# almost done....



## knuckles4696 (Jun 23, 2008)

alright well for the last week and a half ive been working on my exo terra for my mancreek trio, its the large one 36x18x24. i was going to do a build thread but when im working i just get engrossed and forget to take pics. im actually almost done all thats really left is my broms i actually will receive them tommorow, i cant wait i ordered some really nice ones from who else my one and only brom vendor Julie with tudiesjungle. also i have a couple spots on the ground i have to fill in im just waiting to put all the broms in and go from there. i built a false bottom for it, i didnt do anything fancy and put like a water feature this time. also i used becketts pond filler but instead of covering it in silicone and covering it all up, i sprinkled coco fiber/soil on it while it was drying. i really like the effect since you can still see the black from the background.
































































so thats it so far hopefully by the end of this weekend ill have all the broms in and a lil more planting finished. then ill wait a while to put them in once im sure i like everything were its at. oh and heres a shot of my Campanas tank i got that one done like 2 weeks ago its a exo 18x18x18.


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## Devanny (Jul 11, 2008)

im loving all the plants, nice!!


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## Nubster (Jun 16, 2008)

I agree, the plant selection is great.


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## knuckles4696 (Jun 23, 2008)

thanks i hope to have few more in there i really like the look of dense tanks. also i hope to have a lot of broms on that background i ordered like 13 so well see how i can accomodate them.


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## dom (Sep 23, 2007)

those are some really good vivs , well planted to


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## tkromer (Dec 20, 2007)

Love all the planting, really like that tree going up the back as well. All of your tanks look nicely planted from that photo.


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## cyberbrat (Jul 14, 2008)

Wow!!! Such nice vivs...the plants are so healthy. You should consider posting a brom/plant care thread for super newbies such as myself... :wink: Regarding the large exo terra...absolutely beautiful. 

Jeanie


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

looks good, nice use of the vines!!


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## knuckles4696 (Jun 23, 2008)

thanks tommy!
and jeanie, to be honest im finally getting good at taking care of plants in my vivs. i think what it comes down to more is plant selection, and youll learn that from trial and error or lots of people here post there plants that do well in a viv. as far as building the larger exo i really didnt do anything fancy with it its a standard false bottom, and the background was a lot simpler than most peoples considering i didnt have to spread silicone on it. some of my ideas come from seeing other vivs. or just reading up on the frog thats going in the tank and trying to make something suitable for its needs. 
thanks to everyone for your comments i hope to later today have some of the broms in so ill post an update.


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## knuckles4696 (Jun 23, 2008)

ok well i planted all the broms. heres a pic of all of them i received from Julie over at tudiesjungle









i also received some plats from joshsfrogs










now altough all my broms are in the tank i still have some more planting to do not a whole lot and i might remove my tall calladium...


































































so thats it for right now im going to go pick up a few more plants today and play around and see if i can find an arrangement i really love, im totally happy with the left side of the tank now i just need to get my right side of it in perfect order.


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## Devanny (Jul 11, 2008)

I love all the broms, its coming together real good....those mancreeks of yours will be in paradise in there!


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## cyberbrat (Jul 14, 2008)

Thanks!!! I have enjoyed the forums immensly and they are inspiring. Keep up the great progress on your wonderful vivs and thanks for posting all the pics/comments. 

Jeanie



knuckles4696 said:


> thanks tommy!
> and jeanie, to be honest im finally getting good at taking care of plants in my vivs. i think what it comes down to more is plant selection, and youll learn that from trial and error or lots of people here post there plants that do well in a viv. as far as building the larger exo i really didnt do anything fancy with it its a standard false bottom, and the background was a lot simpler than most peoples considering i didnt have to spread silicone on it. some of my ideas come from seeing other vivs. or just reading up on the frog thats going in the tank and trying to make something suitable for its needs.
> thanks to everyone for your comments i hope to later today have some of the broms in so ill post an update.


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## knuckles4696 (Jun 23, 2008)

thanks alot for the good comments!  

ok so im done i pulled out the calladium and replaced it with another creeping fig and i alsp placed some more broms in i had from the temp tankk they were in ill hae pics up in the morning. i also put my lil guys in and right away i noticed a difference they just seemed to like the room they had to run around in. my male actually had a showdown with me lol he stood at the tip of "pride rock" which is actually that piece of wood that comes out of the background and looks like priderock from lionking. anyway he just stared me down as if to say ok this is my house now punk lol. and now there all asleep in broms instead of hiding in lil cracks of the background like before. so all in all im happy and it honestly came out better than i imagined it would, now all that is left is to put some film canisters just in case thats what they prefer and keep my fingers crossed and hope they breed!!

carlos


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## gretchenellie (Aug 7, 2007)

that tank looks so nice! :shock: 

i am sure that your frogs will love it!

good work!


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## knuckles4696 (Jun 23, 2008)

well here it is all that is left is the moss, i took out the calladiuma s you will see and added fig and some more broms. i also put my lil guys in and boy what a difference it made. they are now all day out today the male has been calling from all over the place and my second female whome i nearly never saw in the temp tank is now very out there. i think my male and my first female are courting the male calles and she shows up to wherever he is calling from then she follows him around, its so much fun to watch!


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## Devanny (Jul 11, 2008)

i love how it turned out!...


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## dom (Sep 23, 2007)

BOTTOM ONE IS AWESOME :shock:


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## knuckles4696 (Jun 23, 2008)

ok phew got all the moss in did a few tiny alterations and im pretty comftorable saying im done keep those fingers crossed....


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## knuckles4696 (Jun 23, 2008)

i added those airplants in the pics above i love em. the plants that have been in the tank are growing so nicely!! and my mancreek have already laid two clutches, so now its just a waiting game and hoping all the plants do well my creeping fig on the right side has already grabbed a hold of the wall and started its climb upwards so in a few months this tank should look real purrdy lol.

p.s.-Devanny, i think i win our little contest by default i mean come on lets get real you cant top my tank punk


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## Devanny (Jul 11, 2008)

I like the air plants.

Ill take that as a challenge.


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## gretchenellie (Aug 7, 2007)

that looks awesome...

i cant wait to see how this tank looks in a few months time, when everything has had a chance to settle in and grow a bit.. 

definitely keep this thread updated with pictures..

i have always wanted to do a large viv..... and this is something that i will come back to look at when i finally get around to it.. lol

great job!!


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## knuckles4696 (Jun 23, 2008)

thanks gretchenellie, i appreciate it. it was a really fun process making the tank for most of us its a big part of this awesome hobby, so definetely you should try your hand at a big viv! i have a new 24x18x24 exo ill be doing within the next few months as well, not sure whats going in there but it looks like another pair of pumilio, guess well see! and ill definetely keep it updated with shots as the tank grows in more.

carlos


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## MzFroggie (Mar 22, 2008)

All of your tanks are beautiful 2 me..I can't wait until I get the green thumb thing down. My knowledge in planting the tanks sucks..I can rock the landscaping though.But you did an amazing job..
Yasmine


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## dopederson (Mar 26, 2006)

You have a great looking tank there.

My only observation is that you have ALOT of young broms in there, as they fill out you will run into rot problems. I know the desire to have a completely plant filled background is hard to fight, I have know from experience. But you might want to reevaluate the need for all those broms in one tank. I would pick out your favorites and give them enough space to grow and pup, making trimming easier and plant loss a lot less. Just a thought.

But again really nice tank.


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## knuckles4696 (Jun 23, 2008)

thanks pederson for the advice, when i put this together i tried to put the broms in sort of rows going upwards, i also kept the largest ones at the lowere levels to prevent them from taking up too much light from smaller ones, also in the pics im not showing the top of te tank it still has a few inches upwards that arent planted so the top broms have room to grow. i also own alot of the adult broms that these will grow into so i have an idea on the size they will be, i took most of that into account when building this, and i figured if for whatever reason it became to much i would remove some if neccesary. im a lil confused as to why you say they will rot though? i dont over water i keep humid which is very important. i also provide good light, so not sure if they will be rotting, even the few that are in the substrate i planted into rocks and a lil cork bark which i let dry out in between waterings so as to not rot them. well anyways thanks all for the compliments i really do appreciate it. my mancreek laid there third clutch yesterday and this one looks like i might be good!


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## Tadpole4 (Mar 16, 2006)

What kind of plant is the little vine with the purple underside???
Did you say you had gotten it from Josh'sfrogs?? I did'nt see it on his page and I am dying of curiosity.


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## knuckles4696 (Jun 23, 2008)

it depends on wich you are talking about tadpole4, the one with little leaves and it has a lot of lil vines standing up is wandering jew bolivian and the one thats along vine and its kinda just laying is wandering jew rainbow. he sent me a really nice wandering jew bolivian it has grown so nicely, i really reccomend it as its spreading fast and the purple is wow! hope that helps.


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## Tadpole4 (Mar 16, 2006)

Yep- That's what I wanted to know!! I knew the rainbow, But from the pics on his web page you can't see the purple under the leaves of the bolivian. And the description doesn't say either.

I even looked it up on google and didn't see any pics that showed the "wow" purple under the leaves

Thanks for the help. I am currently building a viv and I am always looking for plants- you know how it goes, some work some don't and you really won't know till you put it in the viv and see how it does.


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## LittleDip (May 20, 2007)

Amazing tank! I love the look after you add the broms. Thank you for sharing.


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## melissa68 (Feb 16, 2004)

You might want to buy some pruning sheers....you have some really fast growing plants in there - and if you don't keep them cut back they will choke out your desirable ones.


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## knuckles4696 (Jun 23, 2008)

thanks lildip appreciate it very much

mellissa thanks for the advice ill keep my shears handy lol, is there any in specific your talking about? the wandering jew bolivian is growing very nicely providing some great cover, with the pics i posted i found that i didnt show the spaces i left to grow in for example theres like 2 inches up front tht barely has anythiong in it so the plants had a lil room to grow forward same with the background i left a few inches up top to grow. plus the dense look is the one i love, i found the frogs to be a lil more bold when added cover is given. but i do agree i will have to clip a lot later im sure its fine though doesnt really bug me. thanks for all the positive feedback guys and gals you guys are awesome and im happy you like my tank!


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## melissa68 (Feb 16, 2004)

Yes, the frogs will be more comfortable in a well planted tank, they will also become more comfortable the longer they have been there, and the less disturbed their environment is. I try to disturb tanks as little as possible because I don't like to stress them with my hands in there - so try to do limited pruning. 

I would "RIP" the wandering jews, pothos and any creeping ficus out. That stuff can go nuts - and in the case of ficus & pothos the roots will adhere to any surface in the tank - so removal of them at a latter time can potentially damage backgrounds or other features because they anchor themselves to the surface. They will also grow through screens and push their way into any crack or crevice & take hold. 

I have had tank lids actually lifted and displaced by aggressive plants & try to avoid them whenever possible. 

Although you might have 2 " of free ground space in the front, that isn't the only direction plants will grow, nor is it taking into consideration the density of plants. As your tank ages, everything will grow up & out. Air flow in the tank will be restricted as everything begins growing - and plants will get choked out. End result, the available space in your tank will shrink & the amount of light will be drastically reduced.

It is a challenge being patient and waiting for eveything to grow in.


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## knuckles4696 (Jun 23, 2008)

kk well its been along time since i been on the boards so i decided to post pics of this tank and how it goes. first off though i did have my frogs lay almost right away as soon as i put them in here, and a few weeks later i had the chance to watch them transport twice. since then i have my first froglet. i first noticed him almost a month ago and he/she seems healthy (fingers crossed) i also have some visible large looking tads in a few of the broms. well here you go hope you like................
























































heres my froglet



















ill try and get some better shots if i can soon thanks for looking!

carlos


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## knuckles4696 (Jun 23, 2008)

lol as soon as i posted thee pics i realized they were a few eeks old and my mini palm had sprouted out some new leaves and they were pretty so here yah go.....


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

Cool looking viv. I bet it can be pretty difficult at times to find the residents in that dense foliage.


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## bmasar (Dec 13, 2007)

Let me be the first to say congrats on the tyke! I love how overgrown your tank has become, the Muehlenbeckia looks great. Do you have any pictures of the tank below it?


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## knuckles4696 (Jun 23, 2008)

thanks jub and bmusar, lol it can be a lil tough to find em all at times but they usually stick out. and as for pics of the lower one yeah i can snap some that one is really grown in and kinda hard to photograph the glass is all like mossy and stuff so ill try and get some up for yah to see


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## dimitri J (Jun 7, 2008)

Nice tank, the plant in the front needs a cut, if you ask me 

grtz
dimitri J


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

tank is looking great!


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## clwatkins10 (Nov 15, 2008)

Great tank. That's a nice collection of exo's


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