# Another 55 gallon build thread/journal



## jcfaur (Mar 14, 2010)

Ok, so a bit of background....i come from the reef tank scene and upon discussion with a few people on the boards my interest in vivariums/paludariums was sparked again. This time though, i decided to act on it since my roommate moved out and i have some more real estate available in my condo  I decided to go with PDFs because the colors just memorize me and remind me of the sps(small polyp stonies) in my reef tanks. i decided to go with a standard 55 gallon long because there are a plethora of them available on the threads i frequent for my reef tanks. well long story short, i finally got my hands on a 55 gal tank, for free at that.

i didnt mind the dimensions because i actually wanted to split it up in 3/4 terrestrial 1/4 water habitat. i would like to put some small fish in the water area but we will see how that goes as the build continues. i will have a water feature, like a water fall or trickle which will meander through a stream, drop into the water portion and be pumped back up the water feature on the other side of the paludarium. 

ive been fervently researching substrate mixes and i guess ill be going with some concoction most people use with coco fiber, coco bark, mosses ect....still kinda confused at what im looking at though when i got to petsmart, and the other stores around here. is the substrate supposed to be smooth like soil, or more chunky like mulch???? in any evet, it will be on a false bottom made of egg crate. 

heres a couple pics of my progress....
this is the false bottom, still add some more supports but i did the legs with eggcrate instead of pvc since i had so much egg crate left over









here you can see the large terrestrial section and the small water section









with the false bottom dry fitted









heres a shot from the side....you can better see the water area. dont know why this shot wont turn right side up. oh well









i also just ordered a glass cutting bit and bulkheads from glass-holes.com. as soon as those come i will be able to drill it for the drains and then start assembling it more permanently.

have patience with me, its my first go at this type of set up. im sure its going to span over a couple of months. if i can get it half as good as my reef set up i think ill be ok....


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## JJhuang (Feb 5, 2010)

Wow very nice reef. How long did that take?


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## jcfaur (Mar 14, 2010)

well some of the coral in there, like the big beige monti cap in the middle, which i grew from about a 3 inch peice, are about 4-5 yrs old. but this set up as a whole is about 1 yr old. alota of the coral and transplants from the previous set up.


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## jcfaur (Mar 14, 2010)

Im going to start to keep a running list of cost of supplies also for people who are interested. That way people new to this.......LIKE ME.......can know kind of what to expect.

55gal tank - Free
2'x4' sheet of egg crate - $12 (homedepot)
16"x20" glass pane - $5 (homedepot)
1 glass hole bit, (2) 1/2" bulkheads, (2)strainers - $30 (glass-holes.com)

Total - $47


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## ktewell (Dec 17, 2009)

Wow . Where did you find the glass pane in Home Depot? 

I have asked sales associates on two occasions and they both told me to go screw myself, then I ended up buying one for about $20 at a specialty shop.


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## jcfaur (Mar 14, 2010)

haha, you know what, thats funny. I asked the guy where the glass is too just because they are always at different places at each home depot. I knew they are usually where the acrylic is. well he said they dont carry glass just acrylic. Well low and behold, there was the glass, right next to the acrylic. Albeit its pretty thin, its window pane. I would def not build an aquarium out of it to hold water. Maybe a Terrarium. In my case, as a divider only 5 inches high, it does not bulge at all, its solid as a rock.


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## jeeperrs (Jan 14, 2010)

that is a nice idea. You can drill the bottom of your tank on the land side to make drainage easy, plus any overflow will just go to that area. However, check the brand and see if they put tempered glass in the bottom of the tank because a lot of them start using tempered for the bottom piece with the 55 gallons. I am looking forward to seeing the end product.


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## jcfaur (Mar 14, 2010)

well being that i have extensive bg in reefing i know that pretty much all tanks now come with tempered bottoms, so i was forces to do the bulkheads ont he side of the tank, about 1 inch above the bottom. so before anything starts draining it will have to accumulate atleast 1". i dont see a problem with that though. i will make an access area though in one of the corners where i an snake down a tube and siphon out all water if necessary at any point.

had a bit of a mishap this morning though. i started drilling the tank on the back and before i even bare started the hole...BOOM.....all shatteredd all over my bedroom. back to square 1.  well i found another 55 gal from a friend, drilled this one in his backyard before brining it home this time. all went well this time. i will start to build the background now and start preping my materials for the substrate.

i will try to post some pics tonight, all though nothing really changed aside from the bulkheads added.


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## jcfaur (Mar 14, 2010)

Ok so with work, remodeling my kitchen and bathroom, the building process has been going a little slower than i anticipated. non the less, i did make some head way in the last couple days. the pictures pretty much speak for themselves. input is welcomed. let me know if you see something i might be overlooking.

















































the dry test run of the stream framework








here it is cut down to size a little bit. shaved it down and gave it some shape.









and here is the mess i made. Thank God my fiance wasnt home.









finally shaved down the background. fitted it so it can be easily removed, and did the whole silicone and cocofiber ordeal. not as bad as i expected. wet on a litle easier than i thought. here are some shots.

























still got a bit of patching up to do. gonna try to do the plumbing tomorrow and give it a wet test to make sure the 2 sections are sealed of from eachother. only thing im still worried about is getting the water fall and the stream to work properly. the water fall has to drain completely 100% into the stream which will dump into the water section. which will then be pumped back up the water fall.


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## fivecardskane (Mar 25, 2010)

Looks pretty good so far. Just got a 55g and can't wait to make a killer viv. Anyway, noticed you were talking about substrate. My friends and I use a recipe from REPTILES Magazine. It works wonderfully by itself, but we add soil to the mix. The cheap stuff from Wal-Mart or K-Mart works fine. Just make sure it does not have anything added to it, it is just dirt. The nutrients your plants need will come from the planting mix recipe and from animal safe fertilizer, which can be found on blackjungle.com

Here is the link for the planting mix, you want the Basic Forest Planting Mix.

Snake and Lizard Substrates


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## jcfaur (Mar 14, 2010)

Cool thanks, i will take that into consideration. I am probably going to start working on the substrate this weekend. Have to adjust my false bottom, finish the drain, finish the stream and waterfall. Im hoping by this weekend i'll have all that done. Theres and orchid and bromeliad expo happening next my house saturday so maybe ill check it out.


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## jcfaur (Mar 14, 2010)

Ok well i havent gotten as much input or activity on this build as i thought i would have so im just gonna post some progress pictures. if anyone has any questions or comments feel free to post.





































and some testing the lights.....



















and here is a little epiphyte i collected locally. not sure the name of it but its a silverish color, slim point leaves, and a velvet texture. collected locally from one of the palm tree trunks.


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## jcfaur (Mar 14, 2010)

ok, well im too lazy to take 100 pics and post them and what not. So i decided to just pot a video. so whoever is still following the thread, enjoy! and input or direction is welcomed. constructively, of course.  lol.


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## jcfaur (Mar 14, 2010)

ok, i guess this forum doesnt allow embedding? here is the direct link. YouTube - Poison Dart Frog Vivarium


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## Howiedoit (Oct 29, 2009)

Well that came together very well! What's going in it?


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## jcfaur (Mar 14, 2010)

well if all goes as planned, i should be getting a trio of azeurus. I havent heard from the guy selling them today though. hes about a 45 min drive from me and selling them for $30 a piece. Killer deal and no shipping. I hope i hear from him.

thanks for the compliment.


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## jcfaur (Mar 14, 2010)

Ok so im going to pick up my frogs today. I have a choice....3 smaller froglets about 1-2 months OOW or 2 larger, older sub adults/adults, about 9-10 months OOW for $90. the larger ones are sexable so i should be able to pick out a male and female. What should i do?


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## Howiedoit (Oct 29, 2009)

I would go with the 3 because it's more natural to not know the sex. Buying a sexed pair takes the surprise element out. Unless you're buying to breed? and if so how strong do you feel about it. Either way, you can't go wrong either way so perhaps flip a coin. (sorry if this response was of zero help!)


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## jcfaur (Mar 14, 2010)

ok, got 3 of the older ones.......all 3 for $110. not a bad deal i say!!  only bad side is i think its a 1 male 2 female combo and i heard that 2 males and 1 female is the best with less fighting and better egg laying chances. ohh well, maybe ill start a new tank for the outcast once 2 pair up.


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## jcfaur (Mar 14, 2010)

heres a video of the trio.....YouTube - My First Poison Dart Frogs

wont show up in 1080p yet thought till the video is done processing.


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## stevenhman (Feb 19, 2008)

I like the setup but, I think more plants and some ground cover (leaves, moss, etc) would be cool looking! How is the whole stream thing working out?


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## jcfaur (Mar 14, 2010)

yea i still have to add some moss and im going to go collect some seagrape leaves this weekend from the beach. 

the stream got dumped. it was leaking somewhere in the stream section and i didnt feel like tinkering with it because it was holding me up. what i plan on doing now is to have a pump recirculate water up a cypres kness and let it trickle down back into the water area. still looking for the right piece of wood though. i was using grapewood but it was staining my water and i read that its not good in that wet of an enviroment.


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