# My 125 gallon journal



## Saviorself (Jun 29, 2010)

*Equipement*

125 Gallon Fish tank
6' T5HO fixture from fishneedit.com
Bulbs Giesmann Midday and Flora t5ho 39watt x 4
Mist King Misting system (should be here monday)
Coralife Power Center power strip

*Fauna*

Leucomelas (planning for 8 or so, I have not purchased them yet)



I used ecoweb panels for my background from firstrays.com 

I used pvc supports cut and notched. Used a chop saw to cut the correct length. And then used my table saw to make the notches. Sorry for the bad photos had to use my phone camera and lighting wasnt very good










Next I glued the supports to the glass using silicon and placed the egg crate on top of that. I ran out of zip ties and had to hotglue the fiberglass screen to the egg crate false bottom. It really was a pain in the you know what and would definitly opt for the zip ties next time around. I left about a 2 inch gap in between the front glass and the egg crate. I plan to fill this gap with gravel. I did the false bottom in 2 sections to make it easier to get inside the tank. Both left and right side of the tank are going to be painted black on the outside.



















Started GS my driftwood into place










GS in a drain pipe behind the driftwood. I ended up redoing this and replacing the pink polystyrene with ecoweb





















Got the falsebottom surrounded with pea gravel I picked up from Home Depot. Still have a little filling in to do with the GS.


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## dtfleming (Dec 27, 2010)

Nice, should be a nice setup for the leucs


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## Saviorself (Jun 29, 2010)

dtfleming said:


> Nice, should be a nice setup for the leucs


Im hoping so 

I started working on my intank air circulation today. I'm loosly following this guide here 

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/55446-diy-tank-air-circulation.html

My fans came in the mail yesterday these are the ones I am using.

Cooljag Everflow 40mm x 28mm Fan - 3-pin Connector (R124028BU) - FrozenCPU.com

Now I looked all over town today and no one has black pvc or abs reducers or couplings. So I ended up ordering them online and best I could find was a 2" coupling. Corners of the fans will have to be shaved a bit to make them fit.

I opted not to use the brass nipples for my build because they were 3.xx a piece. Instead I found these threaded pipes that screw on in the underground sprinkler section. I'm going to cut the threads to the lenght I need and then use the white cap to hold them to the glass on the opposite side. I will just drill a hole through the cap to run the wires through.










My mistking will be here monday. Once it does I can start figuring out placement of fans and misters so that I can get my lids cut and drilled at the glass shop.


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## Okapi (Oct 12, 2007)

I like the placement of the driftwood. I wish I had a tank that size!


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## dtfleming (Dec 27, 2010)

Cool, gives me some ideas for doing my 40br


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## BOOSHIFIED (Jun 23, 2009)

A quick thought about the wood.

Remember that when you add you substrate, leaf litter and plants and a lot can get covered up. Plan on 3-4 inches up from the false bottom not being seen.

You may be fine as it is but I cant really tell from the picture.


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## Saviorself (Jun 29, 2010)

Thanks for pointing that out. I did take that into accoubt when I placed my roots there is a good 5 inches between the bottom of the roots and the false bottom. Hard to tell from the pics


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## Saviorself (Jun 29, 2010)

Question, the left side of the tank I am planning for a couple nice hills 6" tall or so. The wall is going to be covered with mini oak leaf vines. If I place some nice sized broms on the wall will this be enough for the frogs to climb around on? Do I need to make some ledges out of GS for them? I assume the frogs will climb the vines to to get to the broms to hide out in and wouldnt need some kind of ramp leading up to them.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

They will climb all over that vivarium. Using some broad-leaved plants, such as some of the smaller anthuriums of philos, would give the leucomelas more usable space, as well. I would probably use a lot more driftwood for hardscape myself, and plant a little less densely - it would look more natural, and really let the leucs (my first and still my favorite frogs) stand out against their surroundings.

Where did you get the driftwood? It's awesome!


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## Saviorself (Jun 29, 2010)

zBrinks said:


> They will climb all over that vivarium. Using some broad-leaved plants, such as some of the smaller anthuriums of philos, would give the leucomelas more usable space, as well. I would probably use a lot more driftwood for hardscape myself, and plant a little less densely - it would look more natural, and really let the leucs (my first and still my favorite frogs) stand out against their surroundings.
> 
> Where did you get the driftwood? It's awesome!


All the driftwood there is manzanita except for the beefier piece of the stump not sure what that is its super dense though. I got the driftwood from badcopnofishtank on theplantedtank.net

Here is some more of the driftwood I have that I could use. The long piece closest to the glass is not manzanita. Its a softer wood I picked up from a local lake. Its been baked in the oven to steralize but not sure if I can use it or not? Pop can is for size referance 










Shot inside the whole tank for size comparison purposes










This is a collection of stuff that I just linked and some smaller pieces as well.











Any thoughts on which I should use and placement? Id really like to incorporate those 2 big pieces if possible.


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## Cam (Oct 27, 2010)

i like how this is turning out allready  nice build


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## Saviorself (Jun 29, 2010)

Cam said:


> i like how this is turning out allready  nice build


Thank you 

I got my root stump filled in yesterday and started applying the titebond 3 peatmoss mixture between the cracks. I think I may have used to much water? I guess I will find out tomorrow morning once its dried.



















Not sure how I feel about it yet. Im thinking I should have carved out a bit more of the great stuff to have the roots stick out a little more. Next step is gonna be to make my substrate mixture. Planning to use orchid bark, peat moss, pool filter sand, charcoal and some crunched up leaf litter.

My mistking system came today so now I can figure out mister placement and start working on the lid.

Thanks for looking


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## GRIMM (Jan 18, 2010)

It is probably from the foam not being carved out making it bulge out, but if that was your 1st coat of the mixture it does look a little thick. You might get some pulling near the edges as it shrinks, but its easily fixable by adding more mixture. 

I know you told me you are at an idea roadblock, so take a look at this build for some inspiration. Its similar in the fact that it also has an epiweb background, with gs as the main detail work. Keep in mind that you can mix different substrates in with the titebond. I would even suggest experimenting it mixed with sand if you dont want to go the cement/grout road. Try it on an excess blob of GS outside the tank first!

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/35695-90-gallon-re-build-pic-heavy.html

In my opinion, I would keep adding root structures along the front and left side of the tank. On the left side, I would slope the wood towards the right side, bringing the focal point to the middle of the tank. It would give the effect that the entire tank has been taken below the canopy of the amazon. Similar to Raf's amazing build. 

Hope that helps a bit!


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## Saviorself (Jun 29, 2010)

Thanks for the help grimm. I just got done pullimg out the mixture and carved out a good chunk of foam from between the roots. I really didnt like how it turned out. It was covering up to much of the root. I had been playing around with some driftwood layputs for the left side but nothing was really working for me. I may try my hand using pvc pipe to get the look I want I have a bunch extra laying around to work with.

Thanks again


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## Saviorself (Jun 29, 2010)

I got a ball python recently to add to my collection of animals so I had been a bit busy with that lately but finally found some time to work on my frog tank again. Heres a small update




























I still need another layer of the Titebond3 peatmoss mix. Im trying it out with a bit of sand mixed in outside the tank to see if i wanna use that as my last coat.

I built the leftside stump out of 2 different pieces of driftwood outside of the tank. Once I get the base finished with the titebond mix Im gonna seal it into the corner with greatstuff and build it all the way to the top of the tank. Then Ill use some titebond mix over it.


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## Saviorself (Jun 29, 2010)

I think I finished my last layer of titebond mix. I didnt fill the middle because I plan to have vines growing on the background. 










Any suggestions??


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## davidadelp (Sep 29, 2010)

The tank looks good the only thing I have to say is the ground looks really flat to me with no contast in hills going up around the wood etc. Do you plan on adding more substrate to make it not so flat?


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## Saviorself (Jun 29, 2010)

davidadelp said:


> The tank looks good the only thing I have to say is the ground looks really flat to me with no contast in hills going up around the wood etc. Do you plan on adding more substrate to make it not so flat?


I havent actually added any substrate yet. I just had those leaves in there to get an idea of how it would look. Substrate will slope with all the .


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## GRIMM (Jan 18, 2010)

Looks good. Hurry up though man. Im gonna be finished before you!


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## Saviorself (Jun 29, 2010)

GRIMM said:


> Looks good. Hurry up though man. Im gonna be finished before you!


Lol I know ive been putzin on this thing. I gota go to the glass shop to get some lexam cut for the lids then I can install my mist king. THEN I can put in the substrate. Local plant shop said they should have there green houses going in about a month so im shooting for that as my deadline


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## RNKot (Jun 9, 2010)

Got something more for an update?


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## Dimelius (May 23, 2011)

Really Nice! I should place a wood from high-leftside(over the bromelie) that come from the back to the front.


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