# phender's ZooMed build



## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

I know there have been a lot of 18x18x24 builds posted lately, but I did some things a little different and I would like some opinions or warnings and maybe a suggestion or two on planting. This viv is for a pair or trio of bastis depending on how the sex ratio turns out with the 3 juvies I just bought.

I went old school with a cork bark and GS background. I overlapped some of the cork pieces to get more ledges and a 3D effect.
Here is the cork with the trimmed down GS. I use the flexible GS so I can just trim it by digging at it with my fingers/fingernails.









Here's the GS covered with brown silicone and coco fibers.









I forgot to take pics of the false bottom, but I just used egg crate and 3/4" PVC pieces laid on their sides attached with cable ties. Not so many dead spots with the PVC on its side and I don't have to cut accurately.

Here is the weed cloth cover. Not all weed cloth lets water pass through it quickly. I got some that did. I folded the edge of the cloth down, over the edge of the egg crate so you can't see the white. I made a clay mixture out of 1 part laterite, 1 part sodium bentonite and 1/10 part Calcium Carbonate and made patties out of the clay to replicate the clay in the forest, but left gaps for the water to go through. I used some remaining clay like plumbers putty to seal the weed cloth around the edges so soil wouldn't get under the cloth.









I forgot to put in an access tube to the false bottom until after I put in the ABG mix, so I had to go back and cut the cloth and crate to fit in the access tube and sealed it with clay as well.









It just struck me that this is sort of a self indulgent thing to do, but I am almost done, so I am going to finish anyway.

The wood is a mixture of Malaysian driftwood and grapewood. I have a couple pieces of manzanita that I may add later. The access tube is covered by a small rock. The substrate is homemade ABG mix with a half portion of "Flourite" gravel in the mix.









Here it is planted. I have numbered the plants so I could ID them better. The second pic shows the plants on the floor better. The bottom will be covered with a mixture of oak and magnolia leaves before the frogs get introduced.









1. Bulb. elassoglossium
2. Neo. 'Janet Sue'
3. Neo. Inca x Fireball
4. Pep. sp. 'Panama"
5. Nephrolepis exaltata 'Elzevir'
6. Codonanthe sp.
7. Neo. 'Shamrock'
8. Begonia U074 (moved to the floor)
9. Bulb. lasiochilum
10. Bulb. ovalifolium
11 Haraella odorata
12. Bulb. alagense (small form)
13. Monstera sp.
14. Beg. elaeagnifolia
15. Diodonopsis erinacea (Masdevallia)
16. Unknown Large Leaf sort of vine from Eric M
17. Pep. 'Glasshouse' (might be a IDed species, but I couldn't find it)
18. Philo. sp. 'Ecuador'
19. Pep. sp. 'Fosteri'
20 Beg. lusonensis
21 Beg. prismatocarpa










I am thinking that I might want to put a small brom like Neo. punctatissima rubra in the lower right hand corner, but I don't want to shade out the little orchid or the NOID. Do you think I should just wait for the NOID and orchid to fill in the area or go with a small brom?

Thanks for making it through the whole post.


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## Neontra (Aug 16, 2011)

Nice tank, but question about the substrate. First off, where'd you find orchid bark so small? I couldn't find the small stuff so I used cypress mulch. Also, do you have sphagnum in the mix? It's very nice so far and with another brom or 2 and a few more vines it will be an incredible tank!

Oh and don't forget leaf litter 
Here's some plant suggestions. Neo. Midget doesn't get very big and with my midgets, as they are old they get a nice dark green and pup a lot, and when young are bright green with purple dots all over. Mine has 4 pups 1/5 of full size and delivered to me with a pup on it. Mother has 3 inch diameter and is 5 inches tall, and the pup that's full grown is about 5 inch diameter and 4 inches tall.


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

Neontra said:


> Nice tank, but question about the substrate. First off, where'd you find orchid bark so small? I couldn't find the small stuff so I used cypress mulch. Also, do you have sphagnum in the mix? It's very nice so far and with another brom or 2 and a few more vines it will be an incredible tank!
> 
> Oh and don't forget leaf litter


The orchid bark is just standard small sized orchid bark (fir). I happen to live near a place called CalWest Orchid Supply where I can buy it in bulk, but they ship as well.
Yes there is a portion of sphagnum, but the recipe calls for finely milled sphagnum. I mill it by crunching it and rubbing it in my hands while it is still dry. 

I am a little hesitant about adding more broms that would shade out the begonias and orchids. The broms I have are very tad friendly and I hope they will supply enough sites for the bastis. If not, I can add film canisters. There are several cuttings in there that should fill in nicely. 

Yup, as I said somewhere in there, I plan on adding lots of oak and magnolia leave.

Thanks for your input.


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## Azurel (Aug 5, 2010)

Good looking tank......Will be awesome once it grows in.


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## carnold (Aug 7, 2011)

The tank looks great. The only thing I would suggests for future builds is to turn the tank so you open it from the side. I think it gives a more unobsructive view of the whole tank specially with the view of the floor space. I did that with my tank and makes for great viewing. Just a thought though. I also really like the inca fireball bromeliad


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

carnold said:


> The tank looks great. The only thing I would suggests for future builds is to turn the tank so you open it from the side. I think it gives a more unobsructive view of the whole tank specially with the view of the floor space. I did that with my tank and makes for great viewing. Just a thought though. I also really like the inca fireball bromeliad


The problem I see with opening from the side is that you can't line up your tanks side by side. Even if you had a stand alone tank you would have to reach around your tank to access it. In addition, the venting on the ZooMed is designed to keep the door fog free, not the sides. I could see the sides fogging up and making viewing more difficult. However, I haven't done it, so maybe reaching around and side fogging are not as much of a problem as I would think.


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## fieldnstream (Sep 11, 2009)

I can see why someone would turn an exo sideways to hide the split doors...but most everyone has substrate up to the door on the zoomeds, so it really wouldn't make a difference. Tank looks great, I'm really diggin that elaeagnifolia.


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## carnold (Aug 7, 2011)

I didn't realize you were setting up several tanks next to each other. I set mine up where I could still get to the side where the door is. As far as the glass I planned on using a magfloat. I'm still learning and just built my First zoomed and saw someone else who turned their tank and liked the way it looked just my opinion though


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

carnold said:


> I didn't realize you were setting up several tanks next to each other. I set mine up where I could still get to the side where the door is. As far as the glass I planned on using a magfloat. I'm still learning and just built my First zoomed and saw someone else who turned their tank and liked the way it looked just my opinion though


what's a "magfloat"?


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Tank looks great... can't go wrong with and old school method!
As far as broms go, since it's gonna be for pumilio, I would add a couple more in there... unless of course you're planning on using film cans as well.


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

eos said:


> Tank looks great... can't go wrong with and old school method!
> As far as broms go, since it's gonna be for pumilio, I would add a couple more in there... unless of course you're planning on using film cans as well.


Maybe I will add a couple more broms and move some of the orchids from the background onto the grapewood or add another branch to mount the orchids so they don't get shaded out.
Maybe I can mount a brom to the driftwood at the lower right and on the cork just above the NOID. That would form sort of a brom questions mark.

FWIW, the N. Shamrock and the N. Janet Sue both have pups on them so there will be more broms in there by the time the frogs go in anyway. However, offering a greater variety of shapes and sizes couldn't hurt. I have heard that some people's pumilios actually prefer axials of smaller narrow leafed broms in which to deposit their tads.


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## carnold (Aug 7, 2011)

Oh sorry I forgot I was not on the reef forum lol it is a two side magnet to clean the glass with a scrubber on one side you can usually pick them at most pet shops that sell fish


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

I will definately get one of those magfloats...my tree frogs have suction cup marks everywhere...clever ...thanks


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## srrrio (May 12, 2007)

Your tank looks great...would not change a thing!

Sally


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## jkooiman (May 2, 2010)

fieldnstream said:


> Tank looks great, I'm really diggin that elaeagnifolia.


Mine melted away right off the bat.  JVK


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

jkooiman said:


> Mine melted away right off the bat.  JVK


I'm sorry Jesse. Did they melt in your viv or even before that? The first one I ever got melted in my viv and then came back about a month later from what I thought was a dead stick. They certainly don't seem to like being too wet on the top or the bottom.

If you want to try again for the cost of shipping let me know.


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## jkooiman (May 2, 2010)

phender said:


> I'm sorry Jesse. Did they melt in your viv or even before that? The first one I ever got melted in my viv and then came back about a month later from what I thought was a dead stick. They certainly don't seem to like being too wet on the top or the bottom.
> 
> If you want to try again for the cost of shipping let me know.


Don't worry about it Phil, I didn't want to whine to you about it. It melted away in a 32 oz. pretty much instantly. It was a bit banged up in transit, but that's no biggie. The shipping/packaging was excellent, I would have left positive feedback if you had a page I've heard about Begonia being hard to ship,no worries. Everything else you sent is doing great! JVK


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

I didn't take your post as a whine. I don't really have that species dialed in yet as to what they like and don't like. I have a couple mother plants that seem pretty stable, but cuttings in vivs are kind of hit and miss. Since there were 3 rooting cuttings in the pot, I hoped you would be good. If there is a next time, expect a freebie


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## BethInAK (Jul 12, 2011)

phender, how did you mount the broms? yours mounted great and I spent an hour just trying to keep ONE from tumbling down.


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## ecichlid (Dec 26, 2012)

Two years later. Any chance of seeing this viv now Phil? It looked great.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I just saw it the other day. Lookin nice!


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

Wow! How time flies.

Most of the original plants are still there except the orchids. The Neo. 'Janet Sue' is on its second pup. 
Here is one with a flash and one without.
With Flash









Without flash









Here are a couple others tanks that are also 18x18x24 ZooMeds










This one I think is my favorite and a favorite of my orchids so far.


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

I love your tanks, especially the last one. Any infos about lights, how much misting, plants and frogs?


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

Is that manuran's moss?


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

rigel10 said:


> I love your tanks, especially the last one. Any infos about lights, how much misting, plants and frogs?


Wow, you're killing me! 

First, thank you I'm glad you like my tanks. All three tanks have Basti pairs. I have other frogs, but that is just how in worked out. The first two tanks are side by side and are lit by 4 - 36" HO T5 bulbs. The third tank is next to 2 - 20 gal vert. All three are lit by 2 - 48" HO T5 bulbs. The wire screen was taken out and acrylic was cemented in under the small ledge in the top with about 2" of screen remaining in the front. The front vent is taped over except for the top row of vent holes.
I mist with a hand sprayer for about 10 seconds once everyday. Once a week I set the sprayer to a little courser spray and water pretty heavy.

Let's see if I can name most of the plants in the last tank.
Peperomia angulata (up at the top)
Peperomia sp. 'ABG' (throughout the tank)
3 different small Philodendron species (one to the right, a silvery one just left of middle, the third is hidden)
Begonias
B. prismatocarpa (bottom left)
B. U74 (left)
B. elaeagnifolia (scattered across bottom)
B. squalmulosa (lance leaf in upper left)

Bertolonia maculata (flowering front center)
Bertolonia sp. 'Itamaraju' (front, just left and behind the maculata)

Orchids
Scaph. swertifolium- large purple (middle above log- in bloom)
Scaph. microdactylum (left above log)
Pleuro. tichostoma (right side above log- lots of flowers but too small to see in pic)
Pleuro. tribuloides (very front right on log)
Bulb. taiwanense (top, slightly right of middle-behind broms)

Broms
2. Neo. 'Inca x Fireball' (top middle)
Neo. 'Spaced out' (top left- looks like small version of Inca x fireball)
Neo. 'Chiquita Linda' (Middle on log)
Neo. olens 'Rubra' x pauciflora (right side below log)

Mosses on the log are two different species from Manuran.
Other mosses and liverworts are from Andy's orchids and from other orchid pots that I have purchased over the years.

I think that is it. At least that is all that can be seen in the photo.


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

goof901 said:


> Is that manuran's moss?


The moss on the log in the last tank is 2 different species from Manuran. I should have soaked/waterlogged the log before I put it in the tank. Most of the moss has finally attached to the log, but I still have to water it more than I would like because the manzanita doesn't hold the water very well.

Most of the moss in the other tanks is java moss and other mosses that I have scavenged from orchid pots.


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## ecichlid (Dec 26, 2012)

*Before:*









*After:*









Thanks Phil, it looks great!


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Thank you very much. Seeing as your viv has become over time (as noted by Ecichlid in the post above) is simply remarkable.


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## JPccusa (Mar 10, 2009)

ecichlid said:


> *Before:*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Phil, did the begonia lusonensis got moved just behind the red one? What is the name of the red.


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

JPccusa said:


> Phil, did the begonia lusonensis got moved just behind the red one? What is the name of the red.


Hi JP, 
Oddly enough, that red begonia is the luzonensis. I don't know exactly why it turned that color. None of my other ones have. 
The two that have started on the moss on the branch above the original came from what I think was a flower stalk. I don't even know if that is possible, but there is a stalk w/ nodes that comes off the plant, branches, and leads to the two offshoots. I could have sworn that it was originally a flower stalk. I certainly wasn't a leaf stalk because it branches and it has nodes.

Anyway, here is a closer pic that shows the reddish mother plant and the two offshoots up above it.









Closer shot of mom.








Shot of offshoots with more normal coloring, both of which are in bud.


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