pic of the new viv i'm building.

heres a pic of how the new viv currently looks:


currently 3 sections are somewhat built. the base, the dirt bin, and the viewing area. i'm estimating its 50-75 percent done. it still needs the plywood around the sides and ends of the dirt bin area and windows/walls on the viewing area. am strongly considering covering up the back and ends of the tank so only the front can be seen threw. current dimensions are 6'8" long x 2"8' deep x about 6' tall. was going to make a hood for ontop of it to hold lamps and fixtures aswell. but don't know if i will anymore.

the bottem part of it is the base, it will hold plumbing, pumps, and 1 or 2 filtered 10 gallon aquariums for the pond and soil runoff to go into. the middle section is the dirt bin section. it has a holding area of 6ft x 2ft x 1ft. it will have 3 inches of large gravel and 8 inches of dirt (not including hills etc that will be higher then this section). the larger area top section is the viewing area. the front will be 3 sheets of plexiglass on hinges so the whole front will be able to be opened up. back and sides of it will probably be plywood as well since i'm now planing to build up the back to make a cliff face scene.

as for landscaping, on the left end thier will be a 2ft tall mountain and along the back, a cliff face scene. both the mountain and cliff face are being made to resemble a small cliff face thats in a local park. its a beutiful sight in the summer time. water dripping down it, mosses wildly growing on it, the jagged almost slate-like rock. the cliff face and mountain will be made out of rocks collected from this area in the park. i'll post a picture of it on monday when i go back to get more rocks.

the tall mountain will have a small pond ontop of it feeding a cascading waterfall down into another small pond. from thier the water will flow threw a meandering streem that runs to the right end of the tank where thier will be a larger pond (possibley 5 or more gallons, haven't decided on its shape and size yet). both the ponds and the stream on the bottem of the tank will be sunken into the ground by about an inch with the rest of the dirt sloping into them for water to drain into them more effectivly.

the waterfall should help the humidity stay high, to keep the soil moist, the drainpipe for the pond will do a circle around the tank about 4 inches below the ground. the pipe will be perferated to let water seep out into the soil. the pipe then empties into the gravel under the soil. at the opposite end of the tank from the ponds drainpipe, thier is an overflow pipe in the gravel which drains into the 10 gallon tank(s) that will be undernieth the viv. the tanks will be filtered so impuritys, and other harmful chemicals will be constantly washed out of the dirt and water.

besides the large amount of plants to hide in, thier will also be small tunnels made into the dirt to offer hiding spots and 1 or 2 caves in the side of the mountain.

when done (not for another few months) its going to hopefully look like a completly natural tropical rainforest.

no clue what to do for wildlife yet.

wow what a project looks and sounds great

Hello,

I look forward to seeing the finished result. It sounds great.

When I'm "projecting" something its usually 50 gallon size not garden shed size =)
Good luck and keep us posted!

Big under taking, good luck can't wait for the finished product.

Looks real good and seems to be quite the undertaking , I'm hoping to make an outdoor enclosure this spring for my water dragon

thanks for the comments guys.

heres photo of where the inspiration came from for the mountain and stone backing that will be in the viv:


with it being wintertime, the cliff isen't too lively. in summer thiers usually tons of moss growing on it and water dripping down it. makes it look sorta like a cliff in a rainforest.

wow sounds neat.

Question on the plumbing, and if you said this, sorry for asking agian. The water that has finished it's trip under the soil and gravel that ends up in the tanks under the main area, is this going to feed back into the 'main water area' of the tank where the waterfall base is going to be located at? I assume so since you did mention that it is going to be filtered here, but I don't think that you said. Also are you going to have to have the bottom at a slant to ensure that you get good drainage of water an no water is left standing under the soil, or is there just some trick that I haven't heard about yet? (nevermind, I just re-read it agian and your not going to collect water from the soil, just the run off from the pipe that didn't go into the soil. gotcha.)

a little update.

the viv is almost done now.
heres 2 pics of how it currently looks:

hope it fits through the door!