# The 210 living room display



## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

We’ll this has come along fairly quickly and I’m excited to share these photos. The inspiration to come back into the hobby after 10 years was a combination of a few things. I’ve never stopped dreaming about the feeling I hadn’t fed my frogs and finding very rare species in very odd places like at work or something. It came to me that I wasn’t having nightmares because I ever neglected my frogs rather late last year I realized I was missing out on the frogs feeding a part of who I am. So I moved into possibly my dream home year ago (feb10) and realized that the house had some weird areas and one was a plant pot that shared the base with the dry wall???? There was no barrier or anything, I knew that was something that would have to go! So post demo, dry out and clean. I knew I had a spot for a viv and started building. I’ve built all the furniture in the house in the past year minus the couch(copied some designs I found on the web but have enjoyed wood working and welding more than I thought I would have)


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

The biggest issue I think I had was finding the righ wood that framed the tank in possible way and would increase usable surface area of the inhabitants…. I tried many options and thoughts… errr many.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

This was a silicone smear to the glass layered with fiberglass screen then the greatstuff over the screen technique.

































silicone and rope…. Lots of silicone and rope, my nose still burns from the acetic acid









getting the FB installed as a single piece was quite important for me and I ended up having to rip out the already adhered stick on the glass to do it. 2 steps forward one step back. Really it was worth it though. Knowing that my substrate will stay exactly where it is and not have voids for frogs to get lost in was worth the extra thought and work!!!

























I ended up with 2 jungle hippies to light this tank. And so far I’m liking them. Not using the lightning nonsense but the dawn dusk is kinda nice. Also the spectrum looks nice other than the yellow is a little higher than I want(need to look into programming it down a bit ). Also wow, turface mvp is tough to come by these days!!!


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Started with a 1# of Joshs calcium clay to see how far it would go before doing the full batch order. Being it’s so expensive I opted to run just a layer over turface rather than the whole substrate. I figure long term drainage this would help too.
Vining out the tank was fun and I kinda wish I would have done more. The large ropes were a fail and too much of the rope was showing through so I decided not to pursue adding more to them and just set them aside
























I’m a sucker for Andy’s so let’s see what I can do with this tank









































I swapped the tags on accident with the brasdi and dendro so please forgive my mislabeling… was excited and wasn’t looking at the placement as throughly as I should have…ooops


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

I purposely ordered 4 of the glass panes and did a leave out until all live hinge was installed and I could correctly order the 5th perfectly (I’m still waiting on it hahhaha… the sent me a non flat polished piece )

















I spent more time on the stand than I did the viv. I’m still getting a few more hard wax coats on the walnut burl veneer I did for the doors and I’ll see if I can get a pic that captures it. I still have the hood to finish. Yesterday 1.22 I completed the mantle that I’ll have tie into the hood.








Co2 bug bomb for 4 days….. I am unwilling to deal with scale!!!! Bleached and microwaved and baked everything I could and co2 is for good measure after coming out of the quarantine bo


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

The past few months I’ve been working on my bugs for seeding. I knew getting a jump start on this from my past frog room would be smart. Currently working with orange, rosy, costa purple, and dwarf white isos. the spring I have my favorite pinks , prospectors, and 24ks. The care I’ve invested in theses guys has paid dividends!!! The oranges have had a solid boom already and today seeded about 20 adults into the tank keeping a dozen or so adults and all the adolescent and babies in the cultures. The costa purples are so small thankfully they seem to be booming but being the culture is capable of holding so many more than the oranges I’m in no hurry to split any of them up yet. Was stoked to be Seeded pinks at the same time as the oranges and the culture seems to still be producing more than I can justify dumping in there at the moment. May just split the culture and have two going

will post pics here in a bit


considering the size, location and all aspects of me being as cautious as I can, I’ve built this tank as a “smart viv” I’m currently running Kasa smart strip, smartlife temp relay, Westek relay(better scheduling for my fans than Kasa)
Kasa strip is nice just to have remote on off capabilities for all aspects of what’s powered to the system with watt measurements as a part of tracking.

















The Westek allows my scheduling to be a little more fluid and more precise and I like the history feature


























Finally the smart life is a feature I like but I haven’t finished the build. It is intended to be the relay for a small upright ac unit I’ll duct from the closet (not pictured) through the wall and a grill placed behind the tv to dump cold air if the top of tank hits 82*. I’m still working in the winter so I have time to finish my hood before I get my insurance policy in place. Playing with the unit though I have found a design flaw in the unit. It is designed to ramp the temp all the way down to the low side before modulating off. Now if this only had 1 control plug that would make sense but they market this with a cooling plug and a heating plug. In testing I found you would bounce back and forth from heating up the viv to 82* until ac kicks on the relay for cooling then run it down to 64* and cycle back and forth. Sooo that’s not good, so right now I’m just tracking the temps and enjoying the history. I may swap to the acinfinity 67 controller picking up humidity tracking with temp and see if it does what I want with a 2-5* hysteresis loop. But I’m still researching this a bit to see if it’ll do what I want.


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## Robru (Jan 1, 2021)

Wow!! Very nice done


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## Imatreewaterme (May 19, 2021)

Looks great! Good work.

Ricky


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## Ravage (Feb 5, 2016)

Outstanding work. Nicely over engineered, but since I am looking at building an enclosure for a very expensive tropical snake I liked seeing how your automation came together. Keep updating please.


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## Pmcarbrey (Apr 9, 2013)

looks great! i'm doing something similar now, i chose to go with a reef ready tank in order to have a drain and am using Apex for my controller, in a few months when i get everything set up and settled i'll have to compare notes with you!


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Would love to! I did learn the hard way this week that you reallllly need to turn down the led intensity with these lights even with high light loving orchids. Hopefully I caught it soon enough and just lightly burnt a few and didn’t kill any of these gorgeous plants.


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## Dr. Manhattan (Oct 28, 2016)

Awesome. Subscribed !


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## Paluscape (Jul 25, 2021)

Creating a naturalistic vivarium is hard... integrating any vivarium to look like a deliberate piece of art/furniture is also hard... and it seems like you've done both.

Awesome work, I love it


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

Looking great! Subscribed.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

I put this in its own thread, but might as well add it here too since it’s for this build. The light were too noisy for the living room so a few bucks and a few minutes made all the difference in the world


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Ooo I also got some fun plants a week or so ago. Still have shipments coming before I consider it “planted”


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Still one more orchid planting to do prior to frogs, but she’s looking pretty good


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## fredk (Oct 25, 2021)

It will be interesting to see how the look changes as your plants begin to fill in.


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## TeddytheFinger (May 8, 2019)

Looking good indeed!


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Here is a little circulation fan I just whipped up real quick. I’m running my temp and humidity probe in it so that I’m actually circulating the air I’m measuring and giving the tank some nice air movement. The diffuser tubes can be rotated to point the air where I want. Right now I’m just pushing it from one side to the other. I have the materials to build a second box that I might run on the other side. If I commit to the second I will change the flow to be a bit more “wild” of a current. I’m using the humidity to control the fresh air fans that I have….. we’ll I will. I didn’t like how I was measuring (probe exposed to the misting) so no I can start dialing in the controls.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

fredk said:


> It will be interesting to see how the look changes as your plants begin to fill in.


I’ve had the issue of having to prune vivs too often, so all selected are slow growing plants. The fastest One I have is that Rex and we’ll see if he plays nice and gets to stay. I think this tank will take a solid year to be “grown” in due to the selection process that we used.



TeddytheFinger said:


> Looking good indeed!


Thanks , one more orchid planting hopefully she’ll be blooming here shortly really bringing in the looks 😁


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## TeddytheFinger (May 8, 2019)

motydesign said:


> I’ve had the issue of having to prune vivs too often, so all selected are slow growing plants. The fastest One I have is that Rex and we’ll see if he plays nice and gets to stay. I think this tank will take a solid year to be “grown” in due to the selection process that we used.
> 
> 
> Thanks , one more orchid planting hopefully she’ll be blooming here shortly really bringing in the looks 😁


I suck at orchids. I really like them but I seem to always kill them. 😑


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

TeddytheFinger said:


> I suck at orchids. I really like them but I seem to always kill them. 😑


Yeah, don’t get me wrong, I’m no expert with them by any means. I have learned that micro climates and matching with the appropriate species is required. Also a lot of them tend to like dryer area than what most keep their tanks at.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Still tuning it in a bit but we are getting there


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## hansgruber7 (Mar 23, 2020)

That's beautiful. Do you not plan to use the fireplace? Or will that not convey heat into the viv?


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

hansgruber7 said:


> That's beautiful. Do you not plan to use the fireplace? Or will that not convey heat into the viv?


Great question!!! Before I built the viv I ran the fire place all day and only had 1* or maybe 2* increase on the rock by the viv, with the 4” gap between, it will be unmeasurable for me. In addition the fp would only be run in the winter when temps are on the low side anyway. Currently running a heater to make sure it doesn’t drop below 68


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Sooo here’s the wood all done!!! Everything is black walnut or black walnut burl.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Can move the panel








In the down position for access to the top(takes 2 seconds to roll the door to you then slide down the rails and rests on top)


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Finally final maintenance position is to lift up and set panel aside for deep exploration


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Damn weather got me or I’d be doing the final planting and letting it go! Can’t wait to do an update after final planting to the plants that are doing sooo much better after the big light adjustment and finally getting a misting system that can actually make mist.


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## IShouldGetSomeSleep (Sep 23, 2021)

motydesign said:


> Sooo here’s the wood all done!!! Everything is black walnut or black walnut burl.
> View attachment 305655


Accidently found out some shocking things about walnut, this is worth reading...
Safe for Fish, Safe for Frogs?
Not sure if it will be a problem. I'm not very familiar with walnut trees but It might cause an issue.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

IShouldGetSomeSleep said:


> Accidently found out some shocking things about walnut, this is worth reading...
> Safe for Fish, Safe for Frogs?
> Not sure if it will be a problem. I'm not very familiar with walnut trees but It might cause an issue.


Yes I’ve read that, sorry for the confusion the wood in side is Malaysian dift, all the cabinetry is walnut. Thank you for insuring safe tank construction!!! You rock and great citation. If anyone hasn’t read this it’s worth it.


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## IShouldGetSomeSleep (Sep 23, 2021)

motydesign said:


> Yes I’ve read that, sorry for the confusion the wood in side is Malaysian dift, all the cabinetry is walnut. Thank you for insuring safe tank construction!!! You rock and great citation. If anyone hasn’t read this it’s worth it.


Oh I see, I was too distracted by the great looking Viv to notice the nice walnut stand!


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Last batch of plants getting co2 bombed for a few days and then for final planting!!! I can’t wait to be done messing with plants. Dealing with 25 orchids in one tank has been a bit of a fussy mess but all orchids from last planting have new growth and some are just going crazy.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

the current orchid list. I think I might get a few more, but I might focus on these for a year and make sure I can make them all grow and bloom before using every available spot. You never know when moving a plat a foot to the left and higher light will just turn it into a producer? 



Cynorkis-fastigiataNeofinetia FalcataBarbosella-duseniiMasdevallia-auropurpureaBrassavola-grandifloraDendrobium-canaliculatumDendrochilum-filiformeCirrhopetalum (Bulbophyllum)-curtisii (pulchellum)Masdevallia-gutierreziiAngraecum-doratophyllumMediocalcar-decoratumDryadella-elataPleurothallis-gracillimaRestrepia-mendozaeSigmatostalix-huebneriEpidendrum (Nanodes)-neoporpaxDendrobium-pachyphyllumCirrhopetalum (Bulbophyllum)-wendlandiiDendrobium-tanniiBarbosella-prorepensRestrepia-contortaSedirea (Aerides)-japonicaScaphosepalum-cimexBulbophyllum-blumeiChamaeangis (Microterangis)-hildebrandtiiGastrochilus-bellinusSarcochilus-fitzgeraldii


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Ok, sorry the lighting is a little bad, it just snowed and the windows behind me are basically all white 🙄

so my first set of plants were put in Jan 12th. I messed up royally with lighting I think and so there were some serious set backs. I’m sure orchid people will see a few things that will make you cringe. However there has been a lot of recovery after the correction, a few of my biggest come backs are the:

D. elata that had 1 leaf left and now has 4 or 5 coming in
E.neoporpax who was all but gone and now I have similar 5 new growths coming in.
P.gracillima that went from nothing to in spike
There are many others that are still feeling the pain but think will hopefully turn around like my M.decoratum 🤞.
I welcome any thoughts on the species and if you see anything that you think they might not like.

*all locations are Based off light metering and moisture of the viv location


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Pleurothallis-gracillima blooming for the first time. Have three others in spike, that I hope make it to bloom.
The other is an unidentified bonus plant that sprouted out of a the moss??? Still pretty


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## Harpspiel (Jan 18, 2015)

Your unidentified bonus plant is _Sinningia muscicola_, which prolifically self-seeds and can go from seed to bloom in 6 months, so…not incredibly rare but certainly lucky! I adore micro Sinningias. Both leaves and flowers give the species away, here’s a handy guide comparing the flowers of the most commonly cultivated micro Sinningias for identification purposes.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Harpspiel said:


> Your unidentified bonus plant is _Sinningia muscicola_, which prolifically self-seeds and can go from seed to bloom in 6 months, so…not incredibly rare but certainly lucky! I adore micro Sinningias. Both leaves and flowers give the species away, here’s a handy guide comparing the flowers of the most commonly cultivated micro Sinningias for identification purposes.


Thank you for that, I truly appreciate the response


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Just adding some data to the post for longevity today I changed up fan settings and figure this would be a great way to share / document. Orchids are showing growth in a few species b. Propens has had a hard time as well as m. decoratum but doing my best to change it up to make it better. Both restrepias are throwing off new leafs like crazy and s.huebneri is in spike (four total spikes) will get pics up once I see some blooms


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Sigmatostalix-huebneri


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Neofinetia Falcata
I missed the Scaphosepalum cimex but should have a new one in a week or so. Also should have Restrepia contorta any day now, unfortunately the bloom that should have opened yesterday ended up shriveling up 🤬, still have 2 more blooms coming in still.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Not sure I’ll get more than three at once?








also was graced with one more of these


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Let’s see if I end up with 5???









What I don’t understand is why I keep getting Restrepia contorta spikes and looking like it’s about to bloom, then it wilts out 🤬🤬🤬


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## Harpspiel (Jan 18, 2015)

Restrepias blast relatively frequently - could be that the plant is young and not quite ready to bloom, I think mine blasted the first few. If it keeps happening, I would look at humidity and temperature.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Harpspiel said:


> Restrepias blast relatively frequently - could be that the plant is young and not quite ready to bloom, I think mine blasted the first few. If it keeps happening, I would look at humidity and temperature.


Thanks for the response, I’m sure if it’s any of your suggestions it’s probably age. Hear are my temp and humidity graphs from previous post




motydesign said:


> Just adding some data to the post for longevity today I changed up fan settings and figure this would be a great way to share / document.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

The scaphosepalum-cimex still aren’t quite opening up all the way, so I didn’t take much time to get a good shot











the neofinetia Falcata is still going strong on all 5 blooms, and not looking like anymore are on the way. I wonder how much longer I’ll be able to bask in this beautiful bloom?









last but far from least restrepia contorta finally got it right today! Three more spikes are popping off and would assume that there’s about 2 weeks from possible new flowers.


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