# Frog room design



## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

So, if you had a 10 x 15 room and were interested in thumbnail species, what would you do with the space? Looking for ideas that are simple and things that are must haves, thanx


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## Froggyplush (Oct 28, 2011)

magnifiying glass!!!!


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Any ideas for cement floors? This is my detached garage, with the heat on the floor is still quite cold, I will be adding a heater air conditioner into the part im blocking off.


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## Okapi (Oct 12, 2007)

Keep the tanks off the floors. Do a rack with cabinetry underneath like this:
Dart Frog Vivarium Rack - Vivarium Forum

Do a search for frog racks here and on google


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## dtfleming (Dec 27, 2010)

My frog/reptile room is in my basement with concrete floor. Use racks to keep your vivs on. Is it insulated? I insulated my and with the door closed and an oil filed radiator for heat, I can keep it easily at 74 deg during the winter. 

Other suggestions would be sink and a table to use.


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Yes insulated, wish I had plumbing out there, I might have to figure something out. Thanks guys


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## thercman (Feb 18, 2010)

For my frog room I am using black bakers racks. They work great allowing for almost infinite shelf adjustment. I can use zip ties to secure power cords and misting lines etc. The shelves will bow a little so I purchased 3/8" ply at $10 a sheet for added support. Lowes sells black T8 shop fixtures for $12 each. I only use one bulb in the fixture. This is plenty of light for the plants. I also hung nice power strips to the racks the plugged them into timers.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

i would do something like this 
http://www.dartfrogz.com/f8/motydesigns-future-frog-room-3505/index12.html


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## dtfleming (Dec 27, 2010)

The other thing I wish I would have done is makes drains for each viv. It would be a lot easier.


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Drains are something I almost forgot, def need those, love the suggestions guys, pretty sure im going with 2x4's and ply wood for shelves, either painted or stained.


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## Dizzle21 (Aug 11, 2009)

A RODI station might be nice to have if you are able to run a hose to the garage you can have a reservoir inside with a spigot. so you have accesiblity to fresh water at all times. its nice wether your hand misting, refilling misting reservoirs, or doing water changes with tad containers 
I only have a 5 gallon container with spigot, but wish it was larger! they make food grade a 55g barrels that are white, and pretty cheap.


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)




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## bristles (Jan 19, 2011)

Can't wait to see your new frog room ED, what with you being so handy & having such a knack for detail and planning it should be sweet !  Oh by the way when are you getting Jeff's thumbs ?


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## anuranman (Mar 29, 2009)

Looks like you're building two new walls. You could put split receptacles along the walls at a convenient height, with one circuit being 24 hours, the other controlled by a timer. One for critical systems, the other for lighting.

Andrew


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

bristles...hopefully later today


anuranman....awesome idea on the timer!


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Heat and air? Its 150 sq ft and insulated, outside temps go from-20f to over 100f, but mostly 10f to 90f. Anyone have any suggestions to keep it between 71 and 76 inside?


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## ckays (Jul 26, 2011)

Depending on how fancy ($$$) you want to get, a Heat pump or MiniSplit would be the most cost effective options. 

The Mini Splits probably meet your need the best as they are less expensive and designed for a small space. They will save you a lot of money in the long run over a space heater and provide both heat and cooling for year round climate control. 

My 2 cents..


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Ed, whats your ceiling heights, and the rough inside dims? we could throw it in google sketch up in about 10 min.
what kind of racks you thinking?


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

ed,

knocked this out, did it three high, but there was no room for the last light (would have needed 8' 8" ceilings... sorry), also you didnt have enough room for 3 wide of the 24" cubes and the supports of the rack
here is it 2 viv high with 29s instead of 20s since they are the same as a 20, just deeper (you get more viv with out loosing critical space (the frogs will thank you for the 29 over the 20  )
the theory in building the rack is the back 2x4 is lag bolted into the wall then there are front legs to carry the cantilevered weight. will be tough as nails!

Ed room under 8' by Brookly - Google 3D Warehouse


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

i forgot not everyone has sketch up


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Awesome, yeah the 29's work better, thanks


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

yeah no problem, feel free to elaborate that skt id be interested to see how it comes along. mine SERIOUSLY helped me! 








three months later


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## frogmanroth (May 23, 2006)

Make sure you Can catch escaped frogs , wheels are nice. Oil heater with thermostat. Put in a rubber floor easy to keep clean and helps insulate.


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

That heater may work, you think a window a/c would work during the summer?


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

oh yeah! window A/Cs are great. they work WAY better than the stand up evaporative pieces of junk.

james


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

So, im thinking an oil heater, window a/c and a small ceiling fan set on low for distributing the heat/air conditioning


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

im running an oil heater and DAMN! that thing is a beast. i love it! im still on the fence with what i am doing for the summer????


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## dtfleming (Dec 27, 2010)

I use an oil filled heater. Keeps my room at 75 deg. easily. I also have a window a/c unit if needed for the summer. I would try fans first, I use fans last summer and never had a problem.


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Fleming, is that in an Insulated garage?


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

dtfleming said:


> I use an oil filled heater. Keeps my room at 75 deg. easily. I also have a window a/c unit if needed for the summer. I would try fans first, I use fans last summer and never had a problem.


mines in a basement which is nice and cool in the summer, i was planning on fans, and seeing where it went from there


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## dtfleming (Dec 27, 2010)

Edhurl said:


> Fleming, is that in an Insulated garage?


No insulated basement. So Im sure that helps with the temps.


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Time to get started, this pic is from the corner closest to whete the door will be










Will add more as progress...


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Well, decided to paint the floor area where my room is going and ended up doing the whole garage, ill take pics later...


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## Froggyplush (Oct 28, 2011)

nice room ed good luck dont rush it


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## Newt1 (Feb 25, 2007)

If you have the money to put an a/c unit in do it 
I had fans on in the house and the a/c off last summer 
The house got to hot and lost a lot of frogs
I felt so sick all I had to do was set the a/c up high and if the house got hot it would have turn on


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Sorry to hear that newt

Here are a few pics
Whole garage








Close up of floor








Air conditioner and where its going
















And my heater


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

So....my fiance just convinced me to go bigger! I get half the garage now, 12' x 19.5', im happy


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## Shinosuke (Aug 10, 2011)

Edhurl said:


> So....my fiance just convinced me to go bigger! I get half the garage now, 12' x 19.5', im happy


She sounds like a keeper! 

Nice start, btw. Looking forward to watching this frog room grow!


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Heres where the wall is goin








Room shot








Window that was in the way of my wall








Window for my a/c








Moved these 8", in the way too








Moved 2 ft, guess why...


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Did a little electrical and framed the wall up...


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## frogmanroth (May 23, 2006)

Where are you going to park your car?


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

I have two driveways and havent used my garage for 4 years, im putting it to better use...


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Nothing to take pics of, but ive wired in my in wall outlet timer and ran some wire today, comung slowly but done the way I want.


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

So, got upset with my sisters fiance and took out my fustration on my frog room...


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## Froggyplush (Oct 28, 2011)

that looks really good ed


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Think im gonna texture like this...


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## RubberDuckey273 (Apr 11, 2011)

Edhurl said:


> Think im gonna texture like this...


I did not read the whole thread, but I just thought I'd mention.. Is that a texture you're planning for the wall? If so, we have something similar on a wall in our house. It does look nice, but it can be a huge pain in the butt to clean.

If that's not what it is, I apologize


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

It is, but im ok with the hard to clean, thanx


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## bristles (Jan 19, 2011)

Very impressed with your progress Ed, this thread rocks just wish my wife was as cooperative as your fiance afraid I have to agree with rubberDucky on the texture as much as I love the look of it especially if you do a two color glaze on it (sorry it's the painter in me) it might be a cleaning issue, that said not an insurmountable cleaning issue


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

So, bristles... You bringing paint and rollers over?


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## bristles (Jan 19, 2011)

Well I'm coming over for tads .....so heck ya I would be happy to help you out brother


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## JeremyHuff (Apr 22, 2008)

Dillon,

Can you explain how you have yours set up? I am thinking of getting a huge Brute trash can as a reservoir that I can fill using a hose from outside. Do you have the RO system filtering it before it goes into the reservoir or as it comes out? I was thinking of just treating the water for chlorine is all once it was in the reservoir. However, I want to get a misting system set up when we move and I know RO water will have less ill effects on the sprayers.



Dizzle21 said:


> A RODI station might be nice to have if you are able to run a hose to the garage you can have a reservoir inside with a spigot. so you have accesiblity to fresh water at all times. its nice wether your hand misting, refilling misting reservoirs, or doing water changes with tad containers
> I only have a 5 gallon container with spigot, but wish it was larger! they make food grade a 55g barrels that are white, and pretty cheap.


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## Gnarly (Mar 3, 2011)

Nice progress, I bet it will look fantastic finished.


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## dtfleming (Dec 27, 2010)

JeremyHuff said:


> Dillon,
> 
> Can you explain how you have yours set up? I am thinking of getting a huge Brute trash can as a reservoir that I can fill using a hose from outside. Do you have the RO system filtering it before it goes into the reservoir or as it comes out? I was thinking of just treating the water for chlorine is all once it was in the reservoir. However, I want to get a misting system set up when we move and I know RO water will have less ill effects on the sprayers.


I have my RO/DI system hooked up to my laundry sink in my basement. I use a 20gal trash can to store the RO/DI water. Remember for 1gal of RO water you get 3gals of waste.


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Got the door hung, still have to put in outlets, spackle, texture and paint


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Test patch of texture with test paint...


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## JeremyHuff (Apr 22, 2008)

Edhurl said:


> Test patch of texture with test paint...


Looks nice. Personally I would go darker because the ff and spider crap will show up. I'm actually considering what George Gazonas is doing and going all black. I really hate scrubbing wall and ceilings and that might be the way to go for me. Plus, I like the idea of going into the frog room and only seeing the tanks.


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

I think webs would show up really bad with black, im thinking the washed out gray will help hide dirtyness and webs with the multi-tones it creates, guess we will see...


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## JeremyHuff (Apr 22, 2008)

For me webs are easy enough to get rid of with a feather duster. It is the little specks of poop all over my walls that drive me nuts. Another thing I will be adding to my room is free range house geckos to take out the spiders/crickets.

Of course, then you have gecko shit to deal with...


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## jacobi (Dec 15, 2010)

A living wall would take care of that. Plus it'd look awesome.

Jake


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## skanderson (Aug 25, 2011)

wow just found this thread. you work fast ed. i would really recommend a good exhaust fan that you can hook to thermostat to help with temp control. you can do alot of your summer temp control just by venting well at night. you may also consider going to a reverse day cycle so your warm lights are on at night when you can bring in our cool air. a large water storage container also acts as a heat sink. you can buy big square food grade containers for around 80 to 90 bucks on craigslist. one, or more, could be built in to your shelving at ground level. i like the look of the walls but would not want to have to keep them clean.


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Already planned on a reverse cycle, 6pm to 6am. Exhaust fan could be a cool idea, we'll have to talk more about it when we go collect wood. Also still have quite bit to do, tape, mud, texture, outlets need to be hooked up and paint...


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

All electrical done! Really excited bout my outlets, 6 of them are on a timer  just got to mud texture and paint...


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## Edhurl (Nov 8, 2011)

Man, taking a bit for the last of it, just have 90% of the room to texture and then paint


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