# Zoo Med 18x18x24 - first terrarium



## carbonetc (Oct 13, 2008)

I'm brand new to dart frogs but have been involved in aquaria and carnivorous plants for around five years, so I have a bit of overlapping knowledge.

I'll be setting up my first terrarium soon and I'll post photos as I do.

Here are the stats so far:

- Zoo Med 18x18x24 terrarium
- Zoo Med Natural Cork Bark background (I'll try the expanding foam and such the next go around)
- Dendro Bedding and Eco Earth substrate
- LECA bottom with screen divider
- Zoo Med Dome Light with a 30w CFL (if this doesn't look bright enough I'll pull out my old 65w Fluorex fixture)

I'm planning on adding a drip wall feature and pond, but the idea of snaking all that tubing behind the background and hiding a pump (which then needs to be accessible) leaves me a little cold, especially with no experience. I'm thinking of getting a hole drilled in the back of the tank at the very bottom. It would act as a way to easily drain the tank and to easily send water out of the tank into a completely serviceable pump. The water would reenter the tank through the top of the terrarium. Does anyone see any logistical problems with this plan?

I'm also not sure yet which leaf litter I want to use. People seem to prefer oak or magnolia. Oak is such a recognizable leaf that for me it just screams "I don't belong in the jungle!" Magnolia looks a little more South/Central American, but it's rather huge. Does anyone know of a good leaf to use that's both small and doesn't look out of place?

I don't have the frogs yet, but intend on ordering three D. auratus "Super Blue" when I'm ready.


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## basshummper (Jan 13, 2008)

water features are pretty, but too much work for me to want to try, plus all i have are 10gal tanks which IMO dont have any room for water features.
the leca will work but i think its ugly. Shawn turned me on to Aquamatic plant soil from Schultz. it looks more natural and you don't need a screen to seperate your drainage layer from your soil, so plant roots grow more freely.
for leaf litter a lot of people also use "live oak" leaves. the look like tiny magnolia leaves.


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## carbonetc (Oct 13, 2008)

Live Oak looks perfect. Thanks for the tip.

I'll be hiding the LECA (at least from the front). I think it's ugly too.


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## carbonetc (Oct 13, 2008)

I wanted the pump to be external and wanted water removal to be very easy, so I drilled the viv. I didn't have a way to clamp wood behind the hole to avoid chipping so I siliconed some in. If you do this I recommend squishing something in between the wood and the glass or you'll still have a little gap like I did.











To make the background more interesting I figured I'd try simulating some parasitic vines. The vine in the middle got a little thick and fakey... I'll be covering that one up with broms.  You can also see the bulkhead I installed in the hole I drilled. If you use a bulkhead, look for a double-threaded one so it's easy to take apart later (you don't have to use PVC cement to assemble it--everything screws in).











I shaved the vines down after the Great Stuff hardened. I wanted them to be subtle. 











I created the water area up front with malaysian driftwood. I don't like ruining good driftwood so I didn't secure it with Great Stuff or silicone. Embedding it in gravel worked just fine. It's bolstered from behind by Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil because I didn't trust the LECA to hold it securely and I didn't have enough LECA to do the whole job anyway. Coating the vines with coco fiber worked out ok.











I have a thin layer of gravel on either side hiding the plant soil and LECA (using plastic canvas dividers), so the viv only looks gross from the back. After repeatedly ordering strainers that should have fit my bulkhead but didn't I got fed up and put a sheet of plastic canvas between it and the LECA so none of it would get sucked in and plug it up. The water from the pump will fall onto the wood on the right side somehow. I haven't decided what to do about that yet. The water area isn't as huge as it looks because the water level will only be as high as the vent in front, meaning the gravel will slope down into the water allowing the frogs to be only as submerged as they choose.


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## boombotty (Oct 12, 2005)

I like your idea to do the vines on the back, looks good.
Scott


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## clwatkins10 (Nov 15, 2008)

Those vines look great!


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

its looking great, nice job, can't wait to see it planted.


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## themann42 (Apr 12, 2005)

one thing i've learned is to overly exaggerate landscape features like the greatstuff vines you created. you can always trim them back. just because once the plants grow in you might not even see them. should be a sweet tank when finished though i love the zoomeds have fun


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## carbonetc (Oct 13, 2008)

I'm very happy to report that my water system works perfectly on the first try. I'm using a Zoo Med 501 Turtle Filter which uses 3/8" ID tubing for intake and output. Amazingly Lowes had a 3/8" barb to screw into my 1/2" bulkhead, so that part turned out to be easy. Converting 3/8" tubing down to your average aquarium airline tubing (which fits through the holes on top of the Zoo Med terrarium) didn't have as elegant a solution. So here's what you do. Buy some 1/4" ID tubing and shove the airline tubing all the way into about a 2" section of it. Then shove that into the 3/8" ID tubing. It's much much easier if you dip the receiving tubing in boiling water for 15 seconds to soften it up. So far it seems perfectly water tight for this application.











I'm letting the water cascade down a vine that's sitting in the pool. Once the vine is saturated the water actually makes it all the way down without dripping. The glass right next to it doesn't even get splashed.











Now I just hope these vines hold up over time to this much moisture. I doubt this thing is doing even 10 gph, but that's ok with me. I was actually worried the 501 would be too powerful, but the smaller tubing slows it down. I just wanted water moving and creating humidity; I wasn't going for a waterfall.


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## clwatkins10 (Nov 15, 2008)

Good idea on the tubing. That flow vine looks nice


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## carbonetc (Oct 13, 2008)

Landscaping is done. I really like sloped vivs so I made mine pretty steep. Since taking these photos I'm already finding out that it's going to work against me. It's hard to keep the leaf litter I'm scattering in the front from just sliding down. I'm hoping as things get wetter and decompose a little that they'll "stick" better. Otherwise I may have to pick a different ground cover. I want to keep the viv overflowing with springtails so I hope it doesn't come to that.


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

That's an outrageous idea with the water going down in there. There might not be enough of a land area for springtails to really go nuts though unless auratus don't really hit them up too much


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## carbonetc (Oct 13, 2008)

The viv is planted. It still needs a lot more green. I have some Peperomia angulata, some Pilea spruceana, and some spikemoss that will hopefully fill in the back. I'd like to have some moss draping off the vines but I don't think my humidity is good enough yet. I'll play around with it.











In the water I just have some Anubias nana right now. The Salvinia natans shouldn't take long to cover most of the water surface. A little dark and murky is what I'm shooting for.


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## carbonetc (Oct 13, 2008)

1.5 months after planting. A wide angle shot so you can see the pond as well.










Surprisingly my spikemoss isn't doing very well. Two broms died, and I haven't ordered replacements yet (waiting for better weather). Nice big broms would be good because the more I look at the background the more I don't like it. 

The Salvinia natans went crazy, I'm pulling half of it out weekly. 

I spread moss over the wet areas, though it isn't java moss as no self-respecting aquascapist would use it . It was sold to me years ago as weeping moss but in the water it looks more like taiwan moss or christmas moss to me.










(these images are very tall and the forum is squishing them, so I recommend clicking)


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## carbonetc (Oct 13, 2008)

And a few shots from last month of an inhabitant, an auratus "Super Blue" froglet:


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## McBobs (Apr 26, 2007)

Looks like you've got yourself one fine lookin frog!

-Matt


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## basshummper (Jan 13, 2008)

that moss is nuts. you need to start trading that stuff around!


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## carbonetc (Oct 13, 2008)

basshummper said:


> that moss is nuts. you need to start trading that stuff around!


I plan to when it's warmer. I have enough of it to fill a 10g aquarium wall to wall.


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## Ed Holder (Sep 26, 2008)

Wow, i love the way your viv turned out, it looks great! Especially the moss growing up your "weeping vine" Great job!

Ed


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## fraser2009 (Jan 4, 2009)

wow tank looks stunning mate.
the turtle filter seems perfect for your job. i was going to suggest a sump so you could hide your heater ect. 
should be great when those broms up top grow in and give you a bit more rel estate for the frogs. 
Fraser


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## carbonetc (Oct 13, 2008)

fraser2009 said:


> wow tank looks stunning mate.
> the turtle filter seems perfect for your job. i was going to suggest a sump so you could hide your heater ect.
> should be great when those broms up top grow in and give you a bit more rel estate for the frogs.
> Fraser


I've been struggling to keep the viv cool. There's no way I'd ever need a heater.


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## fraser2009 (Jan 4, 2009)

ah good point the sump could help you cool it


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## ray1taylor (Nov 15, 2008)

Your viv looks awesome as do ur frogs.


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## carbonetc (Oct 13, 2008)

7.5 months after planting:










Weeping moss is everywhere. Tillandsias and Selaginella aren't liking the vivarium much, but everything else seems to.

The weeping moss is available for sale if anyone is interested: http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/plants-supplies-classifieds/43866-weeping-moss.html


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

looks pretty nice, the tilies dont' really like it that humid for some reason.


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## gretchenellie (Aug 7, 2007)

I like that, it looks really good.

Great job!


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## ihnmaims (Jun 16, 2006)

I did the same thing with the Monkey Ladder vine. It turned dark, almost black, but it held up well. It had water running over it for a good six months before something else in the tank went bad, and I had to redo it.


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## Colleen53 (Jan 19, 2009)

Enjoyed your thread on the build. Great job. I have several water features in my tanks and want to try the weeping moss. I sent you a PM.


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