# 36x18x24 ExoTerra Build



## Cindabird (Oct 10, 2021)

Hi all! I’ve been lurking here for some time while preparing to build my first dart frog tank. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading through various build threads and seeing tanks come to life in peoples’ photos, so I wanted to share my own journey.

Earlier this year, I inherited a betta fish from a friend. Having always had an interest in plants and terrariums, I decided that I wanted to upgrade his tank and set up a paludarium, complete with waterfall and tropical plants. While shopping for plants online, I rediscovered dart frogs. I have always had a strong interest in keeping them, but never had a chance to get them. As I sat browsing through the many different morphs, I realized that I was finally in a position to actually set up a tank for them. So, I started reading and learning and planning for my first dart frog tank.

I picked up the new tank in September, a 36x18x24 exo terra. 

I wanted this tank to have a removable background so that it could be easily dismantled for a move. It also made the background a lot easier to assemble because I could do it outside the tank without the worry of accidentally getting foam or silicone all over the viewing glass (an issue I ran into when setting up my paludarium).

I used egg crate for the base of my removable background. This made it easy to mount the hardscape with zip ties without worrying about pieces falling or shifting during the foaming process.







Once I figured out a layout, I removed the panels. Each was covered with a layer of great stuff gaps and cracks and allowed to cure for about 2 days.















To my dismay, I discovered that the panels warped while curing- the foam shrank at some point during or after curing. Luckily, peeling off the outer surface of the foam seemed to relieve enough tension that the panels laid flat again. I decided to peel the foam off rather than carve it because I preferred the rough, irregular texture that it created. I’m hoping that vining plants will appreciate this a little more, too.














The next step was covering the exposed foam with a layer of ASI black aquarium silicone and coco fiber. The panels then sat to cure for about a week. (Don’t mind the huge mess)








In the meantime, I finished up the false bottom. It is egg crate covered in no see um mesh, with a PVC pipe for easy drainage. I left about a 2 inch gap between the false bottom and the front of the tank. My plan is to fill that gap with Leca balls to make for a more finished final look when viewing the tank from the front.

Finally, it was time to place the background panels! The moment of truth. For each panel, I applied a thick line of silicone onto the glass in the rough shape of the panel, and then pressed the panel down firmly to ensure good contact between everything. I also went around the edges of each panel with silicone to seal them off, and pressed coco fiber onto the edges to hide them. I also went back and touched up some areas that looked messy or had exposed foam. The single lines of silicone will be easy to cut through with razor when the time comes to disassemble the tank.








I still had fairly large gaps between the two side panels and the main background panels. I decided to fill these gaps with two single strips of aquarium filter foam, which expanded to fit the space quite nicely. I also think it may provide a decent surface for plants to root on.

I am still trying to decide what species I’d like to keep. I am in love with ranitomeya, so I am leaning towards them (possibly imitators, or maybe Amazonica or fantastica). However, I am also wondering if I should go for a larger frog that I will have a better chance of seeing on a more regular basis, such as auratus(the costa rica green and blacks are my favorite of these guys). I have thought about tinctorius too, being a larger and more bold frog, but I think I’d like to have more than 2 individuals in this tank and I also don’t know if tincs would utilize the higher areas of the tank compared to other species. I’m open for any suggestions if you have them(both in the type of frog to consider, as well as any changes I might need to make to my setup for them).

I’ve already started collecting some plants for the tank. I’m looking forward to finally getting this planted, hopefully in the next week or so!

Thank you for reading! I’ll be updating this thread as the tank progresses.


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## Cindabird (Oct 10, 2021)

I wanted to post an update on the tank. I was able to find a nice looking and importantly big enough aquarium stand to display it on. I was having trouble finding furniture that would be deep enough to accommodate it, until I started searching for 40 gallon breeder stands (turns out that size of aquarium also measures 18 inches deep). Here’s the stand (a topfin 55-75 g stand from petsmart), for anyone curious:









With the stand assembled, I was finally able to set up the tank and put the substrate in! I used a thin layer of Leca in the front to hide the egg crate false bottom. I shaped my ABG mix so that there are some small hills and valleys for the future inhabitants to explore. There are also a total of 5 open cork rounds that they will be able to use. I wanted to provide as much “topographical” enrichment as possible for them.
















After a lot of reading, I decided to go with a spectral designs light fixture, which I ordered at the end of October. With a lead time on the website listed at 10 days, and with cold weather approaching, I decided to order the rest of my plants about a week after the light, thinking they’d all arrive around the same time. I knew it might take a bit longer for the light, but I wanted to get the plants in while the weather was still mild. The last of the plants arrived on Wednesday and just in time to miss the cold, but I’m still waiting for the SD light. I have the plants set up in temporary grow out bins under some of my grow lights for now and they’re doing well (I also used that light to illuminate the tank in the above second photo - it is an intensely yellow light as you can probably see). I can’t wait to plant them!

For anyone who has ordered a spectral designs light in the past, about how long was it between when you placed your order and when it was shipped? I know it’s a one man business, but I’d love to have an idea of how much longer I should expect to wait.

Thanks for reading!


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

That's an amazing hardscape !


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

Cindabird said:


> For anyone who has ordered a spectral designs light in the past, about how long was it between when you placed your order and when it was shipped?


Website says ten days lead time. IME, his estimates are accurate +/- a couple days.



fishingguy12345 said:


> That's an amazing hardscape !


Agreed! There are some serious hardscapes posted here lately. Love it.


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## Drosera (Oct 26, 2021)

What a great job you have done so far. Keep posting pictures every time you make some progress.


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## Cindabird (Oct 10, 2021)

Thanks so much everyone, I appreciate the kind words!


Socratic Monologue said:


> Website says ten days lead time. IME, his estimates are accurate +/- a couple days.


Thank you! I ordered it at the very end of October. Today is 3 full weeks, or 15 business days, so it’ll hopefully be ready soon-might end up being after the holiday though. I’m trying to stay patient, I’m just excited to start planting!


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## Cindabird (Oct 10, 2021)

I’m almost done planting. I have a few orchids left to add, but I’m still trying to decide on placement for those. I’d also like to add moss to some of the background and branches at some point. I’m interested in trying the mix from FrogDaddy, but it’s out of stock at the moment so I’ll be holding off on it for now. Leaf litter will be added once I finish tweaking plant placement. I’m also still waiting on the official light, but have a temporary grow light over the tank for now.

I really like plants, and maybe ended up collecting/adding a few too many, so it’s looking a little bit busy at the moment  I’m hoping as things grow in, they’ll start to blend together a bit more cohesively. Maybe.

Here is my current plant list….:
Calathea zebrina
Begonia hoeheana 
Begonia elaeagnifolia
Begonia vankerckhovenii
Philodendron micans
Philodendron hederaceum (heart leaf philodendron)
Epipremnum pinnatum 'Cebu Blue' (Cebu blue pothos)
Marcgravia sp. copper
Solanum ecuador
Microgramma tecta 
Microgramma lycopodioides
Pleopeltis percussa
Utricularia calycifida
Selaginella uncinata (peacock spikemoss)
Selaginella serpens 
Selaginella emmeliana
Davallia trichomanoides (Black rabbit’s foot fern)
Alocasia amazonica* “*Bambino”
Alocasia brisbanensis “Tiny dancer”
Alocasia reginula “Dwarf Black Velvet”
Streptocarpus “Fernwood’s Silhouette”
Saintpaulia sp. miniature African violet “Rob’s Loose Noodle”
Macodes petola (Jewel orchid)
Bulbophyllum membranaceum
Riccardia chamedryfolia (Mini pellia/coral moss)
Neoregalia “Dulce de Leche”
Neo “Pheasant”
Neo “Tiger cub”
Neo “Blueberry Tiger”
Neo “Fireball”
Vriesea splendens (Flaming sword bromeliad… possibly my absolute favorite bromeliad)

Some of these guys are experimental, we’ll see how they fare. It’s been about a week since planting and nothing has outright died or melted yet, so that’s promising at least.


























I’m definitely open to any advice on plants or placement. Thanks for reading!


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## Cindabird (Oct 10, 2021)

The last of the plants are in and the new light is here! I love the color spectrum and the dusk/dawn feature that it has. Next up will be installing the misting system. Once everything has time to grow in and get established, I’ll be adding more leaf litter as well.

Here are the rest of the plants I’ve added:
Sinningia musicola
Marcgravia sintenisii
Marcgravia sp Puerto Rico 
Pleurothallis rubella
Pleurothallis grobyi “small”
Stelis hirtella
Masdevallia erinaceae
Platystele stenostachya “pale yellow”
Porroglossum hystrix
Cissus amazonica- this was added the first time around but I forgot to include it in my original list.

Don’t mind the bright white cotton string holding the broms in place… the hot glue wasn’t strong enough to hold them haha. I’m hoping the cotton will eventually become covered in green from moss/algae growth, once I get some moss into the tank.
























The tank in moonlight(this is a little older picture so some plants are in different places)








On the right side of the tank is a small viewing hole through one of the cork rounds. It gives an interesting perspective into the back wall of the tank. I wish now that I had included more of these at different heights on the sides of the tank.








Lastly, this is just a photo of one of my favorite little plants in the tank, begonia hoeheana. It has already grown so much from when I first planted it.


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## Cindabird (Oct 10, 2021)

All the plants seem to be settling in. A few have started flowering and the Vriesea splendens and neo pheasant are starting to pup. Surprisingly (to me) the only plant I don’t see putting out new growth yet is the cebu blue pothos.





































I’ve installed a mistking system and replaced the standard exo terra top with a custom drilled piece of glass, and two ventilation strips that I made myself with a window screen frame kit. There is a ~1/2 inch ventilation strip in the front of the tank and a ~1 inch strip in the very back. Seems to do a good job of drying off the front glass and the leaves of more sensitive plants while keeping the humidity high enough for everything, including my little plugs of mini pellia(some of it can be seen in the pic above), which have been really taking off in the last two weeks.

Unfortunately, there are small gaps between the screen frames and the glass, I think because the frames do not have perfectly straight edges. I suspect they are large enough for an adventurous frog to fit through at some point, so I’ll need to figure out a way to seal them up.



















Finally, I’ve been thinking a lot about what darts I’d like to get for this tank. I went into this thinking I’d be getting ranitomeya, or possibly auratus, but now I’m leaning towards Dendrobates leucomelas Cerro Autana. It is so hard to choose, but there is plenty of time to make a decision. If anyone has any advice, in terms of tank setup or frog suggestions, I’m happy to hear it!


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## Gemma (Jan 25, 2020)

I think you’ve done a great job putting this together in a manner where you’ve encountered issues/potential issues & have rectified them. The little viewing hole is a neat idea!


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

Cindabird said:


> Finally, I’ve been thinking a lot about what darts I’d like to get for this tank. I went into this thinking I’d be getting ranitomeya, or possibly auratus, but now I’m leaning towards Dendrobates leucomelas Cerro Autana. It is so hard to choose, but there is plenty of time to make a decision. If anyone has any advice, in terms of tank setup or frog suggestions, I’m happy to hear it!


I can't speak to auratus, but leucs or one of the beginner friendly, group tolerant (I assume you'd want more than a pair) thumbnails would be happy in the viv as it is landscaped. _Sirensis_ or _vanzolinii_ are a decent choice if you want egg feeders; _variabilis _are a species with no parental care that are lately spoken of highly here.


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Cindabird said:


> Unfortunately, there are small gaps between the screen frames and the glass, I think because the frames do not have perfectly straight edges. I suspect they are large enough for an adventurous frog to fit through at some point, so I’ll need to figure out a way to seal them up.


Run a bead of silicone over the gaps and flatten out with a credit card so it's smooth. Problem solved 




Cindabird said:


> Dendrobates leucomelas Cerro Autana


They'd be great on this tank.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

fishingguy12345 said:


> Run a bead of silicone over the gaps and flatten out with a credit card so it's smooth.


Fact: there are virtually no problems in this hobby that a credit card cannot solve. 

Seriously, though, that's the best permanent solution. One that will allow you to remove the glass for cleaning is foam windowstrip material placed on the side of the screen framing so that it squishes against the edge of the glass. For a gap that's wide on one side and narrow on the other, a thicker but less dense strip will probably work best.


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## Cindabird (Oct 10, 2021)

Thank you all for your suggestions! I thought I had posted a response awhile ago, but see that I never did, my apologies. I ended up getting some weather stripping and superglued it to my frames. Worked perfectly to seal the gaps!

It’s been a few months since my last vivarium update. Plants are growing well and starting to take over. I’ve made a few adjustments in plant placement and have also added and removed a handful of plants since my last update. It’s still a work in progress, with things I like and things I’m still trying to improve. I’m not a huge fan right now of the moss growing on the ghostwood branches. I’m giving it more time to see how it fills in, if at all, but I may eventually take it off. The upper left corner/planters have also been difficult to stock with plants. The plants I’ve tried there end up burning due to how close they are to the light, even after having turned the lights down. I think a small bromeliad or two might work there, but I’m looking for something that will stay green.



























I’ve also added my frogs: four Dendrobates leucomelas Cerro Autana/Blue foot, last month. They have been so much fun to watch. I absolutely love them! I find them exploring all over the tank during the day. They are quite bold, each with their own distinct personalities. I can’t wait to hear them whenever they start calling.


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## SomeHappyGecko (Sep 12, 2013)

Very nice build !


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## gbeauvin (Aug 3, 2010)

Wow, I can only hope my first viv looks even a fraction as nice as this does. Which are your favorite plants or ones you would recommend for a first viv?


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## StephenJackson (3 mo ago)

Absolutely love looking at this build, great set up!


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## Cindabird (Oct 10, 2021)

StephenJackson said:


> Absolutely love looking at this build, great set up!


Thanks so much! I appreciate the kind words and I’m glad to hear it has brought you some joy!


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## Cindabird (Oct 10, 2021)

Thought I’d share another update. The tank has officially been set up and growing for about a year.
This first photo is from July and is probably my favorite point for the tank, right when most of the plants had really begun to fill out the tank.









These next photos were taken this week. I’m still very happy with it, but as you can see, some of the plants have really gone wild and are due for a good trim! I will eventually need to replace my beloved begonia natunaensis in the left front side. I absolutely adore it, but I had no idea it would get so big and it just doesn’t have enough space anymore.


















Next are some photos of the plants that I’ve taken over the last few months.

I find this little section so difficult to capture in its beauty, and yet it is probably my favorite part of the tank, with little clumps of microgramma tecta, sinningia musicola, specklinia dressleri, pleurothallis grobyi “small”, marcgravia sp. copper, and b. lichenora (something I had originally removed from the tank because of how poorly it was doing- but a little leftover bit of it must have adapted and is now making its way up the wall)


















And of course, the incredible purple striped vrisea nearby, it’s has grown and become quite crowded now, but I think that has made it a favorite spot for the frogs


















The opposite wall has been claimed by b. elaeagnifolia, cissus amazonica, and alsobia dianthiflora, with bits of solanum sp. ecuador, marcgravia, and orchids intermixed.









And last, the various aroids, with several other species intermixed


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## Cindabird (Oct 10, 2021)

I ran out of room in my last post, but I also wanted to share some photos of my frog children 😂 I am still wowed by how tiny and truly stunning they are, every time I see them! 

I have one calling male so far. They are all very bold, but he is least startled by the camera, so most of my photos are of him. They are named after mushrooms, for anyone curious.

This is the male, Antler:




































Next is Witch’s Hat, with Antler in the background. I think this one might be female.









Deer’s Ear is the youngest and smallest of the group. My guess is male, but I haven’t heard any calling from this one yet.









And Hen-of-the-Woods is the largest! I suspect she may be female given how much larger she is, but time will tell.


















Finally, a group photo. They are all generally respectful of one another, but it can be a free-for-all when flies are added


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## StephenJackson (3 mo ago)

Excellent thread!


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## S2G (Jul 5, 2016)

This is awesome. Thanks for pointing out the plants like you did & those blue foots...


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