# My first viv build. 220gln



## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

I was going to put another reef in my basement that we are finishing but I fell in love with darts through another reefer that keeps them. So it was with great pleasure and excitement that I decided to begin my first jungle tank. 

I purchased this 220gln tank used. It needed a little TLC but was in great shape except for the built up crusties. I cleaned and repainted the tops and bottoms. 

















Myfive year old son and I went to the local river and played around in the mud until we found the rocks and the driftwood we wanted. I took them back and washed them all off real good. Tomorow I am going to boil the rocks and bake the wood to kill anything off.

















I arranged some of the wood out on the floor in a design that I kinda liked. It seemed to really fit the way I had invisioned it in my head. I wil have a waterfall coming in on the right side of the tank. A shallow rocky river will run across the front and into the left back corner near where the drain will be. 









I also came across this perfect piece of wood to use as a water chute for my waterfall. Its hollowed out on one side and is the perfect size and shape!!!









My next step is to drill the drain down low on my tank. Then I can start building the back wall and the gravel bed. My future plans include three misters, a fogger, plenty of plants and of course....frogs. 

I will keep pictures coming because Im sure I will have tons of questions as I go. Im super excited!!!


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Sweet... good luck with the build


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## Toby_H (Apr 6, 2009)

That is a very impressive tank to be turning into a Viv. I’m looking forward to seeing it develop.

-Are you planning to use an internal pump to feed your waterfall or using a sump / external reservoir?

-Keeping freshwater fish, I’ve tried a lot of locally collected wood with mixed results. Boiling it helps to remove the tannic acid which turns the water ‘tea colored’ as well as lowers PH. Soaking/Boiling in saltwater bath helps to ‘cure’ the wood discouraging breakdown. Boiling & salt also help kill parasites, mold, fungus, bugs, etc that may be on the wood.

- If the hollowed log holds up to the water, that is going to look amazing… great find…


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

I have an extra 29 gallon sump that I havent used for a while that Im planning on using for the return. I plan on using it along with an external pump. 

I also have a mag 9.5 I was going to use for the misting pump but didnt know if that would be too much????? I have no experience with the misting systems. I was just going to give it a test run before I purchased another pump.

What do I do with larger pieces of wood that I cant fit into an oven to cook off all the bad stuff?


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

So heres my big fake rock biuld. Its going in the back left corner against the back glass. I started with just spraying a bunch of foam on a left over piece of egg crate.









I woke up this morning after it dried and began to carve it out.

























Once it was carved into a shape i liked....I coated a little bit at a time with brown silicone and poured sand over it while it was still wet.

















This finished rock! I am still going to go back and finish the sides before instaling it into the tank. But Im pretty happy with the end result. Now I just have a giant mess to clean up in the kitchen. !!!!

















I cant imagine how difficult it would be to mount a real rock this size to the back glass!


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

niec size tank!! love how you are doing the background work.


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

Drilled the tank for the drain last night.










I also applied the first level of eggcrate. I am going to have another level on the right side just slightly higher than this one. I also used foam to create a slightly higher retention area for the water fall to spill into since the water table isnt going to be this high. 

















I wanted the landscape to slope slighlty on the lower level to the center. I am going to have the second level creat a small overhang or cravass in the center of the tank.


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## jeeperrs (Jan 14, 2010)

That was a good idea to use the great stuff as a support. I would have never thought of that


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

Yeah the spray foam made putting the false bottom in supper easy. I still used some PVC supports but secured them with the stuff. It also works to glue it all together. Then I went back in and just sprayed little colums of extra support wherever I felt like it was needed. It's was easy and seems supper strong.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

make sure you drill darinage holes into it, otherwise water will pool and stagnate behind it
and rise up and food your substrate


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

frogparty said:


> make sure you drill darinage holes into it, otherwise water will pool and stagnate behind it
> and rise up and food your substrate


what exactly are you saying I need to drill drainage holes into?


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## yumpster (May 22, 2009)

> I also used foam to create a slightly higher retention area for the water fall to spill into





> make sure you drill darinage holes into it, otherwise water will pool and stagnate behind it and rise up and food your substrate


My guess would be that he was referring to drilling holes in your retention area so that it doesn't fill up and overflow into your substrate instead of recycling back through the false bottom. Although, I could have completely misinterpreted that.


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## 013 (Aug 9, 2006)

What did you do to make that fake rock? I mean after cutting it.


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

yumpster said:


> My guess would be that he was referring to drilling holes in your retention area so that it doesn't fill up and overflow into your substrate instead of recycling back through the false bottom. Although, I could have completely misinterpreted that.


Oh.... Yes it actualy has a drain hole so it won't get that high. Thanks!


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

013 said:


> What did you do to make that fake rock? I mean after cutting it.


I spread on brown silicone with a putty knive and poured sand onto the silicone. That's all there was to it!


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## DKOOISTRA (May 28, 2009)

Thats got to be one of the easiest fake rock making techniques ive seen yet.
nicely done.
derek


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

DKOOISTRA said:


> Thats got to be one of the easiest fake rock making techniques ive seen yet.
> nicely done.
> derek


Yeah...its not to hard. I just hope it holds up! We'll see.


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

So today was a big day. I got a lot done. I mounted everything on the back glass last night so I was able to go straight to work on the substrate today. I had to shop around to find the right mix. After several suggestions...i decided to go with a mix of coco bricks, peat moss, fir bark mulch, and a little bit of sand. I mixed it up alittle at a time and applied it that way. I also put down screen as a barrier between the false bottom and the soil mix. I put the substrate down about three inches thick but I have plenty left to add some around the plants. I also got the stand biult today. 

I am playing around with how I want some of the drift wood to be placed. Pardon the sloppy pics....I only have one 36 inch PC with two whites and two actinics. I am adding two more fixtures to it before plants.


























Im pretty happy with how the fake rocks turned out.

















































On Sunday I will work on the waterfall. Hopefully my misting parts will be in and I can hook that up to. Then it will be finishing up the lights, and planting the plants which I will order tomorrow.


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## Jellyman (Mar 6, 2006)

Looking very nice!! Salt-City in the house!!!!


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

WERE REPPIN KC!!! Thanks Jelly!


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

are you plannin on keepin the actinic on there?

james


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

james67 said:


> are you plannin on keepin the actinic on there?
> 
> james


Yes! Im adding two more fixtures to this one. Im adding another 24" power compact with 10k whites and actinic, and one 24 " t-5 with 10k whites. SO I will have 3 24" fixtures total ??? what do you think about this? I have no real good idea if thats too much or not enough????


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

the main concern is heat, but i think the actinic will really just be a waste of energy since in the PDF world the lighting really is used primarily for the plants. (the frogs come from the dimly lit forest floor) so a bulb in the 6500K spectrum is what most choose.

PC lights create a TON of heat, the t5s are a good choice though.

james


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

james67 said:


> the main concern is heat, but i think the actinic will really just be a waste of energy since in the PDF world the lighting really is used primarily for the plants. (the frogs come from the dimly lit forest floor) so a bulb in the 6500K spectrum is what most choose.
> 
> PC lights create a TON of heat, the t5s are a good choice though.
> 
> james


My plan was to upgrade all the fixture to t-5s as money allows. BUt for now I wanted to get started with what I have on hand and see how it goes. If I can keep the temps in good shape and keep it vented and still humid enough I will be happy until the t-5s can be purchased.


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

Okay....I got behind on pics. Mainly because I was so busy trying to finish this thing that I stopped photographing and kept working. I have a couple of things left to do. But I got the plants planted yesterday and the lights finished today. It came out really cool and Im very proud!!!! So here are the pics. Enjoy! :-D


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

A couple more pics!





























































































Hope to have some frog pics up in a few weeks!


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## HunterB (Apr 28, 2009)

please keep us updated on how that fake rock background holds up


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## Geckoguy (Dec 10, 2008)

Very cool, different looking and I like it! Some really small leaf litter on the floor would really add to the look i think, but I love it all around.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

great framing work!


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## jeeperrs (Jan 14, 2010)

I love your plant selection. It is very nice looking! You may want to see about changing some bulbs thought. I have been reading a lot, as I am going to be planting soon. Most horticulture places seem to say that the bluer bulbs cause plants to stretch and limit blooming on plants that have flowers. May just drop the actinics for now and put some lower K bulbs in. 

I hope my tank looks as great as yours does, once it is planted


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

jeeperrs said:


> I love your plant selection. It is very nice looking! You may want to see about changing some bulbs thought. I have been reading a lot, as I am going to be planting soon. Most horticulture places seem to say that the bluer bulbs cause plants to stretch and limit blooming on plants that have flowers. May just drop the actinics for now and put some lower K bulbs in.
> 
> I hope my tank looks as great as yours does, once it is planted


Actually that far left fixture is the only actinic. I thought i had a white bulb but only had one actinic left. I will be replacing it as soon as I can. That is why i put it on that end for now since there is mostly water under it. 

Thanks for the compliments.


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## wimvanvelzen (Nov 1, 2008)

Love your tank, love your photography!


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## SunSchein89 (Feb 28, 2010)

Great looking tank! Really like the camera work too. I don't mean to backtrack too much on your thread, but do you have any advice as to what part to whole ratios you used for your substrate? I'm still way back in the research stage for this whole viv building thing, and which substrate I'm going to use is one thing that is really bugging me.


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## Jellyman (Mar 6, 2006)

Very nice. Cannot wait to see some hoppers in there.


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

SunSchein89 said:


> Great looking tank! Really like the camera work too. I don't mean to backtrack too much on your thread, but do you have any advice as to what part to whole ratios you used for your substrate? I'm still way back in the research stage for this whole viv building thing, and which substrate I'm going to use is one thing that is really bugging me.


Thanks for the compliments. For the substrate, I used coco bricks, sphagnum moss, fir bark mulch, and a little bit of sand. I mixed it a little bit at a time in a bucket and applied it. I mixed roughly 2 cups coco, 1 cup sphagnum, 1 cup fir bark mulch, and a little sand. I was real happy with the feel of the soil. My suggestions would be to use the coco bricks not the bags of loose coco. It seems that you get a lot more for your money. They go a long way. And def use the fir bark mulch. You will LOVE the smell. Everytime Im near my viv it smells like Im in the forest! I Love that.


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## Jellyman (Mar 6, 2006)

I personally like the coco bricks because I can put them in boiling water to expand and know 100% that they are disinfected.


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

Ive been so involved with my viv biuld that my reef has taken the back seat. I had to give it a little TLC today and thought I would post a couple of recent
pics I took.


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## jeeperrs (Jan 14, 2010)

I love bubble tips! Those pics make me miss my reef  Oh well, just a few more years away


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## Tanssitaidoton (Feb 27, 2010)

Nice looking tank! What ferns and moss did you plant?


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

Ok. I brought home my first frogs today. They are three leucs approx 4 months old. Two are really fat and one is a bit thin. I fed them in the small container that they were in before placing them in the viv. Two ate including the thinner one. I just took the lid off and put the container and all in there and let them be. They seem so tiny for such a large viv. My concern is that they will not find the flies? I plan on misting right before feeding and always feeding in the same spot. Should I be concerened? 

I will post some pics I took to tonight. Sooooooo excited


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## poimandres (Mar 28, 2009)

highfyre said:


> Ok. I brought home my first frogs today. They are three leucs approx 4 months old. Two are really fat and one is a bit thin. I fed them in the small container that they were in before placing them in the viv. Two ate including the thinner one. I just took the lid off and put the container and all in there and let them be. They seem so tiny for such a large viv. My concern is that they will not find the flies? I plan on misting right before feeding and always feeding in the same spot. Should I be concerened?
> 
> I will post some pics I took to tonight. Sooooooo excited


Congrats on the frogs!

To get them started, you might want to consider a feeding station (i.e. banana or other fruit slice). This way you will keep the flies localized and "train" the frogs to look for food in a set location.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Stunning reef pics, and, grats on the leucs.


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

Okay!!!! Here are my new froglets! YEAH!




























The brave one!!!













































And the last pic.....is my favorite! This is one of the reasons I do this!!!


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

great choice of frogs, glad to see yoru kids getting involved.


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

Update on my new frogs!!

I did set a Mushed up banana chunk in the area I plan to feed. It's out in the open and up front. The frogs have already seemed to learn where the food is and where to hang out for the most part. They also seem to be fairly bold. I can always find at least two of them and see all three from time to time even though the tank is soooo large. They also seem to already be bigger and def are fat! I love these little beauties. Can't wait for more.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Beautiful frogs and great pic of the kids.


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## vivbulider (Jan 23, 2010)

Wow how big is the tank


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

vivbulider said:


> Wow how big is the tank


It's a 220 gln. 6'x4'x2


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## D3monic (Feb 8, 2010)

Very nice!


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

highfyre said:


> It's a 220 gln. 6'x4'x2


Woop! Typo. 6'x3'x2


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## vivbulider (Jan 23, 2010)

That's 270g


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## EricB (Mar 2, 2010)

Man, this is awesome!!
I love the different lighting effects even if that isn't permanent.
Where did you get that piece of wood that the water is running down?


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

Some shots I took tonight. 


















































































My frogs are out all the time! They dont really seem to bothered by me. They are fat as can be and all seems to be going well so far. Fingers crossed!!!!


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

EricB said:


> Man, this is awesome!!
> I love the different lighting effects even if that isn't permanent.
> Where did you get that piece of wood that the water is running down?


Thanks! I picked up that piece at a local pet store. Its the only one I bought. But I wanted it because of its shape and the way it perfectly held the water fall. It has all really worked out for me well so far and has been really fun. I just want more frogs and I also want to have the back fill in a little more with something green that will take it over. I bought two more creeping figs tonight. Hopefully they will do the trick!


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Wow, that viv is stunning!

edit: I see I used the word 'stunning' in my last post on this thread. Just can't get it out of my head.


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

frogface said:


> Wow, that viv is stunning!
> 
> edit: I see I used the word 'stunning' in my last post on this thread. Just can't get it out of my head.


Thank you! I feel like theyre are so many nice ones out there that mine is sorta ho hum! But I like it to... so thanks!


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## Bob Fraser (Nov 21, 2007)

Awesome very nice build. Kudo's on the camera shots, what are you shooting with? Any photoshop or what kind of program do you load onto? You need to visit the photo forum more often. You might want to take that Spanish Moss out of the tank as it rots & turns into a cord type strand that a frog could do it's self in on just my PE. 
P.S. Did I say that it a very nice build!


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

Bob Fraser said:


> Awesome very nice build. Kudo's on the camera shots, what are you shooting with? Any photoshop or what kind of program do you load onto? You need to visit the photo forum more often. You might want to take that Spanish Moss out of the tank as it rots & turns into a cord type strand that a frog could do it's self in on just my PE.
> P.S. Did I say that it a very nice build!


Thanks for the comments. I shoot with a canon dslr ID MARKII. I have a wedding and portrait business. I'm not that good with shooting in the tank tho I've found out. I don't have the macro lens that it really takes. Might have to fix that. And yes I use Photoshop. Didn't do much to those though other than some croping.


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## EricB (Mar 2, 2010)

highfyre said:


> Thanks! I picked up that piece at a local pet store. Its the only one I bought. But I wanted it because of its shape and the way it perfectly held the water fall. It has all really worked out for me well so far and has been really fun. I just want more frogs and I also want to have the back fill in a little more with something green that will take it over. I bought two more creeping figs tonight. Hopefully they will do the trick!


Creeping fig seems to take over EVERYTHING from the few different setups I've seen. Most of them also regret putting that in. Same deal with Creeping Charlie. I'm still learning, but Pothos seems to be the ideal plant for these things. They're stiff enough to hold some pretty big frogs and they grow everywhere being you can pretty much guide them through time. I'm impatient so I'm waiting to plant the majority of those in all of my bigger tanks so they're already pretty long in the beginning. 

This looks amazing though for sure. Great pictures as well!


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

Updated photos-

I took a few shots of my frogs tonight. Just wanted to share. Happy fourth!!!!


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## slipperheads (Oct 17, 2007)

Mind bottling.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

great frog shots!!


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## cheezus_2007 (Aug 20, 2009)

BEAUTIFUL tank, awesome frogs..... You have some very good camera skills  someday i hope to get a nice camera lol


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Any updates to this viv? I bet it looks great now!

*edit*
i bet it looks greatER


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## tclipse (Sep 19, 2009)

Agreed, definitely wanna see some new shots of this. 




EricB said:


> *Creeping fig seems to take over EVERYTHING from the few different setups I've seen. Most of them also regret putting that in. Same deal with Creeping Charlie. I'm still learning, but Pothos seems to be the ideal plant for these things. *They're stiff enough to hold some pretty big frogs and they grow everywhere being you can pretty much guide them through time. I'm impatient so I'm waiting to plant the majority of those in all of my bigger tanks so they're already pretty long in the beginning.
> 
> This looks amazing though for sure. Great pictures as well!



Dead post, but IMO.... Pothos does the same thing, only worse.


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## fleshfrombone (Jun 15, 2008)

You need some orchids in there!


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## Venomos (Jun 26, 2009)

I would love to see an update on this as well! The photography skills are amazing! What kind of camera are you using to shoot these shots?????

Everything looks awesome!


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## davidadelp (Sep 29, 2010)

jeeperrs said:


> I love bubble tips! Those pics make me miss my reef  Oh well, just a few more years away


I agree!! I have a saltwater tank now and it used to be great and beautiful but over the past year or so it has went down hill and looks horrible. i can wait to have some money and a place of my own to have a nice reef tank, AND a nice terrarium!!!


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## pet-teez (Oct 3, 2007)

This is easily a new favorite setup! Love it!
Am also interested in updates


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