the new viv's

Ozymandias said:

wait witch one there both 20 gallons (lol), my 20 long tall crested gecko has a mixture f coco fiber and sphagnum peat moss don't really clean it out and mostly use the gecko poop as fertilizer. the viv im building now (20 tall tall) has some stuff called fir & sphagnum peat moss mix by Zilla and i actually really like it going to see how it grows plan though.

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ya i ment the 20 long tall, but im getting a beautiful dalmatian crested gecko sent to me in a few days but he/she is still small so i have to have he/she in a 5g 10g i have, but meanwhile while time passes im going to work on the converted 20gal that i have been working on. So i already have cocofiber and am now thinking of getting some sphagnum peat moss since you are able to grow just fine with it, but is this all i really need to be growing plants in (besides the lights and water) i also have this extra 30-40 gal filter im not using and was hoping to either incorporated it into the convertaded 20 gal somehow and have some small aquatic thing or either make a simple water fall work, but im not sure if that would be going to far and if that would even work out with the geckos i am planning on breeding in the 20g. but since you are so far on yours and plus you also have a crested gecko i wanted to know if you had any suggestions on what im doing, and if the water thing would even be safe with the little guys?

Ozymandias said:

lol no problem if you look back i actually did have a water feture in the set up but it turned out to be to much work and wasnt planed ou as well as i should have been so ya the gecko would be fine with it i think but this is my first really serous attempt at keeping e gecko so even i'm a beginner here. for growing plants on the other hand i know a thing or two. the cocofiber is inert and thats why i add the peatmoss, home depo only sells really big bags of it sadly (like 50 cubic yards or something rediculas for our needs) but there like $11 so you have it for a long time lol. there are alot mixtures people use for growing plants that are safe for geckos and i just use the most basic. i would check out geckos unlimited and Vivarium forums those are the two i use and get alot of info out of and viv forum has alot of good build threads to get ideas off of.

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Ok, great! that actually helps me out a lot and ya same here basically my first set up for the crested geckos, but i have done so much research on these guys for about 2 months now so im pretty siked to get mine. and i also looked at the link you had up (http://www.vivariumforum.com/commun...8-my-first-vertical-tanks-build-log-pics.html) and i was wondering if you are using the same as this guy "Handi Foam" and then siliconing coco fiber on, i want to do this but i was worried that if i did, the coco fiber would eventually go bad or something like that (mold). so i was wondering if i just do the handi foam and then silicone some coco fiber on would it be good for life? or would i have to do some type of interesting replacement?

Ozymandias said:

ya i did the foam, silicone and cocofiber but used Great stuff foam for windows and doors. i thing i found is the coco fiber need to be bone dry so i used the oven set at around 300 degrees to get this done. also go in small section because if you try to be too ambitious it can just flake off later if it's not properly attached. hell i went in sections but i still have some places where it does that fall off and one bald spot (mostly covered over by plants). that actually why with the new tank i went with the paneling.

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Hmm, ya i actually i was thinking about just going for the panels. it seems like less of an effort but im still not sure. but i am still very siked to have my own project done within a couple of months, thanks for the advice! :thumbsup: ill hopefully have some pics up when im done

Ozymandias said:

cant wait to see it

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oh hey i was wondering if it really matter what type of silicone i have? right now i have some that is for kitchen and bath it says 100% silicone sealant (clear) i wondering if i should be using aquarium silicone o if this is just fine and wont harm my cresties?

ok thanks, btw what i decided to do is experiment converting a ten gallon first, then if any mistakes happen i have 3 other 10gals and i wont screw up my main project with the 20.