Finally.... My Underwater Aquariums/terrariums/vivariums Masterpiece!

For those (I think two) who have seen that I was going to build one of these the time has finally come to unveil! It has been cycling for 3 weeks and I was waiting for everything to be established.

Oh and Yea I know, the title is a little pretentious and I know others can/have/will do better but I'm proud of the project I did and I just wanted to get your attention.

Its a little pic heavy but I wanted to get all angles for everyone. Heres the skinny:

10 Gallon
15 Watt 9325K Fluorescent
Tetra Whisper Filter

Substrate consists of bottom initial layer - Coco Fiber (1/2 inch)
Small loose generic gravel (1/2 inch)
Top layer - Playsand (2 inch)

Plants are: Numerous Java Fern
1 Lutea
2 Wendtii
1 Compacta
1 Echinodorus (shop couldnt tell me what kind, they lost the tag but said they sell cheap in pot, $2)
4 fake plants

Animals: none yet but has 2 ghost shrimp and a few snails.

Notes: There are 5 hidden caves carved into the background (2 left, 2 right, 1 under filter) and as you can see a top shelf or island thats 'bowl' shaped and has sand and java. This will be used as a feeding dish.

How I did it: Bought a can of 'Great Stuff' and spread that as the background. Carved it into shape with caves. Housed the filter in styrofoam (sic?) and covered that. Covered everything in black silicone and immidiatley applied dried coco fiber everywhere.

I am open to any suggestions on maintanence or questions. I may be forgetting to post stuff as this is pretty darn long already so....to be continued

* A special thank you goes out to Jennewt and tomlee (great tips!)

That's quite an impressive piece of work! Certainly way beyond any of the projects I've undertaken.

Where did you buy the black silicone? I've seen it at mail-order places only.

thats really awesome, i like how you encorperated the filter into the background

i accidentaly bought some black silicone from my local pet store(pet world) didnt know they had more then one color

Thanks peeps!

I got the black silicone at a place called Lowe's. Is basically the same as a Home Depot.

Jenn, feel free to add the main pic to the Aquatic setup suggestions Article

Nice looking tank! Yours and Tom's success with the coco fiber background makes me want to try that for my own tank.

Also any plans yet what you are going to put to live in there?

Jennewt said:

Where did you buy the black silicone? I've seen it at mail-order places only.

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I found black silicone at Home Depot also. It must not be that rare.

Ravenous, have you kept java fern like that before? I was told that the rhizomes (root like structures) had to be exposed to the water column for them to absorb nutrients hence they do best affixed to driftwood or rocks. I keep all mine on driftwood and love how it looks.

Super nice tank! It looks a lot bigger than ten gallons. I'm glad that I could help you out. Abrahm is right about the java fern - it does a lot better when the roots are exposed underwater. I tied my main java fern to a rock and it has sent out a few daughter plants. Fishing line works great for this. Just make sure you don't tie it too tight (you don't want to damage the roots).

You're going to have some happy caudates! Keep us updated.

Thats a really nice setup. I love how you have the feeding dish you carved out, i have never thought of doing something like that. Ive been thinking a lot about using great stuff/black silicone/coco fiber for the tank i am designing right now but wasn't sure how it would hold up under water as i have only ever seen it used in a couple inches of water. But thanks to you now i have renewed confidence!

I put 3 morphed Alpestris in there last week and theyre doing great! I will add 3 more as soon as theyre morphed. I already had a tank for them but I had the extra time and expenses and wanted to tackle a project like this. Besides theyre taking so damn long to morph, I thought why not?


Java Fern. If you look closely you can see that its not buried. The one on the right was just stems basically and I have a weight around them to hold them down. The one in the center has ALOT of the roots exposed. The ones in the dish are held there with flat river stones. So theyre not buried, but they are in crater like holes to appear that way and have some sort of base. Is this okay though? I didnt want to have to attach them to something.

Everything seems to be holding up great underwater. Though the Great Stuff tightens and shrinks a bit to alot so get ready for that!

very nice, what plants are the umbrella looking ones?

lims said:

very nice, what plants are the umbrella looking ones?

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I believe theyre called 'Plasticus Fakeious'

Heres 2 at home. Thought a new pic would be cool. Once I have them all in, I'll make a new thread or something....

Looks great! Did you use any of 'my' techniques as well?

Actually I used your styrofoam thechnique to house the filter and make the 'feeding dish' Burning it really helped harden it and make it stronger and more compact. That was a great tip, you gave!

Heres some new pics for the curious.

Great setup! Idea about cascade filer covered with foam is very good.
Java fern will rot if you will not put over the surface of the sand. They are water epiphytes, so you should attach them to some stone or other solid support.
http://www.tropica.com/productcard.asp?id=008

My java fern is rooted right into the substrate and there is only a very small amount of roots above the gravel. The plant was acquired about 8 months ago and is doing fine. I don't think that the rhizomes need to be exposed.

Heres a VIDEO of the tank today. I got rid of all the fake plants and everything you see is live!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu8qgniMjO8

awesome setup!
I've always wondered, how long does the coco fiber last submerged?

Thanks. So far its lasted 7 months and looks freshly applied. Itll get algae on it but its easily removed with a baster.