# Jon's 40g Breeder build!!



## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

I wanted to get a bit further along before I started a thread. But I honestly haven't been motivated to get this thing rolling, so maybe a thread is needed. 

I had a friend of the family mention that they had a 20g collecting dust and was going to toss it out, if I wanted it! I said yes! I had plans of setting up a Dart tank at my kid's school and a 20g would be a decent size to work with. 
Went to pick it up and this is what they had! A damn 40g breeder! 








I really didn't want to jump into a tank larger than a 20 long . But famous hoarding words "what the heck"! Smh! 

This will be a horizontal build. I really wanted a larger footprint for a few water features. 

It will be bromeliad dominant , with some orchids, ferns and random climbing/creeping plants that won't make the tank look weedy! 
Had a few stuff in a small nursery seedling/cutting chamber thing! Lol















It will have a partial drip wall and or a waterfall. 

It will have a wedged corner wall (made out of a piece of ExoTerra foam background, in combination with GS to mask some pots and add a bit more slope and 3D dimension) that will hide any equipment and still allow access for maintenance. 3/4th of the back long side will be covered with the same and the short side that connects to the wedge. The the front , other short side and 1/4 of the back will be open for viewing. (I'll explain my reason for this later).


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## coldbloodedAL (Apr 14, 2013)

Looks like it'll be sweet man! Nice pick up.

I see you are hanging out here nowadays


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Got some supplies in from Mike at GlassBox recently . 

4 gallons of ABG
1 gallon of live oak
1 gallon of dwarf magnolia
5 film canisters with suction cups (these will be used for another tank that will be vertical to house R.benedicta )
And 150grams of Sphagnum moss 








Got some freebie ExoTerra backgrounds from a member on here. Thanks David!! 








Some GS, planting pots and Isos and Springtails. (thanks Bob and Julio)








There will also be a centerpiece wood feature that will be partially wrapped in sphagnum moss and then be planted with dwarf ferns and orchids. Part of it will hang over a pond feature and a drip line will be hidden under the wrapped spaghnum that will wet the branch over the pond enough to have it drip into the pond. 







Might go with this piece in the middle, but looks like it may not hold up to much saturation. I just like the shape and size


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

coldbloodedAL said:


> Looks like it'll be sweet man! Nice pick up.
> 
> I see you are hanging out here nowadays


Lol. Hey Al. Yea, I've been here lurking a bit. Just been busy and the Chams are on cruise control rite now! Had a few more start hatching last week. Tons and tons of damn FruitFlies!! Figured if I'm going to deal with FFs anyway, might as well get some Frogs! Lol


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

I'm not really a plant guy. But I loveee Broms and the way they make a tank look. As far as what's being kept in here. I'm more focused in finishing the tank to my liking, then based on the tank layout and perimeters I'll ask for suggestions on what frog/s would best fit. 
Got some Neos and Crypts from GlassBox and I had a few in other tanks that I'll also pull for this build. 
These may be mislabeled. I had my kids help be unpack them.















































































I also have some Jeweled terrestrial Orchids that I will be pulling from some of my other tanks. 








And some collected live moss


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## Deanos (Oct 16, 2012)

Looking great...


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Deanos said:


> Looking great...


Thanks Dean!! Your imitators are a bit of an inspiration!


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

The top lid, door and vent I'll be building myself. And drilling for two MistKing quad nozzles. 

This is a 10g that I did. This will be similar , but with a center brace.


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## cypho23 (Apr 6, 2012)

Hey Jon. Not sure if you remember me...I sold you a crapload of dubia a while back. Looks like an interesting project to follow. I have a couple empty 40's in the garage. Hoping for some inspiration.

I don't do panthers any more(but miss them). Was bit pretty hard by the frog bug. 

Jason


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## YCKansas (Mar 10, 2013)

Jon how are you building your lid. I was going to use one 36x8 inch piece of 1/4 inch glass for the back half of the tank and drill my 3 mist king holes in that. That will be siliconed in place. Then I was going to use living hinge and a 36x10 piece that would open up for access and feeding. I want to drill three 2" holes in it for vents using ABS and screen. I am just not sure if I need a brace in the center of the tank and was wondering what your plan was as I haven't built a lid this large before. 

Also those plants look awesome I am looking forward to seeing your progress.


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## LordHollis (Nov 12, 2012)

Looks really good!!! Great Job!


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

cypho23 said:


> Hey Jon. Not sure if you remember me...I sold you a crapload of dubia a while back. Looks like an interesting project to follow. I have a couple empty 40's in the garage. Hoping for some inspiration.
> 
> I don't do panthers any more(but miss them). Was bit pretty hard by the frog bug.
> 
> Jason


What's up Jason!! Small world! I have been feeding Chams, geckos and whatever will eat them from that colony for over a year. And I'm still over 2-3k! Lol

Thanks again.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

YCKansas said:


> Jon how are you building your lid. I was going to use one 36x8 inch piece of 1/4 inch glass for the back half of the tank and drill my 3 mist king holes in that. That will be siliconed in place. Then I was going to use living hinge and a 36x10 piece that would open up for access and feeding. I want to drill three 2" holes in it for vents using ABS and screen. I am just not sure if I need a brace in the center of the tank and was wondering what your plan was as I haven't built a lid this large before.
> 
> Also those plants look awesome I am looking forward to seeing your progress.


I'm actually not too sure how I'm going to tackle this top just yet. I had plans of going with cheaper 1/8th " glass (hence the brace comment). But I think I'll go with 1/4" , I'm sure it will hold fine as you described. But I won't be going the length of the tank. 

What I have planned in my head is having 2 equal pieces of glass cut for the top . Each will have two 2" holes cut for venting with screen. One fan on each end (one will be a set to push and the other will be set to pull). I have a 2" plug from when I bought a turbo for my street car. I'll have an additional 2" hole cut towards the front of one of the glass pieces for access to feed. (it will be plugged when not in use. )

I'll then lace the seating area on the tank's rim with these foam weather strips.







Then lay the lid on it . The weight of the glass itself should form a tight seal to keep in any fruit flies . It will be hinged in the middle using the black profiles used for most vert kits . 







(if you trim the inside of the profile the glass will sit flush with the rest of the pane. )
With handles silicones to each side it will allow me to lift one side or the other to gain access. The lighting will have to be moved to do this. Hopefully I'll be going with LED bars that won't make it a task to remove.

Hopefully it won't be a pain to have to take the lighting off if I ever have to go into the tank for anything major.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

LordHollis said:


> Looks really good!!! Great Job!


Thanks.!.....


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

The tank isn't very tall. Because of this I didn't want to use up room with a high false floor In order to use a large submersible pump . 

I found this one for $6 at my local horticulture shop. It's a 40g/hour and less than 1.5" tall. Meaning all I need is 2" of water to have it function. 





It will be behind the "wedge" and have a 6" tube ran from it to a 6 port manifold. The ports will fit 1/4" tubing that I can be ran through the foam wall wedge via 1/4" drilled holes that will be connected to a 1g/hour emitter (6 total) on the inside of the tank. I just so happened to have a apple corer that is the same size as the emitters . So I can use it to punch emitter sized holes to the emitter itself can be recessed into the wall and the drops will fall directly onto the wall.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Finally got some time today to get started. 








First was the wedge. Cut to size and fitted.








The back piece . I used some Velcro and small amounts of silicone at the edges to secure it. This should make tare-down easier if needed. 








Got started on the dripwall. Had a apple core that was the exact same size as the emitters. Worked well to recess the emitters into the wall. I will later fill them in smooth with silicone once tested and working it my liking.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Front 














Back


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Side, wedge and back walls mounted.







Filled in some of the gaps with GS. 







Should have used silicone for this. The gaps weren't that big and the GS didn't even get into the gaps as I had hoped. Might just sand it down and use silicone anyway. The whole thing will be covered in a mix of shredded treefern, spaghnum , cocofiber. 
And this stuff that just arrived.








I'm in the process of doing the false floor rite now.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Been pretty busy with work and some family issues. Finally got some time to work in this thing . 

Got the false bottom in and some great stuff for the right side.








Did a slop access to the pond area








Did an overhanging ledge out of GS on the right side over the pond. The plan is to have it planted with a plant/s that will drape/hang over the ledge and into the water.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Sealed up the false bottom and got it ready for screen .

I made a border to the left where hopefully it will form a slow stream from the dripwall run off.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Got it all screened off. I left the left side unscreened because I'm considering laying down something that will keep the dripwall run off from falling through the false floor and direct it to drain towards the front of the tank. 














With the centerpiece manzanita in for mock up. Would have liked for the branches to be a bit thicker. But this will do.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Just ordered a quad T5 HO fixture for the tank and I'll be going to my local glass store to get some glass cut for the lid. I'm thinking 2 pieces of 1/4" glass 36"x9" that will be hinged to open from the front or back. It will be drilled for two 1/4" holes for two quad MistKing nozzles. And some 2" holes for venting 

The background and everything that's GreatStuff will be covered in a mix of Titebond III, tree fern, orchard bark, and blended sphagnum moss. It will then be coated with the Folius moss mix.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Quick YouTube video 
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=vpct...=/watch?v=vpctnXwFHwI&feature=em-upload_owner


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Lights came in today! Quad T5-HO 6700k. Super bright, might just run 2 . 

I ordered Titebond III three weeks ago and it still haven't arrived. It's the only thing holding me up.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Well I ordered a gallon of TB3 and it took almost 3 weeks and no delivery or tracking info (off eBay). It said delivery between 6-12/6-18. At 6/19 and no product I contacted the seller with a disappointed e-mail. Turns out it was damaged in shipping, but I was never notified. They issued me a refund. Ended up going to HomeDepot to get it. I should have done this in the first place, but they don't have the Gallon. I got three 16oz and it was not enough. I read that people are getting 3-4 tanks out of a gallon. I got one wall with 3 quarts. Wth?. 

I never got the consistency I wanted either ("like stiff oatmeal"). 

Anyway, here is my mix. 50% crushed TreeFern panels, 10% shredded sphagnum , 10% Peat moss, and 20% TreeFern fiber. 








Applied. This pic was after about 18 hours.























Guess I have to head back to HD to get more.


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## zachxbass (Apr 21, 2008)

Looking good so far, I'm going to use the titebond method also, but in combination with a cork/ tree fern panel mosaic. So hopefully the the tubes of titebond I got will be enough. 
Sent from my kindle fire using tapatalk


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

zachxbass said:


> Looking good so far, I'm going to use the titebond method also, but in combination with a cork/ tree fern panel mosaic. So hopefully the the tubes of titebond I got will be enough.
> Sent from my kindle fire using tapatalk


I find that wetting the substrate (not dripping wet, but very damp) helps when adding the glue to get the consistency you want. Only downside is a longer cure period because you have to allow for the water to evaporate . All n all I'm happy with the results. I'll finish it today then leave it to cure for a week or so before I plant . That will give me time to construct a lid for this thing. My local glass place has been MIA


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Got the other side done. Tomorrow I will do the barriers and lay down some plastic tarp for the drip wall run-off stream.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Everything covered


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Waiting for some clay to come in. I let this thing dry for a full 2 weeks. I'll start planting soon. 

Some flicks of one of my nursery





























Should be testing the drip wall tonight.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Got around to testing the drip-wall after a few weeks of letting the TB3 completly dry. Came out pretty good, I think. The area below it will have a waterproof surface (not sure what i'll use. maybe thick plastic then coat it in silicone and then press on some sphagnum and tree fren mix/moss mix) so the runoff from the drip-wall will collect and then drain towards the front of the tank.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cgZuzq...=/watch?v=cgZuzqw0f8k&feature=em-upload_owner


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Apparently I get more done at work than I do at home . 

Finally got some time to get some things done on the 40g

This is my version of clay substrate . 
RedArt and Cal mix 








Added ABG,peatmoss and some blended magnolia leaf litter. 








Mix 








Didn't have wire screen to press the mix through . So I just broke it into small pieces








After an hour bake at 250*


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Finally got the lid cut. Had a 35" x 17" piece cut, then cut it length ways at 7" for a hinged front for easy access. 


After 3 weeks my diamond bits are in 








I have to cut 3 misting holes . ( might do 2 dual and 1 quad nozzles)


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

I hate the way the pix look pixilated after being loaded through tapa talk.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Got around to planting this thing. Also filled the pond and the drip wall is operational . Still have a lot to do to the pond. Waiting for some substrate and driftwood pieces to come in, then I can start placing some aquatic semi-aquatic plants . Have to screen and mount that fan, then drill the lid for misters.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Picked up a few Miniature Orchids at 2013 Frog Dad (which was amazing by the way). 
Thanks Mike for the orchids and thanks Matt and everyone for putting on this shindig! 









































Also picked up a nice macodes petola


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

One last piece. Damn I have a feeling I'll be setting up an orchid tank soon.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Got around to covering up the false bottom and great stuff tonight with some "bark" print craft paper.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Defogged the tank 

































And the Leucs


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Looks like the Leucs are settling I'm nicely. They have been very curious and exploring . They recently started sleeping like this in the largest brom in the tank


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## Trickishleaf (Jun 29, 2012)

Cool idea with the bark craft paper! Tank looks pretty sweet!

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Quick update of the tank. Picked up a driftwood and mounted a Anubias nana. Also put a Dragon Plakat Betta in the pond to take care of any flies that decide to go swimming. I'll actually be pullin him out when I can find a smaller "wild" type of Betta . 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=...=/watch?v=RgFKpoQlX94&feature=em-upload_owner


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Little bit longer and detailed video than the last. 
http://youtu.be/DEquP7do914


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Some pix of the Leucomelas in the 40g


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Full tank shots


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

I hate tapatalk altered pix


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## 30994 (Oct 19, 2013)

I really like the bark craft paper. Looks great. Easier than blacking out with silicone and probably cheaper? Your viv looks awesome!


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

mendowallace707 said:


> I really like the bark craft paper. Looks great. Easier than blacking out with silicone and probably cheaper? Your viv looks awesome!


Thanks. It cost $1.00 for a 12"x"12 sheet of it. I used 4 sheets. I used double sided tape to secure it. 
Scrapbook.com: Scrapbooking Supplies & Ideas (search "bark") there are a few other cool prints also.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Some progress


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Some Leuc action and potty training . Haha.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Some recent pix...


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

So the Chrysothemis friedrichsthaliana decided to bloom this week.


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Nice... good stuff man


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