# My first viv build - 18x18x24 exo



## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Just finished planting my first viv. Took me about one month to complete from the time I put together the background to planting last night.

Pretty happy with how it turned out. However being a beginner, I am open to constructive comments, especially regarding my planting locations.

I have a nice bag of magnolia leaves which will go down once I am sure that I will not need make any substantial revisions in the plantings.

It will house a pair of Imitator Varaderos which I am picking up in about 3 weeks


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## C los7 (Sep 24, 2015)

Looks great to me


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

It looks good. I would put some ficus - maybe taking it from the bottom where it looks (from the pic) in low light - on the background, top center. Nothing more beautiful to me than a green wall of moss or/and ficus!


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

rigel10 said:


> It looks good. I would put some ficus - maybe taking it from the bottom where it looks (from the pic) in low light - on the background, top center. Nothing more beautiful to me than a green wall of moss or/and ficus!


As I am not totally familiar with the plant cuttings I received, can you be more specific which one you mean? 

Also, when putting in on the background, how does it get planted? Epiphytically? 

Thanks!


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## Colleen53 (Jan 19, 2009)

Looks great for your first build. Just keep researching on ideas here on the forum and you will be a pro in no time. You will make mistakes, but that is how we learn. Have fun with the build and upcoming frogs.


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Ficus pumila 'quercifolia'.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

rigel10 said:


> Ficus pumila 'quercifolia'.


Thank you! Can I grow this epiphytically? Wrap the end of the cutting with some sphagnum?

Also can anyone confirm the cutting in the very front left-centre of the tank? Is this Pilea?


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Yes, ficus is epiphyte.
As for the second question, I can not distinguish good from the picture, but it looks Pilea. The other plant looks to me Dischidia ruscifolia.
Great choice of frogs... and keep us updated!


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

rigel10 said:


> Yes, ficus is epiphyte.
> As for the second question, I can not distinguish good from the picture, but it looks Pilea. The other plant looks to me Dischidia ruscifolia.
> Great choice of frogs... and keep us updated!


Thank you very much for your help. I will update when I receive the frogs


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## Mohlerbear (Feb 20, 2014)

Looks good man


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## joshsfrogs (May 6, 2004)

You did a nice job! It has a great, simplistic look to it.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Thanks!

Can anyone confirm this is just new viv mold?

I was under the impression that this wood is mopani and that it would not be a problem. 

I am picking up spring tails tomorrow, so hopefully they'll take care of this mold.


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## Rushthezeppelin (Oct 6, 2015)

That stuff looks like grapewood to me not mopani. Grapewood molds VERY easily in humid environments and will decompose faster than most any other wood you can use in a viv.

Edit: Honestly it's a little hard to tell with all that substrate smeared on it. Does it have darker grains interspersed with lighter grains in it or is it all a very white/yellow wood?


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

It definitely has a mix of light/dark grain throughout. That stuff smeared on it is moss spread 

Perhaps a couple more photos this will make it easier to ID the wood.

Hoping it's not grapewood


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## Rushthezeppelin (Oct 6, 2015)

Ya ignore my comment then. That is in fact mopani, which despite the similar appearance is the exact opposite in terms of longevity lol. So ya as soon as you get your springtails in the should get that fungi under control pretty fast. Might not hurt, if you can swing it, to get two or more cultures though so that they knock it out real quick. Doesn't really matter too much either way though if you don't have frogs in it yet though. The more you let it grow, the more springtail food there will be once you introduce them 

Edit: take it back actually....I suppose they could hurt the plants if the fungi isn't put in check by some springs fairly soon. Not really sure how long it would take to do that though.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Glad to hear! I really thought it was mopani when I was buying it. It was extremely dense and quite heavy.

I am grabbing 2 cultures of spring tails, but was planning on seeding with only 1 and keeping one for making additional cultures outside of the tank. Maybe I'll grab 3 then!


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## Rushthezeppelin (Oct 6, 2015)

Or split half of one up into it's own culture. Either or should work fine up to you.


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

As The Rush Zeppelin said above, split in half the culture, add substrate (I use peat), add a pinch of food and waits ... Springtails grow quickly.
Wood looks to me mopani. The plant near wood is Ficus punctata 'Panama', which grows both on the ground both epiphytic.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Picking up my trio of imitator varadero this Saturday directly from Mark at UE 

Got some great moss growth happening also all around the tank (and some epic mold still)


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Ive been making small adjustments every evening and I am now really happy with my brom locations. 

The tank has got lots of growing in to do but it'll be home to a trio of imitator varadero this Saturday!

I'll post some photos of the trio when I get them settled in


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## bulbophyllum (Feb 6, 2012)

I think that tank looks awesome! You have an eye for it. Hardscape is top notch and it it not overly planted. I think you will be really happy with your build. 

gary


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## Adogowo (Feb 8, 2013)

Looks good to me too. Nice work! In the future if using Mopani or any other wood cleaning it first before adding it to the viv with boiling water or by baking it will kill off mold and fungus spores. That being said the mold looks fairly mild and isolated to a small area. Once the wood in the moldy spot is depleted of nutrients for the mold the next natural progression will be moss growth. Think of mold as the plow preparing the field for moss to be able to colonize a new area. It does look good, thanks for sharing.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Thanks for the comments!

I tried to read as much as I could before going forward with the build. With that being said, I still made quite a few mistakes which I'll learn from for my next tank 

I was unaware that boiling or baking the wood would stop the mold cycle from happening. I thought that was unavoidable.

The top side of the mopani wood has almost finished molding, but now the bottom which is not visible in the photo is going through it.

Everything I've read says that the mold will not harm frogs. I hope that's the case!


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Molds are very common in our vivs. I will suggest you to put many other springtails - also because Varadero are big eaters of them - and to spray a bi of water on molds. I do so.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

I would say my springtail population within the viv is 150-200. I got a very small culture locally and put in about half of it. I am getting a real nice culture from UE tomorrow and half of that will also go into the viv 

Erik


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## Rushthezeppelin (Oct 6, 2015)

erikm said:


> I would say my springtail population within the viv is 150-200. I got a very small culture locally and put in about half of it. I am getting a real nice culture from UE tomorrow and half of that will also go into the viv
> 
> Erik


Ya it will eventually get up into the thousands....the mold outbreak during cycling does certainly help to bloom their population (although they aren't usually solely responsible for getting it under control but rather nutrient depletion is the ultimate factor).


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Roger that!

Bottom line, my frogs won't be harmed by the mold, correct?



Rushthezeppelin said:


> Ya it will eventually get up into the thousands....the mold outbreak during cycling does certainly help to bloom their population (although they aren't usually solely responsible for getting it under control but rather nutrient depletion is the ultimate factor).


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## Adogowo (Feb 8, 2013)

The mold will still happen but to a lesser degree, because only new spores from your home will be on the surface of the pieces. This is how orchid substrate is prepared for orchid seeds. Because of where frogs live in nature they encounter many fungi and so long as the frog can physically move away from it they should remain unaffected.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Woohoo!

Male bottom left, female top right and unsexed in the middle. 

Blown away. Especially the male with such high orange.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

I have confirmed the unsexed frog in the trio is a male. He began taking turns calling with the other male this morning.

The probable pair seems to spend 90% of their time together, in fact they are currently both in a bromeliad right now.

Should I add another female to the mix for this male or is a 2.1 ratio good? Would an additional female potentially cause problems?

I've also added film canisters and a 60mm fan. Updated photo!


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## tardis101 (Apr 11, 2012)

I think that's a really nice looking tank, first time viv or otherwise. I like it.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Well that didn't take too long...


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## Rushthezeppelin (Oct 6, 2015)

Holy massive picture Batman....


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

My apologies I have requested a mod edit the post with a proper sized image.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Got the real camera and macro lens out


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## irish (Apr 7, 2008)

You seem to be set for your first viv build. Your viv is amazing to look at, and your frogs are gorgeous. Best of luck with it all.


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## macuser (Oct 8, 2015)

are your film canisters pointing in the right direction? i've seen them horiontal and slightly tilted so the opening is pointing towards the ceiling. i dont think i've ever seen them pointing straight up and towards the ground.

edit: nevermind. people do put film canisters vertical and pointed down. i should spend more time looking at peoples builds



erikm said:


> I've also added film canisters and a 60mm fan. Updated photo!


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## Rushthezeppelin (Oct 6, 2015)

macuser said:


> are your film canisters pointing in the right direction? i've seen them horiontal and slightly tilted so the opening is pointing towards the ceiling. i dont think i've ever seen them pointing straight up and towards the ground.
> 
> edit: nevermind. people do put film canisters vertical and pointed down. i should spend more time looking at peoples builds


Film canisters are basically meant to imitate brom axils. Broms will assume a vertical orientation in the wild usually so it's not all that strange.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Thanks all.

Yep I have since added a few more film canisters to the tank. I have them at all different angles and 3 of them are completely vertical with a small pool of water and ready for tads 

Looks like that first egg is not good. Going to leave it a few more days to make sure and then I'll remove it from the brom when it starts to mold.


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## macuser (Oct 8, 2015)

Rushthezeppelin said:


> Film canisters are basically meant to imitate brom axils. Broms will assume a vertical orientation in the wild usually so it's not all that strange.


yea, i've only really studied dendrokurt and erik s's builds and all their canisters were horizontal so i just assumed the broms would do what the broms are there for and the canisters were a place for the frogs to hang out and hide


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

macuser said:


> yea, i've only really studied dendrokurt and erik s's builds and all their canisters were horizontal so i just assumed the broms would do what the broms are there for and the canisters were a place for the frogs to hang out and hide


I have quite a few broms for them to lay in but I like to provide lots of options.

The angled up/down and horizontal are for hiding/laying and the vertical are for tad depositing.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Found two more eggs this morning.

An egg my female laid on Dec 2 is looking promising so far. Unfortunately it's so deep in the brom, I can't get a good photo.


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## Mohlerbear (Feb 20, 2014)

erikm said:


> Found two more eggs this morning.
> 
> 
> 
> An egg my female laid on Nov 2 is looking promising so far. Unfortunately it's so deep in the brom, I can't get a good photo.



You mean December 2?


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

LOL yes I do indeed mean December 2nd, thanks for catching that!

That would be a long egg development, wouldn't it? 




Mohlerbear said:


> You mean December 2?
> 
> 
> Loading bowls and building vivs! Braaap!
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Mohlerbear (Feb 20, 2014)

Haha yes it would be!


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## Rushthezeppelin (Oct 6, 2015)

erikm said:


> Found two more eggs this morning.
> 
> An egg my female laid on Dec 2 is looking promising so far. Unfortunately it's so deep in the brom, I can't get a good photo.


If you've got the money to throw at it, you might look into ring flashes that fit on the end of your lens.....great for macro lens applications where you are blocking out your light getting so close to subject.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Just under 2 months of growth and additional planting


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## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

erikm said:


> Just under 2 months of growth and additional planting


How come you took out the pellionia (actually that might be a begonia) lol on the right branch and the cryptanthus on the left one?


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> How come you took out the pellionia (actually that might be a begonia) lol on the right branch and the cryptanthus on the left one?



Hey, they just didn't look right to me. Both are in a plant only grow tank for now and perhaps I'll use then on my next build 

Before the frogs were added I literally changed planting locations every night for weeks. It was my first build and I learned a lot! Can't wait to do another one. 


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## FrogTim (Oct 1, 2015)

I really like your set up. 

In the 2nd picture on the right side you added what looks like a stick with attached open seed pods? What is this and how did you create it? 

I coated my film canisters in a coco fiber/tree fern mix since I hate how 'artificial' they look. Your set up with the seed pods looks awesome.


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

FrogTim said:


> I really like your set up.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks man. 

Phil from Green Oasis makes the pods as well as some of the most epic custom backgrounds you'll ever see. He is located in Toronto but he can ship worldwide. They are made of polyurethane foam I believe and then coated with eath, moss, etc. Silicone free as well!

http://www.thegreenoasis.ca

Tell him Erik sent you!


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

Tank has been planted for 3 months now and frogs have been living in there for 2 months.

First off, found this little guy! He looks to be atleast a week or two old already. Hearing and seeing the parental behaviour of imitators has been extremely awesome!!!







Secondly, some updated growth photos. I swapped out my CFLs for 13 watt jungle dawns. All of the mosses are growing like crazy right now!


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## erikm (Oct 1, 2015)

My first froglet started exploring today. It took around 70 days to morph and another 7 days to leave the bromeliad it morphed in. The pair is currently raising 5 more tads right now. An interesting note, I haven't seen a single egg for months. I believe they are choosing the deep layer of leaf litter over the bromeliads for egg deposition.










And one just for fun, father of the froglet carrying a future sibling.


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