Building a large terrarium

I'm starting construction of a very large terrarium to go with my 45 gallon glass aquarium. Trying to make my room look better and make room for more T's. Got a space cleared for it but I want to know what you think.

7' Long x 2' Wide x 2' Tall
4" x 4" x 2.5' beams for legs
1/2" Plywood for walls
1" x 1" beams for reinforcing
Three 2' x 2' Lexan windows
Screen lid
Two 3' light fixtures
Will be dividing it into three equal sections for multiple T's

I plan to coat all the plywood with fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin to waterproof it. (would that be ok for the T's?)

Any suggestions?

You can use epoxy paint, I once used it in a salt-water aquarium with no adverse problems. This may save you some time, it's only a suggestion. This would be an alternative to the fiberglass.

I love the idea! Why are you waterproofing with exopy?

This is right up my ally. Everyone who knows me knows I like to build unique setups. Plastic engineering is one of my specialties. But I have never used it in that fashion, so I was wondering why you chose it. I'm in the process of building a 9Ft tree split down the middle and on a large plaster wall. Even with such a large design I employed no polyurethanes.

The idea is the have the top coat something that the T will love ie: substrate. So if it gets covered, why use such a costly material? An example. I sculpted a root system for some arboreal setups that would hang on the wall. The roots basically hung down from the top to give them something to hide in. Since it was to be covered in a permanent substrate (elmers & peat or silicone & peat) the only thing that showed in the casting is the roots. I opted for reinforced plaster instead of a much costly material of urethanes.

The one thing to remember with casting resin is to give it an acetone bath afterwards to remove the mold release and to remove the uncured monomer that rises to the surface as it cures.

Again, love to see this kind of experimentation. I'm here if you have any questions.

The epoxy paint sealed the sides and back, it was a 200 gallon tank and had a plexiglass front that was 1/2" thick. Never had a problem with leaks. This would be a way to seal the wood, easier than fiberglass to use.

why are you worried about water proofing when T's are going inside?

What species are you planning to put in that cage?

Tweak Sairaxx said:

I would assume he wants to prevent the possibility of mold, mildews and rot since it will be constructed from wood.

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I agree with you. I just wanted to make sure he doesn't have more extensive plans. If that is the case, that way would work for 'sealing' the wood. There are many ways to do this though. You could paint it without spending the money on a specialty paint. or you could not paint it at all. If you use a permanent substrate it effectively acts as a sealer preventing moister from coming in contact with the wood. And imo this area has a higher fear level than it deserves. It is much easier to say the don't so... step #1 is stay away from treated wood. Some would use thinking it's 'waterproof' so this is what I need. It's the treating thats a threat to the the T and it's overkill in the waterproofing needs anyway. Start with untreated wood and it takes a minimal amount of sealing afterwards for mold and mildew, and rot should never be an issue. Mold and mildew also has other factors like how you water, how you mist, how much ventilation you have, etc.

step #2 stay away from petroleum based paints. This is binder that holds the pigments. I use acrylic enamels; the binder being acrylic when it's necessary to paint the wood. If you search my guitar enclosures you will see an example of VERY thin, unsealed by paint, wood. I have guitar enclosures about 15 yrs now and it's as good as the day I made it. I completely sealed the enclosure with permanent substrate. I also glue the water dish so it doesn't tip over. I can spray the enclosure without any fear because the water never comes in contact with the wood. If what I was designing it for requires high humidity I would seal with a paint job first.

* actually I looked at the guitar enclosure and the one used in the post was painted first with acrylic enamel.

Will be keeping two Parahybanas and a Blondi once they get bigger. All are spiderlings right now but that allows me plenty of time to construct the terrarium.

I wouldn't use lexan. Its shatter resistant properties are not real useful in a T enclosure. Preferable is acrylic if you want to use a clear plastic. It's easier to work with, cheaper, and it scratches less easily.

From my supplier acrylic is much more expensive than lexan. I need three sheets and the lexan is about $35 per sheet while the same size of acrylic is $190 a sheet. Lexan FTW lol

My question. Why build such a monstrosity when you could build many many smaller (still large by T standards) enclosures with presumably less effort and would have more flexability in the long run. A seven foot enclosure can only fit a handful of places (or maybe even only one place in your house) but seven 1' enclosures or even four 2' enclosures have many more options. Especially if you intend to divide the enclosure anyway.

ShellsandScales said:

My question. Why build such a monstrosity when you could build many many smaller (still large by T standards) enclosures with presumably less effort and would have more flexability in the long run. A seven foot enclosure can only fit a handful of places (or maybe even only one place in your house) but seven 1' enclosures or even four 2' enclosures have many more options. Especially if you intend to divide the enclosure anyway.

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Good point I have a wall cleared for a 7' but if I ever needed to move it I would be screwed. Now multiple 2' x 2' cubes would be much easier to move and could be made to fit nicely side by side on the wall i have cleared.

Yeah I have decided on making it modular instead. Cubes will be on 4"x" legs with two shelves for setting up smaller 5gallon aquariums below.

bjbrokaw said:

From my supplier acrylic is much more expensive than lexan. I need three sheets and the lexan is about $35 per sheet while the same size of acrylic is $190 a sheet. Lexan FTW lol

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That seems like something of a strange supplier. Are you comparing equal thickness? You can use a standard online supplier for comparison shopping.

acrylic

polycarbonate

Polycarbonate should always cost around twice as much if you equate other properties. There are other advantages to acrylic from a DIY point of view as well. But use whatever floats your boat. Certainly you shouldn't buy acrylic at $190 a sheet.

Just curious - do any of the big box Hardware stores carry acrylic glue???

mcliff1 said:

Just curious - do any of the big box Hardware stores carry acrylic glue???

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Lowes and Home Depot

Finished framing two of the three cubes today. Terrariums are going to be so sturdy. Made from 2x3's and 5/8" plywood with 3-3/4" deck screws in the frame and 2" deck screws holding the plywood on. Pics will be up tomarrow night.