How to build a glass terrarium vivarium

TUTORIAL - Video to explain step by step how to build and make a glass vivarium terrarium or paludarium with sliding front doors for poison dart frogs, reptiles, or any other rainforest animals. All you need to make your own DIY tank.
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Intro music: / carl-storm-128821261
Ending music: / ikson

[@reubenandersonn]

Finally! Been hoping someone would make a full glass terrarium tutorial for years. Neat way to do the vents too

[@riczzz6440]

Yes they're too expensive!!

[@daverichards4415]

Really nice work and there is nothing wrong with your English!! Well done.

[@damoklessword5585]

"Sorry for my bad English" Mate, your English made love to me. God, that accent.

[@RogueEva]

nice terarium. it's not bad english, it's typical french english, it's quite cute, one of the best accents imo. Spanish are quite funny as well and for some strange reason i really enjoy german accent :)

[@markgobuffalo6490]

Your English was fine friend. Great video!

[@jenniferbethparishwhite688]

Hey, your "bad English" is way better than what's left of my high-school French 😊 Bonjour du Texas! Au revoir mon ami 😉

[@robbitt]

Better than anything you can find commercially made. I wish I trusted myself to try it. It would never come out this good.

[@CrazyVideoClips101]

Thanks for sharing how you built this. I am planning on converting a 5-gallon aquarium into a terrarium. Although I won't be starting from scratch as you did, this video was very helpful in helping me get an idea of the materials I need. Also, your English is not bad, it is actually very good.

[@taleandclawrock2606]

I could listen to you speak all day...♡:-) Excellent presentation, thankyou.

[@philipmead5113]

Very interesting to watch, nice terrarium. And your English was fine.

[@abhradipchoudhuri352]

A very nice build! Good one.

[@harryme472]

Excellent build , very nice !

[@oscarrox]

Brilliant, I want to build a terrarium for orchids, this shows me how. Thank you :)

[@kristiankiki4048]

Amazing tutorial, thanks you so much!

[@-_popengut_]

Awesome build!

[@mauigirlmh808]

I came on here looking for diy enclosures and now I’m subscribing because I love his accent lol 😝

[@sunnyleef1133]

You're accent is awesome it's amazing that you speak 2 languages

[@philipplume6605]

Great vid, thank you

[@emilystubbs5650]

Beautiful! And your English is not bad at all, don't apologise for that!

[@ricardosmythe2548]

Great video, cut an angle on the silicone nozzle and run the angle parellel to the glass when your siliconing and youll get an even bead.

[@gyorgydavidesz9300]

Very good video. Well put together

[@hermanlively8197]

Great job and your English is perfect my friend thank you for the tutorial

[@henrymorales7497]

Nice work and excellent video

[@nefrit82]

Хорошая работа! 👍

[@Thundra74]

Very istructive! i prefer grinding round sharp edge of all glass panel before starting for two reason . The first is obviosly safety the other is that a grinded glass is less prone to anomaly fractures. Try you black silicon , its need a bit more attention because whisker are very visible but the final result is gorgeus

[@danielsulistyo3659]

besides your clever terrarium making, i wish i was french just to have an accent like yours

[@hirrvesh]

Great video and your English is better than most English people lol

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Thank you very much

[@IsaacMJr]

Amazing video, very instructive, you did a great job, should consider making a profit from it

[@IsaacMJr]

Thanks for the like 😊👍 I definitely had to subscribe, I have a bunch of reptiles, and this definitely will help me with future projects, although I focus more on breeding and I use rack system, I know I’ll soon be making a reptile room, and this will help a lot with it. instagram.com/jr_reptiles?igshid=1wizl2c60jqx0

[@xroyalbloodx]

As someone who speaks English as well as French my brain was having a hard time understanding you lmao it's like my brain was telling me 'he's speaking French' 'no he's speaking English' But amazing video. Thank you!

[@3rowery]

Hey, thank you for the tutorial, very helpful indeed. Just a quick question, how much gap there is between the bottom and the top of the doors’ runners’ tracks? Is it exactly how tall your doors are? Will glass bend at all? Do you need to force the doors in? I want to make sure that glass doors will fit into that space. If that makes sense? Thank you

[@justindia9821]

Very nice tutorial, could you possibly make one for snakes? I have a corn snake and would love to build her one.

[@joesheehan__]

Great video and thanks for the extra effort for the cutting list and for doing it in English, it is very appreciated. Do you think the tank would still be as strong with an almost completely mesh top? My idea would be to use almost a picture frame made of 1 piece of glass, with mesh in the centre. Thank you again!

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Thanks :) It could be ok but only if you stay on a small size as in the video.

[@Quidame98]

Honestly the best DIY terrarium & tutorial I've seen yet! Been looking for one that looks pretty & clean and your design is phenomenal. Thank you! Question, can this be done the same way with plexiglass/acrylic instead of glass?

[@Quidame98]

Also, is there a way to lock the sliding doors? I would like to do a similar thing for my gecko but am super new to this stuff. My dad is a little more knowledgeable so he can help me out a bit.

[@Terrarium-Construction]

@@Quidame98 Thank you very much. Yes, you can process the same way with plexi or acrylic but these materials are very fragile become dirty and scratched with time and are more difficult to clean. The only one advantage is the weight. And yes I think it is possible to buy something like this : www.amazon.com/Sliding-Ratchet-Chrome-Showcase-Display/dp/B07P7Q76SP/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=glass+door+lock&qid=1573900396&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzQllYRU45SUJOV05DJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTIwMTQ5Mk5HU0g1VFgyUTJZTSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzYzMjg0M0NCQk8xSFI4RUZERyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

[@donde1984]

Wow!!!!👏🏻 This is great 👍🏻. Question where did you buy your glass for the build ?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

In my local DIY store

[@pipipipurple]

hi!! this is a fantastic video! thank you for making it :) do you think that a simple box terrarium with no sliding doors would be possible to make for someone with no real experience in building? i want to make one but i've never tried something like this before

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Thanks but a simple box is not good because you need to have an air circulation in the tank to avoid moisture.

[@oNorw]

thanks for the video. just want to as a question. you use sandpaper on the edges of the glass? i cut my own glass so how should i take the sharp edge of the glass?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

You need to smooth edges, if not you can cut you fingers very easely. I just cut one of my finger this week with my tank and I almost needed to go to hospital ^^

[@spurito]

Absolutely brilliant tutorial! Thank you. Does it have to be toughened glass and how long do you leave the silicone to dry please?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Thanks :) it is normal glass and I leave silicone dry at least 24h

[@spurito]

@@Terrarium-Construction i have just bought my cut sizes today, but it is normal glass!? i will be using some heavy dragon rock etc inside.. you are sure it is ok to build with this? it is 500mm x 400mm and 550mm high.

[@Terrarium-Construction]

@@spurito Depends on the thickness but yes or me no problem with normal glass. You know, Exo terra use normal glass for there terrarium tank. ;)

[@druubben4410]

love the tutorial. you've given me the confidence to get started. my biggest worry is the size of the doors. i know you take the total height of the tank minus the height of the vent, but you also have to subtract for the pvc and rail profile. how much is that?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

To be honest for me it is the tricky part. On the base you just need to count about 2mm but on upper part, you need take required gap which permits to remove the glass so the height of the bottom rail (5 or 6mm) and about 5mm on the top. To be sure, build the tank and when it's done make the doors according to the final dimensions you get.

[@nathanfenster3425]

Where do you get your pvc profile?

[@sivonparansun]

Where did you purchase the glass/PVC?

[@tyngchinchillachang838]

My favourite european accent.

[@nacereddinesal7243]

Dude u're speaking frenglish 😂😂😂 mais vs avez fait un beau travail ❤️

[@joachimtacha3142]

Hey! First of all, great video! Also your english doesnt suck ;) english isnt my native tongue and i still got everything Im going to follow your tutorial for a 60x90x60 cm tank - excited to get started one question tho: If i place my UVB bulb on top of the tank, only the ventilation mesh will let uv light through is there an option to increase the amount of uvb light that can get through? Looking forward to see moure of your projects!

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Thank you very much. Unfortunately, the only two ways to do this are to increase the size of the ventilation mesh or replace glass top panel by acryl panel whick let the UVB pass trough.

[@joachimtacha3142]

@@Terrarium-Construction i thought about increasing the mesh size, but I was worried about the structural integrity of the tank - the top plates ensure stability after all But using acrylic glass is a great Idea! I will think about it Thank you very much

[@druubben4410]

@dertachinator, what did you end up doing? i think you could safely reduce the amount of glass on the top / increase the mesh area. look up eurobracing aquariums. they use far less glass across the top of tanks which they fill with water. that's a lot more pressure.

[@joachimtacha3142]

@@druubben4410 i found a cheap old terrarium that looks self made to me ;) it utilized acrylic glass, mesh screen and glass on top, i fitted a lamp over the acrylic glass

[@filthyswine1]

Great build, what computer design program do you use

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Thanks. For the 3D visualisation I use 3D max, but it is very simple model so you can use Blender or any 3D software.

[@filthyswine1]

Terrarium-Construction.com thank you 😊

[@lorenzodonati9377]

Very good video, one question: I saw that you ordered the glass at leroy merlin. From your experience, did you pay the glass based on how much glass you bought (for example 1.5 square meters) or did you also have to pay the cutting of the glass?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Thanks. If I remember well I just paid for the glass and nothing for cutting but it depends on the stores.

[@lorenzodonati9377]

@@Terrarium-Construction thank you very much, one more question: could you tell where you found the PVC guides for the glass doors? thanks again

[@Terrarium-Construction]

@@lorenzodonati9377 I think you can find these stuff on Dutch Rana but I bought mine on Dendroworld

[@chrisdartfrogking2018]

may i ask whats the hole size of the mesh and where can i buy?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Sorry, I can't tell you precisely the holes size, but less than half millimeters. You can buy this stuff in diy section of Dutch Rana website for exemple.

[@jasoni4090]

Hello, what is the glass door track called? Do you have an amazon link that you can share ? I keep trying to find it in Europe but I think I am looking on the wrong places

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Hello, it not easy to find, I only have links to french amazon sorry: www.amazon.fr/PROHEIM-profil%C3%A9s-Guidage-terrariums-Montage/dp/B01N3AXGQQ/ref=pd_sbs_1/259-4037515-2215204?pd_rd_w=EuUcl&pf_rd_p=91dcf839-4760-46e2-895e-c238ca757958&pf_rd_r=70Y4X9CENHMDPF8GZN2Q&pd_rd_r=7c59c7e8-ac5f-4d04-bdee-ad17b372b858&pd_rd_wg=t2NPc&pd_rd_i=B01N3AXGQQ&psc=1

[@erinhallmakes777]

What is the black edging stuff called? Also what was the mesh?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

There are PVC L and E profiles for sliding doors. Mesh is stainless steel gaze mesh

[@HasithaJayathilake]

what is the exact name of the PVC rail ?, searching for that brings a different product

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Not easy to find. In France, we call this stuff something like: pvc double U profiles

[@owenfontebrera8327]

Try Vivarium Glass Runners on ebay.

[@Rydvck]

I'm like totally late to this party but would this habitat be suitable for whites tree frogs and what tooling would you suggest to punch holes for water lines?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Yes it suitable for white tree forgs but with a larger size. And to drill holes take a look at my other videos. ;)

[@Rydvck]

Heck ya I will thanks for the response!

[@cryptoastronaut8130]

What kind of silicon you use for aquariums ?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

special aquarium silicon that you can find in pet stores

[@wolfgangouille]

Cet accent exceptionnel.

[@idontknowsomethingcatchy8313]

What was that broad leafed plant in the tank?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

I don't know what do you mean... what do you mean by "broad leafed"?

[@rosietourbatez9464]

moi j'adore ton anglais je le comprends bien mieux avec cet accent ! XD

[@amandasingletary5240]

Could you post links to where you got your supplies?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Sorry I made it on the french version but I don't know international suppliers.

[@skynex97]

Impossible de trouver la grille en acier comme tu montres dans la vidéo , tu aurais un lien pour ca stp ?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Yes, super balaise à trouver. Pour la france tu en trouveras chez Dendroworld et pour l'étranger chez Dutch Rana. Après il y a de la moustiquaire chez Leroy Merlin d'une taille approchante mais je ne sais pas ce que ca donnerai au niveau tenue dans le temps.

[@williamdavis9471]

Hello, what is the tool used for smoothing silicone? Thanks

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Hello, it is a sealant finishing tool which is sold in the seaant department in diy stores. You can see it at 2m36s

[@williamdavis9471]

Terrarium-Construction.com OK，thanks a lot. Also are the side profiles for the sliding doors same as the bottom profile(how deep)

[@Terrarium-Construction]

@@williamdavis9471 Yes the same size, about 10mm ;)

[@williamdavis9471]

@@Terrarium-Construction thanks again, haha

[@guybarre3828]

Where do you buy the 4mm profiles for the glas doors?

[@guybarre3828]

I'm from Belgium

[@Terrarium-Construction]

@@guybarre3828 You can find this stuff o Rana dutch for exemple a lot of terrarium stuff website sells this in their DIY section

[@rjfoster409]

What are the black track pieces and L pieces called and where did you get them

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Sorry there is no special name. L profiles are sold in DIY stores and black track are sometimes E profiles quite difficult to get. I bought them on the french website dendroworld.fr and you can find this on Dutchrana.nl For now I know the firm who manufacture this so I don't know find this in another place.

[@rjfoster409]

@@Terrarium-Construction thanks

[@fusionh22]

J'ai reconnu que c'est un français à l'accent 😁

[@roooohan71]

Grv 😂

[@Burntbean_]

I need to know how to set up the lights inside a full glass tank lights keep falling on me its a pain

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Hard to say without seeing the set up.

[@pewpewcat7679]

What lights do you have? Is it an led bar or a dome? You will probably have to drill holes to affix it to the top. The thing with these builds is they don't accommodate for uvb lights as the glass will filter it all out. So best would be to make a full mesh top or a very wide strip of mesh to set the lamp on. It would still lose some percentage of uvb (between 30-50 depending on mesh and bulb) but at least you can use it. That's really why these builds are giving me a bit of a headache. I want to do one but I really want to use uvb so figuring a way around that is creating extra work

[@Terrarium-Construction]

@@pewpewcat7679 I never used UV lights. UV light emits UVA and UVB during very short periods. I rather gave calcium with food when I had dart frogs or lizzard. You cant us too large grid because you will loose to much humidity to maintain rainforest animals. If you really want to use uv light you can use acryl panel wich let Uv pass trough.

[@fishyretakes2691]

Looks exactly like Troy Goldberg’s design

[@Terrarium-Construction]

It is not a design from troy goldberg, it is a dutch design which exists from long time ;)

[@10jamiecool]

Is there another name for the door buttons?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

I have this kind of stuff on my wishlist on ebay which have as title: "Soft close rubber adhesive transparent clear bumper stop pad Cushion"

[@aidanswanson9575]

Oui oui

[@james-in4gc]

Why did you make the glass for the sides (côtés) 304mm wide, Why you didn’t make it 300mm if the bottom is 300mm? Please tell me I don’t understand why

[@james-in4gc]

I can make this ? the bottom 300x300? and the side and back 300x450mm?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

The sides make 304mm because sides cover the back so you need the lenght of bottom (300mm)and thickness of back. (4mm)

[@james-in4gc]

@@Terrarium-Construction Ok thank you, I think I understand now, I have once last question do you think thickness of glass for the bottom of 4mm is enough For terrarium Or must be 5mm or more?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

@@james-in4gc Depends on the size of the tank but 5 mm or more is better

[@haltsinberg]

Does anyone know if "plexiglass", that is, plastic glass or whatever it's called, would it also work for this build?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Yes, but with age it becomes very ugly and is not resistant to scratches . but yes you can use it.

[@haltsinberg]

@@Terrarium-Construction okay, thank you for your advice. If you have time, I have more questions. Would it also work if I used plexiglas and plywood instead of glass? For example, the back, bottom and top would be plywood and everything else plexiglas. Another question I have is whether this build would work with the moss terrarium. Do the ventilations affect the moss? And last, in the moss video you mentioned XAXIM, peat bricks, and hydroglon. You said that anything else would also work, what did you mean by this? Thanks in advance.

[@Terrarium-Construction]

@@haltsinberg Far too complicate to use many kind of materials to ensure waterproofness. You must use full glass or full wood or full plexiglass. Plywood is possible but requires effort (and money) to become waterproof. Yes this build is Ok for moss terrarium. For moss terrarium you need a big amount of moisture so if you don't have ventilations you will get mold. Yes I said this, for exemple a background on which you past Exo terra plantation soil substrat with silicon sealant or resin or anything which can stay wet and hang moss during growth

[@haltsinberg]

@@Terrarium-Construction Thank you very much for your advice. I'm putting heavy thought into building this design myself. A few last questions, if you happen to have the time to answer them, I would greatly appreciate. You said that one should only use one material to maintain waterproofness. Despite this, what do you think about a configuration like this: items 7 and 8, that is, the low air holds and grille would be plexiglas, while everything else would be normal glass. Could such a configuration be built, and would it be waterproof? You have listed the materials needed. In that list you mention that one needs 3x of "grille", that is, the long and thin glass sticks. I wonder if this was a typo, or if I failed to understand where the third stick went. Would the background work for moss, if I used great stuff foam with exoterra plantation substrate? I cannot thank you enough, if you do end up responding yet again. In any case, you have my thanks.

[@Terrarium-Construction]

@@haltsinberg Yes, what you said about item 7 would certainly work but the item 8 is the stainless steel mesh. For the sticks I'm not sure to understand what you mean, there are only two glass sticks which I past on the stainless steel mesh for the upper ventilation. Yes as long as you use pump or nozzles to maintain it wet, the exo terra subtrat on great stuff foam will work for moss, I already test that in the past and with light enough it works very well, as good as in the video ;)

[@CR-hu1db]

How far away from the glass or what wattage bulb do you use to heat the terrarium? Accidentally cracked the top of mine with a 75 watt incandescent, any help is appreciated

[@fernandoaries9817]

🗣🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟💛✨🏆

[@Wolfpack-N]

How much did you spend?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

About 90$ I guess

[@davidbrown-55]

What are the build list dimensions ?

[@Terrarium-Construction]

I'm not sure that is your question but units are millimeters.

[@mariocuchilla9268]

What language is this in?

[@totomotodu57]

Super ! mais grrr en anglais !

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Euh....Cette video est déjà sortie en français il y a deux mois. Je sors toujours mes vidéos d'abord en français. Vas voir sur ma chaine tu as du la manquer.

[@totomotodu57]

Terrarium-Construction.com ca marche ! Je me disais bien que ca me disais qq chose mdr

[@L0GANTP]

The back and side panes of glass should be siliconed onto the top of the bottom pane of glass, not to the sides of it................

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Certainly not, silicone sealant is far stronger with this way to build. Most expercienced aquariophiles do there tank like that. Try to translate this page because it is in french but all is written in it :) www.cap-recifal.com/articles.html/materiel/aquarium-en-verre-partie-2-conception-r%C3%A9alisation-r92/

[@nonrepublicrat]

why put masking tape on the glass ??

[@Terrarium-Construction]

To make more straight and clean joint with sealant ;)

[@SuperOrlando60]

bonjour oui je vient de voir la version française dsl

[@Terrarium-Construction]

pas de souci ;)

[@crisgonzalez7]

Some one now ,where can i buy glass in Internet?

[@SuperOrlando60]

lol tu parle plus français puffffffff

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Euh....Cette video est déjà sortie en français il y a deux mois. Je sors toujours mes vidéos d'abord en français. Vas voir sur ma chaine tu as du la manquer.

[@daaki2240]

Baguette

[@Terrarium-Construction]

what?

[@carlitos1634]

Omg un fr

[@dkmorbidus]

i tried turning on the subtitles but i still only understood what you try to say like 1/3rd of the time xD

[@Terrarium-Construction]

Sorry, I've just uploaded my own subtitle. I hope it would be better to understand ;)

[@brainlessfool7815]

l'accent mdr

[@valtaline4875]

Tallnk f te s'enchaînent biiiiytvkcin

[@maxiphasme]

Haha dédicace aux Français

[@esmeevogels1990]

I'm so sad :( your accent is so thicc I can't understand enough to get what you're saying. English is not my first language so it's difficult to understand English with an accent.

[@esmeevogels1990]

I found the subtitlesbutton 😱😭 I'm so happy! Super beautiful terrarium!

[@TallThingy]

if you cant speak english the just speak frence. its hard to understand.

[@Terrarium-Construction]

French is already available on my channel. Or activate subtitles.

[@bikoman813]

Why's everyone talking about English;-;

[@Terrarium-Construction]

'Cause french people speak english like sh*t like me but p*ss me off anyway ahah :D so I sometime apologize for my bad english.

[@13leedo]

I REALLY wanna watch this but I dont understand ANYTHING that hes saying. He already has an accent and then he speaks too fast!

[@Terrarium-Construction]

You can activate subtitle ;)

[@Sc0L1z]

L'accent 😂