| The vivarium space, here is the empty space that is going to contain the vivarium. Brick walls were available on 3 sides.
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| Construction of the floor base. All wooden bars ( 5 cm x 5 cm ) are screwed on the side wall with intermediate carriers and support poles in the middle to carry the immense weight of the water in the vivarium.
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| Two 12 mm water proof tropical wood multiplex support plates to transfer the weight to the support system. The brick walls are heat isolated with heat reflection film ( 2 layers metallised film ).
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| Lighting construction, 14 PL lamps of each 36 Watts. All having a transformer, starter and connection wiring ( 7 wires per lamp ). Mounted on a sheet of multiplex wood, with a heat reflecting film. Each lamp has its own light reflector to increase the light intensity to receive enough light on the floor of the vivarium.
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Close up of the cable mass of the lighting construction
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Construction of the bottom back panel with the openings for the water dump, the green hoses for the waterfall and the back wall watering and the small black pressure hose for the misting nozzles. |
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Water tank for the vivarium water ( kind of false bottom container ), containing the water pump for the waterfall ( small ) and the pump for the back wall watering ( large pump ). One can also see the PVC outlet for the overflow returning pipe of the vivarium.
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Water tank and pump connection for the misting system. This high pressure membrane pump can not be immersed and sucks the water out of the seperate moveable tank for ultraclean RO water.
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Overview of the vivarium with me in it to compare the size ( I am 8 foot 6 inch or 1,95 M ). This also shows the tanks underneath the vivarium for water collection and the mounted bottom back plate with the water overflow piping and water supply hoses.
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All (FSC) tropical wood plates mounted against the side and back. Hoses connected to the appropriate connection pieces ( black ) and the ventilation system installed ( white top ). First layer of paint applied on critical points.
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Fully epoxy coated vivarium, all sides made water tight with aquarium quality silicone after painting. |
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Application of the PVC heavy pond quality foil for long lasting water tightness. Top sides are stapled the rest glued to the wood with silicone. |
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PVC pond foil is fully applied here, on the bottom 3 layers are used, which are made water tight with special soft PVC glue for pond foils. |
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| The heating wires will provide the heat for the bottom, a small regulator in the top hood will controll the power input. Total wattage of the heat wire was 200 W. 4 nozzles were connected to the high pressure pump to create the misting system for this vivarium. In the top the green PVC hose was connected to the back wall watering pump. Small 1.5 mm holes were drilled at 5 cm distances to water the fern root back panel which will be added later.
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| This shows the water return construction. The rectangular PVC pipe has large screen covered bottoms at the bottom of the pipe were the water can flow inside the tube. This water will return to the circulating container below the vivarium.
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| The glass construction to keep the water inside the vivarium is throughly siliconed to each other and to the PVC foil of the vivarium. The heighth is tuned with the overflow PVC system so that the water should not come over the top of the glass. The vivarium will be closed with a separate door with glass inside.
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| This is the first bottom layer made with highly permeable zeolite rocks. These provide adequate surface for micro-organisms to clean the water biologically from nitrates, ammonia and animal wastes.
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| The zeolite layer is covered with a first layer of peat bricks, these peat bricks were immersed in water one day prior to putting them in the vivarium. The peat bricks were added after the test of the water tightnes of the whole system.
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| The first layer of peat bricks is covered with the heating wire, which wires are immersed in milled peat to protect them from mechanical forces due to peat brick movements or pressures.
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| Now the landscaping can start with the following layers of peat brick chips. I used a very rough type of brick that resembles the natural surroundings more than the finer type. In order to gain highth and to create dry feet for the frogs to live in, quite some highth was added, with these bricks. The sides were filled with PUR Foam. Also two large pices of wood were added to create a more natural look of the whole.
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| Making a "hollow tree" form by applying PUR foam behind and around the wood structures.
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| First application of my home made flevopol-based coco-peat and peat mixture on uncoated PUR.
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| Close-up of the flevopol mixture just after application in the transition area between wood and PUR.
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| Result after the second evening of "artificial wood resin" application.
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| The whole PUR section covered with "artificial wood resin" and the rest of the vivarium covered with fern root plates.
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| Close-up of the ventilation / circulation fans system in the light hood.
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| First plants and additional branches and tree inserted in the still open vivarium.
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| More plants Orchids, ferns and bromelaids ordered and planted and pinned in the vivarium
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| Front door finished and double glazing in operation ( outside look )
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| The first frogs are entered in the vivarium. Picture taken 3 months after the previous.
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| The Vivarium turns green and the plants grow rapidly to form a green oasis. This picture was taken 2 months after the previous.
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| The Vivarium is very green now taken 11 months after the previous, frogs are doing great and I need to weed the vivarium every month now. ( for the rest it is maintenance free )
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