# Ancon Hill Clay Background Vivarium 18"x18"x24" ZooMed



## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

Well, as the title says, here's a quick pseudo-journal of my latest vivarium (sorry, I didn't take many pic's during construction).

Started off with one of the new(er) design 18"x18"x24" ZooMed tanks. 

To start, I put a new bead of silicone over the existing silicone at every seam in the lower 6" of the tank (I've got an older ZooMed that "tested" fine for 1 week, but has since started leaking). Better to be safe than sorry!
After sorting out which pump would work best for the drip wall, I determined the proper water depth for the pump--so that I knew where to place the height of the lowest tier. In this case, I'm using a small fountain pump, that pumps through a piece of 1/2" flexible tubing, that is connected to a 4-way drip irrigation manifold (NOTE: I late had to remove the screen at the bottom of the manifold, as it became clogged by the tiniest of particulate in the water), and then the individual drip lines are 1/4" micro-tubing with a shut-off valve on each line. I located the shut-offs in two planter so they could be accessed after the construction was complete to adjust water flow.
I then installed a rectangular frame of 1/2" PVC, with 3/16" holes drilled every inch, in the back half of the tank and a riser pipe along the back edge to allow me to remove excess water when needed.
I then created a false bottom out of "egg crate" light diffuser panel(s), and supported them with multiple 1 1/4" PVC couplings. I then cut and fit a piece of "Matala Mat" pond filter along the front edge of the false bottom (where the water feature would be open) to keep frogs/tadpoles from ending up under the false bottom. 
I also created a second tier with another layer of "egg crate."
I used a 12" aquatic plant pot (plastic mesh type), cut it in half, and attached them to the back and side with Gorilla Glue, and then seamed the contact point with silicone.
All of the eggcrate was then covered with 10 count plastic canvas, to keep any substrate from entering the water.
I also siliconed a piece of cork bark to the left side of the tank to create a "tree", and glued a 6" plastic pot to create a large planter at the base.
At this point, I used Great Stuff foam to make a few fake rocks at key points in the tank. Once the foam was dry, I sculpted it to the desired shape with a single edge razor blade (my tool of choice for GS foam). After the shape was achieved, I coated the "rocks" with WestMarine epoxy that was mixed with a little black grout for color. I then sprinkled a couple colors of sand into the wet epoxy (a mix of black, reddish brown, and yellow-green). 
Here's a pic. at this point:








I then formed exposed roots for the cork tree with more GreatStuff foam. The foam was cut (where needed) and sanded to create the proper shape(s). To attain the desired finish, I mixed a small amount of grey and brown acrylic paint (for color), and corn starch (to dull the finish) into some WestMarine epoxy. While the epoxy was still wet, I sparingly sprinkled some extra fine coconut coir (I sifted EcoEarth, and used only the finest particles), to create additional surface texture.
Once the epoxy on the "roots" had cured, I then began applying the clay bacground. I used the following recipe for this tank:
1 pint chopped tropical moss
1 quart chopped sphagnum moss
1 pint aragonite sand
2 quarts peat
2 quarts sodium bentonite powder 
2 tablespoons red powdered cement colorant
1 tablespoon black powdered cement colorant
4 1/2 quarts of water
I mixed the dry ingredients, and then added water 1 quart at a time while mixing with a mortar attachment on a power drill. The clay mixture was then applied by hand, pressing hard to the plastic canvas/mesh planters--so that the clay was well imbeded into the openings. The 1/4" drip tubing was then cut flush with the clay wall.
The back right corner of the vivarium (between the two upper tier baskets) is the point of access to the pump, and a false cover was placed to allow access. Through this cover runs the 1/2" PVC drain tube, and the power cord for the pump. These are hidden by a piece of cork tubing. The sides of the planters here are left open to allow water from the planters to return to the false bottom, and not separate the clay from the side walls or the outside of the planters. 
I placed some black "Mexican beach pebbles" into the background and also filled the exposed water area with additional stones.
Here's a picture of the vivarium, planted:








At the front right is an _Adantianum macrophyllum_, at the left front is _Anthurium papillilanium_, the tree is planted with several _Neoregelia liliputiana_ (two more are planted in the right front top of the clay background), also on the tree are a _Warmingia zamorana_ _Rodriguezia lanceolata_ and a variegated form of _Neoregelia 'Aztec' x 'Fireball'_ (this one hasn't colored up quite yet). In the back left corner is a _Adiantum capillus-veneris_. In the top planters are _Episcia 'Cleopatra'_ (back), and _Episcia 'Longwood'_. There are also two _Ficus sp. 'Panama'_ and one _Marcgravia sp._ planted in along the background.
There are a total of four Dendrobates auratus 'Ancon Hill' that call this vivarium home. While my Ancon Hill's are quite bold, it's actually very difficult to take a "good picture" of this frog. If you look closely at the picture below, you can see one of the residents:








Thanks for looking, and any feedback is appreciated!


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## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

Almost forgot, a brief rundown on the mechanicals:

At the front edge of the top of the vivarium is a piece of 1 1/2" aluminum flatstock, through which a bulkhead is placed for two of the misting nozzles. At the rear of the top is a piece of 3" aluminum flatstock, into which I drilled 2x 60mm holes to mount exhaust fans (60mm PC fans--covered with 10 mesh plastic canvas screening), and another bulkhead for two more misting nozzles. The rest of the top is glass.

Lighting is part of a rack system composed of 6x T-8's.


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## flapjax3000 (Jul 4, 2009)

Thats one long description. Sounds like you had your hands full with this one. Nice looking viv, can't wait to see it grown out.


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## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

flapjax3000 said:


> Thats one long description. Sounds like you had your hands full with this one. Nice looking viv, can't wait to see it grown out.


I didn't have the picture(s), so I had to use those "thousand words"...


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Very nice! I love the roots.


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## Varno (Oct 19, 2004)

Very nice work! Quick questions about the ZooMed:

1. Did you have to get a piece of glass cut for the top?

2. How Fruit Fly proof is it in your opinion?

Thanks in advance! Dave


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

Looks great Alasdair. I really like the "exposed roots". Very cool.


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## Paul G (Feb 27, 2007)

Thats awesome Alasdair. It sounded cool when you were describing it and now seeing is believing. I hope Jen & I can check it out in person some day.


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## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

Varno said:


> Very nice work! Quick questions about the ZooMed:
> 
> 1. Did you have to get a piece of glass cut for the top?
> 
> ...


Dave, 

I just had a piece of glass cut at Lowe's that fits between the two pieces of aluminum that hold the fans and misting nozzles.

To keep FF's in, I removed the interior piece of the plastic vent, and installed a piece of "no-see-um" screen, and replaced the plastic. The doors on this ZooMed are actually quite tight. With some of my other Exo/ZooMed tanks I use what others on the board have recommended--slice one side of a piece of aquairium airline tubing and use it as a gasket on the back of the door.


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## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

gothaicus said:


> Thats awesome Alasdair. It sounded cool when you were describing it and now seeing is believing. I hope Jen & I can check it out in person some day.


Thanks, Paul. Definitely have to get you two over here one of these days.


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## bullseye (May 30, 2010)

Even though you said exhaust fans! Do the fans blow air into the tank? Also where did you get your drip set up supplies?


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## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

The fans are mounted at the top rear of the tank, and pull air out of the tank. Air flows in through the vent at the lower front of the tank.

The drip supplies are all available from Home Depot. I used a small statuary/fountain pump (submerged--in rear of tank). This pump has an outlet that connects to 1/2" tubing. This connects to a 1/2" barb x 1/2" MPT connector, and then to a "drip manifold" (used for drip-line irrigation). similar to this: No. AD6, Adjustable Dripper, 6 Out Sprinkler Drip Head - AD6 at The Home Depot (my local store carries a different brand) . From this point, the individual drip lines are 1/4" micro-drip tubing. Hope this helps.


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## bullseye (May 30, 2010)

RarePlantBroker said:


> The fans are mounted at the top rear of the tank, and pull air out of the tank. Air flows in through the vent at the lower front of the tank.
> 
> The drip supplies are all available from Home Depot. I used a small statuary/fountain pump (submerged--in rear of tank). This pump has an outlet that connects to 1/2" tubing. This connects to a 1/2" barb x 1/2" MPT connector, and then to a "drip manifold" (used for drip-line irrigation). similar to this: No. AD6, Adjustable Dripper, 6 Out Sprinkler Drip Head - AD6 at The Home Depot (my local store carries a different brand) . From this point, the individual drip lines are 1/4" micro-drip tubing. Hope this helps.


WOW! Yes that helps a lot. Im glad I can just go pick it up and not have to order. I have seen circulation fans on other threads but I like your idea since I am setting up an exo Terra 24x18x24. What about your mister, mistking?


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## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

bullseye said:


> WOW! Yes that helps a lot. Im glad I can just go pick it up and not have to order. I have seen circulation fans on other threads but I like your idea since I am setting up an exo Terra 24x18x24. What about your mister, mistking?


Yes, MistKing. This is in my vivarium rack, so I'm using the large pump. You'll only need the smaller pump for your Exo (and a couple more).


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## bullseye (May 30, 2010)

Does drawing the air through as opposed to just circulating it, cause your temps to drop? Do your plants do better with this method or about the same?


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## ghettopieninja (Jul 29, 2008)

You have some great techniques here and it looks quite reminiscent of the actual Ancon Hill, which I was able to visit recently. Many of the auratus I saw were on the sides of eroded clay slopes with lots of Adiantum and Episcia growth just like you have here. Great job!


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## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

ghettopieninja said:


> You have some great techniques here and it looks quite reminiscent of the actual Ancon Hill, which I was able to visit recently. Many of the auratus I saw were on the sides of eroded clay slopes with lots of Adiantum and Episcia growth just like you have here. Great job!


Thanks for the compliments. I actually researched some photos from the Ancon Hill area for local soil color. The plant selections were (except the bromeliads), all varieties from Central to South Panama. So, I guess I hit the look I wanted!


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## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

bullseye said:


> Does drawing the air through as opposed to just circulating it, cause your temps to drop? Do your plants do better with this method or about the same?


The main reason for this is to facilitate cooling in the tanks. Simply recirculating the air within the tank doesn't allow the warming air to escape. Venting at the top of the tank, in conjunction with misting, helps facilitate evaporative cooling.


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