HUGE amounts of Great Stuff needed - Uber viv

[RichFrye]

I will be using huge amounts of silicone and Great Stuff on my next viv/greenhouse project. I was wondering if anyone had a good outlet for bulk amounts of either/both. Ideas?
Thanks,
Rich

[Mantellaprince20]

I like the black pond foam, seems a lot safer too me. If you have a landscaping wholesale supplier around you, you can pick it up. Otherwise, Lowes has a twin pack of great stuff for 6 bucks. A lot cheaper than 5dollars per can. Take care RIch, and keep us posted

Ed

Ps. Where did you get the green house thing. That is a frickin rad idea, i would love to set one up to grow my orchids. If you can give me a link, let me know, otherwise give us some pics

[kleinhanz]

Rich, have you seen Ed's corkboard idea? Something to consider. Epiphytes can easily be attached to them and creeping fig and other viney plants will easily graft on to it. Once established, you do not see the backwall and I'm not completely happy with the cocobark adhesion to silicon over time and high humidity. Ask Ed for details.....

[RichFrye]

Hey Rob,
The only problem with that is the fact that we are talking a viv on 1:1 scale. Everything will be life sized. If I have a totally flat wall ( 6'3"X6'5")
there will be zero depth. I have a plan in my mind. Only foam (or something along those lines) will give me the depth I want, alow me to carve holes and such and the problems with silicone have not been an issue on any viv I have constructed in the past two years. I do not plan on having this exact viv going for over two years before I move and have to break it down.

Ed,
Here is the one I am getting, the mini 3 . As I said it needs a back and "floor" which I am happy about because that fits in with the custom build. The whole back will be a foam and silicone dripwall.
I plan on elevating the G.H. to make the base half "modified false bottom" sump, half hardware hider (mister pump, mister water supply, timers (lots of timers) ect.


Rich

http://www.greenhousekit.com/julianamini.htm

[RichFrye]

I thought I would move this out of the post with Hybrid Larry.
Rob,
I will take pics along the way.
I will need to construct a back and a base liner. I plan on using what is used to custom build showers/custom marble/tile stalls for the base with heavy visqueen running up the back . The back will have a drip wall plumbed and a water feature running through a deadfall tree. Auto mister plumbed with a drain for overflow, misted three times a day. Screened vent , with quite a bit of temp taking to check the different micro climates.
Light outside the greenhouse /viv .
I am hoping for two different species of obligates. One I hear needs TONS of room to produce well.
A webcam is interesting ,but I think there is plenty of reality TV out there already.

Rich

[mydumname]

So what types of obligates are we talking about :wink:

[RichFrye]

Hey Greg,
I am trying to swing something for some Histos.
Anyone out there who has contacts, it is worth some nice trade frogs.
Thanks,
Rich

[RichFrye]

OK,
So I am walking through the woods today trying to find a deadfall just the right size to fit in a tub full on bleach solution to kill all of the nasties. I am tugging on trees and such , found a few good ones and came back to read a few posts on different woods.
I always try for as natural a look as possible, will not have the GH going for more than two years, and could not think of a cooler look than a deadfall covered with moss, frogs, mold, termite holes, decaying in front of my eyes. Why go for wood that lasts forever? Isn't half the fun building the vivs? As long as the decaying wood is healthy for the system (bleach works well for killing nasties and becomes non-toxic inl ess than a day in most cases).

Rich

[kleinhanz]

could not think of a cooler look than a deadfall covered with moss, frogs, mold, termite holes, decaying in front of my eyes. Why go for wood that lasts forever?

I could not agree more!! This is the look I truly appreciate. If you do not mind re-doing your tank every few years due to rotten wood (which I love to build vivs anyways) and deterioration, then IMO it is a wonderful, natural look.

BTW: What are the specific "nasties" that live in our temperate forest that we need to be careful of? Another way to ask is, "Are there fungus, bacteria, mold, or parasites that live in the United States, which if brought in from the wild on wood, leaves, or substrate, could transport to our frogs and negatively effect the health of our non-native frog species? I know this is a loaded question but I always assumed there are but have no concrete evidence.....

[RichFrye]

If a dog or cat with coccidia relieves itself on or around the log it could be that easy to infect the viv. Coccidia can live in moist soil for over two years. There are many other possible contaminants from bugs that crawl to microscopic stuff. There are more and more small, cultivatable food sources be made available each day. No need to "let my frogs eat the nice bugs from stuff I drag in". Bleach and an autoclave, between the two of em' you can wipe out most of the bad stuff.

Rich

[kleinhanz]

The only thing that cold possibly relieve itself with the stuff I collect would be mountain lions and bears. I collect from the Mt. Raineer foothills.


Thanks for the follow-up, I appreciate it!!

[RichFrye]

Other animals can have coccidia and other nasties also.

Rich

[Rih]

I actually market smaller Vivariums, so i use quite a large amount of silicone and foam myself, The two pack as mentioned before would be your best bet, unless you go for the black pond foam which can be bought in tanks similar to propane tanks (only in look) but it tends not to expand as much as the great stuff or other brands. I've looked for a place to purchase crates or larger packs, and unfortunately they do not offer them. But the silicons can be purchased in large packs, containing 24 tubes i believe, also you can purchase gallon or possibly larger buckets of silicons through various distributers I've been told.



Also about using the bleach, if you have a moss covered log the bleach would kill all the plant life on the log also, wouldn't it? i know it is important to clean them so no "nasties" enter the Viv.

Sounds like a great idea though, and good luck.


Rih

[RichFrye]

Bleach will kill certain mosses , but a 10-15% solution should do the trick on the nasties , but not the "plants". I would be adding a more tropical moss ( but not tons, I'm a leaf little fan) than is found in MI anyway. Just thinking about looks for when it is complete.
I have actually found some forms that will fill a lot of space that the Stuff was going to fill, so I should be better off with the silicone and Stuff than before.
The GH is supposed to arrive today. I will assemble the kit today , most likely start the internal work next week.
I will post pics when I am a bit along in the project.
Thanks for the input guys.
Rich

[RichFrye]

OK, the GH only took two full hours to put together. If anyone is thinking of buying one of these , contact me BEFORE you put it together. I can give some install tips. While it only took two hours to install, most of that time very bad things were spilling out of my mouth.
A few picks.
Rich

[dmartin72]

Rich,

That thing is going to be awesome! Nice avatar too.

[RichFrye]

Thanks David,
I will be putting Darklands in the viv first. I have a 1:3 group on loan I believe will settle in well.

Rich

[dmartin72]

On loan? I have heard this before, but how does that work?

[RichFrye]

First you find someone who trusts you. Then if you have a beneficial situation or need that the loaner does not have ......become a loanee.

Rich

[kleinhanz]

That is WAY cool! Can you see through the sides are is the material make it hard to view from the outside?

That looks like such a fun project