DIY project, foto report - natural and realistic tropical, arboreal setup

[Nonnack]

There is a lot of this kind of reports in Polish forums, but I don't see it much here. So, here is mine latest enclosure, with pictures showing step by step how I did it

I used glass tank 30/30/40 (cm) I build it from 4mm glass. There is already lot of tutorials how to build glass enclosure, so I skip this part.

As a background for back wall I used cardboard, cut to proper size and covered with foil (from trash bag

Than expanding foam and pieces of bark.

After its dry,I cut it to proper size.

Check if it fits.

I had this really nice piece of bark I wanted to use as a main part of decoration, and hide.

But I didn't like those straight edges and nice clean inside. So I used pliers, black silicon, and coco fiber with a litte bit of sphagnum moss.

I covered whole foam with black silicon and coco peat.

I glued foil, just to cover this ugly foam.

Check how it fits, added some dry moss and few sticks.

Glued bark tube with silicon. It holds well, but if I need to remove it I can easily do it with harder push.

Back window.

Added substrate, first layer is keramsit, than mosquito net separating coco peat, with a little bit of vermiculite and sphagnum moss.

I din't want to destroy whole natural feel by adding this kind of water dish.

So I covered it with silicon to make it look like a puddle or something. I am still not 100% satisfied with effect, but it will do until I figure out something nicer. At least its much better than upper one

And at the end some detailing. Added two branches, few sticks, more substrate, more moss, 2 plants (left is Schefflera arboricola and right Peperomia rotundifolia). Plants are inside pots, so it I need to remove ore replace them it can be easily done.

Final effect :
It looks great with weak worm light from the top, with all the shadows. But I am unable to foto it nicely, so pictures are in very bright light to show all details.

It would be perfect for a Pokie, but I still don't have any big female, so my young female P. cambridgei will reside there

Hope it will be helpful or maybe inspiring for someone.
English isn't my native language, so if I written nonsense somewhere feel free to point it out

 

[Red Eunice]

Great job! Very natural looking enclosure.

 

[Nonnack]

Thanks! It's my goal to make enclosures that at least reminds natural environment of tarantula, even thou T will probably not appreciate it. Also all decorations I used are 100% natural, no fake stuff or plastic (except water dish ofc)

 

[Gossamer]

That's a beautiful enclosure! I like how you did the project before having a big enough tarantula to put in there haha. I have a lot of ideas for future enclosures too, but all my Ts are so small. Maybe in the future Also nice touch on the water dish

 

[Nonnack]

Heh, thanks, yes I had this idea for arboreal setup for some time, and I have few more I buy mostly slings, so I don't start building until I have 100% confirmed female.
Anyway I decided to move my P. cambri into this. Her enclosure was already too small, and I didn't want to make another temporary one, so why not She is about 10 cm (4 inch). She made nice hide inside bark, just where I wanted.

And, of course...

 

[ErinM31]

Looks great! What type of lighting do you use and is it sufficient to keep the plants in the enclosure long term or do you find you need to switch them out?

 

[Nonnack]

For now I just use single led lamp, I have very light apartment in attic. Its enough to keep plants alive and growing, but very slow. But as my collection is growing larger, and winters in Europe are just few hours of sun. I will have to think about some power led system, full spectrum light. I am noob when it comes to electronics, but I hope I will do it somehow;P

 

[raggamuffin415]

I like the setup, overall very well done! One think you could still add is leaf litter, an essential naturalistic step that is often overlooked I feel. Also do you find that the hydroballs really help retain more humidity? I've never used them before.

 

[Nonnack]

Yes, I have been thinking about leaf litter, but I was a little bit afraid it may rot or cause mold.
About those hudroballs, I have used it for first time. I don't think it helps retain humidity, actually it may be opposite But I used it to create bottom level that is not just damp substrate, instead the balls are absorbing water and slowly evaporate it to substrate, I think it is more 'healthy' to terrarium
And also some plants (like that schefflera on the left) hate to have wet roots, so if I plant it in wet substrate it will probably die.

 

[viper69]

Nice setup. If I recall correctly you can get Great Stuff foam in black. The advantage is obvious compared to the more common color we are all familiar with. Keep up the great work!

 

[Nonnack]

Thanks! Ye, I know this foam is also available in black, but I still prefer yellow, because it easier to cover it completely with silicon, you can easily see where you missed it. The reason why, is because I want to make it waterproof, after foam is cut it is really porous. And also I heard that foam is sensitive to UV, if it is exposed to sunlight after some time it will be cracking, don't know if its true.

 

[Hansohlou]

There is a lot of this kind of reports in Polish forums, but I don't see it much here. So, here is mine latest enclosure, with pictures showing step by step how I did it

I used glass tank 30/30/40 (cm) I build it from 4mm glass. There is already lot of tutorials how to build glass enclosure, so I skip this part.

As a background for back wall I used cardboard, cut to proper size and covered with foil (from trash bag

Than expanding foam and pieces of bark.

After its dry,I cut it to proper size.

Check if it fits.

I had this really nice piece of bark I wanted to use as a main part of decoration, and hide.

But I didn't like those straight edges and nice clean inside. So I used pliers, black silicon, and coco fiber with a litte bit of sphagnum moss.

I covered whole foam with black silicon and coco peat.

I glued foil, just to cover this ugly foam.

Check how it fits, added some dry moss and few sticks.

Glued bark tube with silicon. It holds well, but if I need to remove it I can easily do it with harder push.

Back window.

Added substrate, first layer is keramsit, than mosquito net separating coco peat, with a little bit of vermiculite and sphagnum moss.

I din't want to destroy whole natural feel by adding this kind of water dish.

So I covered it with silicon to make it look like a puddle or something. I am still not 100% satisfied with effect, but it will do until I figure out something nicer. At least its much better than upper one

And at the end some detailing. Added two branches, few sticks, more substrate, more moss, 2 plants (left is Schefflera arboricola and right Peperomia rotundifolia). Plants are inside pots, so it I need to remove ore replace them it can be easily done.

Final effect :
It looks great with weak worm light from the top, with all the shadows. But I am unable to foto it nicely, so pictures are in very bright light to show all details.

It would be perfect for a Pokie, but I still don't have any big female, so my young female P. cambridgei will reside there

Hope it will be helpful or maybe inspiring for someone.
English isn't my native language, so if I written nonsense somewhere feel free to point it out

What do you call the black slider?