Lily's Bioactive Build!

GoodKarma19 said:
I plan on applinf several coats of Liquid Rubber (very similar to liquid FlexSeal, but Canadian) and possibly installing pond liner on top of that.

Really, I suppose it doesnt need to be waterproof so much as water resistant. Standing water is highly unlikely - I've been spraying the heck out of my big viv, and there's nothing even close to the drainage layer! I'm half considering doing away with drainage entirely on this one, see what happens.
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Well I meant more to say, Isopods Proof... Won't they eat wood?
 
Thatwizard420 said:
Well I meant more to say, Isopods Proof... Won't they eat wood?
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Isopods only eat wood if it's rotting, and considering that I'll be applying several coats of Liquid rubber +/- pond liner on the inside I'm not concerned. The fear that they eat wood is from lumberyards, where they're frequently found hiding under (often slowly rotting) lumber.

I'll be using mostly springtails and detritus milipedes for Lily's enclosure, anyway.
 
Tony_S said:
That's one addiction I hope I don't get. I'm still burnt out from doing mine and hope I don't have to do another one for a while.

But yours is looking awesome.
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I expected to be burnt out, but I'm energized! I guess it's because I'm big into sculptural arts to begin with, and this is a pretty organic extension of that.

I'd love to do a bioactive build for an arid species, and a little nano build for my desk. I'm thinking an African Fat-Tail gecko for the arid, and some sort of invert for the nano. Maybe a little Whip-Tail Scorpion or a small tarantula! :love:
 
GoodKarma19 said:
See? This one gets it! :ROFLMAO: I've decided upon a little nano tarantula tank for my desk. I need to do some serious research, first, since I'm not super familiar with arachnids... but I do love them!!
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Ohhhhh ok so your really good with the foam now too. Like build it a little cave with foam and you can make it look all cliff like lol. I am thinking you should go into the foam custom backgrounds business personally.
 
Beman said:
Ohhhhh ok so your really good with the foam now too. Like build it a little cave with foam and you can make it look all cliff like lol. I am thinking you should go into the foam custom backgrounds business personally.
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Ooh, I could make some super cute cave networks or something! :D I bet I could figure out a way to make the network "open backed" against the glass, so I can peek in! Maybe put a dark window cling on the viv, so it doesnt stress the little guy out... :unsure:

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Becca!! :love: I'm not sure how I'd manage shipment/installation, though... something to consider, perhaps! I've had a bit of local interest, and might give it a shot if I can figure out the logistics. It'd be a fun side venture!!
 
I don’t know how you have the patience to carve such detail into the foam. I would go nuts. I just went with the smooth look cause it’s easier and it still took forever to carve it out.
 
Lennoncham said:
I don’t know how you have the patience to carve such detail into the foam. I would go nuts. I just went with the smooth look cause it’s easier and it still took forever to carve it out.
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I have some pretty crazy laser focus when it comes to details, it's true. I get completely absorbed, and lose hours in it! Just turn on some music, and off I go! I work with a lot of clay and other modeling materials, and it's trained me well for this, haha! :p I'm more practiced with additive sculpting that negative, but I'm starting to brush that rust off.
 
Cocofibre's on! I had to do a bit of touch up around the edges, but sometime over the next couple weeks I'll be pulling out my reindeer moss collection and little sticks/roots to detail the background and feeder. I had been considering more live moss, but with the hassle I'm having with my other enclosure I've decided that the dead stuff will probably work best. At least for the top half of the cage, where it doesn't appear to be adjusting as well in the other viv!

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While cleaning the ReptiBreeze, I came across considerable rusting toward the bottom 1/4. I sanded it all down, and am currently debating what sort of paint I want to go with. Probably some sort of marine grade satin black. :unsure:
 
Been awhile since I've updated - oops! :oops: Life got away on me, and I forgot to take as many step by step pictures as I intended!

It's almost done, now, and mostly just needs some finishing touches and clean up. I'll place some Spanish moss and reindeer moss once the remaining glue has settled. I'll be replacing the tiny baby China doll with a larger tree-like plant, once I find one I like! Going plant shopping this weekend, so I'll probably get something then. Electrical needs to be cleaned up and I havent set up basking, yet, but it's getting there! Sides will be covered with shower curtains to retain humidity and reduce overspray. Just need to go and pick out a cute jungle themed one, haha!

There's exactly enough room on each side of the planter box to place some narrow little window sill boxes, and since the lights overhang by a few inches I figure I'll make use of it!

Plants: marble queen pothos, heart leaf philodendron, fluffy ruffles boston fern, varigated creeping fig, rainbow moss (Selaginella uncinata), China doll (likely being replaced).

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This looks soooo good!! Nice work! Love the lattice, did you do a step by step in that? Lol What did you use? Bamboo or dowels? I can’t really tell...or both?:unsure:
 
janjan20 said:
This looks soooo good!! Nice work! Love the lattice, did you do a step by step in that? Lol What did you use? Bamboo or dowels? I can’t really tell...or both?:unsure:
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Thank you! :D i didnt take many pictures, but I'll explain as well as I can.

It's all bamboo stakes, and was an enormous pain in my rear end! I made it difficult for myself, though, cause I constructed them with the enclosure standing upright and the background already in haha! It probably would have been much easier with the enclosure on its side. But essentially, I just used a couple twist ties to "tack" everything on the mesh when I wanted it, and then zip tied it together. The lattices also serve to support the background (and Visa versa)!

Partial lay out the first layer of diagonals. I used a pair of pruning shears to cut everything to size, and it fits pretty snugly- especially around the background! I managed to tear a few holes in the mesh while wrestling them into place but it'll be covered by a shower curtain anyway haha!

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One side done, starting to work on the other. You can see clearly how I just laid out one layer of diagonals, and then put the opposite ones directly on top before securing them with zipties. You can also see the green twisties on the unfinished side, holding things roughly where I wanted them!

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It's a pretty strong structure, and made branch placement soooo much easier! And I love that I can just snip the zipties and move branches if I want do, and I'm sure I can attach more plant pots to it without a hitch.
 
Oooo ok! You explained it well and the pics helped lol! I’ll be bookmarking this! I want to do this for my baby set up once they hatch. Basil lost so many nails climbing and I just didn’t have any good ideas besides hardware cloth. This is more aesthetically pleasing to look at lol.
 
janjan20 said:
Oooo ok! You explained it well and the pics helped lol! I’ll be bookmarking this! I want to do this for my baby set up once they hatch. Basil lost so many nails climbing and I just didn’t have any good ideas besides hardware cloth. This is more aesthetically pleasing to look at lol.
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Glad I could help! It'd work really well with tiny dowels and maybe some hot glue instead of zipties for a baby enclosure. I'll be using something similar from now on to keep chams off the mesh and provide anchor points
 
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