# My First Vivarium! 18x18x24 Exo-Terra [Complete]



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

I just finished planting Tuesday night. I have some Ricca in the small pond that and tropical living moss on the ground. I used a false bottom that feeds down into a small tank that filters the water and pumps it back up into the pond.

I found the Eco Complete to be very easy to work with and it makes a very nice pond; then I used coco- fiber for the rest.

For the back and side I secured some egg crate to the glass with silicon, mounted some tubs and dixie cups (for planters and drainage) up there, and used black polyurethane foam to create the background.




















I know the water is a bit brown... I am hoping thats is normal and will clear up.


----------



## Anoleo2 (Feb 1, 2006)

Wow looks great.

I like the alocasia rugosa... (that's a rugosa right? :lol: )


----------



## Guest (Mar 22, 2007)

wow thats beautiful!!!!!!!


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

Anoleo2 said:


> Wow looks great.
> 
> I like the alocasia rugosa... (that's a rugosa right? :lol: )


Yup sure is. I had to go back and look at my invoice to double check >.<

The moss underneath those big leaves seems to do better then the rest.


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

What would be some good frogs for this setup. I would like to get three of the little guys (one female and two male) as long as it wouldnt cause any problems.


----------



## leucofrog (Dec 16, 2006)

AWsome tank! looks sweeT! the only thing that i think you may wanna consider changing is the pond bank.. it looks a bit steep. either increase water levels or get maybe a piece of cork bark. theyll be fine getting out, but if its their first time in the viv, if they fall in the may panic and drown. 

i have 3 french guiana tincs in my exo terra 18 cube. i got them frmo Melissa at Quality captives. since its your first, id say tincs, azureus, leucs, or auratus. im not really sure if you could, but maybe 2 tricolors. if u want a trio, leucs, smlaler tincs, and auratus. i wouldnt do 3 azureus. 
keep us updated on the viv


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

The pond isnt even two inches at its deepest point, but i will look into getting some. 

Thanks for the advice  

Out of those I will probobly end up getting a few Cobalt Tincs, any suggestions on Fench Guiana Dwarf, Surinam, Brazilian, or Brazilian Yellowhead Cobalt Tinctorius.

I am looking into getting a FF Kit now. Anyone know what I should be getting? Wingless or Flightless?


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)




----------



## leucofrog (Dec 16, 2006)

i feed my Dwarf French Guiana's wingless. Theyre the boldest little things. I have a trio in an 18 cube, and if i look in i can always see tleast 2. Awsome frogs, you can get a few from Melissa at http://www.qualitycaptives.com


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

leucofrog said:


> i feed my Dwarf French Guiana's wingless. Theyre the boldest little things. I have a trio in an 18 cube, and if i look in i can always see tleast 2. Awsome frogs, you can get a few from Melissa at http://www.qualitycaptives.com


Thanks


----------



## leucofrog (Dec 16, 2006)

np


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

What is an idea humidity?

My humidity wont go any higher then 60 for some reason. 

I am misting about every 4 hours for 20 to 25 seconds and I have a water feature. I have sealed off the top with glass and have only a 1.5 inch strip exposed on the left and right sides. I have three 30mm computer fans run for 10 min every 2 hours and have installed a switch to slow them down.


----------



## tyler (Feb 23, 2006)

What type of hydrometer are you using? Looking at the first photo, it appears to be a zoo-med? I would get an electronic one. When I used zoo-med's, the point would never pass 65 no matter how much I misted. Come to find out, it was actually broken. :shock:


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

What Hydrometer should I get? What do most people use?

Hmmm. Maybe. I have two now. the analog one was like $15 and the digital was $7... a cheapo from home depot (Springfield PreciseTemp).. I thought it was busted to be honest.


----------



## scott fello (Jan 25, 2007)

I have a little digital from Fluker's. I think it costs about $15. It works well.


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

Well, I ended up getting 2 x Citronella Tinctorius. I have them in separate tanks now. They are 4 weeks out of the tad stage. About how long until they can be sexed and put back in together?


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

Dont know if you can tell from this picture, but do you think he is getting fat? I am not sure if I am over feeding them. There usually arent any flies left over from the day before... He is only 6 weeks old and I actually dont know if he in fact is a he.


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

Some updated pics of my frogs they are about 11 weeks old:


----------



## xfrogx (Jul 5, 2006)

They look very healthy, Now lets see that viv again!


----------



## pilo0024 (Aug 22, 2006)

that is a sweet viv. i want to set up a tank with a sump system like that. any helpful advice is appreciated cuz i have no idea what i'm doing. random side note, when you put plants in planters, do you just put some substrate in the planter and if so how often does that small amount need to be changed?


----------



## housevibe7 (Sep 24, 2006)

Very nice viv, and those are some GORGEOUS frogs BTW!!!


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

pilo0024 said:


> that is a sweet viv. i want to set up a tank with a sump system like that. any helpful advice is appreciated cuz i have no idea what i'm doing. random side note, when you put plants in planters, do you just put some substrate in the planter and if so how often does that small amount need to be changed?


For the sump. I am currently running into a few problems that I haven't had time to fix yet. 1. I drilled a hole on the side of the bottom tank for overflow water to be drained. Well I put too much pressure on the tub and cracked the glass. Its not leaking now, but I will need to fix it soon. 2. the bottom of my vit tank started to leak where I put the bulkhead. Its not much and the drips are mostly going down the tub, but it's something I need to fix soon. Basically set everything up with water running in it for a few days. Make sure there isn't anything that needs fixing before you start contraction on the inside of the vit.

About the planters... I haven't had to put anymore substrate in them at all. I used Dixie cups to form out the spot for the plants, and I have tubs run from them down to the false bottom. Any excess water goes down through the tubs which has screen inside to make sure none of the substrate goes through.

Unfortunately I don't actually have any frogs in my main vit right now. They are still in quarantine :roll: but when I get a chance ill take another pic of the plants growing out for those who are interested


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

housevibe7 said:


> Very nice viv, and those are some GORGEOUS frogs BTW!!!


Thanks! I cant wait for one of them to start calling


----------



## XtReMaTriX (Dec 12, 2006)

*New Sump*

My new sump


----------

