# 60e Stream with pictures((Lots more pics P.2))3/8/07



## Frank H (Nov 3, 2005)

Hi  

Not a complete journal, but some pics of the waterfall, stream, and background process.

This first set of pics show the tupperware used as an upper pool that will overflow as a waterfall. You can see the background is greatstuff foam and cork bark. I used eggcrate to create a false bottom and a false wall (right corner) that I use for access to water pumps. The left side false bottom is shaped to have a stream trickle down to the lowest water level. 






































Now the background is covered and gravel is in.. I formed the rocks so the center pool area is 1 inch of gravel and raised edges on all sides except where I want the water to flow down the stream. Next I cut some visquene plastic (found at Home Depot, I used 3 mil thick) to the shape of the pool and streem. I put it in place and held it down with rocks.. I tested the water feature and works well, but no pics of the test. I then syphoned water out and placed a fan over the tank and let it air out for 2 days.



















Now I applied silicone on both sides, adhering the visclene to the screen on my false bottom. More silicone was added to the top of the visquene on the sides of the pool and rocks glued in place to make sure the walls are covered from sight and the frogs have an easy exit. 





































Water in, substrate in.




























With the pumps (2 60gph beckett (spelling?) pumps from home depot) on the right side filling up the top pool, water over flows to the middle pool, and streams down to the lowest pool on the left side through some rocks, then through all the gravel under the center pool to get back to the right side again where the pumps are, I feel this is a great biological filter. 



















Its a bit moist in there with the sealed lid and no vents, so I will be installing 2, maybe 3 little fans on the back plastic strip(standard fish tank lid).

In my opinion, the waterfall doesnt look very natural. When some plants grow in and cover it, I feel it will look much better. I do however like the stream feature very much. It was very easy to do and should last. 

I think I am ok at the backgrounds/landscape part of making vivs, its the planting that gives me trouble. 

The substrate is some NatureSubstrate SoftChips all natural coconut husk chips mixed with T-rex Cypress Bed. It stays a bit moist for now, but Im sure it will keep dryer when I get the fans installed.

Someone wanna help me with planting this sucker? Keep in mind the low hight. All I have in there now is some sphagnum on the water edge and some other spots. 

Running a 96 watt 36 inch 6500k compact fluorescent light. Works great even though its a foot shorter than the tank. 

I have Red Galacts in my mind for this tank, but really unsure. Any suggestions for a group frog that will enjoy the stream and waterfall?

Any comments/questions welcome.

Frank


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2006)

thats pretty sweet Frank! thanks for posting a journal. theres a lot of river questions floating around these days


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## hoyta (Jan 18, 2006)

*hey*

hey frank-nice tank! it looks great!


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2006)

awesome, i love the stream! Is that a peace of tupaware(sp.) in the first picture being used w/ the waterfall? Good luck with it!


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2006)

*Re: 60e Stream with pictures*



fitzy14 said:


> ......Is that a peace of tupaware(sp.) in the first picture being used w/ the waterfall? .....





Frank H said:


> This first set of pics show the tupperware used as an upper pool that will overflow as a waterfall.
> 
> Frank


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2006)

***EDIT***

2mnytnx pulled the trigger before me...


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2006)

*Re: 60e Stream with pictures*



Frank H said:


> Someone wanna help me with planting this sucker?
> 
> Frank



im suprised Antone hasnt jumped all over this yet :lol: frogtofall (Antone) has some good prices and good plants. he seems to be "the" plant guy on the board right now. i recently made a purchase from him and got great broms and plants. im sure he can come up with some good reccomendations (and plants) to help you out.


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2006)

lol, my bad, blanked i guess.


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

That came together really nicely Frank. That's gonna be a nice display piece when you get it planted.


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2006)

That tank looks great. 
You can probably get some orchids to grow in there. LittleFrog is the guy to ask on those plants.
I myself would fill it with some maidenhair ferns, small ones. And then put some big leaf plants from T & C terrariums to give the ferns some good shade.
Are you planning on any aquatic plants for you river?


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## Frank H (Nov 3, 2005)

Thanks everyone for the replies 8) 





Khamul1of9 said:


> That tank looks great.
> You can probably get some orchids to grow in there. LittleFrog is the guy to ask on those plants.
> I myself would fill it with some maidenhair ferns, small ones. And then put some big leaf plants from T & C terrariums to give the ferns some good shade.
> Are you planning on any aquatic plants for you river?


Yep, I need some plants for the shallow water feature on the ground and also I was thinking of putting a floating plant in the top pool- see if it stays in there, any suggestions? I appreciate the plant suggestions, maidenhair ferns look very nice. I havnt tried any orchids yet, maybe this is a good oppertunity- especially when I get the fans on... what am I doing here reading and posting! I should be installing the fans!


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Thanks for the props Landon, I really appreciate that...

Frank, the tank (woa! a line from "Old School") looks great. The waterfall idea is very cool and I might be "borrowing" that one.

I have to say though, your substrate looks VERY saturated and I don't see it becoming any less saturated unless you can lower that water level like another 1/2". With substrate that saturated, you're gonna be VERY limited as to what plants you can put in there terrestrially. Basically aquatic plants like Anubias, Riccia, Microsorium and Java Fern and various Philos and Pothos will work. I wouldn't try much else although there are a few ferns that don't mind super wet feet.

Epiphytically on the other hand, you have lots of surface area for broms and other tropical epiphytes. The light is also pretty good for this as well. Broms and other epiphytes (including orchids and many others) will love that light.

Please feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken on the substrate comment. From the pics it just looks very very soggy.

I hope that helps.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Anyone up for some KY jelly wrestling? :shock: 

You're my boy, Blue, you're my boy!


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2006)

for the water section i really like the anubias. the petite variety of nana is really nice looking and keeps fairly small low growing leaves. these will work well emersed or terrestial in a wet substrate as well.

riccia will also make a nice ground cover if youve got a wet substrate, or make a nice floater in any of your ponds. also, for floating plants, i like the salvinia natans or common duckweed. 

i dont think any will fair too well if your waterfall moves much water. you may be able to get the riccia or some duckweed to grow there, if youve got it attached to a stone or piece of wood. otherwise i think itll just float down to the next level.


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## Frank H (Nov 3, 2005)

Ok, Thanks again for the suggestions.. I like anubias nana petite very much.. Definately want some. 

I installed the fans a bit ago and the glass is already clearing up-will have to wait and see if the substrate dries a little. the water level is a bit high in the pics and I took about a gallon out, but the center pool is contained at that level and wont go down unless I make the rocks in the stream lower. 

Antone:
The bottom of the substrate is about an inch higher than the water level now. Ill let it be for a while, see how it goes, and hit you up. Do you have any orchids? I will definately want a few tropical epiphytes. You were correct about the wet substrate, but hopefully the water level and fans help. Ill take a pic of the fans later and post pics. 

Thanks everyone  

Frank


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2006)

Yea, Antone is the brom guy!
You might want to look into growing emresed(above water) cryptocorynes if you are having trouble keeping the substrate dry, or if you have any really wet spots. I got some great ones from black jungle.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

The vast majority of potted aquatic plants (sku 18600) at Petco are grown emersed before being sent to the store, where they are stuck submerged in the plant tank and promptly lose most of their leaves. If you got some "fresh" ones, I think they would do fantastic in your viv - I've used many of the crypts, as well as Anubias, emersed in FBT setups without issue. They are $3.99, btw.


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Frank H said:


> ...Antone:
> The bottom of the substrate is about an inch higher than the water level now. Ill let it be for a while, see how it goes, and hit you up. Do you have any orchids? I will definately want a few tropical epiphytes. You were correct about the wet substrate, but hopefully the water level and fans help. Ill take a pic of the fans later and post pics...
> 
> Frank


I don't have orchids ATM. Try hitting up littlefrogfarm.com as he's got some nice stuff. Also give Milehigh a PM and see if he has anything he'd be willing to sell you. They both have nice stuff.

Let me know when you need my assistance. And again, the tank looks great.


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## Frank H (Nov 3, 2005)

WOOOOT 
Got an order for some oak leaves for leaf litter (Junglebox, Dane).
Ordered some plants from Antone.
And some aquatics from sierraaquarium.
Now I just gotta find someone with 5 D. Galactonotus Red for sale.

Ill post some pics when all is said and done. 

Frank


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## Guest (Aug 4, 2006)

Once you build it, they(frogs) will come.



Sorry I couldnt help myself with the hollywood movie line :twisted: .


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## Frank H (Nov 3, 2005)

:? Almost forgot about this thread.


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Those are some good looking Galacts. Where did you get them?


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## Frank H (Nov 3, 2005)

defaced said:


> Those are some good looking Galacts. Where did you get them?


Rich Frye http://www.fryebrothersfrogs.com/page2.htm I bought the only 2 he had available a few months back. He said they werent breeding at the moment ( maybe 5 months ago).


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## Frank H (Nov 3, 2005)

One of the broms fell off my background and I left it where it fell.. It has a pup growing upwards: The first pic is from the side. From the glass your looking through to the opposite glass is 4 feet:


















The stream grown in a bit:











A Tilandsia (with pup)I got from a SCADS meeting from Dane:









A brom from Antone and its pupping allready, and growing FAST:









This one shows the water level is well below the substrate. However the substrate stays very moist still with the waterfall over flowing over the back sides and acting kind of like a drip wall on both sides of the waterfall.









About a week ago I clipped some creeping fig from a different viv and threw some in here. Its growing sprouts in some spots:










The fans I installed. I Installed one facing up and one facing down.




















Playing with the macro feature on my new camera:























































Some full ttank shots:



























Good night, enjoy.


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## Nuggular (Apr 8, 2005)

What happened to all the water sections?


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## Frank H (Nov 3, 2005)

They are just covered in mold now.. The water is still there, just not as noticeable with all the green in the way. I only have one of the 2 pumps on right now - when I turn on the other pump, the water level raises slightly in the pond and stream area, but gets lower in the drainage layer and I have to add more water to keep both pumps fed. I am trying it this way(with only one pump) for a while to see if the substrate dries a bit.


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## Frank H (Nov 3, 2005)

I just noticed the fan blades look still in the pictures, however they were on at the time of the pics. I only use the fans maybe once a day or every other day for viewing pleasure. I do not have a timer and leaving them on all day would dry the viv out too fast. They are 12 volt fans on a 6 volt supply. At full 12 volts, the fans were a bit overkill and noisy too. 

I have noticed one of the water plants in the middle bottom pond drying out since I unplugged the 2nd pump(water level in the pond and stream are lower by about a half inch now.) I may have to plug it back in unless the plant can adjust. 

I think this tank needs something. Needs a stick of driftwood going over the pond, close to the front of viv. Or an orchid. A terestrial that can handle wet feet. something.. well I know the creeping fig will crowd up the place soon enough. 

All the leaf litter that was once in there has decomposed. Somehow every oak leaf ended up in the bottom of the stream and there they stayed. I try not to bother my vivs much after I plant even though I feel this one is not "done."

curious. How many more D. Galactonotus "red" would you put in here?


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## the_noobinator (Jan 14, 2007)

do you have a pic of the power supply you use to fuel those fans?


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## Frank H (Nov 3, 2005)

Noobinator, I think this came from an old house phone.


















I took these pictures at aporx 6:10 then pulgged in the fans.. I want to see how long before the glass clears up.


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## Frank H (Nov 3, 2005)

This picture was taken at 6:35:









This picture is aat 8:30 so over 2 hours and its pretty much all the way clear:


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## the_noobinator (Jan 14, 2007)

haha that's funny. so there's no device limiting the voltage that goes into the fans?


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## daemonfly (Dec 6, 2006)

Thats what the adapter does. Fans are most likely 12v fans, that adapter outputs 6v. So the fans are running at half power, which is also basically half speed & half the noise.


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## porkchop (Aug 29, 2005)

radio shack sells an adapter with variable volt settings that will control the fan speed with a wide range.
Nice viv. by the way, great choice in frog too.


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## Frank H (Nov 3, 2005)

Thank you


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## the_noobinator (Jan 14, 2007)

porkchop said:


> radio shack sells an adapter with variable volt settings that will control the fan speed with a wide range.
> Nice viv. by the way, great choice in frog too.


good tip! thanks.


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