# First Build 18 x 18 x 24 Exo Terra



## SushiRice (Jan 3, 2013)

This thread is going to record my first attempt at building a poison dart frog vivarium. I am going to post pictures of the process so I can show you guys what I'm doing. I would also love it if you guys told me what I'm doing right or wrong. Every bit of advice will be generously put to good use and would be very helpful. This build may take me a course of a month or two to complete due to school, work and a personal life so I ask that you please be patient with me. It may pay off  I have been browsing around and doing a little research and I have to say that I learned a lot. I've mainly kept animals that can live their whole lives comfortably in a plastic tub or tupperware so a vivarium is a huge step for me.

So this is what I have so far. An 18x18x24 Exo-Terra tank and a tropical vivarium kit from Josh's Frogs TANKLESS 18x18x24 Dart Frog Kit - Tankless Dart Frog Habitat Kits | Josh's Frogs









Oh and these 5000k lights.








Sorry for the bad cell phone pictures. I'll use a better quality camera once I start setting it up.
As you can see I still have a lot more to go, but I have a question. I am planning to fill the drainage layer with about 1 or 2 inches or water and have a pump that will suck it up and slowly trickle it back down, but I can't seem to find one. All I can find are air pumps for bubbles. If this is a bad idea anyways just let me know.

I can't wait to get it set up. I'm going to get some foam and dap tomorrow to work on the background. I have those 2 pieces of wood and I am not particularly crafty or have a good eye for design. I'm already stumped on where to place them.

What I'm _REALLY_ waiting for are the frogs! I prefer the yellow frogs with yellow head, blue legs, and blue underbelly. I'm debating over these color morphs:
_Dendrobates tinctorius_
'Brazilian Yellow Heads'
'Bakhuis'
'Patricia'


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## SushiRice (Jan 3, 2013)

Got some Dap and Great-Stuff foam at Home Depot and some plants at a local nursery. You can see them in the background on the window sill. From left to right 2 bromeliads and a jewel orchid that's already flowering. I took the dookie-green colored styrofoam background that the tank came with and I rubbed some silicon on it and coated it with some coco-fiber and it's looking MUCH more earthy and less like dookie. I'm pretty proud with the way it came out. Going it let it dry and air out and I'm going to start working on the sides tomorrow.


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## that Frog Guy (May 13, 2012)

Can't wait to see more pictures.


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## Meow Kitty (Dec 1, 2012)

I don't want to be hijacking here but as far as i know dap isn't silicone and could potentionaly be toxic, correct me if I'm wrong.


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## baileyjames6 (Jul 16, 2008)

I have read that as well I believe there are some really good sticky's under parts and construction.


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## frog dude (Nov 11, 2011)

Since it is so hard to find vivarium-safe black/brown silicone locally, This is an easier method: 

What I recommend is to buy a tube of GE silicone 1 (clear) and some egg crate and then silicone some egg crate to the back, then GS right over it so you don't have to put a layer of silicone on the back so the GS won't peel away. Then you can cover the fully-cured GS with Drylock and coloring.

P.S. I don't know if 500k is going to be bright enough. Might want to aim for 6500k.


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## SushiRice (Jan 3, 2013)

I seen someone using a layer of Dap for their PDF vivarium on youtube and they said as long as it's the water proof one for windows and door and doesn't contain any anti-mold or anti-fungi agent I should be fine if you let it air out for about a week or two before adding plants. I know I said Dap but I actually used Window and Door Clear Silicon II. I just use Dap alot for other things. My mistake silly me. 
Anyways the background came out really well!









Started working on the other side with some of that Great Stuff









Here are some of my plants. I don't know what species they are so if anyone can ID them for me that would be cool 




























My friend who wanted to help me with the project was willing to buy me a 6500k tube bulb and the fixture for the setup since the lighting was too low. Looks cool in my room though.

Well I got the Great Stuff for wide gaps and I didn't expected it to expand THAT much... I stood it up and it took a great deal of the vivarium so I think I'm just going to finish the viv with only 2 sides...


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## SushiRice (Jan 3, 2013)

Wow it came out terribly! I think I'll just cut a little off the top, rub some silicon on it, sprinkle the coco fiber and let it sit for another day then I'll add the substrate. Don't feel like putting another background. It already looks crowded enough as it is.


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## RhacIns0mniac23 (Dec 10, 2012)

not to thread jack but this is a build I did of the same size tank for ideas to inspire your build


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## mrfrogdude (Jun 26, 2011)

May i suggest carving that foam a lot before you cover it? Take a steak knife to it like a mad man, you will be much happier you did (your frogs will as well). 

Here is another shot of a bit smaller tank for inspiration (3 sides covered).










Have fun with the build!
Mark

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

What frogdude said. You will be much happier with the outcome if you carve it


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## VenomR00 (Apr 23, 2010)

You plant species are as follows:

1: Cryptanthus sp
2: Bromeliad sp (Want to say a archemedia or w/e)
3. Jewel Orchid


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## SushiRice (Jan 3, 2013)

Oh you guys made my build look like sh*t lol. Well I carved it out a bit and added more foam to the bottom so that it's thinner on the top and it pops out more on the bottom. I couldn't find a good place to stick the 2 pieces of driftwood so I'm just going to wait until it dries and find a place to put it. I got a 18" 6500k tube light at Lowe's today. It took me 30 seconds to find it there. I don't know why it was so hard to find a 6500k lights at Home Depot... Anyways I bought a new fern too. I've already applied the coco fiber on the silicon and now I'm just gonna let it air out until tomorrow after work and I'll add in the substrate and let that sit for another week before I put plants in.

Will post pics tomorrow.

Thanks for all the help guys keep them coming!!
One question though. I've been looking all over but I want a pump that can slowly suck up water from my drainage layer and have it trickle back down from the top of the vivarium. All I can find are air pumps and 10+ gallon filters or water falls. I just want a trickle.


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## Durrells (Jan 22, 2013)

SushiRice said:


> Oh you guys made my build look like sh*t lol. Well I carved it out a bit and added more foam to the bottom so that it's thinner on the top and it pops out more on the bottom. I couldn't find a good place to stick the 2 pieces of driftwood so I'm just going to wait until it dries and find a place to put it. I got a 18" 6500k tube light at Lowe's today. It took me 30 seconds to find it there. I don't know why it was so hard to find a 6500k lights at Home Depot... Anyways I bought a new fern too. I've already applied the coco fiber on the silicon and now I'm just gonna let it air out until tomorrow after work and I'll add in the substrate and let that sit for another week before I put plants in.
> 
> Will post pics tomorrow.
> 
> ...


I am using a Rio+50 aquarium pump. It has a flow reducer on it so that could work.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## SushiRice (Jan 3, 2013)

I've been siliconing and coco fiber coating left and right but there's just some spots that just don't want to hide! I'm done with it and just want to get to planting. Well this is what it looks like now after adding the substrate. The bottom part isn't high enough so I have to scoot the substrate to the back so it doesn't fall out when I open the doors. A little crowded but I'll make due.


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## SushiRice (Jan 3, 2013)

Did a little rearranging, I have 2 wood pieces but I only had enough room for one. Using ABG mix of peat-moss, sphagnum, orchid bark and charcoal layered with a little more sphagnum for humidity and leaves. That pothos isn't going to be a permanent guest. I'm going to leave it in there for a week to see how it holds up and maybe do a little of it's plant air filtering it's got going on. I want to test out the substrate mix. I'm looking to get some spring tails before I start planting. It's not the best vivarium in the world, but it's my first and I'm pretty proud of it so far. 

All I need is some springtails, the lighting fixture, a mister or fogger and I'll put the plants in by next Thursday. If the plants stay alive for a month I'll get the frogs


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## SushiRice (Jan 3, 2013)

Day 2 and it still smells like silicon really bad. I stuck the whole pothos in there because I read somewhere that they are really good at filtering air. I'll take it out by next week though of course.


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

So you added the substrate and everything immediately after applying the silicone? Why didn't you wait until it all cured?

I generally leave the tank to air out for a few days (if not weeks) before taking the next step after silicone.


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## SushiRice (Jan 3, 2013)

carola1155 said:


> So you added the substrate and everything immediately after applying the silicone? Why didn't you wait until it all cured?
> 
> I generally leave the tank to air out for a few days (if not weeks) before taking the next step after silicone.


It said allow 1 hour to dry and 8 hours to cure. I left it in there for 33 hours before I added substrate. I live in an apartment so I can't leave it outside or someone will take it or knock it down. There was a BBQ grill someone left chained outside and it was totally destroyed a day later. I would leave it by a window but it's just way too cold to leave any windows open right now. I thought it would of been ok to put substrate in there because I didn't smell anything at the time, but it started to smell after I added water to the substrate and misted the background. It smells like a mix of earth and silicon. That's why I'm giving it another week to air out.

This is my first ever attempt with anything crafty and apparently I am not meant to be a designer lol. I've made a couple of mistakes with this build and should of looked harder for black foam or silicon and waited longer for it to cure. We all learn from our mistakes and in order to succeed you must fail. If this build turns out to be successful and if the frogs are able to breed in it then I will step it up with a way bigger tank. If I shall fail then I would be really discouraged to try anything like this again or ultimately give up on this hobby (it's real expensive!).


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## SushiRice (Jan 3, 2013)

Update. I'm beginning to have a problem with humidity. The top is an aluminum mesh screen so I'll have to place some glass on top of it soon. It's almost been a week and the silicon smell is going away but I can still kind of smell it. My bromeliad isn't doing so hot either. The tips are turning brown and it's looking wrinkled even though I water it once a day. I ordered some springtails also so I will get that in once I plant the tank tomorrow.


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## VenomR00 (Apr 23, 2010)

With broms the centers need to ALWAYS hold water otherwise they die. Also please take a current shot. remove the crap top of the exo and suran wrap the top until you get a glass top to keep humidity in.


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## Kalakole (Jun 30, 2011)

If your brom is doing poorly, it could be due to low humidity. Where are you keeping it; ie temp, humidity, air flow. 

Also, a glass top is very beneficial to keeping the humidity up.


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## SushiRice (Jan 3, 2013)

I am finally done! After about a month and a half I finished it within my deadline! Before February and I finished it by a hair.

Here's the tank being finalized.










Here's my masterpiece! With the lights and all. Yeah it's a piece of crap I know compared to all you pro's on here, but I am pretty damn proud of it!
I found some moss growing on the shady side of a brick wall by my apartment and stuck it on the wood. Looks like it's doing ok so far, but I don't have my hopes up for it as I know moss in general doesn't last very long in vivariums.










Side shot










Are these pups? Can I transplant them?










Humidity is between 90%-100% but I have to constantly keep misting it because it keeps going away. I need to find some saran wrap soon until I get the glass. Temp is between 65F - 75F. It's hard to maintain temps in my apartment right now due to the cold and we are trying to limit electricity consumption by cutting down on heating. I also got some springtails, but most of them died in the shipment but I still had a few remaining. I threw the rest in the vivarium.


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## VenomR00 (Apr 23, 2010)

the heat flux is because of the top not being enclosed. Saran wrap at the dollar store with tape will help keep everything else high. But get glass way before you get frogs. Also more leaf litter will help keep humidity. I usually have 1-2 inches but you can do as small as 1/2". This provides a barrier for the air and soil to not be touching and prevents evaporation to speed up.


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