One thing people need to be well aware of when buying silicone to go into any water feature or tank which will house any animals is that they need to ensure the silicone they've bought is "Acid Cure" (sometimes says 'gives off acetic acid") and absolutely NOT "neutral cure" silicone. Acid cure silicone gives off acetic acid, which will dissipate over time, and you can correct the pH to get around it. Neutral cure silicone gives off FORMALDEHYDE!!! And it will keep on giving off formaldehyde for a bloody long time. I found this out the hard way about 25 years ago when we used neutral cure silicone to fix a leak in a fish tank. Even though all the water tests showed up fine (ammonia, pH, nitrates, etc) all the fish we put in the tank died pretty quickly. We felt awful when we found out what was going on, so I hope others learn from my fishpocalypse... :'(
I put on plenty, but I guess I didnt push it down hard enough. It stuck better in some places than others. Over all it is still going to work, just not quite as easily as advertised. Maybe a little text note to tell others to press it in firmly would help.
Randall Castillo Yes, the pump is in the back of the land section because the water level is the same throughout the tank. I don’t know this for sure, but since the bamboo is hollow I’m guessing that the pump is hidden under there so it can be easily maintained and cleaned. Edit - I just realized that the pump isn’t actually under the bamboo, which is stupid because like you mentioned, there is no way the maintain or replace it without tearing up the ENTIRE build apart. So, if the pump craps out then you won’t have a waterfall unless you remove everything on the bottom
Hello A small question I will have. It is possible to put on decor with polystyrene rather than directly on glass with? Yes if you advise for example Thickness. thank you in advance. Great job. Really beautiful.
are you guys not going to have issues with rotting substrate if the water level is above the drainage layer, wouldn't it be more beneficial to have a false bottom or to completely isolating the water feature with silicon?
@@ethans001 you can filter the water but the SUBSTRATE itself will just get disgusting. Unless you are planning on filtering all your damn substrate all the time and good luck with that!
Nice air-plants :D Im thinking of maybe in 2 or 1 year of getting something like this but for long tailed lizards. To kinda get something more challenging then a fire bellied toad
Wow I did not know it's that easy! My only concern is the lighting. I have Phelsuma Grandis and they require different lighting. How can I make this work with my geckos? Minus the waterfall.
Jen! (I'm assuming), can you do an update on this Viv and its inhabitants soon? I would love to see what it looks like and what you guys put in it! Thanks :)
***** was there ever an update done on this vivarium I can't find it... Also, I see that most water feature vivariums are never for crested geckos...but is it ok to have one for them? My gecko never eats his food when it's on the ground so I'm afraid he's not going to drink either.
So when drilling a hole threw the cup section. Is that also threw the foam I'm guessing? Also I thought Bromeliads preferred not being in a substrate? should i put a orchid bark around them or moss if i put them in a little bark holder like you have got or just by themselves? Any plants you recommend personally? I'm sorry for asking these questions. This sort of thing is very new to me and I just want to make sure everything turns out perfect (or as close to perfect as possible) for my Geckos.
If your misting regally in it and the woods get wet will the wood rot out and if so what should you do? And will mold start to form or a funky smell come from something like that?
I'm looking at making a 55 gallon newt enclosure, can the background covering used here be submerged or would it be best to do sand or rock down where the water level would be?
ravindra nabiel he put it in right infront of the bamboo, but this was a bad idea because if the pump stops working then you have to tear up everything to access it. The smart idea would have been putting it inside the bamboo since it is hollow, and replacing it if it broke would be easy.
You did a good job at setting up the terrarium. But if I may point out for other users. You said you sealed the bottom so that it would hold water. All Exo-Terra terrariums come pre-sealed around the bottoms up to the ventilation system to hold water. You do not need to seal the bottoms of them.
You're right, they do seal them, but sometimes they miss a spot. We seal them all just as a precaution. 99 of them don't have a gap in the sealing, but it sucks to be that 1 person in 100 that ends up with a tiny little hole in the sealing of their terrarium!
***** Is it true when making a background for a vivarium you must use aquarium safe silicone? or can I just get normal household silicone from walmart?
I have used normal silicone when working with my tanks and it works just fine, i didn't harm my reptiles or amphibians. As long as they don't have any way to ingest it i think you would be fine.
Hey man it is ok if the water is a little bit murky? I set up a terrarium similar to yours but I put moss in between the rocks and soil .seems like the moss sucked up some of the water but left it a little bit murky. Is it still safe to drink for my two dragon agamas?
The foam and silicone should be safe once it has fully cured. You need to use aquarium safe silicone. The foam is covered by the substrate, as well, so the animals shouldn't be having direct contact with it.
Skillet was wrong! The tree fern did not stick well to the expanding foam. I used the same products in the video and applied the fern immediately after laying the foam. Now I have a ton of white areas will a little bit of brown stuck to it. Time to buy that extra silicone and redo it. Otherwise it looks great.
Awesome setup bro!!! I have a question, is it safe to use lava rocks on reptiles and amphibians setups? Have a bunch of them, but I´m not sure if they are good for my reptiles. Thanks, and congrats once again!
What kind of tubing do you use? The one on your website is only 1 foot long and I couldn't find any connectors. Could I seal together the tubing using the aquarium sealant?
I read that you should never use distilled water for reptiles of any kind as it doesn't have the nutrients they need to be healthy, But you seem like a knowledgeable guy. So.. should I or should I not use distilled water for my mountain horned lizard?
Hey Skillet! Awesome viv! I'm about to make my own viv for my crested geckos and I had a few questions. I was wondering if I could use other substrates such as Eco earth using the technique you did? Also how do you recommend planting bromeliads? And finally I was going to infuse some plant pots into the background and I was wondering how I would be able to do drainage for it? Can I simple drill a hole into the cup section from below to allow water to leak out?
Hey guys! Glad I came across this video. I'm looking to do something very similar on a larger scale (36x24x18 Exo-Terra). My question is I'd like to put a fish pond in the bottom front of the tank. I don't think the rocks would have sufficient tightness to keep water in the front as shown here... Is there another way it could be done? Great video guys, I'll be using all of these ideas very soon to create my little jungle!
I suggest making a pond with the pond and stone version of the expanding foam, and making it waterproof by covering it in silicon 1. You could make any shape you want as long as you silicon it
So, I just started my wall, and nothing adhered to the foam. I covered it in substrate within 2 minutes of spraying the foam, but it didn't stick at all. Tomorrow I'll be carving it up and using the silicone method.
Love that fern stuff! The plants you picked are badass. The skull is exactly what I would/will do.
Awesome setup!!And i wish Exo terra brings back that tree fern substrate,godd I love that stuff!!!
Make sure you put plenty of whipped cream in your vivarium.
Nate Moreland why?
FudgePants animals love it. The more sugar you give them the better
I can't tell if y'all are fucking with us nubes or not 😂
>rub silicone on a concave surface for adhesion to a flat surface
that is awesome,dood knows his stuff,very kool
That's so awesome and realistic looking :D
looks great. but the skull messed it up
That's what I thought too
One thing people need to be well aware of when buying silicone to go into any water feature or tank which will house any animals is that they need to ensure the silicone they've bought is "Acid Cure" (sometimes says 'gives off acetic acid") and absolutely NOT "neutral cure" silicone.
Acid cure silicone gives off acetic acid, which will dissipate over time, and you can correct the pH to get around it.
Neutral cure silicone gives off FORMALDEHYDE!!! And it will keep on giving off formaldehyde for a bloody long time.
I found this out the hard way about 25 years ago when we used neutral cure silicone to fix a leak in a fish tank. Even though all the water tests showed up fine (ammonia, pH, nitrates, etc) all the fish we put in the tank died pretty quickly. We felt awful when we found out what was going on, so I hope others learn from my fishpocalypse... :'(
Beautiful! So what animals could go in here?
I put on plenty, but I guess I didnt push it down hard enough. It stuck better in some places than others. Over all it is still going to work, just not quite as easily as advertised. Maybe a little text note to tell others to press it in firmly would help.
Great video very informative. Thank you for sharing
Aww, didn't go into the details of the waterfall. Looks cool, awesome set up.
good job skittles!
That is awesome!!!
Cool I wish I could come to your store
Yes. It's the same concept in a larger scale.
Is the pump in the water section, or is it hidden under the hydrotons in the land section? How do you clean or service the pump, if needed?
Also wondering this...
Randall Castillo Yes, the pump is in the back of the land section because the water level is the same throughout the tank. I don’t know this for sure, but since the bamboo is hollow I’m guessing that the pump is hidden under there so it can be easily maintained and cleaned. Edit - I just realized that the pump isn’t actually under the bamboo, which is stupid because like you mentioned, there is no way the maintain or replace it without tearing up the ENTIRE build apart. So, if the pump craps out then you won’t have a waterfall unless you remove everything on the bottom
Rebecca Goldring read comment above (I tagged you so you could get the notification)
what a mess with that silicone.
Man, all those aesthetically pleasing materials...and then the skull appears and ruins it...
Hello
A small question I will have. It is possible to put on decor with polystyrene rather than directly on glass with? Yes if you advise for example Thickness.
thank you in advance.
Great job. Really beautiful.
What types of reptile/amphibians would like it in there? Like small frogs and tropical lizards?
Prewashing the hydroton would have helped to avoid the cloudy water at the start. I'll have to check out your plant section.
are you guys not going to have issues with rotting substrate if the water level is above the drainage layer, wouldn't it be more beneficial to have a false bottom or to completely isolating the water feature with silicon?
Marked Pagan no cause then you cant filter the water ffs
@@ethans001 you can filter the water but the SUBSTRATE itself will just get disgusting. Unless you are planning on filtering all your damn substrate all the time and good luck with that!
Marked Pagan yeah a false bottom would be smart but this guy doesn’t really know what he’s doing
Nice air-plants :D Im thinking of maybe in 2 or 1 year of getting something like this but for long tailed lizards. To kinda get something more challenging then a fire bellied toad
Wow I did not know it's that easy! My only concern is the lighting. I have Phelsuma Grandis and they require different lighting. How can I make this work with my geckos? Minus the waterfall.
question, the expanding foam you used, yours doesn't expand to two to three times the size over night?
This is amazing
Pretty cool. Subbed
did you put slits or holes in the bottom of your cork hollow that has the filter/pump inside of ?
Wow! nice setup about how much will this all cost?
So cool
Jen! (I'm assuming), can you do an update on this Viv and its inhabitants soon? I would love to see what it looks like and what you guys put in it! Thanks :)
TheKraken21 Soon! We currently have day geckos in it :)
***** was there ever an update done on this vivarium I can't find it...
Also, I see that most water feature vivariums are never for crested geckos...but is it ok to have one for them? My gecko never eats his food when it's on the ground so I'm afraid he's not going to drink either.
cat B. Use a automatic raining machine zoo med
Loved the skull.
Am i really the only one who likes the skull waterfall?
So when drilling a hole threw the cup section. Is that also threw the foam I'm guessing? Also I thought Bromeliads preferred not being in a substrate? should i put a orchid bark around them or moss if i put them in a little bark holder like you have got or just by themselves? Any plants you recommend personally? I'm sorry for asking these questions. This sort of thing is very new to me and I just want to make sure everything turns out perfect (or as close to perfect as possible) for my Geckos.
Nice!
Could you please tell me what that white sheeting is called that you put over the rocks before adding the substrate? Thanks!
Awesome setup BTW!!!
+Nadja Shields Thats just your regular run of the mill garden cloth.
If your misting regally in it and the woods get wet will the wood rot out and if so what should you do? And will mold start to form or a funky smell come from something like that?
I'm looking at making a 55 gallon newt enclosure, can the background covering used here be submerged or would it be best to do sand or rock down where the water level would be?
I would put the expanding foam above the water level (the expanding foam is the background) and put sand at the bottom of the tank where the water is
Where did you guys put the water pump in, couldn't rly see it
ravindra nabiel he put it in right infront of the bamboo, but this was a bad idea because if the pump stops working then you have to tear up everything to access it. The smart idea would have been putting it inside the bamboo since it is hollow, and replacing it if it broke would be easy.
That's amazing
You did a good job at setting up the terrarium. But if I may point out for other users. You said you sealed the bottom so that it would hold water. All Exo-Terra terrariums come pre-sealed around the bottoms up to the ventilation system to hold water. You do not need to seal the bottoms of them.
You're right, they do seal them, but sometimes they miss a spot. We seal them all just as a precaution. 99 of them don't have a gap in the sealing, but it sucks to be that 1 person in 100 that ends up with a tiny little hole in the sealing of their terrarium!
***** Is it true when making a background for a vivarium you must use aquarium safe silicone? or can I just get normal household silicone from walmart?
I have used normal silicone when working with my tanks and it works just fine, i didn't harm my reptiles or amphibians. As long as they don't have any way to ingest it i think you would be fine.
Hey man it is ok if the water is a little bit murky? I set up a terrarium similar to yours but I put moss in between the rocks and soil .seems like the moss sucked up some of the water but left it a little bit murky. Is it still safe to drink for my two dragon agamas?
The foam and silicone should be safe once it has fully cured. You need to use aquarium safe silicone. The foam is covered by the substrate, as well, so the animals shouldn't be having direct contact with it.
As long as you keep the hydro balls higher and at at slope and the water level below the divider, the water in the front will not flood the substrate?
Skillet was wrong! The tree fern did not stick well to the expanding foam. I used the same products in the video and applied the fern immediately after laying the foam. Now I have a ton of white areas will a little bit of brown stuck to it. Time to buy that extra silicone and redo it. Otherwise it looks great.
how much would Skillet charge for something like this if i am a first timer but i want something custom.
Awesome
it depends on the brand.
but pond foam tends to be safe.
Would this be a good setup for either a mountain horned or crested gecko? for its whole life. I cant decide which one i want
Can anyone tell me how the pump/filter works?? I get that it can be put out of water but how does it cycle around the water?
Awesome setup bro!!!
I have a question, is it safe to use lava rocks on reptiles and amphibians setups? Have a bunch of them, but I´m not sure if they are good for my reptiles.
Thanks, and congrats once again!
Chelo Arancibia yes they are safe, but try to gather debris of it before you put it in the tank by washing it
How long do the foam backgrounds last?
would it be suitable to use the foam background method for anoles?
As long as you take of it properly - Yes, if you build it properly, anoles will thrive
The skull isn't my thing, but WOW great job!
Good work :o
What kind of silicone should I use?
What kind of tubing do you use? The one on your website is only 1 foot long and I couldn't find any connectors. Could I seal together the tubing using the aquarium sealant?
Bring a store to Chicago please
Can you do a video on the small savannah and the small Nile monitors
Do you have to use the tree fern substrate, would Eco-Earth work?
Can you guys make a video on the foam inserts that you carry
Thinking of getting one
Is the foam and silicone safe for reptiles or fish?
I read that you should never use distilled water for reptiles of any kind as it doesn't have the nutrients they need to be healthy, But you seem like a knowledgeable guy. So.. should I or should I not use distilled water for my mountain horned lizard?
doesn't the silicone step you skipped after the gap foam is actually to protect the animals that will live in vivarium?? Honest question here
Does it matter what type of expanding foam you use
Hi, do you use any moss to plant them bromelias into the wall backround?
Man its sweet but looks like work I don't have time for you guys looking into selling them pre built this way in the future?
What kind of reptiles would this vivarium be good for?
Green Tree Frogs. :)
Nothing you care about.
would you be willing to build a vivarim set up for purchase such as the one you demonstrated in the video
Does it matter which expanding foam you use? I see you didn't use the pond foam but instead the one for cracks. ??
Nature Captured use the pond and stone version of great stuff
And how do you cut the foam above the hydro balls to have the pump underneath without the dirt getting in the water section
Is silicone fine to seal the bottom from any leaking?
+TheMrjuicer Absolutely.
hey i want to make a viv and i was wondering what kinda of expanding foam u use
What can I use instead of tree fern bedding? none of the stores near me carry that.
do you have any videos on a terrarium for tiger salamanders?
Hey Skillet! Awesome viv! I'm about to make my own viv for my crested geckos and I had a few questions. I was wondering if I could use other substrates such as Eco earth using the technique you did? Also how do you recommend planting bromeliads? And finally I was going to infuse some plant pots into the background and I was wondering how I would be able to do drainage for it? Can I simple drill a hole into the cup section from below to allow water to leak out?
Hi whats the viv look ljke now bet its loads grown in
U guys never did a follow up on this vid
Hey guys! Glad I came across this video. I'm looking to do something very similar on a larger scale (36x24x18 Exo-Terra). My question is I'd like to put a fish pond in the bottom front of the tank. I don't think the rocks would have sufficient tightness to keep water in the front as shown here... Is there another way it could be done?
Great video guys, I'll be using all of these ideas very soon to create my little jungle!
You could just silicone the rocks in place, which at the same time would create a sealed, water-tight compartment in the front of the tank. :)
I suggest making a pond with the pond and stone version of the expanding foam, and making it waterproof by covering it in silicon 1. You could make any shape you want as long as you silicon it
how hard is it to get all that stuff out once you want to change your set up?
Depends how much you use, sometimes it's not coming out and the cage is that, somethimes it will almost come out in one piece
conman20000 sadly the thing with the foam is that it is pretty much permanent, but taking out the other stuff shouldn’t be that difficult
Awsome
Hey Skillet i am just wondering as i'm finding it hard to find info on, did you fill the water in the bottom section with distilled water as well ?
Cool
Whre did u get the rocks that divide the land and water section?
You should have used a belt sand do to make the logs flat on the back
Can i also do only the background but than with sand instead of dirt?
Yep! should be fine
Thx
I am going to order a gargoyle gecko from you guys. Just wondering if a 18 tall 12 wide and 12 deep is a good size for it
So, I just started my wall, and nothing adhered to the foam. I covered it in substrate within 2 minutes of spraying the foam, but it didn't stick at all. Tomorrow I'll be carving it up and using the silicone method.
Idk what you did but you have to put a lot and really push it down into the foam
Patrick Henninger did you shave the foam so it’s flat and not bumpy?
@@voltix9711 I just shaved it enough to make it porous.
What are the sizes of the cork hollows used in this video?
8 years later still no update :/ checked out the whole channel
What is that exact kind of silicone ?
Can you please make a video of a Desert waterfall vivarium🙏🌵
I know its a Rio pump bit can you tell me the type/model. I want one but can't find the one I see here. Thanks
and what's the silicone called your using can I use any silicone
Serena Bowman you want 100% silicone or "aquatic silicone"
WANT IT
nice
will touch n foam work the pond type
Do you ship items abroad?
Can i have 2 fire belly toads in a 10 gallon tall in a similar setup like this. Not as much land tho more water ya know what im sayin
yes, I have 3 fire bellies in my 10 gallon vivarium