# New Pyramid Vivarium



## dartboard (Jan 30, 2011)

So needless to say I spent a lot of time and money building a viv and the first frogs I put in I did not quarantine and they are now dead and my whole viv needed to be gutted, and the tank bleached. Decided to do a completely different method and went with the clay method.

I know some on here dont like the myan/cheesy ancient theme... but I like it and decided to make one. I made the pyramid out of kitty litter and didnt add peat moss, and then the background had peat added. to make it darker. Real simple tank and I am going to put terribilis frogs in it.

Anyway I am a couple months away from adding frogs, so anything you guys see right away that I need to change let me know.























































I have the fogger coming out of the top of the pyramid in the little holes there. The holes will be too small for the terribilis to get in there at all so I am not worried about that. 

Here is my old tank if anyone was wondering what it looked like



















Needless to say no matter how many times you hear the warnings on here about something you dont listen and have to learn the hard way. I had a pet store bought frog that got sick and I thought nothing of it and added two other frogs and then put them in this new vivarium ... they are all dead, and they acted a lot like the ones that have that bad fungus that requires the athlete foot treatment. anyway, let me know what you think


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## hukilausurfer (Aug 31, 2009)

Ingenious! One of the most creative vivs I've seen in a while . Maybe add some more plants in the front though.


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## dtown (Jan 5, 2011)

I personally like the other better


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## girlwithafrogtattoo (Mar 4, 2009)

I think it looks awesome! I should have been more creative with my vivs, but I just went for "natural". 

Have you heard anything on how the selanginella holds up in clay? I have a half basket left over- and if it doesn't sell I may just try that!


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## pookiebuttons (Jan 15, 2009)

I love the temple! Its awesome! although I love your first viv too. Too bad it has to be gutted : /


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

Yeah I personally like the old one a little better. Just something about it. The new one looks great to though! I like the idea of having the mist come out of the pyramid.


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## Mitch (Jun 18, 2010)

dtown said:


> I personally like the other better


Agreed. Nice job on this one though, but it's just not my style.


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## Okapi (Oct 12, 2007)

dtown said:


> I personally like the other better


Same here.
However it is nice to get it out there that with the clay method, details and interesting ideas are easier and faster to make and/or change as needed.


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## dartboard (Jan 30, 2011)

I agree with all of you about my previous one... I liked it alot too. It took forever to make and I was quite upset about redoing it that I wanted to do something completely different.

I plan on putting riccia moss all along the front where the rocks are.


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## What'sAGoonToAGoblin? (Sep 4, 2010)

Im going to steal your pyramid idea for my next vivarium!


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Love it! Please show us again, when it's full of frogs


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

It's a neat idea. Not what I would do but I really enjoyed seeing it. Creative input?? Needs a lot more leaf litter and it's too symmetrical. Shake thigs up a little. Pull some plants from one side and move them over to the other side. Move some plants around so it's not quite so mirror image. Add a vine or two, maybe some ghost wood.


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## ryan10517 (Oct 23, 2010)

if i'm not mistaken, the sap of those croton plants is poisonous. I may be wrong, but i think its worth looking into. nice tanks btw


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

ryan10517 said:


> if i'm not mistaken, the sap of those croton plants is poisonous. I may be wrong, but i think its worth looking into. nice tanks btw


Ryan I heard that too. Plus I heard that they are "bleeders" in humid viv conditions, meaning they just keep leaking sticky sap every time they are broken or cut.
Too bad as I love the look of them.


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## dartboard (Jan 30, 2011)

Wow... that is a really good thing to hear. I will get those out of there right away. I was hoping for something to add some color so it wasnt just green things and they looked perfect. I will get something else to replace them.


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## HunterB (Apr 28, 2009)

dtown said:


> I personally like the other better


agreed, though the new one is creative


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## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

dartboard said:


> Wow... that is a really good thing to hear. I will get those out of there right away. I was hoping for something to add some color so it wasnt just green things and they looked perfect. I will get something else to replace them.


The sponsors on here have some great plants that are a better choice than the local garden centers, for several reasons:
1) You don't have to worry about whether the plants are contaminated with untreated city water or how long it's been since pesticides were last applied (for plant quarantine purposes), you can ask the seller/grower themselves
2) There is less risk of a plant disease or pest spread to your collection from obtaining plants at a larger outdoor nursery/depot store
3) It seems you can get more unusual and rare plants through vendors/contacts here. 

I didn't know the crotons were toxic! Good info. I do know they get really huge---they will get several feet high and can drop their lower leaves when they get larger. It's important to research the plant's growth habits, substrate or light requirements before you buy. I have some begonias in little pots like that---that would be a good substitute for foliage color. B. burkillii is a good one for foliage color for the bottom, B. 'Red Planet' is a much smaller variety that would be good for the taller pots there one the sides.


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## dartboard (Jan 30, 2011)

Can I get some venous fly traps? I know there is videos and what not of them eating dart frogs on youtube, but I plan on only having adult terribilis frogs in here that are way way to big to be bothered by a venous fly trap.... or so I would assume.

Is there any danger to a fly trap if the darts I have are larger ones?


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## dartboard (Jan 30, 2011)

nevermind...... used the search function.... go figure I could find my own answer..


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## freaky_tah (Jan 21, 2009)

Good job on the sculpting! If you'd like to get creative with some paints I would definitely recommend some highlighting on all the edges, and some earth tone drybrushing would really help make the pyramid look more realistic. Miniature objects lack the definition that the actual objects naturally have since they don't cast the shadows that the real things do, but highlighting can create that illusion (I'm a part time dork, so I've spent plenty of hours painting minature models).

If this sounds like something you would want to try let me know and I can try and point you towards some good articles/examples!


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## dartboard (Jan 30, 2011)

freaky_tah said:


> Good job on the sculpting! If you'd like to get creative with some paints I would definitely recommend some highlighting on all the edges, and some earth tone drybrushing would really help make the pyramid look more realistic. Miniature objects lack the definition that the actual objects naturally have since they don't cast the shadows that the real things do, but highlighting can create that illusion (I'm a part time dork, so I've spent plenty of hours painting minature models).
> 
> If this sounds like something you would want to try let me know and I can try and point you towards some good articles/examples!


I would be way interested in touching it up with some paint to look more realistic. The clay on the walls I mixed with peat, but the pyramid is straight kitty litter.. I would love any info you could give on the matter to help make it look better


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

What about just putting coco fiber on it or somethig?


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

freaky_tah said:


> Good job on the sculpting! If you'd like to get creative with some paints I would definitely recommend some highlighting on all the edges, and some earth tone drybrushing would really help make the pyramid look more realistic. Miniature objects lack the definition that the actual objects naturally have since they don't cast the shadows that the real things do, but highlighting can create that illusion (I'm a part time dork, so I've spent plenty of hours painting minature models).
> 
> If this sounds like something you would want to try let me know and I can try and point you towards some good articles/examples!





dartboard said:


> I would be way interested in touching it up with some paint to look more realistic. The clay on the walls I mixed with peat, but the pyramid is straight kitty litter.. I would love any info you could give on the matter to help make it look better


That's gotta be a mistake. I don't see how you can possibly paint a wet clay mixture that is designed to stay wet. It would never last.


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## dartboard (Jan 30, 2011)

heatfreakk3 said:


> What about just putting coco fiber on it or somethig?


I do not want it to be brown.... I want it to be grey like cement but not cement..... I know after a little while it will grow a moss type stuff over it so it may not matter what color it is..

I wonder if they original guy that asked about painting thought that is was cement and that is why he suggested painting it.... Unless he knows a way to paint wet kitty litter and not have it run or bleed..... oh well, I think I will just leave it and let it grow in a little and see what kind of growth I get on it


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

What about thin pieces of slate? I use pieces of slate in my background all the time, sometimes with gs, sometimes with kitty litter backgrounds.


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## dartboard (Jan 30, 2011)

heatfreakk3 said:


> What about thin pieces of slate? I use pieces of slate in my background all the time, sometimes with gs, sometimes with kitty litter backgrounds.


That actually may be a pretty good idea.... we have a river nearby that has all sorts of really thin slate.... maybe I will grab some and see how it looks on there


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

dartboard said:


> I do not want it to be brown.... I want it to be grey like cement but not cement..... I know after a little while it will grow a moss type stuff over it so it may not matter what color it is..
> 
> I wonder if they original guy that asked about painting thought that is was cement and that is why he suggested painting it.... Unless he knows a way to paint wet kitty litter and not have it run or bleed..... oh well, I think I will just leave it and let it grow in a little and see what kind of growth I get on it


That's what I'm thinking, he thought it was cement. Clay is so friendly towards moss growth, I would just plant some different types of moss on it and let it spread.


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## freaky_tah (Jan 21, 2009)

dartboard said:


> I do not want it to be brown.... I want it to be grey like cement but not cement..... I know after a little while it will grow a moss type stuff over it so it may not matter what color it is..
> 
> I wonder if they original guy that asked about painting thought that is was cement and that is why he suggested painting it.... Unless he knows a way to paint wet kitty litter and not have it run or bleed..... oh well, I think I will just leave it and let it grow in a little and see what kind of growth I get on it


Yeah my mistake dude, I was thinking about a hard surface like cement...not wet kitty litter which it is! My bad!


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## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

dartboard said:


> I do not want it to be brown.... I want it to be grey like cement but not cement..... I know after a little while it will grow a moss type stuff over it so it may not matter what color it is..
> 
> I wonder if they original guy that asked about painting thought that is was cement and that is why he suggested painting it.... Unless he knows a way to paint wet kitty litter and not have it run or bleed..... oh well, I think I will just leave it and let it grow in a little and see what kind of growth I get on it


You can make a grey pigment by crushing charcoal and limestone and pulverizing them, and mixing that half and half. I don't know how the moss/plants would like it, but there you go. That would also provide a bit of color contrast within the structure depending on how fine you grind the bits together.


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## dartboard (Jan 30, 2011)

earthfrog said:


> You can make a grey pigment by crushing charcoal and limestone and pulverizing them, and mixing that half and half. I don't know how the moss/plants would like it, but there you go. That would also provide a bit of color contrast within the structure depending on how fine you grind the bits together.


Has anyone tried to grow moss/other plants on a charcoal/limestone rich surface?


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## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

dartboard said:


> Has anyone tried to grow moss/other plants on a charcoal/limestone rich surface?


I'm sure there are more, but two plants I know that like limestone are phalaenopsis maculata and begonia amphioxus. These also need very loose substrate with ample airholes. (note that the amphioxus must be able to dry out mostly in between waterings or it will totally die in your viv within months...more tips if you're interested...)


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