75 gal. Viv Build

[Rafal]

My current enclosure is getting too small so I had to make a larger one. Here are some progress picture. It's taking a little longer than expected due to other house projects and 2 kids

Made the hood to house all the wires for the lights. Going to have two heat bulbs and a 48" UVB bulb mounted on the inside.

Flooring is sanded grout epoxied to seal

Background is stone backsplash tiles with some wood. Interior is done, and stained. Just waiting for stain to cure to clear and seal the stone tiles.

Here's what the decorative stuff might look like. I got one of those "woven" hammocks that look like they are made from twine. Planning on stretching it between the 2 branches. I bleached all the wood and stone. The log is still wet so I have to give it some more time.

Also, ordered a Herpstat 4 today so that will get mounted in the hood. The top left corner of the background will be cut out for a large vent which will also house a fan to help pull air and keep humidity down. Thanks for looking.

Rafal

 

[Rafal]

Still have quite a bit to do... have to stain and finish the exterior, connect all the electrical stuff, cut out the back vent, make the slider rails for the front and mount all the plexi-glass.

Rafal

 

[Rafal]

A little more progress... cut out the vent and screens for the vent on the back wall and front. Got the light mounted, stone back splash is all sealed, hood is stained:

Still not sure about the color of the back vent, but it matches the flooring and and the fluorescent light fixture... so we will see if I keep it.

Rafal

 

[Rafal]

So a little more work... got the viv stained and cleared. Painted the heat lamp fixtures to match the other fixture. Started on electrical. I used water based stain and clear so I'll give it another week to air out completely.

Then we had a mishap . Took those pictures and the wind knocked the viv off the cart... surprisingly wasn't much damage... had a couple pieces of wood split so I had to nail those back together, but the flooring to my surprise had no cracks in it, so I guess I can call it battle tested and durable... thanks for looking

Rafal

 

[Rafal]

Little more progress... got the fans installed in the vent and put the side glass in. Waiting on the UPS man for the herpstat and slide tracks for the front doors.

 

[beeneufe]

Pardon my language but holy ****. This is unreal. I have never seen fans in an enclosure, super neat.
Want to build me one?

 

[Rafal]

Pardon my language but holy ****. This is unreal. I have never seen fans in an enclosure, super neat.
Want to build me one?

Haha, summers in Chicago can get pretty humid and I don't always have the A/C on, so the fans will help circulate the air in there...not worried about winter because the furnace does a good job at drying everything out...

I can build as many as you'd like... just have to pick it up

Rafal

 

[Rafal]

Well it's done... just waiting on herpstat to do its thing and stabilize temps.

Plexi glass put in:

Back is nothing fancy... just some cable tie holders for the temp probes:

Temp probes:

Herpstat inside the housing:

Finished Viv:

Thanks for looking,

Rafal

 

[Rafal]

Revvit hanging going out:

Eating his veggies:

Rafal

 

[Rafal]

So slight change... since the herpstat was kind of a pain to get to inside the enclosure ( I know it's a set it and forget it type of deal). But it wasn't cheap lol. And I want to see it.... so I cut out an opening in the side of the hood sonit can be seen.

 

[Rafal]

So slight change... since the herpstat was kind of a pain to get to inside the hood ( I know it's a set it and forget it type of deal). But it wasn't cheap lol. And I want to see it.... so I cut out an opening in the side of the hood so it can be seen.

Rafal


On a side note... herpstat seems like a great controller... the only negative feedback I would have about it is that I'm using the fans for humidity and air control in the viv. The herpstat is set up for a more mist type system with the "Humidity" setting... meaning it can be set up for up to 10 schedules in a 24 hour period, but the device it turns on can only be turned on for about 4 minutes before the herpstat shuts it off... I was hoping it can run the fans for about an hour every 4 hours or so. Sent an email to herpstat and maybe they can send different programming. I may just have to purchase their hunidity sensor and have the fans turn on and off as needed with humidity levels.

 

[Spunky]

That back ground is amazing. I love those textures together. You combine wood and stone so wonderfully throughout.

 

[Rafal]

That back ground is amazing. I love those textures together. You combine wood and stone so wonderfully throughout.

Thank you, the tile was left over from a side job I did and I didn't have enough to cover the whole back of the of the enclosure... couldn't remember for the life of me where I got the tile so I just added the wood as filler really, I'm really a big fan of mixing steel and wood, but I don't think steel wood mix in here very well... I'll see if I can dig up some pictures of my other recent projects

 

[Rafal]

Here's a coat hanger I made:

And a boot rack:

 

[Spunky]

It's all AMAZING! My husband is getting into wood working and we are collecting tools. So far we have more function over form, but we are getting there.

 

[Gayle Dace]

I am inspired and very impressed!!! Awesome vivarium build!