# Frog Room, Tank and Rack Builds



## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

Just a quick background about my situation:

My wife and I are buying her parents house however that would require a new job for me since we are moving from Northern NJ down to the Philly area. I started to look for a job in my field (Landscape Architecture) and had a good success getting interviews, unfortunately no luck landing a job. My boss at the time knew I was moving and looking for a job. Unfortunately our company got very slow and he let me go. I saw it coming but didn't think it would be right before Christmas. As a result we moved into the house we are going to eventually buy, except until I get a new job we are living with the in-laws. Obviously there are pros and cons to this. One of those cons is where my frogroom will be is part of my mother-in-laws sewing room. Fortunaty this room is finished except I want to lay tile on the floor. Connected to this is a smaller room which will be part of the frogroom, which I already built out and is ready for tanks. I also planed on building my own racks that would fit the custom built tanks I am receiving from Jason of Protean (hopefully soon), along with a 250+ gallon tank that will be built into the wall.

So given I have extra time on my hands right now I begun builfing the racks and setting up any tanks I kept from the move.


First pic below is a 65 tall on one of the racks I built. Above this tank with be three 20 gallon tanks from Jason. The 65 will hold a 3.3 group of Hualluga Canyon trivs.Once the weather warms I am going to take it outside to stained.

Second pic is my 44 pent thats hold a breeding group of 2.2.2 hahneli

Next to that are three racks that will hold my epips(zarajunga, pasaje-sarjunga,rio saldillo, rio canario,salvias and buena esperanze),tricolors (moraspunga & highland) and some ameerega(Yellow/gold and altamzonica sisa). The bottom center tank has a 2.2 breeding group of black bassleri. I started to stain this racks black and decide I am going back to the color they are in the model. Also the 3 pic and last are the same room, one obviously being the model.

The last 3 pics are a computer model I built of what I want the racks and and room to look like. As you can tell they are pretty close to what I envisioned originally.

I will be adding pics as I build and or get tanks.


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## Zombie Frawg (Aug 31, 2010)

Looks like it's going to be awesome! Can't wait to see it 

Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using Tapatalk


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## qiksilver5 (Jan 9, 2007)

looks awesome! welcome to philly.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

qiksilver5 said:


> looks awesome! welcome to philly.


Thanks, glad to be here.


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## alex111683 (Sep 11, 2010)

Subcribed. I love watching frog room builds. I wish you the best on finding a job soon.


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## Jason (Oct 14, 2004)

That looks very nice. You will want to have some sort of access to that back corner. It doesn't matter how well you fruit fly proof your tanks you will have flies and spiders living back there. Just make sure there is enough access to get a vacuum back there from time to time.


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## mantisdragon91 (Jun 2, 2010)

Jason said:


> That looks very nice. You will want to have some sort of access to that back corner. It doesn't matter how well you fruit fly proof your tanks you will have flies and spiders living back there. Just make sure there is enough access to get a vacuum back there from time to time.


Considering he just picked up a couple of baby giant day geckos from me yesterday that he plans on letting loose in the room once its complete, somehow I don't think spiders will be much of a problem


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

mantisdragon91 said:


> Considering he just picked up a couple of baby giant day geckos from me yesterday that he plans on letting loose in the room once its complete, somehow I don't think spiders will be much of a problem


Thats actually the plan. 

Also if I can't see it it won't bother me so much.


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## Jason (Oct 14, 2004)

mantisdragon91 said:


> Considering he just picked up a couple of baby giant day geckos from me yesterday that he plans on letting loose in the room once its complete, somehow I don't think spiders will be much of a problem


I was thinking of getting some lizards to set loose in my room. I was just worried that it is not that safe or proper care for something to be running free. You think it is ok for them to be roaming around? I would really like to try it.


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## tachikoma (Apr 16, 2009)

Not sure about other species but I let a group of 8 regular house geckos loose in my house and I frequently see them (it's been over 3 yrs now) looking fat and healthy.


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## boabab95 (Nov 5, 2009)

SUBSCRIBED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


gotta love sketchup lol


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## AaronAcker (Aug 15, 2007)

Looks sweet, awaiting updates.


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## mantisdragon91 (Jun 2, 2010)

Jason said:


> I was thinking of getting some lizards to set loose in my room. I was just worried that it is not that safe or proper care for something to be running free. You think it is ok for them to be roaming around? I would really like to try it.


giant and standing's day geckos do very well in reptile rooms as long as there are no cats around to bother them. Key downsides are the fact that they will poop on glass and can prey on small frogs and lizards if they can reach them. As long as you can work around those two issues they are very trouble free and seem to have no problem finding enough food and water in most typical frog rooms.


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## dclarke2 (Apr 26, 2010)

That is so cool. I would like to do something like this one day. Cant wait to see updates.


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

Very cool, George


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

mantisdragon91 said:


> giant and standing's day geckos do very well in reptile rooms.


Yeah but how about a "frog" room ?....I don't think those species are going to thrive on escaped FF alone.

Unless George is planning on "doing crix" .

Whats the the mother in law sayin' bout all this animal stuff ?


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

Philsuma said:


> Yeah but how about a "frog" room ?....I don't think those species are going to thrive on escaped FF alone.
> 
> Unless George is planning on "doing crix" .
> 
> Whats the the mother in law sayin' bout all this animal stuff ?


I plan on supplementing them with rephasy foods for day geckos and I'll be feeding a majority of the frogs in my frogroom crickets as well. I'll make sure to give the free roaming geckos extra food if they look like they need it, but I think they'll be good.

As for my mother in law she thinks the frogs are neat.


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

It looks great so far George. Congrats on the move.
Wait... what was that? You're gonna host a meet this summer? lol


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## TheOregonKid (Nov 25, 2010)

People like you amaze me...this will be awesome. I wish I was handy and could build things.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

eos said:


> It looks great so far George. Congrats on the move.
> Wait... what was that? You're gonna host a meet this summer? lol


Yes I do plan on hosting a meeting, as soon as we are settled in. That will probably be in the summer, but until we officially purchase the house, you'll just have to wait and see when it'll be. Hopefully sooner than later.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

TheOregonKid said:


> People like you amaze me...this will be awesome. I wish I was handy and could build things.


Thanks, this is actually the first time building soemthing like this.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

pretty sweet racks george. did you get your tanks yet?


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

Julio said:


> pretty sweet racks george. did you get your tanks yet?


If I did they be on them.....I have to call Jason on Friday and see how he's doing. I got set back till mid Feb now....not a suprise.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

Trivs, 33 Flat back hex with a breeding group of imis above that will be two 30 cubes one for my quins and the other for my castis, 50 wide with my black bassleri, and my 65 wide that will house a group of chrome bassleri, and they'll be three 20 cubes with my green auros, gold auros and columbian/wide banded auros.


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## NathanB (Jan 21, 2008)

Thats going to look great when you get all your tanks, good luck.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

bussardnr said:


> Thats going to look great when you get all your tanks, good luck.


Thanks....It will also look better when those racks aren't all over the place and finally in the frogroom side by side.However that may be a few mos or so before that happens.


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## AaronAcker (Aug 15, 2007)

Looks good, nice to see a wood rack from time to time, gives a nice feel.


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## DJboston (Oct 25, 2008)

That's a killer set-up! I love seeing frog room pictures. It's coming along great. Can't wait till I can do something like this in a few years.

For now I have to settle on the compromise my girlfriend and I made. One home depot stainless steel rack for as many tanks as I can fit on that. 

Nice work!


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

So I should be getting my tanks in 2-3 weeks. I tooks some new photos, which I edited this time so the pictures are oriented upright. Only 3 racks are in the room so far because i have to finsih tiling it, for the time being they are just randomly placed in the basement. As I get the tanks set up and the room finsihed I'll continue to post pics.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

one last one.....this is the small room/cool room...most of my anthonyi, tricolors, ameerega species will be in there


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## Reefer420 (Oct 18, 2009)

those are some sweet rack setups, nothing compares to custom made, looks great.. I really like those entrance tanks.


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## NathanB (Jan 21, 2008)

George, is the wood finished or are you going to paint it or somwthing?


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

bussardnr said:


> George, is the wood finished or are you going to paint it or somwthing?


They are going to be finished. I am going to stain the inside black and the outside a light oak color...unfortunately I have no place to do this, and its too cold outside so I'll have to wait for spring......but in the meantime I'll set up the vivs and have them on the racks...I'll just have to move them when I get ready to stain.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

Reefer420 said:


> those are some sweet rack setups, nothing compares to custom made, looks great.. I really like those entrance tanks.


Thanks...those tanks are actually next to the door to the hot water heater room.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

Today I started to work on the tile floor in the larger room of my frogroom. Hopefully by Wed I'll half half complete and have the frog racks in there.

Before and after pics from today.


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## Vagabond324 (Jan 13, 2011)

Looks really good George, Nice job on the floor. The racks are great, simple and sturdy. A little recommendation, the bottom doors, put in sliding trays so that you can open the door and slide the tray out to get at the item you need because sooner or later your going to wish you did so. Woodworkers supply or Rockers carry nice ballbearing slides that will carry the heaviest loads or you can get the standard ones with rollers that will handle most common light weight loads. The trays are very easy to make out of some 1/4 or 3/8" ply for the bottom and 1" x 2" for the front and two sides. I put a taller back in just to keep anything from falling backwards into the opening. You can do this on any top openings also as it just makes it so much easier to get at your items.
Now I really love your Hex tanks, really cool looking, how do you keep your wood from rotting or is that just part of the plan? If you need any links or help with the trays, I'm just down the road from you for now, please feel free to ask as I love to do woodworking and am setting up a workshop 30' x 22' in my new home down in Dover DE, when my bride retires, we are moving there.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

Thanks

Its not as perfect as it appears. The concrete floor below is old and a bit unlevel but I think I did a pretty decent job. I'm actually going to cut some pieces to put along the wall and then grout it. Should be able to move some of the racks over tomorrow, and then I'll grout the rest.

Thanks for the tip on the trays. I had one other person suggest this and I'll def get some.

The wood in the vivs is malaysian driftwood. It holds up very well and barely roots. The small vines on the other hand rot after a while but the larger vines seem to hold up.


Vagabond324 said:


> Looks really good George, Nice job on the floor. The racks are great, simple and sturdy. A little recommendation, the bottom doors, put in sliding trays so that you can open the door and slide the tray out to get at the item you need because sooner or later your going to wish you did so. Woodworkers supply or Rockers carry nice ballbearing slides that will carry the heaviest loads or you can get the standard ones with rollers that will handle most common light weight loads. The trays are very easy to make out of some 1/4 or 3/8" ply for the bottom and 1" x 2" for the front and two sides. I put a taller back in just to keep anything from falling backwards into the opening. You can do this on any top openings also as it just makes it so much easier to get at your items.
> Now I really love your Hex tanks, really cool looking, how do you keep your wood from rotting or is that just part of the plan? If you need any links or help with the trays, I'm just down the road from you for now, please feel free to ask as I love to do woodworking and am setting up a workshop 30' x 22' in my new home down in Dover DE, when my bride retires, we are moving there.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

Finished half of the room and moved the racks over. 

I also discovered a new species of frog living in on my of tanks....not sure what I'll name it yet


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## vugger#1 (Jul 20, 2009)

Wow, looks great George. 
I have a few names for frogs like that one


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

vugger#1 said:


> Wow, looks great George.
> I have a few names for frogs like that one


Thanks, I'm getting there. Next I need to finish tiling the other half of the room which I'll hopefully do on Saturday or Sunday depending on how I feel (since I've been sick lately) and I need to stain those racks, which might happen next week if we get a few warm days.

Should have my tanks in 2 weeks.

BTW the frogs name is Charlie, she is my in-laws cat but is quickly becoming fond with me. Rumor has it she might be staying with us when my in-laws move out.


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## NathanB (Jan 21, 2008)

Looking nice, I cant remember if you said you were doing anything to the other side of the room?


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## johnachilli (Feb 8, 2007)

Looking good George!
You might want to look into staining the inside with Indigo Ink...I will give a nice black finish with not alot of work


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

nice work George!!


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## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

Very awesome! Its so nice to see someone doing a nice viv cabnet in the frogroom!
Hoping your not planning any of the standard wire racks in there now LOL

Todd


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

johnachilli said:


> Looking good George!
> You might want to look into staining the inside with Indigo Ink...I will give a nice black finish with not alot of work


I actually bought black stain, which I'm going to use for the insides....Indigo Ink sounds good, but I already have the stain.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

Dartfrogfreak said:


> Very awesome! Its so nice to see someone doing a nice viv cabnet in the frogroom!
> Hoping your not planning any of the standard wire racks in there now LOL
> 
> Todd


You won't find any wire racks in this room...I have a couple, but mainly use them for ff's now.


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Everything looks great George.... I meant to ask you about that 65 gal... was that at your old place or is it new? It looks awesome


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

eos said:


> Everything looks great George.... I meant to ask you about that 65 gal... was that at your old place or is it new? It looks awesome


It was at my old place but it didn't have the background....It was temproraily setup for my leucs, but now I have it permanently setup for my triv group.

Once it starts to grow in it'll look even better.


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Ah ok cool... I remember that ... great size tank.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

eos said:


> Ah ok cool... I remember that ... great size tank.


Yeah I'm really excited about it. I did the background with pieces of cork but left spacing in between them that I filled with spaghum. This way I can mount plants in them and have a green wall. However I didn't put many cuttings in yet till I get the misting system going.


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## Vagabond324 (Jan 13, 2011)

Looking good GEORGE, love the new hairy frog! Cats sure are one of Gods crazy creatures, never sure just where you will find them. My buddy's cat would get on top of his book case that was right by his front door and when someone would come in he would remove your hat for you! Scare the crap out of you. 
Be sure to give your book cases plenty of time to dry and gas out so that the fumes won't bother your frogs. Since it's mid-winter they will take a bit more time to be odor free, say two weeks unless you use a good water based polly to seal them in. The trays are great and easy to make, the slides are what's hard to locate.
Looks like you have quite a collection of frogs, hope we get a chance to meet up someday soon, are you going to the Hamburg or Vally forge shows ?


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

I have to call Protean today and see if he is on schedule. When I spoke with him last Friday he said the tanks should be ready to ship by the 16th...Thats 5 days. Hopefully thats right and i'll have them by the 23-24.

If all goes well I'd say you could come by after March 6th. i'm getting some new stuff from Understory.

As for the staining I'm using a stain and poly in one. Last time I stained them it took 3-5 days for the odor to disippate and that was in a room that was abput 50-65 degrees F. (temp dropped at night). Anyways I know it may take longer with the cold temps but I figured that I'd give it a shot this weekend since its suppose to be warm all week. I figured a week outside and they should be good, just as long as they are ready for the new tanks.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

Vagabond324 said:


> Looking good GEORGE, love the new hairy frog! Cats sure are one of Gods crazy creatures, never sure just where you will find them. My buddy's cat would get on top of his book case that was right by his front door and when someone would come in he would remove your hat for you! Scare the crap out of you.
> Be sure to give your book cases plenty of time to dry and gas out so that the fumes won't bother your frogs. Since it's mid-winter they will take a bit more time to be odor free, say two weeks unless you use a good water based polly to seal them in. The trays are great and easy to make, the slides are what's hard to locate.
> Looks like you have quite a collection of frogs, hope we get a chance to meet up someday soon, are you going to the Hamburg or Vally forge shows ?


I'll be at Hamburg.


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## Reefer420 (Oct 18, 2009)

very nice, the room looks great.


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## steelyphil (May 8, 2010)

Looks awesome! Love the hexagon tank in the middle too.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

Got my tanks on Thursday and starting building them out right away. Besides them being fully planted, mainly just what I plan on mounting on the background i have 9 tanks ready for frogs. Still another 28 to go.

Pics from this weekends accomplishments.

apparently I can't get the pics up at work, so I'll have to do it when I get home.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

These are pics from a few days ago. I have since finished another 3 vivs for a total of 12 since Thursday. I still want to add some mounted plants, but in the mean time i moved frogs into the vivs.

More pics in a day or so.


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## dtfleming (Dec 27, 2010)

Very Nice!!


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## Vagabond324 (Jan 13, 2011)

Looking good George, The racks really add to the set-up. Those tree fern panels are really nice, I see why you like to use them, will have to check them out real soon. I see you have a mist system set-up also, very nice, I know I'm getting a bit tired of opening the tanks to mist them and having my frogs try to make a break for the hills, I will really have to think about this once I have my new set-up going in Delaware.


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Looks great so far George.


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## frogmanroth (May 23, 2006)

Any updates on this?


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## SMenigoz (Feb 17, 2004)

frogmanroth said:


> Any updates on this?


George hosted a meeting at his place 23Oct and I was in attendance. Well laid out plan, and a great collection.
George, curious whether you had the large Protean tank repaired and have started building it out yet?
Scott


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

SMenigoz said:


> George hosted a meeting at his place 23Oct and I was in attendance. Well laid out plan, and a great collection.
> George, curious whether you had the large Protean tank repaired and have started building it out yet?
> Scott


Yea, i got it fixed and its in the wall and setup, despite some additional plantings. I have yet to take pictures. Its needs to really grow in, but I should take pics soon.

i've been really busy getting ready for the holidays. should have pictures up after christmas or maybe beofre


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

the holidays are done a long time ago so where are those pictures !!!


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## stevenhman (Feb 19, 2008)

Ask and you shall receive...

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/79255-frogroom-pics-build.html


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