# New fixer-upper



## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Today I redid my old and empty 60x40x50cm Dutch Rana tank from scratch.
I already like the result, but I will change the bromeliads position later this week. Forgot to take photo's when position the drift wood etc.. But this gives a good idea


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

I not good at waiting..


where to post photos


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## Kimie (Jan 25, 2020)

Tijl said:


> I not good at waiting..
> 
> 
> where to post photos



It looks really nice. What should you keep in there.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

I'm glad you like it. I will let everything grow for a while first. When they cuttings root, I will fill up the waterfeature with gravel to expand the surface. This tank will probably go for sale since it's cabine needs to move for my (fixer-upper) rack system I intend to use.. 

This tank would be great for E.Tricolor or Anthonyi or D.Leucomelas. Mayebe even D.Truncatus or P.Aurotaenia..


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## Lucano (Aug 21, 2017)

Tijl said:


> I'm glad you like it. I will let everything grow for a while first. When they cuttings root, I will fill up the waterfeature with gravel to expand the surface. This tank will probably go for sale since it's cabine needs to move for my (fixer-upper) rack system I intend to use..
> 
> This tank would be great for E.Tricolor or Anthonyi or D.Leucomelas. Mayebe even D.Truncatus or P.Aurotaenia..


That's how I like vivariums. Awesome job.
What kind o leaf litter do you have?


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Lucano said:


> That's how I like vivariums. Awesome job.
> What kind o leaf litter do you have?


The leaflitter consist of : Magnolia Soulgeano, Magnolia sp. dwarf, bamboo. I normaly add some oak on the first layer, but I'm running out for my other tanks..




Also rearranged the bromeliads again and added a few new. Now I'm 100% happy with the build.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Today the tank looks like this :


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

More growth and one of the neoregelia's is flowering :


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)




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## Bmoli15 (Apr 18, 2020)

Tijl said:


>



That is beautiful ! I’m jelly lol


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

New frame for the tank arrived today. Cat approves! 🙂


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

https://youtu.be/TLZM82At3LU


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Playing around with some spiderwood today, trying to create more depth.


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## minorhero (Apr 24, 2020)

That background is looking awesome! What moss is growing on it? Is that also just a bunch of Peperomia going everywhere? Very lush looking, its grown in a lot!


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

It's moss from my lawn.. 😄 I think it's Brachythecium rutabulum. Only 2 types of pepperomia. The other small leafed plants are Montecarlo and I have no idea what the one is that grows best..


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## minorhero (Apr 24, 2020)

Tijl said:


> It's moss from my lawn.. 😄 I think it's Brachythecium rutabulum. Only 2 types of pepperomia. The other small leafed plants are Montecarlo and I have no idea what the one is that grows best..


Montecarlo! I love how aquarium plants keep cropping up in the vivarium side of things as well. This plant completely consumes some high tech aquarium scapes, does it go crazy in vivaria as well or is it better mannered?


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

The Montecarlo is realy slow! It mostly grows in the mos. I should ID the good growing small leafed plant. I think it probably a 'soleirolia', but I'm not sure.

I'm trying some different common used plants for aquascapes in a few vivariums. But I'm already convinced most of those plants would need to be kept to moist if you want them to thrive in a dart frog vivarium.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

https://youtu.be/VZMTj11cd5s


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## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

Wow that has grown in very nicely. Great job


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Added 2 more thicker branches to the left side of the tank to create more depth from all angles. Also did some specific trimming to highlight the darker areas in the viv. (Got this tip from Josh Sims) I'm trimming weekly now, that's the way I like it. 🙂


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## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

It's looking really good Your growth is amazing. I'd have a hard time letting that leave my collection. Great job!


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Well.. Seems like the tank is not going anywhere soon since I also got an endrosement for this vivarium from SKYLIGHT. 

These new MID 30 INTENSE just arrived today.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Update, most bromeliads show way more color since this tank got hooked up with the MID-30's!


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## Lucano (Aug 21, 2017)

That is some really incredible growth Tijl. Makes me wonder what I'm doing wrong. Maybe it's the lights, maybe the soil I've used, maybe the water I've misted. Who knows. You surely know how to make vivariums lush. Anyway, nice work!

Cheers


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Thanks! 

I think I shared most of the steps I take in all my tank reports, if you have trouble you can always try the same steps and use materials I take..

If you want to know more specifics, just ask 😉


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## Do_Gon (Aug 18, 2018)

Gorgeous color! Where can I get me one of those Skylight lights?


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

You can check http://skylight.blue to locate a distributor.


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Tijl said:


> You can check http://skylight.blue to locate a distributor.



Do they irradiate much hot? It’s something I must take in account here in the south...


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Same as other LED's, T5 for example give a lot more heat.


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## Do_Gon (Aug 18, 2018)

How many of those Skylights are you using on your setup?


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

4x MID-30 as posted above


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Time for an update :

7 months of growth since the 'restart' of this tank :


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## Tihsho (Sep 21, 2009)

This display is stunning... I have to ask, how much effort do you put into your layouts and trimming? I've yet to see anything look out of place in any of your displays!


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Glad you like em and thanks for the compliment 🙂

At the moment I think I spend around hour, mayebe an hour a half every 2 weeks in trimming+cleaning the 4 showtanks in total.. 

2 of the showtanks are not inhabited, so they go faster since I have to be less carefull in those.


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## Tihsho (Sep 21, 2009)

So I have to ask what some plants are that you have in the display.

The ones in question I've circled. I'm trying to figure out what the small leaf plants are as well as the red and green leaf species.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Small leafed plants are Baby tears/ Monte Carlo. The red/green is Paradrymonia Campostyla sp 'suriname'


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## Tihsho (Sep 21, 2009)

Ah ok, looked like Monte Carlo but wasn't sure. Thanks for the plant info!


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

It spreads quite well Monte Carlo as I can see. I’m looking for a cover plant...and it’s a good choice maybe.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

For a plant tank I'd highly recommend it 🙂 in a frog tank, I will always recommend leaflitter instead.


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## Tihsho (Sep 21, 2009)

Was the initial addition of leaf litter in this build solely to sustain the micro fauna?


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Yes and ofc also to make the tank appealing to the eye while the plants still need to grow. 

It was never my intent to keep frogs in this setup. However, an adjustment or 2 can turn this tank in no time into a a perfect vivarium for a pair or Epipedobates, Ranitomeya, Pumilio or another smaller frog species.

But I don't think that is going to happen any time soon.


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## Tihsho (Sep 21, 2009)

Tijl said:


> Yes and ofc also to make the tank appealing to the eye while the plants still need to grow.
> 
> It was never my intent to keep frogs in this setup. However, an adjustment or 2 can turn this tank in no time into a a perfect vivarium for a pair or Epipedobates, Ranitomeya, Pumilio or another smaller frog species.
> 
> *But I don't think that is going to happen any time soon*.


No reason for you to change a beautiful display! If anything, time and fund permitting, just means you can build something else if you want frogs in it.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

It would not be such drastic changes, but you are absolutely correct.

I still have 2 empty 70x50x65cm tanks to work on and finish. But I might have another vivarium project comming up before that thanks to Instagram.. 🙂

I also just got more and more patient over time I think haha


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## Esmi (Oct 28, 2017)

nice setup!
How did you built your water future and how do you maintain it?


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Esmi said:


> nice setup!
> How did you built your water future and how do you maintain it?


Thanks.

There is not really a waterfeature actualy. It is a drainage gutter that is just filled to the top  it contains about 1l of water max. I don't do annything to maintain it, there are no frogs in the tank.


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## Esmi (Oct 28, 2017)

Tijl said:


> It is a drainage gutter that is just filled to the top


Is the Drainage Layer also under the rest of your tank, or does all drain to this gutter in the front?

It's just that I also would like to have a "water-part", not for optical reasons but to increase humidity without wet leaves (aka always raining)


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

It al drains to the front. I have a floating false bottom in this tank.


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## Esmi (Oct 28, 2017)

does it have a drain hole, or do you drain frequently?


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Nope, I keep floating plants in the gutter.. I have to add water weekly to keep the water level up for the plants. 

If I would want to drain it, I can use an aquarium simphon or a regular sponge..


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## Tihsho (Sep 21, 2009)

Can we get some updated pictures of the water area? It's clear in your initial setup, but with how lush everything is right now and the angles of your pictures it's got somewhat lost in the environment.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

I took this shot with my phone 3 weeks aggo before trimming. I was working on the positioning of the new spiderwood branches.


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## Tihsho (Sep 21, 2009)

What do you have in the water area besides _Salvinia Minima_. Looks like _Peperomia Sp._ might have creeped in?


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

That is the Monte Carlo and baby tears, even the pilea pop out sometimes


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## Tihsho (Sep 21, 2009)

Interesting! The red runners are what threw me off! It's always interesting to see how plants display different aquatically vs. terrestrially.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Trimming and some rescaping today!


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)




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## Frogmanjared (Jul 17, 2020)

I’m not good with words, nor do I pretend to know the best ones... WOW


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## Leite02 (Jan 19, 2020)




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## Ron Beernink (Oct 12, 2019)

Thats a awesome looking tank 👌🏻


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Thanks! I'm thinking of filling the drainage gutter with some pondfoam so I can expand the bottom area so the tank would be suited to keep frogs in. But I'm still going back and forward on this. Tbh, I don't want extra frogs to take care for😅


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## Ron Beernink (Oct 12, 2019)

I think it wil be a nice tank for O. Escudo or a beutifull Ranitomeya species. And those 2 or 3 little frogs? You wouldn't even notice 😜


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Believe me, I'd notice.. 😅 I'm raising quite the number of frogs so every extra frog (vivarium) simply means more work haha..

3 would be too much for this size of tank in the long run I believe. But a pair of Escudo would defenitly thrive in the tank.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Blushing bromeliads everywhere


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

10 Months update



Edited Photo :


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Max and min temps and how many times spraying a day? Or dont you control it? 


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## FroggerFrog (Jan 11, 2021)

The whole tank is a rainbow of colors. It’s really nice.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Paskui said:


> Max and min temps and how many times spraying a day? Or dont you control it?
> 
> 
> Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk


19-25°c, I mist around 5sec in the morning and 5 in the evening.


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## Paskui (May 23, 2020)

Fantastic results!


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)




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## Fahad (Aug 25, 2019)

Tijl said:


> Update, most bromeliads show way more color since this tank got hooked up with the MID-30's! [...]


I just bought some MID-30s last night, hopefully they'll be here soon. That they're dimmable is important to me as I use lower light levels overall, but I'm really interested to see what they do for plant colour. 

I've also decided you're partially to blame for this upgrade cost.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Fahad said:


> I just bought some MID-30s last night, hopefully they'll be here soon. That they're dimmable is important to me as I use lower light levels overall, but I'm really interested to see what they do for plant colour.
> 
> I've also decided you're partially to blame for this upgrade cost.


'Blame it on the boogie' - Jackson 5


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