my crabitat build photo journal!!

littleraindrop87 · Post by **littleraindrop87** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:39 am

oh u mean one set has 2 corners?? wow then can i just have 2 if that's alright with you! and i have no idea what background i want and since you are the creative one, i'll just leave it up to you really

I'm just so happy about the items and all your help with the background!!!! ':wootjump:' and do just take your time. you dont have to rush anything for me at all.

curious_kitty · Post by **curious_kitty** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:44 am

keke, okay. I will try to come up with cool background. Do you have any favorite theme? jungle, or rainforest, etc etc?
if you want to look around for pictures of the theme, now is the time~!
I do have lots of pictures on this thread- so you can maybe look them over? since i am making it anyway, and spray foam is pretty flexible in what you want to do in any way you want to design it. I have lots of black pond/waterfoam and cocofiber left over to make a nice background for you.

littleraindrop87 · Post by **littleraindrop87** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:50 am

I would love a rainforest look. I've always wanted like a pot for the crabs to hide behind curtains of plants. so for example, if i put the corner shelves at the corner, i would have streams of small ferns/plants streaming over the edge to almost the ground so the crabs can 'hide' behind the plants and i can still see them. Its something like the cave behind a waterfall but this is more like a hideaway spot behind streaming plants. I hope you get what mean. Its more rainforest rather than jungle.

curious_kitty · Post by **curious_kitty** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:00 am

littleraindrop87 wrote:I would love a rainforest look. I've always wanted like a pot for the crabs to hide behind curtains of plants. so for example, if i put the corner shelves at the corner, i would have streams of small ferns/plants streaming over the edge to almost the ground so the crabs can 'hide' behind the plants and i can still see them. Its something like the cave behind a waterfall but this is more like a hideaway spot behind streaming plants. I hope you get what mean. Its more rainforest rather than jungle.

oooh thats a cool idea. have you thought about putting some live plants into the tank? I can put some built in pots(small ones), so you can easily put live plants there. they can be put around the corner shelves so if you put live plants there, it can act like semi-forest curtain so hermies dont feel as exposed. if you dont want the live plants in the tat, I can put some plastic plants into the foam, to be more decorative. I love the live plants, that way they can munch on them too~

curious_kitty · Post by **curious_kitty** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:04 am

do you want the shelves to be 'fixed' into the background? this can be good and bad, depending on if you want to change it around yourself or not. its good in a way that shelves wont ever fall out if hermies play rough, but bad if you want to change the location around.
option 1. all the shelves, and caves can be built into the background, using foam method that was used in my large enclosure.
option 2: just background by itself, and shelves are put on by you later, using strings onto it. I think this can be stable too, as long as you do good job securing it using strings. Because foam background can easily be carved, or poke a hole in, you can arrange shelves that way.

my large enclosure I built is based on option 1. I wanted everything stable, and like the built-in look.

but since you are decorating the tank, you might like the option of being able to rearrange things...
whether you choose option 1 or 2, the background can be taken out since it will be using suction cups to be fixed into the tank wall... so it depends on what you want

littleraindrop87 · Post by **littleraindrop87** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:06 am

I wish i could put live plants but i'm a terrible green thumb and that poor tank wont get enough sunlight for plants to grow. I'm probably going to stick with fake ones :/ i might put a little pot with a certain grass to grow in and then have a small plastic cover with holes for the grass to grow taller such that the crabs can only reach for those that have grown out of the cover to eat. that way the grass will always be there for them to munch on

The crabs seems to be munching on my wires. i just realised that a little wire for the water filters is exposed. :/

oh and may i suggest that you could have a sample of the box before making it? i'd hate it if you've gone through all that trouble and the background wont fit into the box.

littleraindrop87 · Post by **littleraindrop87** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:08 am

I think i would like option 2!!! Thanks so much for all your thoughts and help. I really appreciate it!

curious_kitty · Post by **curious_kitty** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:11 am

littleraindrop87 wrote:I wish i could put live plants but i'm a terrible green thumb and that poor tank wont get enough sunlight for plants to grow. I'm probably going to stick with fake ones :/ i might put a little pot with a certain grass to grow in and then have a small plastic cover with holes for the grass to grow taller such that the crabs can only reach for those that have grown out of the cover to eat. that way the grass will always be there for them to munch on The crabs seems to be munching on my wires. i just realised that a little wire for the water filters is exposed. :/

oh and may i suggest that you could have a sample of the box before making it? i'd hate it if you've gone through all that trouble and the background wont fit into the box.

keke I hear you. I have few vines and plastic plants that I can probably use to make something.

The dimensions of the tank, is that the inside measurements? It will be easier if you can give me the inside dimensions because outside dimensions will be abit larger than inside(due to glass thickness). I will make a background so that you can move things around~ that would be more fun and flexible designing option in the long run

littleraindrop87 · Post by **littleraindrop87** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:15 am

keke I hear you. I have few vines and plastic plants that I can probably use to make something.

The dimensions of the tank, is that the inside measurements? It will be easier if you can give me the inside dimensions because outside dimensions will be abit larger than inside(due to glass thickness). I will make a background so that you can move things around~ that would be more fun and flexible designing option in the long run

Thank you so much!!!!

the dimensions are the inside dimensions

the only one that might affect it is the 16 inch one. 16 inch is the exact height from the bottom(inside of tank) to the wierd side lip on the top so 15.5 inch would be safer

curious_kitty · Post by **curious_kitty** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:18 am

cool.I will leave enough bottom so that you have some room for error. The foams are meant for being submerged in the water, and they dry really hard(they wont be able to pinch it off). and they are meant for aquarium fish use, so its safe.

curious_kitty · Post by **curious_kitty** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:22 am

ok, so here are few that I can try to make similar to:

littleraindrop87 · Post by **littleraindrop87** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:23 am

The foams are meant for being submerged in the water, and they dry really hard(they wont be able to pinch it off). and they are meant for aquarium fish use, so its safe.

wow. I tried looking for those here but i don't think i have ever seen them. Thank you so so so much for everything!! I could hug and kiss you all over!!!

:D:D

---edit---

Those pictures looks great! i did see one or two in your earlier post in this thread

I will need some space in the tank to take the food and water dishes if you are going to put vines in. That's the only though i can think of now. I'm sure i'd love whatever background you make for me

curious_kitty · Post by **curious_kitty** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:36 am

ooooh, got it. how about just simple foam, covered in cocofiber, and you can just add vines yourself? you just use small knife, or sharp things to poke a hole, put vines into the hole. I will just leave rest to you. I will cut the egg crate to your inside dimension, and cut that in half so I can pack it into the box. you can use the strings to put two pieces of background together into the tank. Rest of them, you can definitely do it, as its pretty easy to add things into the background~!

littleraindrop87 · Post by **littleraindrop87** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:40 am

Oh that sounds great!!!

i'm super stoked really. Thanks so much for everything!!!!

and please do get a sample of the box first so that it'll be easier for you as well. I feel so bad making you go through all that trouble. Thank you so much!!!!

curious_kitty · Post by **curious_kitty** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:45 am

i think my 30g at home might be pretty close to your tank dimension.. I am not sure but I will check when I get home. Its emptied right now, so if the sizes are pretty close I will use that as a box to make a background! otherwise, I will get the shelves packed up for you. Did you decide which box you wanted? the shelves will be able to fit into the smaller size international box. the longest one is like 10" or slightly less and they are only 3/4" thick.