# First vivarium, thoughts/ help?



## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

I started building last june and finally planted it about 4 months ago, a huge thanks to everyone who helped me along the way! What a crazy hobby!
Build thread for anyone interested: http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/191097-16-tall-build-could-use-help.html

4 months after planting:









I only planted neoregelias, and smeared folius moss mix on the wood and hygrolon background. The p.prostrata was added recently and grows like a weed!
The moss is only growing under the fan on the right side, and in the back bottom where the hygrolon is wettest. I've spent the last 4 months trying to understand why it wasn't growing. Lots of experimenting...

Setup:
36" long, 12.5" wide, 16" tall.
beamswork 36", 65w LED
humidier + timer
external fan + speed controller, blowing upwards gently
1" vent across top front
hygrolon background wicking water from false bottom
misting by hand twice daily (almost once daily now)

Timeline:
I started by misting twice a day and running the humidifier often, the wood was sucking moisture out of the moss mix. It took about a month before everything became saturated and moss started growing.
The humidity was 90%+ without the fan on. I ran the fan 24/7 till recently, which kept it roughly 75%. The fan is on it's lowest setting gently sucking air from the tank. The excessive humidifying was keeping the leaf litter really wet though, the substrate seemed slightly wetter than I'd like too.
I recently decided to turn the fan off at night in hopes that the moss would grow better. This made the p.prostrata on the background start rotting, though the moss is staying moist much longer. I also lessened the humidifying time to give the leaf litter/ substrate a chance to dry off. I don't have to water as much with the fans off at night too.

Today I decided to try running the fan 8 times a day, 1 1/2 hours each, so it's 12h on 12h off, but spread out instead of off all night- on all day, so we'll see how that goes.
My main concern with this is the heat from the light. I don't know how you guys get away with it so close to your tanks! If the fan isn't on all day the light yellows the tips of the bromeliad leaves.

Moss theory:
I think there's multiple things going on with the moss mix. I only see 2 noticeable types of moss, one is sphagnum and only grows in areas wet at all times, and the other is something long/stringy that seems to hate the moss mix it's in and only grows on bare wood. However the stringy moss is super lenient about the wetness gradient between waterings.
I think if I put the moss mix on the wood much thinner, it would grow lots of the stringy moss, but I smeared it on a bit thick so it wants to grow sphagnum, but it's only wet enough on one piece of wood.
The fan is sucking all the humid air past that one spot, giving the sphagnum what it needs.

Fan shenanigans:
I tried the fan under the light blowing across the length of the lid to keep things cool. The speed needed to blow across 3 feet was sucking a lot of air from the vent, drying out the moss pretty fast.
I tried the fan inside to circulate the air better, but it completely fogged the viewing pane of glass and made the viewers pretty bummed out.
I put it closer to the vent, still inside the tank, it was a bit less foggy, but the big blue fan looked ridiculous there, and I think the heat was starting to build up with the fan being inside instead of out.

Sorry for the long read. All the tanks I've seen here look lush and green after 4 months, meanwhile I'm looking at wood covered in puke-y moss mix still.
The frogs I'm hoping to get are the El Cope auratus. Do you guys think this tank is alright for 2-3 of them? Would adding a handful of seed pods be enough hiding spot additions? I'll be trying to get more plants going as well.

Thanks for stopping by, and all the help as always =)


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## Alphonsus (Apr 10, 2015)

I love your tank. Although there are some issues. Your tank is too open. There aren't really any hiding spaces. You also need more plants. Add more branches and cork bark. These will provide natural hiding spots for your frog. I advise you to look at other people's terrarium and paludariums. Some are sophisticated but you don't have to have it like theirs. There are many different simple ones but great ones. Your tank should be able to house 2-3 el cope auratus. I don't want to sound stiff or anything but you probably need more time to prepare the tank before adding the frogs. Good Luck!


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

Alphonsus said:


> I love your tank. Although there are some issues. Your tank is too open. There aren't really any hiding spaces. You also need more plants. Add more branches and cork bark. These will provide natural hiding spots for your frog. I advise you to look at other people's terrarium and paludariums. Some are sophisticated but you don't have to have it like theirs. There are many different simple ones but great ones. Your tank should be able to house 2-3 el cope auratus. I don't want to sound stiff or anything but you probably need more time to prepare the tank before adding the frogs. Good Luck!


I agree it needs more plants and hiding places. Our local nursery usually has tropical plants when the weather warms up, so I should have more plants soon. Also been meaning to get seed pods and such from Neherp =)
I dunno about more branches though, I can barely navigate through the branches I have already 
Shouldn't a bunch of seed pods and plants be enough additional cover?









I probably should post a 3d view of the tank:





I'm open to all thoughts on anything & everything. Hopefully the tank will be frog ready by the end of this thread =)
I've read that a frog can die from stress because of microfauna crawling on them if there's too much leaf litter. Do you think this could be a problem?


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## michael99420 (Mar 27, 2015)

wriggles said:


> I agree it needs more plants and hiding places. Our local nursery usually has tropical plants when the weather warms up, so I should have more plants soon. Also been meaning to get seed pods and such from Neherp =)


Take caution with plants from local nurseries/home depot etc as you don't know if there were a lot of pesticides used on them which could harm your frogs. You are probably better off buying plants from a reputable reptile company. I could be looking too much into it but they really aren't much more expensive.


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

michael99420 said:


> Take caution with plants from local nurseries/home depot etc as you don't know if there were a lot of pesticides used on them which could harm your frogs. You are probably better off buying plants from a reputable reptile company. I could be looking too much into it but they really aren't much more expensive.


I was planning on asking them, though they get them shipped in instead of growing them in-house so they might not know =( We're getting plants for our fairy garden there so I'll be stopping by anyways 
Think million hearts would help cover the upper background?


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## Reefluvr (Nov 9, 2014)

I would agree that you want more plants to create more hiding spaces. I only know what I've read, mostly here, but the frogs will feel most comfortable if there is lots of cover. I think the heavier planted the tank is, the better. Is there a reason you don't have anything growing in the substrate?

I love your branches, by the way. Great start!


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

Reefluvr said:


> Is there a reason you don't have anything growing in the substrate?
> 
> I love your branches, by the way. Great start!


I planned to make an epiphyte only tank so there's only a thin layer of substrate for the microfauna, not enough to get any soil hungry plants rooted.
I think I can get korean rock fern/ lemon button ferns growing at the base of the branches though, that might get them spreading along the substrate. Maybe some wandering jews...
I got super lucky with the wood! It was a blind mail purchase


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## thane (Sep 11, 2014)

What kind of wood is that? It looks really cool. I only have limited experience with moss, as I just planted my first viv 3 weeks ago. However I have seen some success with the moss I planted. I got the delicate fern moss from NE Herp and also their moss slurry, spread them all over the tank and background. I have been misting the moss 2X/day by hand, so it stays consistently moist. The only places it has died off is where it wasn't getting enough light or on surfaces that were drying out quickly. I don't have a fan in mine, just vent on the front and top, not sure what the humidity is either. But the two variables for success I'm seeing personally are high light and consistent moisture.


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## Weston (Mar 21, 2015)

I second the motion of being careful with nursery plants and taking time to clean them before planting. There's currently another thread going on here in which some poor soul is trying to confine a cockroach infestation to a tent of plants sitting inside his home while he further tries to exterminate them. Obviously not a common problem, but...


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

thane said:


> What kind of wood is that? It looks really cool. I only have limited experience with moss, as I just planted my first viv 3 weeks ago. However I have seen some success with the moss I planted. I got the delicate fern moss from NE Herp and also their moss slurry, spread them all over the tank and background. I have been misting the moss 2X/day by hand, so it stays consistently moist. The only places it has died off is where it wasn't getting enough light or on surfaces that were drying out quickly. I don't have a fan in mine, just vent on the front and top, not sure what the humidity is either. But the two variables for success I'm seeing personally are high light and consistent moisture.


Wow so your vent/ misting situation is the same as mine, only without the fan? I thought about ditching the fan but the heat from the light was building up without it.
The wood is ghostwood from saveoncrafts.com. You can't see what they send you but I'm always pleased with everything they sent so far.


Weston said:


> I second the motion of being careful with nursery plants and taking time to clean them before planting. There's currently another thread going on here in which some poor soul is trying to confine a cockroach infestation to a tent of plants sitting inside his home while he further tries to exterminate them. Obviously not a common problem, but...


I bleach everything that goes in there, but that probably doesn't get pesticides/fertilizers off does it? Cockroaches yikes


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## thane (Sep 11, 2014)

The vents on mine are a little bigger in relation to the vivarium, I believe, and are in 2 locations. Mine is 24X24X28, there's a 2 inch vent on the top, a couple inches back from the front, and a 1 inch vent on the front, 6 inches from the bottom. It creates a kind of airflow upwards that keeps the glass in front clean. I also leave a ceiling fan on in the room to hopefully improve air circulation. With yours the fan might be necessary.

I got one of the "small" pieces of ghostwood from NEHerp, about 16 in long, I like it a lot but these larger ones are very cool looking. Makes me want to build a long tank like you have here.


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

thane said:


> The vents on mine are a little bigger in relation to the vivarium, I believe, and are in 2 locations. Mine is 24X24X28, there's a 2 inch vent on the top, a couple inches back from the front, and a 1 inch vent on the front, 6 inches from the bottom. It creates a kind of airflow upwards that keeps the glass in front clean. I also leave a ceiling fan on in the room to hopefully improve air circulation. With yours the fan might be necessary.
> 
> I got one of the "small" pieces of ghostwood from NEHerp, about 16 in long, I like it a lot but these larger ones are very cool looking. Makes me want to build a long tank like you have here.


If you build one like this I recommend a couple sliding front doors. It's a hassle reaching past the wood and plants through a narrow opening =(
Though I guess escapees will be less likely, hopefully...


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## thane (Sep 11, 2014)

Correct - mine has sliding glass doors on the front. Would be impossible otherwise. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread talking about my own thing. Just wanted to share what I had noticed with my own moss.


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## nimravid (Apr 16, 2015)

Hi wriggles! I've been lurking for a long time but finally decided I should just join the forum. 

I've been following your build thread(s) and really like the overall design you are going for. The wood looks awesome with the moss on it! What a lucky blind purchase 

For the moss wall in background- have you tried buying live moss and attaching that to the hygrolon? Maybe you would have more luck with it growing and spreading if it is already pretty well established/grown out… There's a bunch of online vendors that sell different live moss species, you could also try talking to one of them about your background and what species would be best for your set up? Since you mentioned the different preferences you noticed between the sphagnum & stringier kinds.

I think it also might help, if you do get live moss, to start it closer towards the bottom of the wall where there is more moisture? Once it gets going it then I think it would spread upwards, towards the light.

Anyway please keep us updated!


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

nimravid said:


> Hi wriggles! I've been lurking for a long time but finally decided I should just join the forum.
> 
> I've been following your build thread(s) and really like the overall design you are going for. The wood looks awesome with the moss on it! What a lucky blind purchase
> 
> ...


Welcome to the boards =D
The idea behind the moss mix was to get as many species as possible spread out so no matter what the conditions are, something green should show up...
Lots of people buy live mosses and toss it in a blender to spread it out like this too. From what I've seen in other builds, the live moss often dies back before adjusting and regrowing from spore, so might as well skip the heartache and start from spore 
It's extremely slow growing though, here's 4 months worth of the background spreading lol:









I'm thinking about tossing some crawing plants back there like creeping oak fig or million hearts and just letting that take over the background.
Seems a waste of hygrolon though =\

I'm really liking my fan schedule so far. I have it set to go off every 3 hours. It runs 2 hours each while the light is on, so only 1 hour for heat/humidity to build up, which is only enough to cause a tiny bit of condensation before it turns on again. While the light is off it only runs 1 1/2 hours each, just to clear stagnant air. The humidifier only runs once a day for 15 minutes now, though I'm having a hard time judging if my leaf litter/substrate is too wet or not.
I'm very close to only needed 1 mist per day =)

I'd like to make an order from neherpetoculture.com soon. If anyone is particularly bored I'd love some recommendations for wood decor/hides/plant purchases and where to put them =)


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## Weston (Mar 21, 2015)

wriggles said:


> I bleach everything that goes in there, but that probably doesn't get pesticides/fertilizers off does it? Cockroaches yikes


Honestly I'm not sure if that would take care of it or not, but based on what little I know about chemistry probably not. In order for the bleach to neutralize a pesticide or fertilizer they would need to be acidic and I'm pretty sure most fertilizers and pesticides operative compounds don't work in that way.

Haha yeah, it's been quite a thread to watch.


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

I haven't done anything new, just been watering it and watching.

- The light was causing "things" to happen inside the clear water bottle humidifier setting right next to the tank. I think algae started growing in it and now the humidifier only works occasionally.
- Ferns and things started growing from the moss mix on the hygrolon where it's wettest =)
- The bromeliads are pupping and the mother plants are dying (hopefully natural deaths..).

I definitely need to get some kind of internal fan going, the moss closest to the vent is too dry and everything in the back has been rotting a bit.
I'm still not sure how to do that while keeping the glass clear, all the internal fan placement tests resulted in a completely fogged viewing pane.









The family has been bugging me to "get the frogs already!"
I'm the only one content watching grass grow it seems =P

Oh and this hand mister is life changing! My fingers were starting to kill me with that squeeze bottle junk. Amazon.com : Solo 418 One-Hand Pressure Sprayer, 1-Liter : Lawn And Garden Sprayers : Patio, Lawn & Garden


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## thane (Sep 11, 2014)

I believe from what I've read the secret to keeping the front glass clear is to have vents below and above the doors. I can't remember where you had the vents on this, but if there aren't any there, you maybe be able to add some by drilling some holes. There's some tutorials on here where people do that with a diamond bit then they insert a grommet or bushing covered in mesh into the hole. I haven't tried that myself though. I don't have a fan in the tank, but I do keep the ceiling fan in the room on and haven't had too much trouble with things rotting in the tank. I try to place things that like more air movement closer to the vents, so you might just have to experiment moving the plants around a little. Some of my plants I've had to move 4 times before they find their happy place.

Only other thing I might suggest before adding frogs would be to put some hides in there. When I got my frogs they were 2-3 mo. out of the water, and I thought tincs were supposed to be "bold" but they hid all the time. I figured out it was because they were just young and shy, but I added some more shadowy areas throughout the tank and they come out more now. It looks like you've got some good leaf litter for them to hide in, but might want to give them some more places to hide on the ground or they might just hide under the leaf litter all day.

Good luck, will be excited to see this grow out, and see what frogs you put in there.

Thane


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

thane said:


> Good luck, will be excited to see this grow out, and see what frogs you put in there.
> 
> Thane


I don't have the stomach to drill an already finished tank, if it cracks I'll be a very sad panda...
In the first post there's a picture where you can see the 1 inch vent on the top front, with a fan on the right side gently pulling air from the tank. This does a good job keeping the glass clear and the temperature build up under control, but the air circulation isn't that great.
I've got plans to eventually fill the tank with seed pods' n stuff that the frogs can hide in. I'm still window shopping at some websites =P
I'm leaning towards the El Cope auratus, but if my budget can handle it, a few orange terribilis would be amazing.


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## tardis101 (Apr 11, 2012)

This may not work for you. But for those tanks I have that are regular "fish" tanks without real vents, i just keep a glass squeegee near by. The fogging seems worse in the first ...i'd say 6-8 months. After that it starts to sort of go away anyway. it's not crystal clear, but I can see through just fine. Might not be your style, but thought I'd throw that out there. By the way your tank looks nice. I really like that background idea.


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

tardis101 said:


> This may not work for you. But for those tanks I have that are regular "fish" tanks without real vents, i just keep a glass squeegee near by. The fogging seems worse in the first ...i'd say 6-8 months. After that it starts to sort of go away anyway. it's not crystal clear, but I can see through just fine. Might not be your style, but thought I'd throw that out there. By the way your tank looks nice. I really like that background idea.


I think I read Grimm mention that once. Something about the glass being so wet you can see through it, or something =S
Without pictures it's hard to decide, but I'd really like the glass to be as see through as possible. The tank is in an area where someone new is checking it out every hour or so during the week days, I'd feel bad if I'm the only one that gets to see inside when it gets wiped down at night.


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## tardis101 (Apr 11, 2012)

These are both 20 gal long AllGlass brand fish tanks with no vents cut into it and no fans. There are narrow gaps (too small to let frogs out) along the front at the top. One is about 2 years old and one tank is about a year. Both pictures I just took and haven't used the glass squeegee for probably 2-3 weeks. I consider these just breeder tanks not necessarily display tanks. But maybe it will give you an idea of how clear the glass is. Humidity in both tanks ranges between 75-80%. I mist with a hand mister in these two tanks.

Edit: I see an azureus looking at at me in the second picture.


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## ukewarrior (Aug 29, 2015)

I like your viv, all the vivs I see here are amazing.


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

tardis101 said:


> These are both 20 gal long AllGlass brand fish tanks with no vents cut into it and no fans. There are narrow gaps (too small to let frogs out) along the front at the top. One is about 2 years old and one tank is about a year. Both pictures I just took and haven't used the glass squeegee for probably 2-3 weeks. I consider these just breeder tanks not necessarily display tanks. But maybe it will give you an idea of how clear the glass is. Humidity in both tanks ranges between 75-80%. I mist with a hand mister in these two tanks.
> 
> Edit: I see an azureus looking at at me in the second picture.


Thanks for the pics, those look great =) I guess the choice of plants are pretty important for more stagnant tanks like this. Most of the plants I tried putting on the hygrolon rotted away =(



ukewarrior said:


> I like your viv, all the vivs I see here are amazing.


Thanks =)
Yeah this site is a trap lol, once you discover it, there's no stopping the urge to build a tank of your own...


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

Still haven't gotten to the frogs, but the tank is still going =)
Nothing has been added, I've only been watering the plants I started with.

All of the peperomia prostrata fell off the wood and started spreading along the leaf litter. It's even growing up the glass!


























I forgot to mention I got the humidifier working again by using the brush that came with it to wipe off the vibrating disc (forgot what it's called).
I haven't had issues with anything other than that so far.


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## rjs5134 (Feb 1, 2017)

The tank is really growing in nicely. Quick question(s) if you do not mind. What brand and model fan did you install and where did you get it? Has it held up well to the humidity?

Thanks


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

rjs5134 said:


> The tank is really growing in nicely. Quick question(s) if you do not mind. What brand and model fan did you install and where did you get it? Has it held up well to the humidity?
> 
> Thanks


The fan is a SilverStone Suscol Ultra Quiet Fan with 7-Bladed Design SC00L81. I got it from amazon and it has done very well. It's still 100% quiet even outside the tank.
I'm also using a Zalman Fan Speed Controller FANMATE-2 from amazon to lower the speed.


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## Woodswalker (Dec 26, 2014)

That huge, red, striped bromeliad in the center photo is absolutely stunning! What is that?


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

Woodswalker said:


> That huge, red, striped bromeliad in the center photo is absolutely stunning! What is that?


That's a Neoregelia punctatissima rubra x tigrina. Definitely the slowest growing of the collection, it took 3 years to give me 1 small pup, but every year it got brighter and brighter!


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

Why hello =)
I haven't touched this tank in years!

Still haven't decided if I'm ready to take care of frogs lol


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

That tank is practically begging to have frogs in it! It looks wonderful


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

fishingguy12345 said:


> That tank is practically begging to have frogs in it! It looks wonderful


Thanks =) Yeah it's been needing some frogs for a while. Our gray tree frog passed this year so it's extra lonely in this room =(
I think the fruit fly cultivating and potential frog eggs are what I'm most intimidated by right now.


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

wriggles said:


> Thanks =) Yeah it's been needing some frogs for a while. Our gray tree frog passed this year so it's extra lonely in this room =(
> 
> I think the fruit fly cultivating and potential frog eggs are what I'm most intimidated by right now.


I was too, for awhile, but the fruit flies are pretty easy once you get them going. (not that I've been doing it very long).

If you don't provide breeding places then they're less likely to breed.


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

Help! my tank is slowly dying on me =(
I've been watering it once a day for years, I don't know why it's doing this.
Does it just need new plants added to it as the old ones die?


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## minorhero (Apr 24, 2020)

This tank is 5 years old and was doing great when you posted last year. Something has changed since then. What are you using for water?


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

minorhero said:


> This tank is 5 years old and was doing great when you posted last year. Something has changed since then. What are you using for water?


I've been using distilled water all this time. I can't think of any changes that have happened, but the moss seems slightly dryer than usual on the wood. Maybe I need to mist everthing more thoroughly?


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## minorhero (Apr 24, 2020)

wriggles said:


> I've been using distilled water all this time. I can't think of any changes that have happened, but the moss seems slightly dryer than usual on the wood. Maybe I need to mist everthing more thoroughly?


Something very odd happened. The plants in the ground died but it also looks like the broms on the wood are not doing well and it appears you lost some of those as well?

If it were only plants in soil I would look towards something in the substrate but if broms on wood are dying then its got to be something that affects them as well.

Plants need light, nutrients, and water. If they are dying and your light is the same and the water is the same (and broms are getting nutrients from the wood they are attached to and from the air) then something else is eating them or affecting them. It looks like there is a new tall leafed plant in the aquarium. Your 2019 picture shows it on the left but the most recent picture shows it on the right and left. Maybe there are other newish plants as well? Could you have introduced a critter with these plants that is poisoning your viv? I am no expert at this, just trying to work through the possibilities.


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

minorhero said:


> Something very odd happened. The plants in the ground died but it also looks like the broms on the wood are not doing well and it appears you lost some of those as well?
> 
> If it were only plants in soil I would look towards something in the substrate but if broms on wood are dying then its got to be something that affects them as well.
> 
> Plants need light, nutrients, and water. If they are dying and your light is the same and the water is the same (and broms are getting nutrients from the wood they are attached to and from the air) then something else is eating them or affecting them. It looks like there is a new tall leafed plant in the aquarium. Your 2019 picture shows it on the left but the most recent picture shows it on the right and left. Maybe there are other newish plants as well? Could you have introduced a critter with these plants that is poisoning your viv? I am no expert at this, just trying to work through the possibilities.


The new ferns were not added, they popped up from the moss mix I used initially and kinda took over.

I think I discovered my problem... 
The humidifier died on me! I don't know how long it's been dead but now it's filled with slime. It runs in the morning while I'm sleeping so I never noticed.
This was keeping everything humid during the day until I mist at night.
I'm going to try cleaning it but I most likely need a new one. This model isn't sold anymore though  I don't know what humidifier model will work with my rig besides this one.


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## minorhero (Apr 24, 2020)

wriggles said:


> The new ferns were not added, they popped up from the moss mix I used initially and kinda took over.
> 
> I think I discovered my problem...
> The humidifier died on me! I don't know how long it's been dead but now it's filled with slime. It runs in the morning while I'm sleeping so I never noticed.
> ...


You should try to figure out a humidity solution that does not rely on the humidifier. Most folks just close off ventilation till they get the desired level of humidity. Whatever that slime is, was being sprayed on your plants when it was working. That can't have been good. 

Anyway I mist in the morning using a mistking for 40 seconds. That is the only misting all day long. My viv is balanced so that is all that is needed. A similar situation could be setup for your viv as well. Not what of your plants are recoverable at this point but step one is to figure out your humidity by misting instead of the humidifier.


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

minorhero said:


> You should try to figure out a humidity solution that does not rely on the humidifier. Most folks just close off ventilation till they get the desired level of humidity. Whatever that slime is, was being sprayed on your plants when it was working. That can't have been good.
> 
> Anyway I mist in the morning using a mistking for 40 seconds. That is the only misting all day long. My viv is balanced so that is all that is needed. A similar situation could be setup for your viv as well. Not what of your plants are recoverable at this point but step one is to figure out your humidity by misting instead of the humidifier.


The humidifier is on 7 minutes in the morning once a day. I'll have to re-evaluate my ventilation I think. Right now I have a 1 inch screen across the top and a fan on the lowest setting circulating air out for a few minutes 5 times every 24 hours.
Do you think it's unsafe for frogs now, with the slime potentially being in the tank?


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## minorhero (Apr 24, 2020)

Well you should figure out your plant situation first. If the plants can not live in the viv its possible the frogs can't either. If the plants come back/new plants thrive with appropriate watering then its probably fine. The slime is probably from the water going stagnant and picking up bacterial growth. Yucky but likely not harmful to plants and animals in the long term. The key is to make sure you are not continuing to use such a system. I mean the darn thing failed on you twice now? I admit I didn't read the whole thread but I believe I saw you mentioned that it failed once before as well. You didn't have any frogs so the only thing that happened is you lost some plants, it sucks but if you had frogs in there they could be dead for lack of proper humidity/water. 

If on the other hand you can't get anything to grow in this viv going forward, then yea you are in for a tear down and redo.


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

minorhero said:


> Well you should figure out your plant situation first. If the plants can not live in the viv its possible the frogs can't either. If the plants come back/new plants thrive with appropriate watering then its probably fine. The slime is probably from the water going stagnant and picking up bacterial growth. Yucky but likely not harmful to plants and animals in the long term. The key is to make sure you are not continuing to use such a system. I mean the darn thing failed on you twice now? I admit I didn't read the whole thread but I believe I saw you mentioned that it failed once before as well. You didn't have any frogs so the only thing that happened is you lost some plants, it sucks but if you had frogs in there they could be dead for lack of proper humidity/water.
> 
> If on the other hand you can't get anything to grow in this viv going forward, then yea you are in for a tear down and redo.


Yeah I'll have to adjust some things when I clean up and replant.

Thanks a lot for your help!


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

I forgot grow lights don't last forever! Do you think it's worth replacing mine since it's been 5 years?
Are there any 36 inch lights anyone would recommend also?


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## wriggles (Apr 5, 2014)

I think this will be my last update here, but I just wanted to say my tank has exploded with growth since replacing the lights and raising the humidity!
For the first time I need to tear out some of the growth before it gets too crazy lol
The frogs are also doing well =)
Big thanks to everyone that helped me on this 7 year journey to get my dream frogs!


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