18x18x24 planted viv w/ DIY backround crestie build

[fallenangelfyre]

hey guys, time for a new build!
last one was a custom dry desert build for a leopard gecko. this one is going to be a tropical planted viv for either just one male crestie, or maybe a pair of female cresties.
after surfing CL for months looking for a deal on a terrarium or appropriate aquarium i said screw it & just bought everything new at the evil empire of petsmart. so after dropping about $200 at petsmart, wally world, & lowes here's what i came home with:
- 18x18x24 zoo med terrarium (wanted the exo terra b/c they seem a little higher quality, but with a price difference of $100, went w/ the zoo med)
- 18" exo terra compact light topper.
- 2 6500K CFL's
- brick of coco husk
- 3 cans of greatstuff big gap
- 4 tubes of GE silicon II (brown)
- 1 large chunk of craft styrofoam (prolly going to need more)
- 10lb. bag of dark color non-sanded grout
- 3 foam paintbrushes

so my vision is to do a hybrid DIY backround of both the styrofoam/grout stonework & GS/silicon/coco fiber BG. leca balls, mesh barrier, & organic mix of some sort covered with leaf litter & moss cover for substrate. planted with live plants.

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ok, went to the evil empire again and got a nice piece of mopani that will bridge the backround with a rockwall food dish ledge. also got a grab-bag of what i thought was a bunch of malaysian driftwood, didn't read the packaging well enough & turned out to be grapewood (which from what i've read doesn't hold up well in wet vivs). so . . idk.

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i just ordered a kaz coolmist humidifier, so i'm going to have the fog thing going on (on a timer prolly 1-2 times a day for a minute or two)
was thinking of carving up an easter island head thingy, embed it in the bg, and have the fog pour out of his mouth-

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siliconed in all the pvc connectors & what-not for the fogger:

started carving up my statue guy. turned out kinda creepy looking. gonna have the fog come out of his nose (was toying with the idea of having green LED's in his eyes):

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not alot of progress, but have one cool pic testing out the fogger through the statue head-

in the process of applying gs & carving. question:
need a way to seal the grout faux rock wall portions. i used mod podge in my previous build because it was a dry desert style viv, but i've noticed mod podge doesn't hold up well to moisture. i do have some polyacrylic that i bought recently for a furniture project (i believe minwax). toying with using it. i tried reading the msds sheet on it, but honestly i just don't understand all that technical mumbo-jumbo.
anybody have any experience using this stuff? any horror stories? successful attempts?

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grouting-

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this is Eros, the future inhabitant of this viv:

she is being held by Samantha of Crestopia Reptiles until i get the 10gal temp tank set up & my CGD comes in the mail. thanks Samantha!

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fogger test-

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decided not to paint the grout, so just going to forgo the sealant. would rather have painted it to make it look more stone-like & give more depth, but too much of a pain in the arse to locate a critter-friendly sealant. plus i have already completed the silicon/cocofiber portions, got my hydroton locally, & placed & am awaiting delivery of my plants & substrate. now i just want to get it all done. silicon/cocofiber is curing so alot of cocofiber piled up & not too pretty to look at, so no pics right now. plant list:

Sanseveria 2.5" Pot
Item# $3.95 USD 2 $7.90 USD

Selaginella Kraussiana "Spike Moss" 4" pot
Item# greenspikemoss $4.95 USD 1 $4.95 USD

NE Herp Vivarium Substrate Mix
Item# NEHSSUB $9.50 USD 3 $28.50 USD

Peperomia Japonica 3-4 clippings
Item# $4.95 USD 1 $4.95 USD

Selaginella Kraussiana Variegatus "Frosty Fern"
Item# $6.95 USD 1 $6.95 USD

Neoregelia "Eoz"
Item# $9.50 USD 1 $9.50 USD

Neoregelia Olens
Item# $9.99 USD 1 $9.99 USD

Standard 20G Viv Kit - 6 Tillandsias, 2 Wandering Jew Clippings, 2 Asst ivy clippings, 2 qty 12X12 Moss
Item# 20gkit $42.95 USD 1 $42.95 USD

. . . . more to come!

 

[fallenangelfyre]

need to do a little touch-up of the silicon & cocofiber, but-

 

[starreys]

that is awesome, well done .

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

Very nice! Looking forward to seeing it planted.

 

[rhachic]

That's a cool idea, the Easter Island head/fogger, it should be pretty cool once it's planted. Can't wait to see pics!

 

[fallenangelfyre]

QUESTION:
so this is my first time doing the silicon/cocofiber action & i am noticing that some of the silicon refuses to cure properly. it just stays kinda mushy. has anyone ever experienced this before?
-starting to regret not doing clay/kittylitter BG-

 

[rhachic]

Did you put it in an open space to air dry well? I honestly can't think of a reason it would not cure at all and i've done lots of silicone/cocofiber backgrounds :/

 

[Ozymandias]

you might have gotten a bad batch of silicone, it's happens to me before, you probably going to have to scrape it off the and reapply some new silicone. it's one of the reason i don't use that method any more for building backgrounds, also the clay BG wouldn't have worked because you need really high humidity to keep it from drying and cracking, which isn't good for cresties.

that head is awesome btw

 

[rhachic]

As a note on the clay possibilities, I have sucessfully used DAS clay that I used a safe clear epoxy sealant on to prevent it from getting any residue in the water and to keep the paint on the sculpture. I haven't tried mod podge or any other brands but the DAS clay gets spritzed with water once a day when i mist my eloks and has been holding up fine.

 

[Ozymandias]

i think he was talking about the kitty litter clay background used in dart frog set up that aren't sealed with anything to allow plants to grow in them, not something you have to seal.

 

[rhachic]

ah I must have misunderstood, my bad.

 

[Ozymandias]

at least that what i think he was talking

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

I tried using the silicone/cocofiber on plastic and had the same result. Even after weeks of letting it sit to cure, it never did. I ended up tossing it out and assuming that the tube of silicone was simply no good. I've not re-tried that technique since though.

 

[fallenangelfyre]

you might have gotten a bad batch of silicone, it's happens to me before, you probably going to have to scrape it off the and reapply some new silicone. it's one of the reason i don't use that method any more for building backgrounds, also the clay BG wouldn't have worked because you need really high humidity to keep it from drying and cracking, which isn't good for cresties.

that head is awesome btw

i think this is what happened. i remember when i was applying the silicon, that at one point it looked different when it was coming out of the tube than the rest. what a pain in the arse.

 

[Ozymandias]

was it kinda chunky/gritty? that what the bad silicone i've dealt with usually looks like. at least that how i remember it looks it' been a year sense my last bad batch of silicone

 

[fallenangelfyre]

was it kinda chunky/gritty?

exactly. kinda looked gritty like there was some sand mixed up in it. when i was applying it, i just thought "must not be mixed up good enough" or something.

jeebus that pisses me off. the gecko arrives tomorrow (temporary tank housing until this viv is finished), and my plant order arrives thursday or friday. now i am going to have to tear into it to remove as much of the uncured silicon as possible, then reapply. add a day of construction, plus a few more of curing time. arrrggghhh!

i'm sure it does, but going to ask a stupid question anyway- does this uncured silicon pose a threat to my gecko or my flora? i.e. what if i miss a patch of it while i'm redoing the tank?

side note:
ozy, i believe i used to see you on vivariumforums all the time. what happened to that?

 

[Ozymandias]

as long as it's not too big a patch it should be alright. and ya i was over there alot but school comes first and this is really one of the only forums i'm still active in any more though i do still pop in there ever once and a while to see if there is anything new.

 

[fallenangelfyre]

THOROUGHLY discouraged. put on some latex gloves, grabbed some paper towel and started wiping the silicon/cocofiber to remove any uncured or possibly bad silicon. i'd say about 85% came away. way more than i expected. impossible to get all of it out of all the millions of crooks and crannies of the GS. also left a thin film on the glass of uncured silicon that refuses to go away even with goo gone.
so now . . . idk. not only do i know if a newly applied (though much thinner) layer of silicon would even adhere properly over all the leftover film of uncured silicon, but i'm afraid that it will be impossible to get all the uncured silicone covered & pose a toxic threat to my gecko.
here is what the tank looks like now-

if you notice in the pic that the top portion of the viv is fine. that's where i used a different kind (same brand, same type- just different packaging) of silicon after i ran out of the first 2 tubes & it cured just fine.

meh! :-x plants should be arriving tomorrow. and now i have a potentially toxic environment that i want to plant them in. a beautiful little crestie (she arrived yesterday!) that deserves an awesome viv. plus my devil of a cat will literally eat every single possible part of any plant he can get his paws on & i have no where to put them so he can't get at them. did i say i was THOROUGHLY discouraged yet? everybody with delicate sensibilities please leave-

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EF YOU GE SILICON!!!!!

 

[Ozymandias]

ya i know it sucks you might as this point start taking some paper towel roles and see how much you can get off with that. you might consider doing the binder method to cover it thought or at least for any other project you do.

 

[fallenangelfyre]

ok, so i finally got over the bad silicon & went to work on the tank. got as much of the bad crap out that i could. tested a small section before going doing the whole thing & when it worked, i went ahead and did the rest of the tank. after a few days cure-time, cleaned it out, & put in the hydroton, screen barrier, & substrate mix. then went to town planting. this is what i've got so far: (some of these plants are not planted, just sitting in there for the benefit of the light, humidity, & protection from the devil-cat i.e. the frosty fern & english ivy sitting in the front, the wandering jew clippings, some more hoya, as well as all the tillandsia's are just sitting in there)