# 12 x 12 x 18 Zoo Med build



## poimandres (Mar 28, 2009)

This is a project I've been working on for a few weeks now. Needless, to say I've found a wealth of information here on Dendroboard and have been trying to implement much of what I learned. 

SPECIES
A pair of O. pumilio (red basits isle morph, or “solarte”). Will be in the market for some juveniles soon (2-4) and will house them in temp enclosures for a few months until I can get indicators of sex. A sexed pair will be introduced to this viv.​
TERRARIUM
12” x 12” x 18” Zoo Med (personal preference over exoterras, mainly b/c of single door).​Sealed bottom glass intersections with a layer of silicone to prevent any leaks.​Sealed door intersections with silicone to limit fruit fly escapes and trap in humidity.​Clear Polycarbonate sheet to cover screen top. I chose polycarbonate because it provides better heat retention than glass thus minimizing the heat brought into the viv from the light source and allowing for stricter temperature control with a heat source independent of the lighting. Also, polycarbonate (Lexan) is not Acrylic (plexiglass) so it does not carry the same risks of melting, releasing toxic fumes, and heat warping from lamp heat.​I drilled a 1” hole to plug into the fog pipes on the rack where this viv will eventually live. Also, cut a small 1/2” wide slab into the sheet that can be removed to adjust ventilation in/out of viv (if need be). Additionally 2 more 1” holes were added to provide intake/outtake for a closed-circuit circulation system.​
HEATING
Reptitherm 8” undertank heater attached to lower back wall (where Great Stuff BG is not present). By placing heat source at bottom of viv, I'm hoping to improve air circulation with the hotter air moving up and through the cc system and back into the viv ( a bit cooler than before)​Controlled by Herptstat Pro II to maintain 79 degrees at warmest point and results in a vertical thermal gradient to top of viv. Nightdrop set to 70 degrees.​
LIGHTING
23 watt CF spiral light with 5,500 k light temp. This little bulb puts out a ton of light.​Lights will initially be run 18/6 to optimize plant growth. Upon introduction of frogs, lights will be set to 12/12.​
VENTILATION
Opted to leave zoo med front ventilation partially open. In general, it is a bit too large to keep humidity high, so I added a strip of electrical tape to cover the upper half. The lower portion is partially blocked by the leaf litter so there is some air escape though it is limited. Definitely not FF-proof, but I don't mind a few escapee fruit flies in the house as it adds character!​Closed circuit air circulation system to keep air from becoming stagnant while not drawing on the arid air from outside the viv.​
SUBSTRATE

Drainage Layer:
1.5 inches of natural aquarium gravel.​

Soil:
Goal is to produce adequate and purely organic nutrition to plants during grow out phase while retaining some moisture and allowing drainage to gravel layer.
1 part Eco Earth
1 part Worm Castings
½ part Charcoal
½ part Peat Moss​
Top Substrate:
Dense Leaf Litter and sporadic moss growth​

BACKGROUND
Goal is to create ledges and maximize ground and hide spaces for frogs while also mixing up the background textures and materials allowing for more options for anchoring plants. Due to the species of frog I am considering I was also careful to not block out direct view to substrate from ledges, as I read that they like to hunt the microfauna from above. The GS background I created is rather simplistic, but provides additional tiers of vertical space to the viv while not sacrificing any floor space. 

Portions of the Coco Fiber covered Great Stuff wall, Drift Wood, and Cork Bark “painted” over with buttermilk/frog-moss spore mixture. Hoping to get some patches of nice natural moss growth on background…also experimenting with different textures. Does this moss grow best on driftwood? cork bark? or coconut fiber?

Additionally, I intentionally left lower portions of the background clear of Great Stuff to allow for better heat emission into viv from the reptitherm.​
PLANTS
Plants I currently have available for this build (not all will make it in):

Philodendron wendimbe
 Restrepia Orchid
 Pilea 'Creeping Charlie' 
 Syngonium 'Confetti'
 Begonia partita
 Neoregelia "Aztec"
 B. glauca x Lc. Spring Fires
 Pilea 'Red Stem Tears'
 Neoregelia Spotted Frog
 Various small ferns (picked up from local nursery)

Great Stuff and Driftwood in place:









After layer of silicone and background dressing over GS. Some moss-slurry mix on bg :









Added substrate (will be adding much more leaf litter once planted). Introduce springtail culture... and a few days later, tons of mold! Hopefully, the springtails will make a feast of this. Note: the expose gravel layer in the corner is over the fiberglass screen (separating the soil mix and gravel) and was intended to be a little "pond"area that I could use to control the water in the drainage layer. This will be covered with leaf litter and not visible as I think it looks a bit cheesy. 









Photo of the closed circulation system (this was obviously inspired from a post I found here). Behind the circulation fan is a third hole that has a 1" tube attached to it - this plugs into another tube on the rack that pipes in fog to bring up humidity levels.









I will likely be planting this evening and will post more pictures. 

thanks for looking, and I'd appreciate any insights, comments, or critiques.


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## Deli (Jun 24, 2008)

The CFB (spiral bulb) puts out heat, so the UTH might not be necessary. Most frogs and plants prefer the mid 70's temp range (some higher, some lower).

Looks like you're using grape wood. That stuff tends to mold up every now and then.

Other than that, its coming along nicely =D


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## Arrynia (Dec 27, 2009)

Watch the door latch on that zoomed...they are notorious for breaking quite easily. IMO Zoomed's aren't built with the quality that the Exo's are. At any rate, you are doing a great job and will be watching this thread for progress.


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## boombotty (Oct 12, 2005)

Looking good so far. As for the pums, I have a pair of solarte in a 50g and feel that a 12x12x18 is way too small for a pair. You might be able to get by with putting a pair of thumbs in there (maybe) but IMO, it is too small for pums.
Scott


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## poimandres (Mar 28, 2009)

Added some plants last night. 

On the upper ledge I planted _Pilea_ 'Red Stem Tears'...hoping that it will take over the upper ledges and hang down from them (can't see it in first two shots, but it is little green plant under the grape wood branch in shot 3 on left side). Two broms are _Neoregalias_ ('Spotted Frog' in foreground, and 'Aztec' in back). 'Ruffled" fern (or something along those lines) is in the lower left and a small _Restrepia _Orchid is planted into the cork bark 'ledge' at ground level. 



























I added a seed pod to the tip of the grape wood that extends outward (left). Thinking about mounting another epiphyte here, maybe a small tillandsia...any suggestions? 









some shots of the other seed pods...


















Fog on. Kind of neat to watch this as the fog spirals in circles due to the circulation fan.











Deli said:


> The CFB (spiral bulb) puts out heat, so the UTH might not be necessary. Most frogs and plants prefer the mid 70's temp range (some higher, some lower).
> 
> Looks like you're using grape wood. That stuff tends to mold up every now and then.
> 
> Other than that, its coming along nicely =D


Hey Deli, you are absolutely correct. After taking some temp readings yesterday I realized that the uth will not be necessary at all. Against my expectations the polycarbonate sheets still allowed plenty of heat transfer into the viv. The temps look good without any additional heat source (range from 78-79 to about 73) with the lights on.



Arrynia said:


> Watch the door latch on that zoomed...they are notorious for breaking quite easily. IMO Zoomed's aren't built with the quality that the Exo's are. At any rate, you are doing a great job and will be watching this thread for progress.


There are endless debates as to which is better, neither is perfect and it boils down to a matter of personal preference. I have several sizes of both, but overall I prefer zoomed and have never had problems with the latches - lol, maybe it is because I am uber careful around them due to all the warnings I see people post. 



boombotty said:


> Looking good so far. As for the pums, I have a pair of solarte in a 50g and feel that a 12x12x18 is way too small for a pair. You might be able to get by with putting a pair of thumbs in there (maybe) but IMO, it is too small for pums.
> Scott


Hey Scott, the size consideration came around because it is the cage I had available at the time. I spoke to a few breeders out here who keep and breed their bastis in 10gallons and they informed me that the 12 x 12 x 18 would be fine as long as I was sure to introduce a sexed pair and carefully observer their behavior. If it does prove to be too small, I will happily re-seperate them and build another viv, perhaps use this one as a grow tank or to house a single frog.


Thanks for the comments guys. I'll keep posting photos as this viv comes into its own.


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## poimandres (Mar 28, 2009)

So I ended up picking up a 1.2 basti trio from this board which are going to be housed in a 18x18x24 exo and set this viv aside for another species. 

Anyway, now that this viv will remain empty I am curious to know what will do well in this enclosure. As of right now I am most interested in a pair of retics but don't know if there is sufficient floor space for them. Any insights or suggestions?

thanks


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## Arrynia (Dec 27, 2009)

How about imitators?


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## poimandres (Mar 28, 2009)

Arrynia said:


> How about imitators?


Yeah I've considered imis too, do you suggest them because you think they will fare better than retics in the a more vertical oriented enclosure?


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## HunterB (Apr 28, 2009)

Retics love every bit of space you give em and need a very good layer of micro fauna but they do best in a horizontal tank
the horizontal is best because theres more area for micro fauna and leaf litter

as for suitable inhabitants-
imis, vents, thumbnails and such


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

yeah, but if you are adding springs as feeders regularly it isnt a big deal.
I like to add springs as feeders because I can dust them.
Calcium citrate sticks very well to the sinella curviseta and folsoma candida springs Im feeding out


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## Arrynia (Dec 27, 2009)

I'm recommending imitators for a couple of reasons. They are very bold and robust and also quite hardy. Retics are a great choice as well, but I found mine to be a little on the skittish side. Retics also seem to prefer a horizontally oriented viv with a lot of leaf litter. Imitators would appreciate the vertical space of that setup more IMO.


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## poimandres (Mar 28, 2009)

I've done some minor changes (will post pics this weekend). And, the springtail population is booming.

Thank you all for your input. Indeed, imitators seem like they would be a nice option for this. I am also considering a pair of standard R. fantastica (or is it fantasticus?) as I am not too worried about the boldness or skittishness of a species.


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## stevenhman (Feb 19, 2008)

Very nice!


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## poimandres (Mar 28, 2009)

I have a standard fantastica female coming in a few days, will likely make this her temp home until I find a male. Otherwise, I may just set this aside as a grow out tank.


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## JJhuang (Feb 5, 2010)

Looks very nice


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## poimandres (Mar 28, 2009)

A couple recent shots of the viv. The second one shows Neoregalia 'spotted frog' in bloom.


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## ktewell (Dec 17, 2009)

Very nice build. I'm bookmarking this one as I have two ZooMed 12x12x18's in progress for a pair of imis and a pair of vents. Great work!


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## winstonamc (Mar 19, 2007)

lookin good


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## bballplya222 (Jul 29, 2009)

does the Polycarbonate sheet limit the amount of light that passes through for plant growth at all?


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## poimandres (Mar 28, 2009)

bballplya222 said:


> does the Polycarbonate sheet limit the amount of light that passes through for plant growth at all?


Polycarbonate allows for about 96% light transmission so there is plenty of light passing through to allow for plant growth. The bromeliads in here have flowered and the fern and vine plants are growing in quite nicely. I'll post some new pics of this little viv later on this week.


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