# My Biopod grand



## spline72 (Apr 2, 2018)

Hi all,

I'm new here, just getting into the hobby after spending many years keeping planted fish tanks. 


I saw the biopod when it was a Kickstarter project, was interested in it then but missed the backing deadline through procrastination.

I decided it was something I wanted to try so bought myself one when they became available for retail in the UK, then my better half decided we were going to renovate our front room and the biopod sat init unopened box from September last year until just before Christmas when the room was finished and the custom cabinet I had made for it was delivered.

just before Christmas I started the assembly to find some of the components were incorrect and others damaged, I was as you can imagine somewhat bummed at this. After making contact with bipod direct I then waited, chased and three months later I received the parts to continue the assembly. 


All finished with the assembly and setup I was having a few days of a wet run to make sure there were no leaks or teething problems to come home from work to find one of the two power bricks had died... again having to deal with getting replacement parts. Bu this point I was getting worried as to whether the unit was going to be fit for purpose and its longevity.

decided it was in it for the long haul and on receiving the replacement power brick and other spare parts went ahead and hardscaped the biopod, I decided i was going for a mix of land and water.

It was left running, for a week and then had my delivery of plants and finished the scape.

After a few days, I introduced a few aquanauts from an established planted tank, a few young endlers livebearers who seem more than happy with their new home.

For the moment I am holding off getting any other livestock for the biopod, I want to give the unit time to show any potential problems and the planting to settle in before adding frogs but that is the end goal.


being new to the hobby I would appreciate any feedback regarding the set up I have created, and am looking to learn from the folks on this forum.

your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

here are a few pics of what I have ended up with:-














































my intrepid aquanauts 










thanks for taking a look and any feedback left.


----------



## spline72 (Apr 2, 2018)

HO forgot to mention, I went ahead and ordered some more bromeliads and orchids from rainforestvivs to add some more colour & fill in some of the space higher up as I feel the set up is feeling a bit horizontal and not using the full height of the enclosure. Hopefully, some of the climbing plants & mosses will fill in the somewhat bare green wall at the back, along with these additional new purchases.

apologies for the mess in the second image, it was about 3 am when I took these photos and was running on easter eggs and adrenalin. I got an absolute berating off the other half for leaving the new living room covered in drying sphagnum moss, soil other discarded bits and pieces.....


----------



## jarteta97 (Jun 13, 2014)

The only thing I can suggest is adding a thick layer of leaf litter to the majority of the ground level. Though mosses can look really nice on top of the soil, a thick layer of leaf litter is imperative for both providing a quick network of hiding spots for the frogs and for sustaining any microfauna such as springtails or isopods. Other than that, it looks great. Keep us updated.


----------



## spline72 (Apr 2, 2018)

jarteta97 said:


> The only thing I can suggest is adding a thick layer of leaf litter to the majority of the ground level. Though mosses can look really nice on top of the soil, a thick layer of leaf litter is imperative for both providing a quick network of hiding spots for the frogs and for sustaining any microfauna such as springtails or isopods. Other than that, it looks great. Keep us updated.


thanks for the feedback, at the point of taking the photos I was still awaiting a delivery of beach leaves, I have now added these between the plants, under the log that runs through the scape and any open space where there is not moss. The layer is fairly deep, do you think leaves in these areas will be enough? 

Also in regards of which frogs to get that would suit my setup and bearing in mind I'm new to keeping frogs my thoughts at present are Dendrobates Tinctorius, is this a a good choice? What kind of numbers would be appropriate?


----------



## kblack3 (Mar 9, 2015)

I unfortunately do not have an answer to your question but have a question of my own. How fruit fly proof would you say this system is?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## spline72 (Apr 2, 2018)

Hi there,

that's a good question, I have no idea, but think its pretty well sealed, there are no large holes in it, the doors are flush both top and bottom and the lid has no openings in it. 

Until I get frogs in it and start feeding I cant say for sure how flyproof it is.

Sorry, I cant be more helpful.



kblack3 said:


> I unfortunately do not have an answer to your question but have a question of my own. How fruit fly proof would you say this system is?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Northstar (Dec 28, 2017)

EDIT: WHOOPS I apologize. For some reason I was mistaking the Grand for the Terra. The size in the photos you took was somehow very deceptive haha! In a tank of that size, you should be able to house a relatively large handful of tincs comfortably, as it has 90 gallons of tank space. I think most people will recommend a group of four, which is what I started with as well. But if you really wanted to push it, you'd probably be okay with 6 or 8. I'm not entirely sure how well frogs do in larger groups like that. But currently I have 6 tincs in my 75 gallon and they seem to get along pretty well.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hey there! I can probably answer your frog questions! 
D. Tinctorious would probably do very well in that setup, but they're a a bit of a larger species. If I recall correctly, the biopod grand is approximately 19 gallons of space. If you wanted to go the tinc route, you'd be pushing it a bit at two as the minimum gallon count per frog is 10 gallons. If you went with Leucs, you might be able to get away with three, but I wouldn't do any more than that in a tank that size.

But good luck with your viv! I've been considering getting a couple biopods for the frog room I'd like to set up in my new place. But I haven't really seen enough information on them to make me sure of whether or not biopods are the best choice, so I'm looking forward to hearing more about your experience with it, especially once you get some frogs settled in.


----------



## spline72 (Apr 2, 2018)

Thanks for the reply,

I was thinking of 3-5 to start off with, seeing as I have the large water section for the endlers I estimate I'm left with 55-65% land. The biopod species guide says 5-7 for a grand but wanted opinions from those that actually keep frogs.


I'm looking forward to finally getting some inhabitants on there but I'm not going to rush it. 



Northstar said:


> EDIT: WHOOPS I apologize. For some reason I was mistaking the Grand for the Terra. The size in the photos you took was somehow very deceptive haha! In a tank of that size, you should be able to house a relatively large handful of tincs comfortably, as it has 90 gallons of tank space. I think most people will recommend a group of four, which is what I started with as well. But if you really wanted to push it, you'd probably be okay with 6 or 8. I'm not entirely sure how well frogs do in larger groups like that. But currently I have 6 tincs in my 75 gallon and they seem to get along pretty well.
> 
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> 
> ...


----------



## spline72 (Apr 2, 2018)

Hi all,

just a bit of an update, its been a few weeks since I set up the biopod. I decided to add some more plants, I felt the back wall was looking a bit empty so decided to get some miniature orchids and some more bromeliads. also have some leaf litter in there now as well as the moss.

I'm still waiting to get any frogs, I want the setup to fill out a bit more, and still undecided as to what inhabitants to go with but airing towards tincs. think they may be a good starter for me to begin with.

I have seen quite a bit of growth with the plants so far, so hopefully, in a short while, I can get some inhabitants.

























































The three aquanauts are doing well along with a handful of cherry shrimp from another tank.










Thanks for stopping by.


----------



## spline72 (Apr 2, 2018)

a few more shots


----------



## Aldross (Dec 30, 2013)

I would fill that tank with Vanzos if it were me. Great group thumbnail, awesome places for them to sit and call, and they are very bold for thumbs. There is also plenty of hiding space for them at this point and no need to make any more changes, just let it grow in.


----------



## TigerSalamander (Apr 17, 2018)

This is very pretty, I love the moss growing all across that branch and the pond. However the photos are huge and really stretch the website.


----------



## rodzuf (Sep 11, 2008)

I agree you are ready for some inhabitants.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Auri (Jan 7, 2016)

kblack3 said:


> I unfortunately do not have an answer to your question but have a question of my own. How fruit fly proof would you say this system is?


I can answer this one! 

It depends. 

My biopod was not originally fly proof as the lid had a defective mesh screen that did not fit properly and had holes. So yeah. Not fly proof at all.

However, this was a known defect with the biopod Aqua model. So I reported it immediately and was told I would get a new top. I actually JUST got the new one a couple days ago. This one's got two open holes in the plastic. My old top had plugs there, the new one doesn't. Not only is it not fly proof, it's not even FROG proof. Seriously. They're an entire centimeter in diameter. 

Assuming my original top hadn't had issues, then I think it would have been pretty fly proof. The one area where it would have potentially had issues is the port for the camera and sensor cables. This was juuust a bit undersized from perfect, and it prevented the top from sealing perfectly. Probably enough gap for a fly. Could easily have been fixed with a drop of silicone though. 

Unfortunately when I got my brand new top, I decided to fix the cable port crowding by disconnecting the camera instead and pulling the cable back through so only the sensor cable had to fit in that gap. I say "unfortunately" because while that worked just fine for the cables, when I disconnected the camera the whole damn biopod shut down. I have an email out to tech support and I'm praying for a fuse problem or something. I reconnected everything to no avail- indicator lights won't even come on.


----------



## spline72 (Apr 2, 2018)

Auri said:


> I can answer this one!
> 
> It depends.
> 
> ...


Thats a shame your having issues with your biopod, I too had issues with mine, but fingers crossed its working ok now...

the two pieces your refering to on the top of the lid, the wholes, there slide in Dshaped bits of plastic, so rescue the ones you had with your original lid. There apparantly holes for automatic feeding system they were working on to be released at a later date.


----------



## Auri (Jan 7, 2016)

Good tip. I figured that they weren't removable based on a couple of unsuccessful tries. Once I knew they would come out I went for the "assisted extraction" aka I smacked it hard and they seemed to jar loose. Now they're installed happily in the new lid!


----------



## spline72 (Apr 2, 2018)

Auri said:


> Good tip. I figured that they weren't removable based on a couple of unsuccessful tries. Once I knew they would come out I went for the "assisted extraction" aka I smacked it hard and they seemed to jar loose. Now they're installed happily in the new lid!


cool, glad to help.

I'm still to decide as to what frogs to get, the biopod is definitely grown in enough now, I just got a chunk of cash for my birthday, so now to decide which species and how many to get...


----------



## spline72 (Apr 2, 2018)

just a quick update, took a few photos of the biopod the other evening as the lights were turning off.

colours were really intense, then the lights shut off leaving only the IR on and snapped the second image, looks spooky...



















Hopefully going frog shopping in the next week or two.


----------



## alsofaac (Aug 21, 2013)

Beautiful setup! You might consider pumilios. What is the plant in the front bottom with the small white flowers? Thanks.


----------



## spline72 (Apr 2, 2018)

alsofaac said:


> Beautiful setup! You might consider pumilios. What is the plant in the front bottom with the small white flowers? Thanks.


Hi there, thanks for the compliment, as far as the delicate white flowered plant, I have no idea, it came in a chunk of moss and went crazy in the first weeks of setting up the biopod. It has since died back and is a lot less visible now.


----------



## spline72 (Apr 2, 2018)

Well, I finally went shopping this weekend and left with 5 tintorius.

The shop I got them from had such a wide selection on offer. 

I originally was going to go with solely Awarpe of which I got 2 (male & female). 

My better half fell in love with both Citronella's, Robertus and Azureus. As a concession to having "creepy Crawlies" in the form of live food in her living room I had to let her get her own way and ended up getting a mix of different morphs... 

so here are the occupants of my biopod



















I hope mixing the morphs within the same enclosure is not a no-no here, the shop owner assured me there would be no problem when I questioned him on the matter.

everyone seems ok and is eating happily at meal times 










my only concern is that we are getting hot here in the UK and the biopod temperature is showing an air temp of 84 degrees and a substrate temp of 75 degrees. I'm slightly worried about them getting too hot. any suggestions?

thanks in advance for any feedback?


----------



## spline72 (Apr 2, 2018)

Well, I finally went shopping this weekend and left with 5 tintorius.

The shop I got them from had such a wide selection on offer. 

I originally was going to go with solely Awarpe of which I got 2 (male & female). 

My better half fell in love with both Citronella's, Robertus and Azureus. As a concession to having "creepy Crawlies" in the form of live food in her living room I had to let her get her own way and ended up getting a mix of different morphs... 

so here are the occupants of my biopod



















I hope mixing the morphs within the same enclosure is not a no-no here, the shop owner assured me there would be no problem when I questioned him on the matter.

everyone seems ok and is eating happily at meal times 










my only concern is that we are getting hot here in the UK and the biopod temperature is showing an air temp of 84 degrees and a substrate temp of 75 degrees. I'm slightly worried about them getting too hot. any suggestions?

thanks in advance for any feedback?


----------



## spline72 (Apr 2, 2018)

Apologies for the double post, I would delete the second but for whatever reason I don't have an option too.....


----------



## xbrennan (Mar 25, 2018)

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it is absolutely ill-advised to mix morphs in the same enclosure. "Morphs" are not the same in dart frogs as they are in other reptiles and amphibians, they are not color variances but rather completely different populations of frogs from different areas which vary in many ways. This has been discussed many times here on the forum, so rather than write out an even lengthier post of regurgitated information, just do a quick search of the forum and you will see why. If I were you, I'd pick which frog species you like best and return the others. I would not trust that shop owner whatsoever in the future either.


----------



## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

There is also a chance, depending on sex ratio in the tank, that you end up with some fighting. There are much better species to do a group of frogs (rather than a pair or trio) than tinctorius, as well.

Mark


----------



## jeffkruse (Jun 5, 2018)

Oh my! That's just about exactly what I thought I could do but I am learning that is a no no. But, my Grand is similar to yours just with less "dry" land. My water is on the left side and goes a few inches past the center of the tank.

Because I have less land, about 15 inches by 20 inches I am thinking I may only be able to have two or three large (2 inch) frogs anyways.

You asked about the high temp's. I to have "high" temps coming from the air temp sensor. I put another temp sensor on the land portion and measure very similar to what the ground/water temp reads. I believe all the heat is at the very top of the tank and that it is due to the lights.

What settings are you using? I have custom settings on with the rain set to 25 seconds a day and the irrigation to 1 min and hour. Even with that I believe the "living" wall is to wet. 

Instead of the air stone the grand comes with I am using a small sponge filter and leave it running 100%.
I keep my ventilation at 100% as well.
My light is at 70% and 20% for the UV. I turned the IR off because it's only for heating and there is no difficulty there.


----------

