# The Results of Boredom



## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

Well, some of you know I had surgery six weeks ago. Bunion removal. Ouch.

So, I was told I couldn't go to work for six weeks, couldn't do anything that could be considered an impact activity. Essentially for six weeks I was to sleep and sit on my butt. So, what did I accomplish? Well, I finished all four seasons of Dexter, the first season of TruBlood, all of Firefly/Serenity, watched a ton of movies, read the Divine Comedy, read two Stephen King novels, practiced for my GRE exam, I'm 35 hours into Final Fantasy XIII and I'm at Heresy in Dante's Inferno.

Oh, and I had an extra exo-terra lying around so I decided to turn it into a kick-ass viv. This week is my first real week back at work and yesterday I finished all the hardscaping. I didn't really have the motivation to do a full construction journal, but I've got a few pictures of different steps along the way.










False bottom made, great stuff is sculpted. Those ridges that you see measure approximately 2 1/2 inches deep but only 1/2 inch wide. There are seven film canisters mounted in the great stuff. Can you find them all?



















Mostly siliconed/coco fibered. If there is a miserable aspect to making a viv it's this part. 










And now the wood is mounted, substrate is in and the gravel is in front of the tank to hide the false bottom.

In a few days when I give all the silicone a chance to dry I'll plant it. A week or two later I'll finally add my frogs (this was designed for my Veraderos).

Substrate consists of about an inch of Flourite, on top of that a mixture of coco fiber/fir bark/crumbled sphagnum, on top of that a layer of compost and on top of that a thick layer of mag leaves (can't see them because the vents are in the way).

Big thanks to Aurotaenia (Chris) for giving me the motivation (and a few tips) to make this viv, puckplaya (Bryce) for giving me some logistical help in designing the viv. atlfrog for providing the mag leaves, Cindy at Vivarium Concepts for providing the ghostwood and the compost.

Suggestions on plants are welcome. I've already got two type of philodendron (I'm thinking about a third too), some pothos, a plethora of broms (mostly zoes), some pepperomia, creeping fig and wandering jew. I'd love to get a portea nana brom for this viv but don't really know who would carry one (HINT HINT!)


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## nathan (Jul 24, 2009)

Thats a sick job at carving that great stuff ! I may have to steal your idea its that good ! 

Cant wait to see this bad boy planted


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Nice !......interesting hardscaping.


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## D3monic (Feb 8, 2010)

Awesome stuff!

We just gone done with all four seasons of dexter too. Irritated that rita died. She was annoying but had a nice rack. Another good show we watched was Hero's and Weeds. All out done with Hero's I think and weeds netflix just released two more seasons or instant que so we should be ok for a few days. I havnt played FF in a week or so though.


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

D3monic said:


> Awesome stuff!
> 
> We just gone done with all four seasons of dexter too. Another good show we watched was Hero's and Weeds. All out done with Hero's I think and weeds netflix just released two more seasons or instant que so we should be ok for a few days. I havnt played FF in a week or so though.


Totally spaced that I worked my way through Heros!

Thanks Nate and Phil


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## nathan (Jul 24, 2009)

Damn it lol Im only on the second season - Ill be watching now waiting for her to die !


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

nathan said:


> Damn it lol Im only on the second season - Ill be watching now waiting for her to die !


Umm... yeah... I should've thought about that before posting. I hate it when things are ruined for me too.... If a moderator sees this can we remove any spoiler?


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## puckplaya32 (Jan 6, 2008)

Dude viv looks sick! I like the hardscaping alot. Get er planted and keep us updated


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## edwing206 (Apr 9, 2008)

Looking good! Amazing detail man. 
What size is that? 18x18x24?


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

edwing206 said:


> Looking good! Amazing detail man.
> What size is that? 18x18x24?


You guessed it. 18x18x24.


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Looks good so far... Great work on the bg... what did you use to carve it?


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## nathan (Jul 24, 2009)

No need to edit - 

Post some pics of the frogs going in there! . . .


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

Just an Xacto knife... #2 I think. Cost a whole 4 bucks at Walmart. 

Nathan, I think there's a need to edit. We may have ruined it for you, but there may be others out there that haven't seen it yet and haven't visited this thread yet.

I'll post some new pics of the Veraderos as soon as I can. There are already some pics wandering around on the board somewhere. I'll try to get some really good ones when they're major out in the open exploring the viv.


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## Nightstalker (Mar 30, 2010)

SWEET!  Nice work, Smack. That carving job does look like it took some time to do, but look swell worth it. Plenty of hide spots to choose from. NIce piece of DW you got there too. Looking good.

I was looking for the little planter baskets like you have there, but couldn't find any. I went to 3 different nurseries today, staffed by a slew of dopes that couldn't tell me if they had any of the mini planter baskets because they had no idea what I was talking about and one didn't know where the tropical section was. Tad frustrated. Scored on the fourth because they had 2-3 inch peat pots, 26 for $.50. I think that should hold me for a bit.

I know what it's like when you're home from work and bored. Screwed up my back a couple of weeks ago along with spraining my wrist jack someone in the back of the head during a fight. I saw all of Dexter already, but I'm not going to tell you what happens. No FF for me. Been playing Dekaron/2Moons.


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

Nightstalker said:


> SWEET! Nice work, Smack. That carving job does look like it took some time to do, but look swell worth it. Plenty of hide spots to choose from. NIce piece of DW you got there too. Looking good.
> 
> I was looking for the little planter baskets like you have there, but couldn't find any. I went to 3 different nurseries today, staffed by a slew of dopes that couldn't tell me if they had any of the mini planter baskets because they had no idea what I was talking about and one didn't know where the tropical section was. Tad frustrated. Scored on the fourth because they had 2-3 inch peat pots, 26 for $.50. I think that should hold me for a bit.
> 
> I know what it's like when you're home from work and bored. Screwed up my back a couple of weeks ago along with spraining my wrist jack someone in the back of the head during a fight. I saw all of Dexter already, but I'm not going to tell you what happens. No FF for me. Been playing Dekaron/2Moons.


Yeah, when Cindy sent me the picture of that piece of wood I knew I _had_ to have it. I was so happy.

I got the baskets from joshsfrogs (I totally forgot to add him to my list of thanks, dangit!) I think they were going for something like .15.... Don't quote me on that.

Don't know what Dekaron or 2Moons is.... Final Fantasy XIII.... I don't know what to tell you. It really sucks that it's taken 35 hours for the thing to start getting interesting. Fun, though.


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## wimvanvelzen (Nov 1, 2008)

While I don´t hope that you will be bored again in the future, I do hope you keep up the good work! looks awesome.


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

wimvanvelzen said:


> While I don´t hope that you will be bored again in the future, I do hope you keep up the good work! looks awesome.


*Sigh* I wish that were the case. Unfortunately they insisted that my right foot hasn't degraded enough to get the surgery. They only operated on the one foot. That means that in three or four years when my _right_ foot starts hurting I get to go through the ordeal all over again! Next time I'm going to make sure I have two or three vivs at my disposal 

Thanks for the compliments


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## afterdark (Jan 16, 2007)

Great job Smack! The imis are going to love it in there. I'm loving all the little caves you carved...going to look incredible planted.

Sorry to hear you were laid up - it's rough not being able to get around. A week is ok, but anything longer than that and I start to go stir crazy!

***800th post!***


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## D3monic (Feb 8, 2010)

Need a mod to delete my part about rita...I cant edit. Sorry about the spoiler. I wasnt thinking.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

damm, i wish i was that bored. i wish i had time, we shoudl extend the day to 48 hours


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## nathan (Jul 24, 2009)

Julio said:


> damm, i wish i was that bored. i wish i had time, we shoudl extend the day to 48 hours


Or you could be like me and just skip the whole sleep thing . . .


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

hahahaha, i was thinking more along the line of skipping work, sleep is where i think of new ideas.


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

The background looking fantastic!

I bet the depth shows up better in person. It's hard to get a pic that gives vivs justice.

Looking forward to seeing it planted Smack. 

I'll be following along on this one.


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## axolotl2 (Sep 13, 2008)

Amazing !!!! I can not wait to see it planted.


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

frogfreak said:


> The background looking fantastic!
> 
> I bet the depth shows up better in person. It's hard to get a pic that gives vivs justice.
> 
> ...


It is a little better in person. However, in vivs with ridges like this I've found it's best to turn off the flash have the the typical overhead lights cast shadows from the ridges. Obviously the camera can't capture everything but with the shadows it's a fairly accurate representation.

Thanks to everyone. I'm just waiting for the silicone smell to dissipate and I'll start throwing plants in it. I went plant shopping yesterday and I came back with a greenhouse so there should be no shortage. Although, I'd still love to get a portea nana brom (just throwing out another big hint  )

I'll keep you guys posted.


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## jpstod (Sep 8, 2005)

Looking sweet so far. 

Sorry to hear you had to have surgery.


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

Okay, so I FINALLY got the dang viv to dry out. Thirteen days. Longest dry out period I've ever experienced. So... I planted it.

I believe to total count was 22 film canisters, six broms, two varieties of pothos, two varieties of philodendron, some pepperomia, tons of creeping fig... that's probably it (for now). Here's hoping everything lives in there.

FTS:










Top:










Bottom:










Water Feature:










Leaf Litter:










Deposition Stick:


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## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

Definitely not stuck for deposition sites in there 

Cant wait to see this grown in.

Good work.

Richie


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## afterdark (Jan 16, 2007)

Nice! Glad to see you FINALLY got this done! 
It's going to grow in awesome - how long are you going to wait till you move the frogs in?

Hopefully, that will turn out as you planned - a little imi factory!


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

afterdark said:


> It's going to grow in awesome - how long are you going to wait till you move the frogs in?


I haven't really decided. To be quite honest I'm tempted to move them in now. I want to see them enjoying this thing! Plus I'll finally move my lamasi from their 5 gallon temp tank to the Veradero's old tank.... But I'm holding off for now. They'll go in when they go in... when I have a reasonable idea that most or all of the plants are going to survive (I'm not quite confident in the lighting so I guess we'll see).


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

R1ch13 said:


> Definitely not stuck for deposition sites in there
> 
> Cant wait to see this grown in.


Fingers crossed!

I can't remember who showed it to me, but someone on the board sent me a link to a stick that was strapped every two inches with two ounce dixie cups. I like the look of canisters better so I figured I'd give it a try. I hear imis prefer to transport to bromeliads, but I figure there's no harm in giving them options  I just have a pair (proven) so I'm not worried about aggression or drowning frogs, so... why not?


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## Nightstalker (Mar 30, 2010)

Nice, Jake. You did a really nice job on the tank and I really like the the piece of wood. That is going to look great once it starts getting some moss growing on it. 

You've got all those plants growing in there and my wife thinks the ones I have are enough. She just doesn't know. What plant is that with the white leaves? I like how that looks in there.


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## afterdark (Jan 16, 2007)

Nightstalker said:


> What plant is that with the white leaves? I like how that looks in there.


I believe that is the pothos variety called 'Marble Queen'.


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

Nightstalker said:


> Nice, Jake. You did a really nice job on the tank and I really like the the piece of wood. That is going to look great once it starts getting some moss growing on it.
> 
> You've got all those plants growing in there and my wife thinks the ones I have are enough. She just doesn't know. What plant is that with the white leaves? I like how that looks in there.


So gather some pictures of planted tanks (there are tons here on the board) and show her how much better tanks look that are over-planted rather than those that are under planted. Then let her know that the tanks you've shown her pictures of are one quarter the size that you're dealing with 

afterdark got it right. It's that big-ass pothos I was telling you about over the phone. The one that even with my arm extended straight up the lowest vine still dragged on the ground.


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

So I put the frogs in their new home a little more than a week ago. Here are some initial shots from the move:










Underbelly, I think it's my male but I'm not sure...










Same from, different angle










Definite female



Now, I know there have been quite a few posts about this. Apparently the imitator breeding season is upon us. But, I found a clutch of three eggs about a week ago. They're developing nicely. But I didn't take a picture of them today. Because I found today that the male had a hitch hiker on its back today. They must've started laying within the first two days or so of being introduced to their new place.










Male transport through the glass










Male transport with french doors open










Close up clutch of 3










Far away clutch of three with a better focus....


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

pretty sweet Jake, everytime i see my male transporting and i try to take a pic he takes off.


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

After the pic with the french doors open he started taking off. He ducked down and looked over the brom and gave me the perfect shot at his back with full view of the tad, but by the time I realized the opportunity I had he was gone


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## afterdark (Jan 16, 2007)

Killer! Keep an eye out for the female doing some lugging too. 

Congrats dude!


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## laylow (Apr 6, 2009)

Thats a sick imitator! What morph is that?


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

laylow said:


> Thats a sick imitator! What morph is that?


Those are my Veradero, sir. Remember when you came over and there was that half-made tank? Well... now it's all made.


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## laylow (Apr 6, 2009)

SmackoftheGods said:


> Those are my Veradero, sir. Remember when you came over and there was that half-made tank? Well... now it's all made.


Yeah I could tell that was the tank you were working on when I came over. I had no idea what the frog was. I've been checking out more and more the thumbs. I can't wait to get my hands on some.

Shaw


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## maxdendros (May 29, 2009)

Thats the way... I can't wait till you have some of those badboys for sale!


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

maxdendros said:


> Thats the way... I can't wait till you have some of those badboys for sale!


With a little luck it won't be too long.


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