# 30 gal horiz. clay/clay build thread



## tim13 (Feb 1, 2011)

Ok, so I have finally got around to putting this monster together. My goal is to do a clay background and a clay substrate. The finished product will house a trio of auratus froglets, so I'm trying to cater to their needs a bit. After much deliberation, there will be no water feature. There will however be a false bottom with a way to do water changes. Now, onto the pics!

This first pic is of the conduit going down the back of the tank that will serve as a siphon tube, and the base for my clay tree root/branch.










This second pic is a closeup of an experiment I'm doing with these small pvc half rings i cut. In theory, they should provide more support for the clay background as it can be "mashed" into them, and they have a slight upward tilt so they can grip the clay against any sagging caused by gravity.










This next photo is of the false bottom I built. It's the standard eggcrate with fiberglass screen wrapped around it. The false bottom when set in the tank will be against the back side of the tank where the large pvc root is, with an inch of space separating the other 3 sides from the glass. Hydroton will be filling this space to hide the false bottom. The pic shows it upside down as i just siliconed the pvc spaces to the bottom of it and they are drying.










I will be adding more pics and updating as my clay products come in the mail. I have two other experiments I will be trying with the clay that I haven't seen tried on the forums as of yet. Stay tuned!


----------



## PeanutbuttER (Jan 1, 2011)

That's an interesting idea with the clay wedges. Looks like it's all coming together well.


----------



## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

Good ideas for me to try out on my next build. I've got a twenty nine gallon tank myself that I am going to construct soon.


----------



## tim13 (Feb 1, 2011)

Just an update, I put the clay onto the background of the tank.



















So, here's what i did. I modified Pumilio's clay substate mix to form the mix for my background. Here's what I used:

6 parts Dr. Elsey's cat litter
3 parts Redart powdered clay mix
2 parts Calcium Bentonite powdered clay mix
2 handfuls of ground up peat/sphagnum moss
About a half cup of charcoal dust (cowboy brand, ground up)
About a half cup aragonite sand
2 ounces of Calcium Carbonate powder

Since I was going to make a tree like design as the centerpiece of the background, I decided to try and keep the floorspace usable my claying around a small cocohut. Now, frogs can use it as a hideyhole, and it looks nice. No wasted space! I used EVERY bit of clay that I mixed together on the background, so you have an idea as to how much I mixed up. Also, all the dry goods were mixed up with about two-thirds of a gallon of water. I mixed the water into the mix slowly, working each wetted part of the clay with my hands, so as not to over water. I haven't decided if I want to press in some peat/sphagnum to the clay to darken it in some more and promote moss growth. Any suggestions?


----------



## ryangreenway (Apr 30, 2010)

Wow that looks excellent! Really good use of the clay, and I love the redish color it has. Great tank, looking forward to seeing it completed. If I were you I'd press peat/sphagnum into it in random places to add some texture, but not coat the whole thing.


----------



## habubak (Jun 7, 2008)

Subscribed! Looks good, keep the updates comin'!


----------



## tim13 (Feb 1, 2011)

Thanks ryan! Just so you know, it's a lot darker than the pics portray. The flash on my camera "brightened" it up a lot. I like your idea of the random peat/sphag areas. I plan to try and get live moss to grow on the "bark" lines on the tree. My concern now is decorating it so that there is the maximum usable space for the frogs.


----------



## ryangreenway (Apr 30, 2010)

To make the most usable space you could build in some ledges out of the clay mix in the corners and on the sides of the tank, maybe make some little "steps" out of the ledges, climbing the wall. Just some thoughts.


----------



## Lunar Gecko (May 7, 2010)

That looks really nice.

I had been thinking about something and this tank would be a good test to see how well it would work. Dont know if this sounds like a dumb idea to others but I'll give it a shot.

What would happen if you took food color and maybe watered it down a bit and painted it on the clay like watercolor? It would be cool if you could make the tree area more 'brown' than the rest of the background. If you did that then pressed in some cork or bark bits into it I think it would really neat... or more so.

Just what popped into my head. If its an unrealistic idea then forgive me. I dont keep any frogs atm but this idea would be safe for reptiles.


----------



## Okapi (Oct 12, 2007)

I mashed peat into my http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/64470-clay-tree.html









I also made the tree out of a more brown mix of clay than the rest of the background, but the color you see was made by pressing handfuls of peat onto the surface of the "tree" to make it darker brown.


----------



## tim13 (Feb 1, 2011)

Okapi, I have seen yours before and it gave me the idea to do a clay tree in mine!

I know people say pressing the peat in will encourage moss growth, but is that rare to happen? What are the odds moss will grow in where you pressed the peat in?


----------



## tim13 (Feb 1, 2011)

I meant to tell everyone, that if you are having trouble finding the calcium carbonate powder, go to a store that sells wine making supplies. That's the only place locally that i found some. I bought all they had because it was dirt cheap there.


----------



## ryangreenway (Apr 30, 2010)

tim13 said:


> Okapi, I have seen yours before and it gave me the idea to do a clay tree in mine!
> 
> I know people say pressing the peat in will encourage moss growth, but is that rare to happen? What are the odds moss will grow in where you pressed the peat in?


These are some pictures from my Hourglass tree frog viv. It's a kitty litter clay background and I just pressed some peat/sphagnum on it in random places and this is what it looks like 5ish months later.


----------



## tim13 (Feb 1, 2011)

Hey ryan, did you by chance just use the stuff from lowes that comes in a forty lb. Bail?


----------



## ryangreenway (Apr 30, 2010)

I did. I grabbed whatever the organic bail at lowes was, and I've had great results in all my tanks so far.


----------



## Lunar Gecko (May 7, 2010)

...was it the Sunshine farms peat sphagnum moss? If so now Im happy. Thats the stuff I have and Im working on a clay build. Going to need to try that.


----------



## ryangreenway (Apr 30, 2010)

I can't remember as my bag got destroyed by the dog, I do remember it was organic, and the bag was green and white.


----------



## tim13 (Feb 1, 2011)

Yes the green and white bagged organic is what I bought!


----------



## Lunar Gecko (May 7, 2010)

That would be 'Greensmix'. I have that too.


----------



## tim13 (Feb 1, 2011)

Small update:










Pressed some peat/sphag moss into the tree. I watered it down and rung out the excess water prior to pushing it into the clay. Figure this will keep the moss from pulling moisture out of the clay. Also, added some LECA to the edges of the false bottom, and a small layer above the false bottom. Here's hoping for some random moss growth on the tree!


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Looking good Tim! It's great to see you supplementing the wall itself with calcium instead of just the substrate! Seems hardly anyone takes advantage of the opportunity to do that. Another good place to get the calcium is at Vitamin stores. We get the NOW brand from Vitamin Cottage.


----------



## tim13 (Feb 1, 2011)

Big Update!

Ok, so I made some clay substrate to add to the viv. I used Pumilos recipe which can be found here:http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/63732-clay-substrate-how.html

The only thing I did differently was I used a Play-doh doohickey to screen the clay, instead of an actual screen. Just so you know, I made all the clay substrate in the following picture in just One episode of South Park.










I "glued" in a piece of cork park to the right side of the viv using some extra clay. I filled in the gap created with some charcoal (cowboy brand). This serves 2 purposes: 1) Charcoal is cheap space filler. 2) Hopefully this will create a refugium for microfauna growth. I seeded this area with 4 different types of springtails so hopefully something will take hold.










The following picture is a top-down shot of the clay substrate added, and the initial planting. All the plants you see in this photo were planted in a handfull of ABG mix, and then the ABG mix was covered in clay substrate.










The next two pictures are of the semi-finished product. I added a hollow piece of cork round, some more plants, and some leaf litter. The cork round is hollow, so should be a good hiding spot for some auratus froglets. The leaf litter is magnolia, and oak leaves. 

Pic of left side:









pic of right side:









I know it seems a bit underplanted, but I don't want to add any more plants until I get an idea how these are going to grow in. Thanks for looking!


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Looking good Tim! Frogboy and I put those refugium areas into our vivs too! We fill them with a mix of cowboy charcoal, coco chunks, orchid bark, and crushed leaves.


----------



## Lunar Gecko (May 7, 2010)

> The only thing I did differently was I used a Play-doh doohickey to screen the clay


Brilliant idea! 



> I filled in the gap created with some charcoal (cowboy brand). This serves 2 purposes: 1) Charcoal is cheap space filler. 2) Hopefully this will create a refugium for microfauna growth. I seeded this area with 4 different types of springtails so hopefully something will take hold.


I was considering doing this with my wall planters because they have slow drainage. Hope it works out for you.


----------



## ryangreenway (Apr 30, 2010)

The tank looks outstanding!


----------



## Okapi (Oct 12, 2007)

Looks good, and great idea including the refuge for springs.


----------



## tim13 (Feb 1, 2011)

DIBS!!!











I seeded the main tank area with about a thousand springs (I'm not exaggerating) this morning. I gave the springs about an hour head start then I put the frogs in. Before anyone conks me on the head about grow in time, trust me when I say this is way better than what they had before. I know I stressed them when I caught them for transport. When I got all 3 into the new viv they all dashed into the leaf litter. I left them alone for an hour and when I checked on them they were all spread out in the viv. One was climbing around on the tree structure eating springs, the one pictured was in the tree structure eating springs off the tree, and the third was sitting on the cork round next to a crypt. I think they are somewhat happy with their new viv. It's a lot more spacious and leaf littered.

Here's a video I took right after snapping that photo, Just so everyone knows, these guys have never let me photograph them before. They always dash when the see the camera. Now, an hour and a half into the new viv and they seem more bold. You can see them eating springs in the video.

http://s1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff514/retrogamer13/?action=view&current=007-1.mp4


----------



## ryangreenway (Apr 30, 2010)

Tank looks great, and the frogs seem to love it. Good job.


----------

