# "Lazy River Tank" DIY Journal (DUW)



## Gerryg (Mar 24, 2008)

This is my very first post to this forum....

Lazy River Tank DIY Journal:

This is a Poison Dart Frog tank that I have been designing in my mind for some time now. When I got it to the point where I was ready to build. I went to a custom glass builder Mark, at AquaTech and had him take the basic idea and make it real for me. The result is this prototype which I call my “Lazy River Tank”.

I wanted a tank with a small waterfall, a river and a pond which is pretty straightforward. I decided not go the eggcrate false bottom, or to try the greatstuff, brown silicone and coco fibre background route. 

I’m fish guy who picked up reptiles recently and have a certain comfort level with aquarium equipment so decided to use a small aquarium canister filter to move the water. The water comes in the tank at the top right into a trickle waterfall, into a winding “lazy” river like the waterparks, and ends in a small pond. The pond has an outlet drilled out the back of the tank that feeds the canister.

Some Stats:
•	48” Long x 22” deep x 24” High
•	109 us gal
•	Pond: 3 gal
•	Filter: Ehiem 2213 (165gph)
•	4 Dendrobates tinctorius Suriname Cobalt"

Empty tank with the water feature glassed in










Starting to lay stone into the waterfall channel.










Ehiem 2213 filter










Gravel drainage layer laid in 










Covering over water feature to prevent dirt from getting in










First round of plants










Plants finished: broms, palms, spider, pothos and pitcher and fake driftwood










I call this corner Phase 4










Water feature cleaned out and ready to fill










Moss over, coco fibre, over soil










Glass “coffee table” to keep 3 gal pond shallow for frogs










Polished stones placed in Lazy River and long winding road laid between the two coco huts










If look closely you see waterfall in background










Another view










The kids love their new digs










“Man this river sure is lazy...”










“I can see my house from here”










They really seem to like their new neighbourhood










The final touch will be the background. I am a painter so I like to paint my backgrounds on canvas for my aquariums and attach to the back of the tank. This will be my first rain forest vivarium painted background. I will update with a pic once its done.

Thanks for looking, gerry


----------



## Bob Fraser (Nov 21, 2007)

Sweet looking viv.


----------



## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

That's a very interesting and unique viv. I like it


----------



## iridebmx (Oct 29, 2008)

it looks like you may have a prob with the frogs sliping in between the plastic for the pond.

just trying to help


----------



## IN2DEEP (Aug 7, 2007)

Nice, I like it. You had a vision and made it happen. Apparently you had a few visions, I see a few tanks under construction! My only question are where did you get the cool looking root/tree structures and were they expensive.


----------



## S2H5287 (Sep 7, 2006)

First, i like it. Real nice jungle look to it. Second, what is the river made of in terms of material, acrylic? Finally, what are those two plants with the nice big red flower and pink flower on it? Especially like the one with red on it.


----------



## Gerryg (Mar 24, 2008)

Thanks for the kind words folks...



S2H5287 said:


> First, i like it. Real nice jungle look to it. Second, what is the river made of in terms of material, acrylic? Finally, what are those two plants with the nice big red flower and pink flower on it? Especially like the one with red on it.



The river, waterfall and pond are all made out of glass. It is very strong but gives the illusion that it is just hanging there. Mark, who built it is a master at that stuff. 

The 2 plants you asked about are Bromiliads, the red one is a Guzmania Samba and the pink one is Aechmea fasciata...My friend at the local nursery pulled the Aechmaea from about half way up a 10 ft waterfall for me as they were out of broms. And the red one i got at home depot for $11.

g,


----------



## chesney (Jan 18, 2007)

That looks like a masterpiece to me!


----------



## alexander (Oct 27, 2008)

pretty sweet viv, love the lazy river idea.!


----------



## Mywebbedtoes (Jul 2, 2007)

> “Man this river sure is lazy...”[quote/]
> 
> Ha ha. That made me laugh. Looks great!


----------



## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

tank looks great, but why did you decide to make it so elevated??


----------



## Gerryg (Mar 24, 2008)

Julio said:


> tank looks great, but why did you decide to make it so elevated??



thanks for the kudos....i wanted make effective use of the 3 dimensional space and once that decision was made wanted to make the river look like it was hanging suspended in mid air. The frogs now have a huge area under the river to hang out where they feel safe, but are also very easily viewed....this tank was designed to be viewed as well as being a 5 star frog sanctuary  ... the end result is now 3 basic elevation levels and more places they can go and be easily seen. g,


----------

