# Retiring a fish tank means new 20 gallon viv



## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

Hiya all

Just wanted to share my current build that I'm very excited about. The plan is a Costa Rican mimic, and least in spirit. The plants will vary, but, such is life in a small replica *shrug*. I have some green and black tico auratus froglets that I picked up from Android1313 recently that will be the eventual inhabitants. 

I have a few new (at least for me) design ideas, including testing out the new Exo Terra heat cables, and attempting to incorporate and emulate the dark igneous rocks and slow trickling streams of the country. 

On a very random note, I saw this on the way to get supplies in Kzoo...








(Inset is the sign, blown up)

Lighting will be a 96 watt power compact in an oak canopy that's been lying around. Suggestions on how much fan I will need would be very much appreciated. I bought a 55 gallon canopy and a 20 gallon canopy for $40 from the owner of a pet store who claimed they were cracked. I once saw him sell a juvenile sturgeon to someone with a 15 gallon tank, and tell them it would be fine its entire life. I haven't been able to find more than a scratch on the back of the 55 gallon hood, so I think he was mistaken. Oh well, his loss. 

I picked up a few exciting plants at the MIFroggers meeting, specifically from Rob (littlefrog) including a very cool looking grassy brom - Pitcairnia flammea I believe - it is available on Josh's frogs website. 

Picked up some cool broms, as well as mini philo, and this cloud forest orchid that Rob suggested might do well in a viv, due to a fondness for constant / high moisture.









More pics of the plants and everything to come... I apologize for the horrible quality, my fiance' took the dSLR with her back to Detroit after the meeting, so all I have right now is my camera phone ><

Anyhoo, off to the build. Here's what I have so far... a false bottom with screen on it. 








There is a gap in the front to stuff in pebbles, etc, for visual appeal. The back corner has pump access, with a little tunze pump that pushes just the amount of water I need. The plan is to have the water run down/ along a piece of tree fern on the background, providing nice plant spots and orchid attachment, then dribble down the end and into the mesh (disguised by rocks, etc, of course). I'm hoping to do something similar to the "pondless waterfall" garden things that seem to be all the rage around here, but on a smaller scale. 

Anyway, I'll post updates as this thing progresses. I hope to get a lot done this weekend... not much to do except cross fruit flies in the lab, and no classes after noon tomorrow or Monday  I know it's all pretty standard, but I hope to be able to give a thumbs up to some of these uncommon plants, as well as the new exo terra stuff.


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Ill be following


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## MonkeyFrogMan28 (Feb 3, 2009)

Sounds good, keep us updated.


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

So, the heat cable came in today (would have gotten it from Josh, but was in a hurry and forgot that I needed it, whoops) and the biggest thing I've noticed is that it claims to be 11.5 feet, but that is misleading. The cable is 11.5 feet, but with the cord. The heating part of the cable is only 6 foot, with a 5 foot or so cord. Here's a snapshot of the box and contents.










Not 100% on where I'm going to end up putting it. The instructions are pretty vague as to how much water it can handle. Because of this I'm leaning towards attaching it under the false bottom. I have had it plugged in for a while now and it isn't nearly too hot to touch, so I think it will be okay there and not melt anything. Since it will be directly under the false bottom, it shouldn't be submersed in water, either. We'll see how it turns out.


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

Okay... heat cable attached. Went rather easily, just had to cut a hole for the cable to go back into the access corner.










Here's a close up down the chute...









The instruction sheet for the cables claims that "the electrical connection of the cord should be outside of the tank." I'm not sure if this means the plug or the connection where the cord meets the cable. Either way, you can see it secured above the water on the left hand side of the above picture.


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

Foamed up the background. Added some silicone in the water feature area to keep the water out front. I waited for it to get tacky, then stuck a few black lava rocks in here and there. They look a little out of place now, but a coat of flevapol will go on over the handifoam, and help them blend in. 


























I was happy with the amount of expanding the foam has done; less than I have seen before. Left a lot of space out front for floorspace, and I'm happy with the amount of room left over. The cardboard in the pots will come out as soon as the foam stops expanding.


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

I've epoxied the base waterfall rocks in, and added a nice thick coat of the concrete binder / substrate mix that Zach (zBrinks) recommends. The first batch I made had a little too much water and was runny. Didn't use as much water in the second batch and it was just fine.








I used the Zilla forest mix stuff that was on sale at the local pet store... I wanted something that would end up dark, but still had some chunk to it. It contained small sticks that I at first didn't like, but then positioned them in places I liked and was pleased. I do like the ease of putting it on... eliminates silicone fumes, etc. 

Here's a full shot just after I spread it on:








And about 45 min with a fan on it:


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

I really love this method, it's exciting watching it dry... haha.
About 2 hours after application, with a fan:









After just about four hours of drying time, I could see some areas would need a second coat. Here's a picture with some touchup spots... it really shows the contrast.










One of the wonderful things about this method is that you can just whip up more if you need it. You don't have to worry about leaving silicone tubes uncapped or not wanting to start a new can... you just mix to order. It also is a lot harder than just coco fiber stuck to greatstuff. My test piece (some GS in a bologna package in the garbage) has cured and is hard as a rock!


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

Mostly dry... only some very thick parts and hard to reach areas show any sign of not being cured.


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## Rick (Apr 10, 2009)

That looks very interesting...cant wait to see it when its done! Watch out for that handi foam coming off the glass though, it happened to me a few times so now i just put a couple beads of silicone on the glass about 24-48 hours before applying the foam.


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

So... finally an update... this time with a good camera!

Here is the back wall, almost where I left off before. The water feature rocks are in place with gorilla glue.










Here's a slew of plants that are going in! Most if not all of the plants came from Rob (Littlefrog) and are available on Josh's Frogs website.
The forum squishes the pictures, you'll have to click them for the actual aspect ratio.

Pitcairnia flammea










Anthurium clarinervium









The artist known by some as mini philodendron









Wandering jew cultivar "Littlefrog"









Forgot the name on this one. Maybe Rob can help me out?









Artillery Fern










It was time to add the gravel to the front slit. I used some spare Fluorite "Onyx". 
I really love the dark color when it is wet.


I then planted the terrarium! Here's an initial picture.









And the final... with leaf litter. I'm going to wait a while to throw anything else in.


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Looks good man... what's that plant up top left?


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

eos said:


> Looks good man... what's that plant up top left?


Thanks!

That's the cloud forest orchid that I can't remember the name of. There is a picture of a blooming one up in the first post.


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Occidentalis said:


> Thanks!
> 
> That's the cloud forest orchid that I can't remember the name of. There is a picture of a blooming one up in the first post.


Nice. thanks.... *mental note*


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## littlefrog (Sep 13, 2005)

That is a masdevallia hybrid. I can't recall which one, specifically.

And the one with the round crinkly leaves is Pellonia 'Watermelon'

'Artillery Fern' (what I call it, anyway) is actually a pilea, not a fern. And free to anybody who comes out to the greenhouse and pulls it out of pots...

Rob


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

Here's an updated shot of the tank. Added a Neo "Olens," a jewel orchid, and a branch I made out of epiweb.










I'm hoping to get moss mix in tomorrow, so I'll start a new thread for the moss mix trial. I'm very excited to see how it works.


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## lapidsilver (Sep 23, 2009)

The tanks looks nice Alex. I will probably try the bonding agent/ substrate method next time. The GS/Silicon/fiber method is annoying. 
-Andrew


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

lapidsilver said:


> The tanks looks nice Alex. I will probably try the bonding agent/ substrate method next time. The GS/Silicon/fiber method is annoying.
> -Andrew


Don't do it in an area that has water running through or around it. I will probably return to silicone and fiber to be honest.


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

It's looking good... Nice addition


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

very nice, love the background!


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

This is superb work and looks to be the most accessible in terms of technique that I've seen while trawling through the archives. Thanks for sharing. I have two quick questions for you please: (1) what epoxy are you using and (2) what mesh on the false bottom. Thanks again .


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

caudata.org said:


> This is superb work and looks to be the most accessible in terms of technique that I've seen while trawling through the archives. Thanks for sharing. I have two quick questions for you please: (1) what epoxy are you using and (2) what mesh on the false bottom. Thanks again .


Well, thanks!

The epoxy is ACE Brand Concrete Primer / Bonder
The mesh is probably overkill... it's No-Seeum Mesh. It's what I had on hand.


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks for the fast response. Is that mesh rigid or the kind that comes on a roll for windows?


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

caudata.org said:


> Thanks for the fast response. Is that mesh rigid or the kind that comes on a roll for windows?


It comes in a roll. Fiberglass mesh... definitely not metal.


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Excellent, thank you very much .


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Hey, what did you end up using as a lid? Do you have ventilation?


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

caudata.org said:


> Hey, what did you end up using as a lid? Do you have ventilation?


That update is coming soon. No lid on it yet, but I have made a small screen bit for insulation. I finally got a tape measure to make the measurements for the glass.


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

Here's an update. 

Full tank shot (little dark, sorry):









My favorite part of this is that my pilea has gone to seed. 










I know people think of this plant as a weed (and it definitely functions that way in a greenhouse) but I really like it a lot in my vivs. You can see the parent and all the little ones springing up between the leaf litter "mulch." They are even growing on parts of the log on the right, and seem to be taking off finally... it took forever for them to get past the seed leaf stage.


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## pygmypiranha (Jan 1, 2009)

Looks pretty nice. What sort of frogs are you thinking about adding to the cage?

Did you pick up some of the plants in Kalamazoo? Where did you go?


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

pygmypiranha said:


> Looks pretty nice. What sort of frogs are you thinking about adding to the cage?
> 
> Did you pick up some of the plants in Kalamazoo? Where did you go?


I went to Kzoo for the black lava rock. Don't remember where I went, exactly, but it was sorta in the side of a hill and had a lot of cement bunkers for rock.

I'm planning on adding a few Costa Rican Green and Black Auratus


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