Setting up my first Viv (50gl wide aquarium)

Cam · 04-15-12, 08:38 PM

So, This is a bit vanilla as builds go, but I'm fairly excited to have the basis for my first viv or two just laying around my house

.

I've got some years of fishkeeping under my belt, and I always wanted a snake, so here I am getting into herpetofauna by getting a nice little juvie coastal carpet jag. I realise this gal will require a much larger enclosure as she grows, but right now I happen to have a couple of 50gl wide aquariums sitting about (18"x18"x36"). I saw a thread somewhere recently where the guy very cleverly turned a tank on it's side and put a viv type front on top of an aquarium, so that's what I'ma do I think for her first house!

It just so happens that I built a stand to hold 3 of these 50gl tanks several years back, and it's sitting in my spare room ready to go. This is where I'm at:

Just a tank right now, and a stand of course. Need to sort out heating and lighting and make the fronts but I'm thinking it will be a fairly easy exercise.

Already looking forward to the larger build personally!

Cam · 04-15-12, 08:42 PM

And when I say it's vanilla - I hope I'm not offending anyone with similar projects on the go.

Cam · 05-05-12, 09:21 PM

I guess I fail at updates. The snake arrives Monday, and I just finished setting this up today. I'm going to let it stabilize overnight and hopefully I won't need to mess with it too much to get the temps in the right range.

Mr Curious there shouldn't be an issue as my cats aren't allowed my my room unless I'm in here also so they won't be pestering the snake.

My only real point of regret is having used recycled plexiglass. You can see the right panel is quite foggy - that's from my half baked effort at polishing it. The snake won't care but it would be nice to have a nice clear front. I may go at it again with the polishing compound when I'm feeling like I have more patience.

Cam · 05-05-12, 09:25 PM

Fun Stuff:

Heat is 15" of 20w/f, 11" wide flexwatt controlled by the hydrofarm thermostat you can see there.

Lights are a pair of xenon under cabinet lights I got for $12 each. They actually generate quite a bit of heat so I'm thinking they will stay off most of the time. Either that or I'll need to put a little vent fan in for when they are on, otherwise they'll overheat the viv.

The bottom 5" of plexi is bonded to the plastic "top" of the aquarium with DOW732 silicone, which sticks better to plastics than most silicones. Couple of sash locks, a piano hinge, and 12" holes for ventilation.

Anyone have thoughts?

Cam · 05-05-12, 09:28 PM

Oh! and I need to order some cork background to hide the cords and crap you can see through the back/bottom of the tank. I had thought I could get that stuff at a pet shop on my latest road trip but nobody seems to have it.

This stuff:

Mr Herp: Cork Tile Backround, Odds & Ends

Lankyrob · 05-06-12, 05:45 AM

My cats sleep on top of my vivs too, they are no longer interested in the snakes they just like the heat

as long as the viv is stable and wont tip over then i wouldnt worry too much

exwizard · 05-06-12, 05:56 AM

It looks really good. Sometimes I wish I was handy like this.

Cam · 05-06-12, 09:28 AM

Well with 15" of flexwatt and my thermostat set at 108, I can't get the ambients where I want, so today I'll be sticking another 15" of it to the side.

jarich · 05-06-12, 01:57 PM

Ya, you should be able to get a really really low grit polishing disc to go at it with again. Should be able to get most of that out. Looks like a nice enclosure though.

Cam · 05-06-12, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jarich

Ya, you should be able to get a really really low grit polishing disc to go at it with again. Should be able to get most of that out. Looks like a nice enclosure though.

Yeah I've polished acrylic before but it was aways just buffing out little scratches, not a whole chunk. I was doing it by hand and it takes a fair bit of elbow grease so I kinda gave up.

jarich · 05-07-12, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cam

Yeah I've polished acrylic before but it was aways just buffing out little scratches, not a whole chunk. I was doing it by hand and it takes a fair bit of elbow grease so I kinda gave up.

By hand!? Ya, I can imagine why you would give up. Thats a big piece to be doing by hand.

If you are finding its still staying too humid, Id maybe look at putting in a vent that could be closed as opposed to drilling more holes. That way if you ever change the animal inside there, you have the option to keep it humid.

Speaking of which, you got the new inhabitant yet?

Strutter769 · 05-06-12, 04:13 PM

Looks really nice! How've you got it ventilated? I think I see a few holes drilled in the Plexiglas front?

Can't wait to see pics of the new tenant!

Cam · 05-06-12, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strutter769

Looks really nice! How've you got it ventilated? I think I see a few holes drilled in the Plexiglas front?

Can't wait to see pics of the new tenant!

Thanks! she arrives tomorrow afternoon.

The 12 holes in the front are for ventilation but humidity in there is quite high right now it seems so I might put some more in. I'll let it be for a week or so and see if the substrate just needs to dry out a bit.

Bradyloach · 05-06-12, 04:18 PM

Wow looks so good

Cam · 05-07-12, 05:34 PM

I just picked her up a couple hours ago!