Hey,
I have been seeing alot of posts on naturalistic setups for leos recently, and ive decided to try one myself. Let me tell you, it went great. For those of who (like me) who are interested in a naturalistic setups other than the usual paper towels, and waterdishes etc, you might want to consider something more visually pleasing. Read on...
Let me warn you that you are going to spend more money (dont let me throw you off track. I only spent a maximum of 50$ CANADIAN, which is less than that in American Currency) and time, but its worth it imo. Most of my money was spent on lights (compact flourescents..for the plants). This method is mainly intented for Dart frog vivariums in tropical style environments, but i dont see why it wouldnt work with desert type (actually, i think it would fare better). I used this method for both my mantellas (similar to dart frogs) and geckos and it has worked out great for both. I will try to get pics up soon if interested.
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SUPPLIES
Enough chit chat, here are the supplies you will need.
Background: A background will benefit the look of your terrarium greatly. It will even lessen stress for the leos. They also climb on them. Just make sure to use a tight fitting lid. I am NOT talking about those cheap posters you can buy at the store.
-Triple expanding foam which you can find at home depot. This will be the skeleton for your background, and will create a naturalsitic view. Make sure to wait 24 hours to let it dry. I will explain in more detail later. I used the Mono brand, but more commonly used is "Great Stuff":
-Silicone sealent (aquarium safe brand) also from home depot, or other home decorating places. You can even find it at a petshop, only its alot more expensive. This will be the medium used to glue on the substrate mix into the background because the foam is an ugly whitesh colour. It will also be the product used to silicone the driftwood/bark onto the wall. Try using the black sealent, instead of clear:
Or even better, Weldbond. Weldbond is a glue adhesive that you mix with the substrate, and place it on the background (after the foam). You can also use weldbond to glue the driftwood/bark onto the wall. I have used weldbond, and can say it looks very natural with the mix. Ive heard its difficult to find at some places. I found mine at Canadian Tire.
-Cork bark, driftwood, regular bark, sphagnum moss, rocks, etc (not all of them). These will then be siliconed or glued to the foam and mix once it dries. Be sure to wait a week for the weldbond or silicone to fully dry. I will explain in detail later.
Substrate: -I would use playsand mixed with bed-a-beast for the bottom (in a 1:1 ratio), then slate pieces ontop. Make sure to cover atleast 75% (except spread put) the floor space of the substrate with slate to minimize the risk of an impaction. It also looks nicer.
Plants: Most important for a naturalistic setup IMO. Plants will give your tank a nice touch and will catch the most attention for viewers. The first plants (opptional, yet rewarding) you would need are epiphytic plants to clip onto the background. These plants dont need waterings a whole lot. No, you dont need soil to grow them, they naturalisticly grow on trees. I would try and find a more dry epecies of epiphytics to grow:
The other plants to use are terrestrial which you grow into the substrate. Its a good idea to buy small pots, plant them, and stick them into the tank because the leos might dig, and trample all over them. Thats why its wise to use the pots. Some good choices are for terrestrial plants are:
Haworthia:
Aloe:
Gasteria
Ponytail plants
Sansevieria
Pothos
Jade
Succelents
Other thornless Cacti, etc.
You would also need driftwood or rocks to place on the substrate once completed. These will be decor. That is about it. You will also need the obvious heat, waterdish, lid, etc. Keep in mind that some plants require strong light to thrive, so you would end up buying a flourescent. Its wise to research the plants first, and see what type of light they need.
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SETTING UP
Now is where the fun part begins. Construction of your background. You can be creative as how you would like it, just include 2 basic ingredients. The foam, and the glue or silicone as mentioned above.
I wish i had documented my project as i started, but unfortunately didnt have a camera. I will however use the pictures on Black Jungles own terrarium construction (for dart frogs) guide, to help explain more clearly what im talking about.
Ok, lets get down to business. First, before doing anything, you would need to fully clean and rinse the aquarium spotless. IMO, i would use a minimum of a 20g tank, but if your careful, i dont see why not it wont work with a ten gallon. Just be sure not to apply too much foam, as there have been reports of glass breaking when the foam expands and hardens. The foam will come out with runny strings, but will expand and look plump after a few hours. This background will make the tarrarium look 3-D, or as if a tree is growing on the backside.
Next, find some driftwood and cork bark from outside (clean it first with a 10% bleach solution and 90% water, or bake it in the oven) or even order some online. Black jungle has a steady supply.
Now, arrange the driftwood and bark to however style you would like, and silicone or glue them onto the back of the glass. You will need to lay the aquarium on its BACK, so the adhesives dont slide down when drying. It may take a day to partially dry enough, but i would wait a full week just to make sure for maximum hardness (patience is vital in this project).
Note* Only use the silicone in an OPEN and a well circulated area, as the stuff smells horrible. The glue however, does NOT smell...well, just like regular glue, but not nearly as bad as silicone.
After a long wait, test to see if the wood is stable. If it is, continue. If it isnt, you can either wait longer, or apply more glue.
After it has fully dried, grab the triple expanding foam. Follow the intructrions on the label, and start filling all the cracks, fillings, and spaces around the driftwood and bark (obviously, just the filling, you would still want to see the wood). Even create a new layer over the glass, to make it a 3d effect, and to add the plants to. Using a cutting tool, carve out where the plants would go and place them there. The foam will take a day to fully dry.
Next, mix in a pot your medium to use as the final background. You can use something simple as 100% bed-a-beast, or a mix of BAB, leaves, twigs, rocks, etc. Be creative.
Grab more of the black silicone, and smear it over the backwall (only the foam, not on the face of the wood).
Then quickly force the mixed substrate, and pack it onto the silicone. Repeat until the face of the foam is completely covered.
Then from there, its just a matter of wait until it all hardens. Again, it will take a week. You can speed the process using heat lamps, but its still "the longer the better".
*Note, only driftwood is used in that tank as a background. If you dont have driftwood, as said earlier, cork bark, etc can also be used.
**Note, this setup is intended for arboreals. Thats why its so high, its just as easy to do with "long" type aquariums.
Finally, you would need to place the plants (which are in pots) into the aquarium, and dump the sand in. After the sand comes your slate tiles, and then place any extra driftwood, rockes, bark, etc ontop.
Watering the plants a few times weekly is basically the only maintenence needed, other than occaional cleaning. Thats basically it! Im sorry it had to be so long, but i had to go into detail. If you need any more help, this site basically restates what i just said. Again, its for dart frogs. Dont make a water feature type running down the background for leos, as they will get respitory problems when faced with too much high humidity. (Though an occasional watering of plants is NOT going to effect anything).
In conclusion, this is a very inexpensive and fun project to make. Anyone can do it under any budget and i can guarantee it will satisfy in the end. WELL worth the wait.
Good luck,
M.N
