excited about them. They look great and give me some natural looking hideys, which means I don't have to use my ugly old flower pot!
OH and Rosebud made an appearance on Friday so I may just dig the little brat up and move him and everyone else this week if this pool thing works out. Cheery also was up and looking good after her molt, I've also seen Berber and all of my E's so it seems that everyone is coming up from molting which means it's probably a good time to move, before Rosebud starts and I have to wait 6 - 10 weeks.
I resealed the pool (again) on Friday. I put water in today and although the first inch leaked out it seems to be holding. I'm not going to bother resealing the first inch, so if it holds I'm going to drain all the water tomorrow, replace it with fresh and then on Thursday I might move the crabs. The poor plants are not doing well from lack of light

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o265 ... ntview.jpg
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o265 ... leshot.jpg
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o265 ... veshot.jpg

HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Vivarium Progress updated