# 70x50x65cm Vivarium Build.



## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Hello,

I wanted to share the first vivarium I scaped in a rack system that contains 4x 70x50x65. I already finished and planted 2 out of the 4 tanks in total and have not yet started to work on the other 2. That is probably something I will start next year..

In this topic I wanted to focus on the first vivarium that I planted in May this year. Some plants and most moss came in later, so everything still needs some time to grow. But we all know a vivarium is always a constant work in progress right?

The Idea for the first vivarium was to make a clean, colorfull 'showtank styled' vivarium suited for large Oophaga. This is the montly proces and result so far :

April :











May :



June :



July :


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Looks great. 

Could use more leaf litter ;-) lol


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## surfindude686 (Jul 15, 2020)

That looks awesome! I hope mine ends up half as nice as yours.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

You are absolutley correct! When this tank is grown in more and ready for frogs, I will certainly add more leaflitter.

Thanks for the compliments.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

Looks really great!

What, exactly, are the substrate layers? Looks like foam, then sand, then gravel, then crushed slate (?), then leaf litter?


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## minorhero (Apr 24, 2020)

Great looking Viv! What is the background? Looks like chunky cork board like what you would stick pins into or put down as a furniture pad.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

The substrate: pondfoam, 2 different sized gravel, a small amount of treebark, leaflitter.

The background : 4mm dark cork panels. 

Lights : 1x Skylight Pro 2 H, 1x Skylight Pro 2V


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## Gar732 (May 11, 2020)

Great looking viv. What do you plan to put in there? And what kind of marcgravia is that on the background?


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Gar732 said:


> Great looking viv. What do you plan to put in there? And what kind of marcgravia is that on the background?


Says in the description. 

The big one is a M.Sintenissi. There is also M.Umbellata and 2 other undescribed Marcgravia in the tank.


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## darts.in.a.den (May 2, 2016)

Tijl said:


> The substrate: pondfoam, 2 different sized gravel, a small amount of treebark, leaflitter.


interesting choice of substrate.
the terrarium bottom has the slope design?


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

darts.in.a.den said:


> interesting choice of substrate.
> the terrarium bottom has the slope design?


I used the similar setup of 'substrate' as I did my other recent tanks : 

https://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/354904-new-fixer-upper.html

https://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/353374-oophaga-tank-fixer-upper.html

The terrarium has no slope design, but I made a slope with the filtermats.


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## darts.in.a.den (May 2, 2016)

Tijl said:


> I used the similar setup of 'substrate' as I did my other recent tanks :
> 
> https://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/354904-new-fixer-upper.html
> 
> ...


amazing tanks. how do you drain them? i see not all of them have a small pond in the front


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Only the small showtank has a drainage gutter that is currently filled up with water soley for esthetic purpose since that tank won't be inhabitet. 
If I would want to place frogs in that tank, the water feature had to go imediatly and get replace by leaflitter. I don't like waterfeatures at all for frogs.

I'm able to drain exces water in this particular tank very easy with a simple aquarium siphon if needed. 
But there is as good as no exces water since I am misting by hand.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Tank goes viral on Youtube!! : 

https://youtu.be/2BgJtc2L3_s


hahaha


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Misting system : check!



One nozzle in the left and right side of the viv and 2 nozzles in the middle as shown on the photo.


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## Dr. Manhattan (Oct 28, 2016)

Your April to July timeline photos blew me out of the water. What kind of moss or moss mix did you use?


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

The Skylights are amazing lamps! The marcgravia grow crazy fast underneath them.

Dusk moss mix, and moss from my backyard.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

Tijl said:


> The Skylights are amazing lamps! The marcgravia grow crazy fast underneath them.


@Tijl, not too long ago you were lukewarm about the Skylights. Would you be willing to explained what changed in your experience or in your thinking? I'm not only interested in knowing about another lighting option, but even more so in learning how people grow to like or dislike equipment over time.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Yes very true and a good question. 

When I build the Oophaga Pumilio vivarium last year,

https://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/353374-oophaga-tank-fixer-upper.html

I tested T5, T8, Arcadia 'jungledawn' and 2 Skylight Leds : pro 2 V and pro 2 H.
At the time I realy disliked the color of all the above lights. Probably because I got used to the yellowish glow of the T8 and there where more shaded area's I did not want due to the placing of the led's and since the plants were already grown on the the placing of the previous lights. 

What changed my mind over time and the reason I do recommend Skylights is the difference in type of Skylight leds.

I recently received from skylight the MID-30's and the Tiny Pro V to plug and play for the Oophaga vivarium.

I found that the tiny Pro V light realy travels deep in the tank, all the way to the bottom. The Skylight Pro's did not and also just the 2 lamps did not cover the entire are of the tank. Now the Pumilio Vivarium is equiped with 6 in total! and I'm still able to move them around as I please. ( this is very handy for creating purpously highlighted plants or shaded area's if your into scaping for example ) 

When I see the colors the bromeliads and other plants gets and maintain + also the growth on the marcgravias, I would hestitate in using other lamps in the future!

Of course there is a price tag that comes with these lamps. That is imo the only downside, but they are in the same range or even cheaper as Arcadia if you compare..

Hope this is helpfull


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Big update :

Say hello to our 0.0.2 F2 Oophaga Sylvatica 'Paru' Wikiri-line. 🙂 






Tbh, I would have loved to let the plants and moss grow for a month or 2-3 longer before introducing frogs to the vivarium. But it is what it is and I realy could not turn down this offer!

So I picked up the frogs this morning, added some more leaflitter to the tank. It still needs more but I will take care of that later this week since I ran out of magnolia.. 

My wife took some shots of the frogs and introduced them to their new home.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)




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## minorhero (Apr 24, 2020)

Those are some great looking frogs! Congratulations on the addition! Are Oophaga a species you can't sex till you see calling and eggs?


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Thanks! They are realy hard to sex. That is the only for sure indicator.


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## aapuzzo (Apr 20, 2020)

I would like to know how the background and sides were done. I read you used dark cork. Also I see you built it up in spots like dirt over the wood. How did you do that? I am searching for alternatives because theexpanding foam with silicon is not fun and this seams way more effective. It looks like you just pinned bromides and get moss growing. This has to be far less messy.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

I cut pieces of cork to the size I want, use rvs pins and aquariumglue to attach them to the background and each other. First I like to position them with toothpicks so I can easily change them up if I want to. 

For finishing, I crave them with a small screwdriver so they look like branches or roots 🙂

I have some shots from another tank I made that shows this process :


foto omzetten van png naar jpg


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## aapuzzo (Apr 20, 2020)

Tijl said:


> I cut pieces of cork to the size I want, use rvs pins and aquariumglue to attach them to the background and each other. First I like to position them with toothpicks so I can easily change them up if I want to.
> 
> For finishing, I crave them with a small screwdriver so they look like branches or roots 🙂
> 
> ...


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## Fahad (Aug 25, 2019)

Tijl said:


> I cut pieces of cork to the size I want, use rvs pins and aquariumglue to attach them to the background and each other. First I like to position them with toothpicks so I can easily change them up if I want to.
> 
> For finishing, I crave them with a small screwdriver so they look like branches or roots [snip]


Hey Tijil -- these look like the regular cork tiles available for crafts and home improvement, etc. -- is that what they are?

I ask because I'm wondering how the product is manufactured ... is it just compressed without any glues or chemicals used? Did a quick search and an identical looking product is available in Canada, but I haven't yet found information on how it's made, maybe you can offer some insight? Thanks!


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Fahad said:


> Hey Tijil -- these look like the regular cork tiles available for crafts and home improvement, etc. -- is that what they are?
> 
> I ask because I'm wondering how the product is manufactured ... is it just compressed without any glues or chemicals used? Did a quick search and an identical looking product is available in Canada, but I haven't yet found information on how it's made, maybe you can offer some insight? Thanks!


These panels are made of pieces of cork compressed by heat and pressure. So these actualy 'glue' together by the cork's resin.


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## Fahad (Aug 25, 2019)

Tijl said:


> These panels are made of pieces of cork compressed by heat and pressure. So these actualy 'glue' together by the cork's resin.



Thanks, I did some more searching and see references to resin and also to low VOC or zero-VOC products used in their manufacturing.

It’s an interesting material and I’d like to try it, just need to find a specific product here I feel is safe.

One other thing ... do you make allowances for expansion when you fit it? Or is that not a big issue?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Fahad said:


> Thanks, I did some more searching and see references to resin and also to low VOC or zero-VOC products used in their manufacturing.
> 
> It’s an interesting material and I’d like to try it, just need to find a specific product here I feel is safe.
> 
> ...


If you find something, can you let me know? I'm interested in trying this style out myself.


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## Fahad (Aug 25, 2019)

fishingguy12345 said:


> If you find something, can you let me know? I'm interested in trying this style out myself.



Will do. Nothing definitive yet; I’ll try to contact the manufacturer of a likely looking product, and ascertain whether that particular product line has stains or adhesives in it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

No, I did not realy leave allot of room on purpose since it does not expand. I had some gap between the corkpanel and the upper glas oabel due to the build of the terrarium it self wich I filled up with sphagnum. 

I'll make work in to posting a new topic of the other 70x50x65cm vivarium. I took photo's of every step of that build.


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## Levis (Aug 1, 2020)

What kind of enclosure is that? Is that custom built?

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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Levis said:


> What kind of enclosure is that? Is that custom built?
> 
> Sent from my LYA-L0C using Tapatalk


What do you mean by 'what kind of enclosure is that?' ?

There are many glas terrarium builders in Europe, but I have no idea what builder made this. I got this older 4 x 70x50x65cm rack from a friend who quit the hobby and rebuild 2 tanks so far. The other 2 I use for growing plants at the moment.


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## Levis (Aug 1, 2020)

Ok I meant the terrarium. Like what brand is it. So if I understand it was custom made by the previous owner. It looks really nice from the front. Your work is also fantastic 

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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

I'm glad you like it! 🙂

It's not costume build by the previous owner himself, but I do think he had it custom made.

We have a ton of builders here, most provide excellent quality and very good prices.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

The way the rack looks today :


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Tijl said:


> The way the rack looks today :


*drools* , thanks Tijl


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## Levis (Aug 1, 2020)

Tijl said:


> The way the rack looks today :


That's amazing! Thanks for sharing

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## DigitalChromosome (Jun 25, 2020)

Beautiful tanks. Do you build your own or do you purchase the tank itself from somewhere/someone else? They're much nicer looking than my exo-terra in my opinion.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Read like 2-4 post above this one 😄


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

And thanks for the compliment. 🙂 They are all budget friendly and fruitfly proof aswell, unlike exoterra..


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

I can't wait to see the offspring he or she hopefully will produce!


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## aapuzzo (Apr 20, 2020)

I decided to give the dark cork a try based on this post. The stuff I used definitely isn't as thick so I doubled/trippled it up to make the fake branches and used black silicone in between. The vivarium is an Exo-Terra 18x18x18. Now I could use some advice on what moss or plants gives a good cover on the background. What I can say so far is I am happy the way it hold's and wicks moisture.

I have purchased some baby's tears and this product called moss milkshake. I have seen results so far in my vivariums with the baby's tears but no dice on the moss milkshake. Maybe that takes more time.

What should I try? My vivariums always end up looking JV compared to what I see on here.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

I think you should add more pieces of driftwood to create depth and levels in the tank. Also make some extra 'branches of cork roots' on the side. I also used multiple layers to create them. 🙂

You can use different kinds of moss, cut them up and mix water to make your own moss milkshake. 

Have fun!


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

The vivarium today :


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## aapuzzo (Apr 20, 2020)

Tijl said:


> The vivarium today :


I agree with needing more drift wood to make more of a layer. I used mopani in the back. I have to find a few good pieces. I should also like you said add another big cork piece to the left side midway up but thought buying a few epiweb branches might look better. I don't think I would even see the cork anymore once things start growing in. I'm afraid to make my own moss milkshake because I wouldn't know how to sterilize it without killing it. I have another post on "what are these worms/nematodes" in my vivarium and I don't want to see them in here. 

I would love to ask what some of the things are in your vivarium. I'm going to take a picture and circle a few so I can go out and buy them later on today.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Sure go ahead. In the older photo's there is a lot more to see that is not overgrown already 😄

Yes, I understand why you would not make your own mix. You can also use aquariummos and cut that up


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## Esmi (Oct 28, 2017)

Very nice build!
I have a few questions:
1. Which Selaginella species did you plant?
2. How did you mount/plant your M. sintensii? I really have problems to grow these.

But I must admid, I am a bit disappointed about the Skylight LEDs...
I also thought of using them for my new build...but as one can see with your timeline-fotos, your bromeliads really lost much of their red color. They also differ havy in color temperature. My Neoreaglias love a cheap 6500 K hardware store spot.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Thank you!

1)no idea tbh, I got it as a small cutting of 2cm once..
2)I use toothpicks to plug it and a bit of spagmoss underneath the stem. That's it..

The bromeliads we're under the very same lamps before they we're introduced to this tank, the leds made them so beautifull pink(redish) in the first place. Before that, they we're just some green Neoregelia. The problem is that there is a lot of glas corrosion in this specific tank due to the age of the vivarium and the Lack of maintenance from the previous owner. So the light does not shine through nice clear glass as it did before the plants and lamps moved tot this vivarium.. But I don't mind to be honest, It just the lower of the 3 that got to be more green.. 

My lamps don't differ in color temperature and I have a bunch of different lamps dividend over different vivariums. Only the MID-30 have a different color temperature, I have them in another topic of the 60x40x50 tank on this forum if you're interested in seeing that result/look over time. 

To bad you are disappointed in the lights. Imo they are probably the best vivarium leds out there atm, depending on what people want from their lamps. If one needs a lamp to also heat a vivarium, I still recommend using T5 lamps instead of leds.. If someone has frogs that are more shy, I would recommend using lights with lower lumen.

If your local hardware store lamps works good for you, I recommend not to change them. If it works, it works..


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## Esmi (Oct 28, 2017)

Tijl said:


> The bromeliads we're under the very same lamps before they we're introduced to this tank, the leds made them so beautifull pink(redish) in the first place.


Good to know! I will look into your other topic - I hav the MID in mind - but were abit sceptical because of the high color temperature


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

One of the two inhabitants : O.Sylvatica 'paru'



Photo was taken by @Johanovich


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

A friend of mine took a HDR shot of the vivarium, this is the result :


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## Leite02 (Jan 19, 2020)

OMGx2!


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Tijl said:


> A friend of mine took a HDR shot of the vivarium, this is the result :


Show off ! 

This is a lovely tank.


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## Leite02 (Jan 19, 2020)

What good friends you have!
When my friends walk in the door, all they do is get my glasses dirty and they ask me what I keep in the terrarium.
That's why I put the tablet on the wall and every time they ask I point and say, there you have it, you bastard.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

The tank got 1st place for terrascaping WAC 2020. 😊✌


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

The new Oophaga Sylvatica 'Paru' male :


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## sharambil (Dec 28, 2020)

Sorry to bring back an older thread - would love an update on the tank.

I also plan on using the pond foam strategy, my only question is - where do the epiphytes receive the necessary nitrogen, phosphorous, and other macro elements to grow if the only real substrate used is cork or bark?

If you were to include some ferns and non-epiphytes, would you have placed them in some sort of planters or pots with soil?


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

sharambil said:


> Sorry to bring back an older thread - would love an update on the tank.
> 
> I also plan on using the pond foam strategy, my only question is - where do the epiphytes receive the necessary nitrogen, phosphorous, and other macro elements to grow if the only real substrate used is cork or bark?
> 
> If you were to include some ferns and non-epiphytes, would you have placed them in some sort of planters or pots with soil?


Feel free to check out my Instagram page for more recent photos. Some will also be posted in this topic : 








🄵🅁🄾🄶🅂 🄰🄽🄳 🅅🄸🅅🄰🅁🄸🅄🄼🅂


Hello! This week most frogs have been calling and started laying clutches again after the end of the simulated dry season. This means most frogs are also very bold now so I was able to take some good shots this week. 1.0 P.Terribilis. He was calling on top of this monkeypod waiting for his...




www.dendroboard.com
 




I don't use bark as substrate but gravel. The bark is only present in the back of the tank for the sprngtails and isopods.

Plants are placed directly into the gravel or pinned on the corkpanels.


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## Patterhorn (Oct 4, 2019)

How do you get plants to grow so quickly is it lights or watering!


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Patterhorn said:


> How do you get plants to grow so quickly is it lights or watering!


Both but tbh, it's just patientce.. It always takes some time.
I always make sure a tank has grow in quite well before introducing frogs so they are not able to disturb rooting plants.


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## Purist (Nov 15, 2018)

Tijl,
Can you tell us the approx. depth of the foam layer at it's deepest and shallowest. Also the same for the gravel layer. Thank you. Great build btw


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Purist said:


> Tijl,
> Can you tell us the approx. depth of the foam layer at it's deepest and shallowest. Also the same for the gravel layer. Thank you. Great build btw


I stack 2 mats of foam each 2 cm. So a total of 4cm base. In the back of the tank I used some left over foam and also used 2 pieces.

The gravel layer just covers the foam in the front area. In the back it's stacked higher. 

Thanl you!


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## Purist (Nov 15, 2018)

Tijl said:


> I stack 2 mats of foam each 2 cm. So a total of 4cm base. In the back of the tank I used some left over foam and also used 2 pieces.
> 
> The gravel layer just covers the foam in the front area. In the back it's stacked higher.
> 
> Thanl you!


I love the simplicity and the plants seem to as well🌱
Over the gravel I imagine 4-5cm of leaf litter? How is the cork board secured to the glass?
I'll definitely try a similar style in my next build. Well done. Thank you for sharing.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Purist said:


> I love the simplicity and the plants seem to as well🌱
> Over the gravel I imagine 4-5cm of leaf litter? How is the cork board secured to the glass?
> I'll definitely try a similar style in my next build. Well done. Thank you for sharing.


Depends, I mostly go for +-2-3ish cm leaflitter when it's inhabited. The cork panels are fixed with aquarium silicone.
Yw.


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## mikemakesapps (Mar 11, 2019)

What are the big bromeliads you used? I love how they break up the visual space.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Neoregelia '


mikemakesapps said:


> What are the big bromeliads you used? I love how they break up the visual space.


N.Bob&Grace, N.Pink Ninja.


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## Shazace (Jul 19, 2020)

I love this build. It was the inspiration for my last build and it also won a contest. Thank you for sharing!


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Shazace said:


> I love this build. It was the inspiration for my last build and it also won a contest. Thank you for sharing!


Awesome! Congrats on your winnings. Feel free to share the contest photo here😊


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## Shazace (Jul 19, 2020)

Tijl said:


> Awesome! Congrats on your winnings. Feel free to share the contest photo here😊


Thank you.

Here’s the contest photo









and this is it today


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Shazace said:


> Thank you.
> 
> Here’s the contest photo
> View attachment 301220
> ...


Looks amazing 👌👌


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## dendrothusiast (Sep 16, 2010)

Loving this setup - always get a thrill seeing your exhibits when you post them on IG 🤙


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

dendrothusiast said:


> Loving this setup - always get a thrill seeing your exhibits when you post them on IG 🤙


Thanks! Glad you enjoy.

I often post here first 😉 : Frogs and vivariums.


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## kennyb123 (Oct 20, 2019)

@Tijl 

Can you attach bromeliads directly to the cork panels that you used? I am curious if they are sturdy enough to stick the stolon into the cork, or if it needs to be reinforced somehow.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

kennyb123 said:


> @Tijl
> 
> Can you attach bromeliads directly to the cork panels that you used? I am curious if they are sturdy enough to stick the stolon into the cork, or if it needs to be reinforced somehow.


Probably?

I always attach them to branches/wood or rocks so the bromeliads (leaves) have room to grow. 
This would not be the case if you attach them to the back or side.


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## Simon85 (Dec 11, 2016)

Since you got automatic misting, what is your misting regiment and how often do you have to drain the tank now?


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Simon85 said:


> Since you got automatic misting, what is your misting regiment and how often do you have to drain the tank now?


I have automatic misting systems on all my enclosures. The frequency and time the system kicks in, is differently for each racksystem or tank that is indivdiualy equiped with a mistingsystem due to it's position in the house, position in the rack, method of heating, mimicing of season,.. etc.. 

So far I had to drain this specific tank mayebe 3or4 times since it was up and running. The misting shedule is around 3x 5 seconds a day during the mimicing of the 'rain season'.


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## Verdant (Jan 6, 2022)

Amazing build!

Do epiphytic plant roots attach well to the cork boards, so that plants can climb them easily?


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Verdant said:


> Amazing build!
> 
> Do epiphytic plant roots attach well to the cork boards, so that plants can climb them easily?


Thanks!

Yes they do


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## SomeHappyGecko (Sep 12, 2013)

Might use Cork in my next build looks easy to install and easy for plants/moss to grow on!
Any tips for growing Marcgravia S. ?


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