# new 75 gal construction



## GSXR_MURRHEE (Sep 16, 2006)

Well I figured that I might try to make a construction journal about my new 75 gal since I love to check out everyone else's journals. Not the best journal, bunch of pics got lost 'cause I had some on my girlfriend's computer which died and took the pictures with it.Oh well, so here goes...

after coat of black silicone on back









spacers siliconed to bottom, eggcrate in place. back left corner will house water pump









shot of right side where water area will be









driftwood placement 









wall for water pump wraped in screen and foamed in place









foaming done. corkwood just pushed in to it while it was still wet









close up of the pump area with top off









with top on









here it is after covering foam with coco fiber









used pebbles to cover the eggcrate from the front, then put down some hydroton on top of false bottom









view of the right side. gonna have kind of a water fall coming out of the driftwood into a small pool









right about here there would be some pics of soil and plants getting put in, but those got lost when the computer died, so just kinda use your imagination.

well here it is so far (pic taken at night outside)








with flash









It's almost done, gotta let the moss grow in and add a few cuttings I have, but it's pretty much done. I wish the pictures could show some of the depth to this thing, there a a couple of nice hiding spots in there behind the driftwood. I'll try to get a couple of good shots of it tomorrow to show some close ups. It's sitting outside right now (no room inside at the moment) so hopefully I can get some shots without the flash screwing up the picture.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Cool! I cant wait until Im out of this apartment, and build some good sized vivs.


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## Fish_lover0591 (Dec 16, 2006)

Nice !  You should add some moss or something to the driftwood. It also looks a bit empty in the front i would add something besides moss there like a creeping plant.


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## Curt61 (Jan 16, 2007)

Hey, very nice viv. I was wondering if you could take some close ups of the waterfall and explain how you made it. I am getting a 75 gallon tank and am planning on making a viv out of it. I like the water running down the driftwood idea. I have a Repti-Flo 250 pump with some tubing, do you think I could just put the pump in the water and have the tube run up the back of the driftwood? Did you drill a hole in the driftwood to put the tube through at? Thanks, Curt.


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## GSXR_MURRHEE (Sep 16, 2006)

Well the tank isn't quite done yet. I'm not too sure about what plants I want to put in the front there. I've been planning on putting mints in it, so I'm not too worried about it being open. 









The driftwood is definatly going to get some moss attached to it. I've just gotta get off my ass and get it on there. Plus I don't have much moss left at the moment.
As for the waterfall, I just foamed in a tube from the pump on the left side of the tank all the way to the top right. 









Since the driftwood already had kind of a hollow branch/arm I just went ahead and ran it through that and siliconed it down and cut off the excess. 
















So far it works great and you can't really see the tube unless you're looking from the far right. 

















But I'm planning on putting some kind of plant in there to help cover up the tube, plus I think it'll just look cooler with a plant growing out of there.

There is also a nice big hidden area behind the driftwood which I'll probally stick a cocohut in so the frogs will have a nice little secluded spot if they wanna mate (lot bigger in person)


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## Curt61 (Jan 16, 2007)

Hey, thanks for describing how you did that waterfall for me. I will probley have mine set up pretty much the same way. I want my water to run down my drift wood for a foot or so though. 

Thanks, Curt.


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## fishmommy (Dec 23, 2006)

I am watching this thread very closely since I am planning a 75 viv too!

Questions for you:

How much/what type lighting?

How much/what type ventilation?

THANK YOU! Looking GOOD!


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## Fish_lover0591 (Dec 16, 2006)

Oh Where did you get the cork bark and large piece of driftwood ? It looks Great.


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## GSXR_MURRHEE (Sep 16, 2006)

Thanks for the compliments. 
At first I wanted to have the waterfall run down the wood the whole way, but there are holes all through the inside that would have been hard to get to and silicone over to keep the water from running out and would have probally drowned the soil. Plus I'm lazy lol. So that's way I had the tube so far down. But its works great, hopefully once I get this little creeper growing in there to cover it up, you won't be able to tell it's there.









As for the lights I have a couple of the corallife 65watt power compacts with 10000K bulbs. And for the ventilation I have a 1 inch strip of screen across the front.








The cork bark I think I got from Black Jungle, one of their bulk packages. It kinda looks like one giant piece but it's really two. 
The driftwood I got from a local pet store. 

Glad ya'll like it.
Sean


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## GSXR_MURRHEE (Sep 16, 2006)

Thought I'd update this a little. Here it is as it looks now.








I changed a few things around like brom arrangement, and added a few things. I had moss all along the bottom that looked great but once I figured out that I was gonna put my mancreeks in (their old tank was falling apart), I decided it needed leaf litter. So I made a little compromise and did a little of both. Not quite as pretty as all moss but better for the frogs and any babies that come later on for hunting springtails. 

Another thing that changed were the hinges for the top glass. The old ones were cracking and falling apart, I guess from the heat and rays from the lights. So I ordered a couple of these and filled the gaps on the sides with silicone. 









Here's the left side with some more plants, cocohut, and new driftwood.









Center with the leaf litter, and I moved the big brom towards the front a little more.









Right side is pretty much the same I think, big pup coming off the EOZ brom in the back is a bright pink but can't get a good pic of it with the lights and my camera. There's also another cocohut hidden in that back corner.









Looking from the right.









Looking from the left side.









Another shot looking at the center. You can see the male on the corkwood.









Some of the broms still need to grow out some more but so far I think it looks pretty good.


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## GSXR_MURRHEE (Sep 16, 2006)

Thought I'd post a few shots of the inhabitants. This guy has been in the pond area for a while now. It's an azureus tad from my pair. I just threw him in there one day because I was tired of the tank being empty.









The fatties getting put into their new home. They didn't want to come out of the cup at first.









Female #1 checking things out.
















peeking over the side.









Female #2








Already looking for ways to escape









The male checking out his new home.









Here's a bad pic of me next to the tank









So what do ya'll think?


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## clarzoo (Jun 19, 2007)

Wow! Looks amazing! Quite a display tank :shock: 

I really like the way you repositioned the plants and added leaf litter in the newer pictures. Your frogs sure look happy exploring their new home, once they decided it was safe to come out of the cup, that is! :lol:


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## GSXR_MURRHEE (Sep 16, 2006)

Lol thanks. The little guys are already starting to get used to thier new home hopping all over the place, and the male has been calling like crazy. Now I get to try and find all their new hidding spots. Hopefully soon they'll start laying eggs again.


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## pedalthere (Aug 25, 2007)

did you silicone the rocks on the shore area of your pond to the eggcrate? i am looking to add a similar pond feature to my next viv so any closeups of that area or construction pics would be great.


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## Dog_Byte (Jan 22, 2007)

man all you guys on this board use silicone soo good, I cant even cover a 10G with a whole tube of GEII, it never wants to spread good for me, its always too thing or really thick and then gets sticky and doesnt work, how do you do it!


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## GSXR_MURRHEE (Sep 16, 2006)

Pedalthere- The rocks are actually siliconed to the screen over the eggcrate, and the screen is zip tied to the eggcrate. Pretty much I just squeezed a bunch of the silicone onto the the screen and spread it around, a little more onto the rocks themselves, and pushed them on there. Seems to work pretty good. 

Dog_Byte- Not sure what to tell ya. I just put on a rubber glove, fill my hand with silicone and try to work it in as much as possible, then grap a hand full of coco fiber and press it in real good. Mine is usually pretty thick when I put it on. Just do it one area at a time. Usually for me the thicker I put it on, the less spots I have to redo later.


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## Herpboyben (Mar 18, 2007)

it looks great man.  making me want to get up and do the 30 gallon i have sitting empty in my room.


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## GSXR_MURRHEE (Sep 16, 2006)

Thought I might give another quick update. So far things have been working out pretty good. Unfortunatly I found some scale mites and had to pull out one of the broms, which had 5 tads in it. They currently are living in different cups, two back in the tank which the parents aren't feeding I don't think and three that I've been feeding with Azureus eggs but doesn't seem to be working out to well. Now I've found scale on a couple of the others and looks like I'm gonna have to pull them out to treat 'em. Kicking myself for not cleaning them off very well before putting them in. Oh well. 
On to good news. Looks like the trio really like their new home 'cause I've found at least 9 babies so far in the past couple of weeks! 2 of them had SLS, but others look heathly as can be. Not really great pics, but I still like 'em.


































































Guess I'll have to change my signature now, lol.

Sean


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## EricT (Nov 10, 2007)

How about an update? ... 
I think the viv looks incredible.

Do you have any other displays? and/or pics of your other set-ups? 

The frogs I got from you made here , and are settling in nicely... Thanks so - much for all the help , it is greatly appreciated.


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## Basketball123pro (Oct 9, 2007)

i was just wondering where you got the spray on foam and what you used to spray it on with.

thanks 
Ben and Derrrick


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## GSXR_MURRHEE (Sep 16, 2006)

Since the old gallery is gone, here's a quick version of my build. Hope it helps a few of you out.


after coat of black silicone on back









spacers siliconed to bottom, eggcrate in place. back left corner will house water pump









shot of right side where water area will be and driftwood placement









wall for water pump wraped in screen and foamed in place

















foaming done. corkwood just pushed in to it while it was still wet









close up of the pump area with top off









with top on









here it is after covering foam with coco fiber









no pics of planting it, so here's a random pic of a sick cow









this is a pic from the backside looking down through the driftwood, there were a lot of holes so I just siliconed the tube from the pump down and ran it towards the end









you can only really see the tube from this angle (once everything grew in you can't see it at all)









this is the top I built for it, glass from local shop, hinge from joshsfrogs, and screen kit from homedepot









finished left side









finished middle









finished right









full shot









bad pic of me with tank


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## GSXR_MURRHEE (Sep 16, 2006)

Just in case anyone is still curious on how it looks now. I never could get rid of the scale mites I talked about earlier in this thread. I managed to save a few of the broms, but never put them back in. The rest the scale mites killed. Now I just let it grow wild. This is how it looks, as of tonight.

Full tank









Left side









Right side


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## capitale (Nov 7, 2008)

Wow, nice setup -and very impressive growth! How long did it it take to grow out that much??

The sick cow picture made me do a double take  haha


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## Okapi (Oct 12, 2007)

I love the overgrown jungle look!


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## GSXR_MURRHEE (Sep 16, 2006)

Thanks for the complements. Glad you liked the cow picture capitale, lol. I think it took about a year to go totally crazy like that. About every month I trim it back some, but it all grows like crazy.

With all the broms dead or pulled out, I started working on a new tank for the mancreeks which is just about done. Once it's totally done, I'm thinking about taking 5 or 6 of my leuc babies and putting them in here.


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## vivariman (Sep 26, 2007)

What is that grean leafed vining plant that is taking over your backwall and even extending out from it? Is it just creeping fig?


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## GSXR_MURRHEE (Sep 16, 2006)

Yep, creeping fig. All of that, and more, started from just two little 6 inch cuttings.


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