# 100 Gallon Vivarium Construction?



## Nai87 (Mar 12, 2008)

Hello, I have just joined the forums and this will be my first post.

Unforunately, i have to head out to work soon, and i've only had a small amount of time to check out a few of the posts about setting up tanks, etc. I was actually hoping that I could start a post and read what kind of feedback I get after I get home from work later. 

Anyway, I am planning to turn my old 100gallon fish tank(glass) into a vivarium and am a little lost at where I should start in terms of setting up the background, drainage, etc etc. I want to set something up where I will not have to worry about maintenance too much over the months/years, and don't know what are the first steps I should take in setting up this Vivarium. 

I have had experience in setting up a 40gallon about 2 years ago, but had a few problems with glass fogging up, and some plant leaves rotting due to over misting, and not having enough ventilation in my tank. I have actually never tried the whole "creating your own background with foam" thing before though, and am not sure what kind of foam I should use that is non-toxic to frogs and where is the best place to get it (please provide links to products if possible, thanks). I guess you can say I am still very new to this hobby, but have some experience in what I am doing. 

Any feedback, plans, thoughts about the setup would be greatly appreciated. I would also love it if someone can provide me step by step details on how to create all of the mandatory structures/foam backgrounds, etc. etc. needed for the first steps in building this tank from ground up. I will be planning on housing about (4) D. Azureus.

Again, I have not had enough time to check out many of the important posts, and FAQs page which probably contain most of the answers I need, so if you feel like this is an irrelevant topic, feel free to just pass on by. I hope to hear from all of the professionals/experts here and I will be going through all of the posts about tank setups when i get home (unless you want to save me time and write about it here  Well, Thank you and it is a pleasure to meet all of you!


----------



## AaronAcker (Aug 15, 2007)

I think the first step is planing out the vivarium. Start from the bottom up. False botom first 

I also shot you a PM.


----------



## Dryn (Nov 19, 2007)

I know this thread is over a week old, but oh well, I'm just burnign time between classes...  The first place to start is with the type of frogs you will have. D. Azureus. Cool. That is what I have. Azureus are bold terrestrial frogs that always live within several feet of a water source, and like to hide underneath logs and things. So, your tank will need to be more horizontal than verticle and should include a water source, how much of a water source is up to you. Sounds like a 100 gallon tank will be perfect, if left horizontal. 

Next, you should decide where you want you water feature to be. Along the front, in the middle, or on one end. This is important because this is where you build your false bottom. Your false bottom will keep a steady water level throughout the tank (to keep humidity up) without making your substrate too wet which wil rot your plant's roots and make a festering mess. You could also use a drainage layer, but it will need to be flushed regularly and changed regularly, so I don't use them.To make your false bottom, get egg crate (for light panels) and cut it to fit the shape that you want. Then cut small pieces of pvc pipe to keep the egg crate off the bottom. Silicone or zip-tie the "legs" to the egg crate, and cover it all with nylon mesh needlepoint, or fiberglass window screen to prevent the substrate from falling through the egg crate. For the water feature, just cover the sides with more eggcrate/mesh and then decorate with rocks or wood. I use pieces of corkbark.

Now, you need to decide on a background. You can simply cover the sides and back with paper, paint, or aquarium backgrounds. Better yet, you can cover it with 100% silicone and then press in substrate material to make a cool background. Alternatively, you can get some black expanding foam and cover it with this and then press in your substrate material. You can silicone pieces of corkbark, fake foam walls, or anything else you want. The best methods mix several of these together, depending upon the look that you want. Just do not use anything that would be poisonous to deteriorate when it gets wet.

Once the false bottom is put in and the backgrounds are done, you can put in your substrate. There are countless types out there. I cover my false bottoms with a thin layer of expanded clay aggragate to further drainage and then fill it in with terrarium soil, and cover the surface with moss, leaves, and other "forest debris" sold by my LFS. The water feature should be filled with aquarium gravel or any substrate mix sold for planted aquariums.

After the substrate is put in it is time to plant. Take your pick of any terrarium-suitable plants. Cheap ones can be had at any greenhouse. Make sure you rinse all of the soil off of the plants before putting them in the viv. to get all fertilizers off. Use common sense with the plants. The most important thing to remember with the plants is the lighting. Get plant-appropriate lights. The best that you can afford. Every few weeks fertilize carefully with planted aquarium fertilizers.

Humidity control is the next step. You want to keep as much humidity as possible (70-80% all the time) but want to keep the front glass clear. To do this, cover the top with a hinged glass pane except a 2" gap at the front, which you should cover with window screen and window screen edging. You'll be left with a narrow 1/2" ventilation gap. If you have the tools, you can also drill small holes in the front of the coverglass for ventilation as well. 

The last step is to put in any equipment you want to have. Up to this point lighting is the only thing you absolutely need. You can also use water filters, but regular water changes can be used, and should be used no matter what. Foggers are another option, but be careful here because they need placed where no animals can get within 2" of them. Heaters or chillers can be used, but are normally unnecessary. PDF like 70-80*F temps. Last, but not least, misters. You can and have to mist regularly to maintain proper humidity. A simple .99 mister can work, but more elaborate set-ups are possible. Let your imagingation and budget decide.

I wish you the best of luck, and this website is a remarkable tool for any questions or comments that you get.


----------



## Nai87 (Mar 12, 2008)

Thanks for replying, even tho its a week old. I actually have my background foamed up already with white expanding foam(couldnt find the black one, oh well) I foamed in many pieces of driftwood into the background, along with small plant pots for future plants. I've actually been stuck at this point for a few days now because I cant think of how I should make the waterfall. 

I bought 2 ZooMed 501 external canister filters that will be connected to 2 extension tubes that i bought from home depot that is already foamed into the background. These will create 2 waterfall areas from both the left and right side of the tank, and probably come down to a reservoir at the bottom in the middle of the tank (I have a false bottom using eggcrates wrapped with very fine mesh and 3" pvc pipes for underwater drainage). My 2 biggest problems right now(very frustrated) is thinking about how to create the waterfall to stream down the way I want it to go and how to create the pond/reservoir in the bottom center of the tank. I've been thinking about using slate rocks, but don't quite have the image in my head of how/where to create it....(been looking at tons and tons of vivs and waterfalls for days)


----------



## Dryn (Nov 19, 2007)

Glad I could be of some assistance... Trial and Error has been the greatest teacher. I did a test tank the first time I made a viv., and that may be a good idea to help you create your waterfall. As for covering the sides of the "pond," there are a lot of things you could do. You could silicone stones, sand, or other "earthy" debris to mesh and tie it onto the "pond" sides. Or you could use slate pieces, or stacked stones. I use cork-bark personally. I like that Puddle-in-a-Log look. Trial and Error are the best teachers, and test tanks are the teacher of the year.


----------



## Nai87 (Mar 12, 2008)

hmm.. I kind of like the thought of using silicone and smearing it onto my mesh and covering it with pebbles or something. That way I can create any size/shape of pond I want after I place it down by structuring the substrate  thanks.


----------



## McBobs (Apr 26, 2007)

Just make sure that if you form mesh and cure it into one shape with silicone and pebbles that you leave some spots not completely covered in silicone so that water can run under your false bottom and get to your pump....Otherwise, you get a pond that gets bigger and bigger with nowhere for the water to go! I'm sure you've already thought about this, but I just had to make sure before you came up with a muddy, watery mess on your hands. Good luck in any case!


----------



## Nai87 (Mar 12, 2008)

ahhh yes, thank you so much for the concern, but I have already thought about that. Its just that... I'm not too sure exactly how I want the ponds to look like since I have 2 waterfalls on each side of the tank. Should I have it connect, or each have its own separate pond?

Well, anyway... here's a picture of what I've done so far with the tank. dont mind all of the air plants, i just got them last night from a friend for free because he has a crapload and I thought i'd put it inside my tank just to see how it looks like with plants, since I've been working on it for awhile, and have only seen white foam and dirt....(a good way to keep motivating myself) I still haven't ordered any plants yet, because I'm not too sure of what exactly I should get that would best fit this 100gal tank (looks a lot smaller now that I've done so much work in it  )

I would love some input on what kind of plants I should get and where to place these plants, because I'm still very new to creating a viv, and I just want it to be perfect. 

*pictures taken from camera phone. I apologize in advanced*

When it was clean and empty









Foaming and pots









background and driftwood placement (testing waterfall)









Left side of waterfall(dont mind the stick)









Right side of waterfall









And the rest of the pics with air plants....


----------



## McBobs (Apr 26, 2007)

Looking sweet! I love the epiphytic plants and how the driftwood was placed. Keep us informed with pictures on how it turns out!


----------

