# Rack setup-work in progress (updated pictures on pg 8)



## Marty

Check out my rack  It's a work in progress. Once done I think it will be an awesome setup.

It's going to house 10 acrylic tanks. I made them a bit larger then typical as I wanted my frogs to have room to roam around. Each tank is about 30 gal. I made a few innovations to my tanks as I didn't really like the front doors that open on hinges. It's too much overhead that obstructs the view of the inside of the tanks. Entire front in these tanks slides up to have 100% of viewable area. 

I had to design my rack with that in mind so everything conveniently opens up. There is a little feeding door so I can drop flies without opening the front door. An air channel powered by fans in the enclosures runs along the entire length of the rack and sucks air from top portions of the tanks. Hopefully it will keep the fogging down to a minimum...if not, the fans are adjustable..I'll just crank them up until they do. There is a meshed slit in the top, right by the front, so the air circulation will happen mostly in the front, thus it won't reduce the humidity deeper in the tank. Dry, warm air will be pulled from the top of the tank, drawn to the bottom, and vented out thrugh the air duct.










I didn't want to make one giant rack that I'd have to build it in my frog room so I made it out of 3 sections. That will also help if I ever move. It will be easy to take it with me. Here is one section.










That's one of the fans that will keep the fog off the glass...pulls air from left to right through the acrylic air duct. No hole is cut out yet in the plywood.










here with some tanks in between so you guys can see the air duct.










two side by side. There will actually be a single unit in between these two.










looking a bit better. 










Lights are in. Oak is in. Misters and drains are almost functional. I 

should be getting my doors soon. Bottom will serve as some storage. It will also house the pump, misting stuff, timers, etc.

The wall to the left is a wall to the laundry room. I put in a drain in my frog room and a line that comes from laundry with Reverse Osmosis water comnig directly from a filter. Filter is conveniently stowed under the laundry sink. All lines are in the walls, so no mess on the outside in either the laundry room or my frog room. This way tanks will drain into the main drain and clean RO water will always be supplied to the misters... I'll never have to refil or drain my tanks! YIPPEE! 










next is to patch up some nail holes and stain the oak. I'm really happy with the hood design... it's a double flipper. One section flips up, so I can slide the door of the bottom tanks up. Then if I want to feed or do some maintenance on misters or lights the whole section hinges up on these blind corner kitchen hinges. It's pretty slick. I should have taken a picture of it... maybe next time

btw, you can see the acrylic air ducts and the sliders for the doors. Everything is quite tight, so fruit flies will have hard time escaping...but I'm sure they'll still manage. I used 

6x55W Compact lights in this rack :idea::idea::idea::idea::idea::idea:


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## Scott

Damn! Nice work.

You're hired.

s


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## Jace King

those are real nice looking, you even got a mister set up on that. Im planning on completely overhauling my whole frog room with racks built into the wall. i have no idea of cost or how to do it, but luckily the guy i work on frogs with is a carpenter, so i going to get him to do the actual work. I can only hope it looks like that. one thing i notice that i like partiuclarly about yours in the large tanks. i cant stand small tanks, maybe its the racks buts most rack set ups seem to look like they have small tanks.
jace


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## TopGunJags01

I have to say that im very impressed with your work. you will have happy frogs.


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## melissa68

*Awesom*

Marty,

That setup looks awesome. 

Melis


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## JoshKaptur

Can you give more details on the carpentry element:

What size lumber/plywood? How much?
What tools did you use?

All I can see in the pic is a circular saw. Those are some nice cuts if that's what you had.

Josh


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## Marty

We used a table saw, miter saw and a nail gun.... drills, hammers, reciprocating saw, glue, etc.

We used 3/4 plywood paint grade for most f the construction, some 1/2" and 1 1/16 ply where fans are (since fans are 1" thick). I bought few strips of oak and some oak plywood ($75cad/4x8 sheet...) for the front. All construction is made with 3/4 plywood and 2x3s. Everything added up quite fast. 

it's quite a project...but hopefully it will be rewarding at the end.



JoshKaptur said:


> Can you give more details on the carpentry element:
> 
> What size lumber/plywood? How much?
> What tools did you use?
> 
> All I can see in the pic is a circular saw. Those are some nice cuts if that's what you had.
> 
> Josh


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## melissa68

*cages*

also, did you do the cages as well?


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## Guest

Holy Crap, that is VERY impressive.


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## Dane

I'm sure you thought of this, but make sure you only put healthy frogs in the finished setup. With a ventilation system like that, it would be easy for pathogens to spread from tank to tank. The woodwork looks excellent, though. Have you checked to see if any of the load is being carried by the fans themselves? I would be worried that the shrouds might crack.


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## Guest

This is a very innovative and impressive design. It is very similar to what I had dreamt of years ago-- though many of the features I would have never been able to manage coming up with. You will have to keep us all updated as you plant the tank and periodical updates after that. 
Best,
j


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## Marty

*Re: cages*



melissa68 said:


> also, did you do the cages as well?


No, I had them done by a guy that's been doing acrylic for 25 years. I stole some ideas from wherever I could, kept what worked for people and then I tried to improve on the design...then had him do the tanks for me. He did a really good job...even flame polished all the cut edges for me with a hydrogen torch.


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## Guest

Just out of curiosity, can you give us an estimate of the cost?
j


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## Guest

:shock: Absolutely amazing. Can't wait to see how you do up those tanks. Keep the pics coming.


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## Marty

*co$t???*



Yeager said:


> Just out of curiosity, can you give us an estimate of the cost?
> j


Don't even want to think about it...,but I got great deals on the tanks as I had some dealings with the guy, cabinet cost me probably around $500...lights I got a deal on when a pet store was closing.... had to replace my little Rainmaker Jr. pump as it couldn't really handle more then 15 nozzles... (I got 36) I just got a new diaphragm pump that I picked off the net - 150psi...price quickly adds up...I don't even want to think about it .... I still have to furnish and put some frogs into these bad boys... I redesigned the misting system completely and made everything run through a manifold all nozzles are adjustable and everything is based on push in fittings... RO unit..., demolition, drains... :shock: It's still nowhere near being fully done.


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## Guest

Very impressive! Certainly an accomplishment to be damn proud of! Thanks for sharing!


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## Guest

Simply... Wow. I don't think anyone will be surpassing this anytime soon. That kind of setup is a definite showcase.


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## AlexB

wow.... awesome rack! Always dreamed of one of those but heh.. Im a newbie for woodworking.


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## Guest

Every once in a while an advancement is made in this hobby that takes it to the next level. I must say, damn the steps, you just jumped a flight of stairs! Beautiful work. You better be ordering plants now  Thank you for sharing.


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## kyle1745

WOW, very nice! 

So how does the air get in the tanks, is the white part screen? You will most likley also need fans on the lights if you do not have them already. They will heat that up a bit a bet. 

I have plans to build something, for a number of tanks and I have to say some of your ideas have me thinking. Very nice again, post more pics when you can.

Also is the frame of the bottom 2x4's?


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## Homer

Man, Marty, I don't know how I missed seeing this. That's an incredible job! Great planning and great woodwork, but I expect nothing less coming from you--you definitely do things right. I really enjoy looking through your construction pics and setup details. I will probably print out a copy for future reference (if that's ok with you).

I do have one question though: It looks like your fronts open by pulling them up--sort of a guillotine effect. However, it doesn't look like you have enough clearance on the top rack to allow them to be completely opened from the front. Am I looking at the pictures wrong, or is there maybe an optical illusion occurring there? I'm guessing I have misunderstood something here.

Fantastic job. I'm green with envy! :lol:


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## Ryan

:shock:


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## Marty

The air is drawn throught a a mesh in the top of the tank, right by the front door. and then goes down right by the front window, down, there is another slit wiht mesh in the white part and it's then channeled out into the room. (The white part is there really to hold the mesh down. I could have put clear piece, but then the mesh would show through - white works for me) I'll probably put some fans near the lights, but the entire back of the rack construction is open so I'm thinking I might get away without fans there...but if I have to, I'll put a few in. I'm aiming for a 75'F in all my tanks and about 65-70 at night... I'll have to adjust everything as needed. It might take me a bit of time to fine tune everything right.



kyle1745 said:


> WOW, very nice!
> 
> So how does the air get in the tanks, is the white part screen? You will most likley also need fans on the lights if you do not have them already. They will heat that up a bit a bet.
> 
> I have plans to build something, for a number of tanks and I have to say some of your ideas have me thinking. Very nice again, post more pics when you can.
> 
> Also is the frame of the bottom 2x4's?


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## Christian

Impressionnant.......


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## kyle1745

Nice idea with the mesh on top, can't wait to see some pics of it all setup...



Marty said:


> The air is drawn throught a a mesh in the top of the tank, right by the front door. and then goes down right by the front window, down, there is another slit wiht mesh in the white part and it's then channeled out into the room. (The white part is there really to hold the mesh down. I could have put clear piece, but then the mesh would show through - white works for me) I'll probably put some fans near the lights, but the entire back of the rack construction is open so I'm thinking I might get away without fans there...but if I have to, I'll put a few in. I'm aiming for a 75'F in all my tanks and about 65-70 at night... I'll have to adjust everything as needed. It might take me a bit of time to fine tune everything right.
> 
> 
> 
> kyle1745 said:
> 
> 
> 
> WOW, very nice!
> 
> So how does the air get in the tanks, is the white part screen? You will most likley also need fans on the lights if you do not have them already. They will heat that up a bit a bet.
> 
> I have plans to build something, for a number of tanks and I have to say some of your ideas have me thinking. Very nice again, post more pics when you can.
> 
> Also is the frame of the bottom 2x4's?
Click to expand...


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## steelcube

Your rack put mine to shame :wink: :lol: Are they all natural?? :lol: 

Nice... really nice... 

SB


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## Ridge

Marty - you should ask your tank building friend how much he would charge to build those tanks for the rest of us, he might get some good business if your design works out.


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## Guest

he'd get my $$, that's for sure


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## kyle1745

I will be very interested to see if there is any warping that could restrict the the sliding door. May even be a good idea to make the door glass. 

Can't wait to see the pics of it all setup.


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## Derek Benson

steelcube said:


> Your rack put mine to shame :wink: :lol: Are they all natural?? :lol:
> 
> Nice... really nice...
> 
> SB


Mine Too.......that thing is sweet...


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## Guest

Marty, how's things coming along? Where'd you get the nozzles, pump, etc? What are the dimensions of those cubes anyway?

BTW, you know I'm gonna copy that rack when I buy a house right? :wink:


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## Marty

hehe...no problems copy away! I got a house and started on that thing right away 

I'll post some more pictures soon. It's coming along nicely. I've got 4 tanks completely done. 6 more to do. I'm taking it easy though.

I got the pump at M&E pump in ohio, it's a shurflo 1.5gpm 150psi pump.



Jared J said:


> Marty, how's things coming along? Where'd you get the nozzles, pump, etc? What are the dimensions of those cubes anyway?
> 
> BTW, you know I'm gonna copy that rack when I buy a house right? :wink:


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## jkinsey

*WOW!!!*

That is just an amazing set-up. I noticed on the misting nozzles there was a black (somthing) that looked like it sealed them into place. What did you use for that? Silcone or rubber gaskets? I have used silicone in the past. Also the misting nozzles were cheap!!! I paid like $5 dollars a piece for mine and they suck. Great work. Definitly have to post some pics of the finished product.


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## Marty

*Re: WOW!!!*

I put two rubber gaskets on either side of the bulkhead connector. It's secured with 2 nuts on either side. It's not going anywhere. I couldn't stand the rainmaker stuff - imho it's pure junk with the barbed plastic fittings. I think this is way better, no clamps, no mess, no dripping after misting is done - altough a bit more expensive 



jkinsey said:


> That is just an amazing set-up. I noticed on the misting nozzles there was a black (somthing) that looked like it sealed them into place. What did you use for that? Silcone or rubber gaskets? I have used silicone in the past. Also the misting nozzles were cheap!!! I paid like $5 dollars a piece for mine and they suck. Great work. Definitly have to post some pics of the finished product.


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## Dunner97074

Marty,
Any pics of the progress thus far?
Mike


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## jkinsey

I like that idea of the rubber seals. If you have any close ups of the nozzles I would like that a ton . Thanks for the info


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## AQUAMAC

Marty-

I was looking for the pump you are using..I found this site:
http://www.toico.com/pumptruckparts.html
Could you tell me if any of those pumps are the ones you purchased and what type of tubing you are using. Just trying to rig a misting system up and I could use some advice.

Thanks,

Mike


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## Guest

Come on Marty, more pics. You're killing us


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## Marty

That's a 12V pump for an RV. You probably want a 110 that you can plug directly into an outlet. Usually they have both versions in all models. Another thing to watch out for the material the valves are made of. The viton valves are more expensive, since they're acid resistant, etc. They have regular valves for potable water. 

I opted for a 150psi pump. With all the nozzles connected the pressure in line drops to about 80 psi. 

the tubing is called "poly tubing" - I think it's polyethylene, it's good up to 250psi





AQUAMAC said:


> Marty-
> 
> I was looking for the pump you are using..I found this site:
> http://www.toico.com/pumptruckparts.html
> Could you tell me if any of those pumps are the ones you purchased and what type of tubing you are using. Just trying to rig a misting system up and I could use some advice.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Mike


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## Marty

Give me few more days, I have 4 tanks drying right now. Once they're dry I'll snap few more pix. It looks like crap without the tanks 


Here are few pictures of the mister setup, bottom right of the cabinet.









I'm still playing with this setup, so this will probably change. I want to make a little RO water spraying hose. It will come in handy for cleaning and stuff. There will be another "T" to the hose. I'm experimenting right now with 2 tanks, I want to see if there will be an increase in pressure. 










That's the manifold. Each hose feeds one tank with 3 nozzles. The 11th connection feeds my 90gal tank with 6 nozzles. The feed from the RO holding tanks is 3/8 into the pump and 3/8 into the manifold. Then 1/4" to individual terrariums.










That's the nozzle. Non drip, adjustable. Took a while to figure out the components. Works like a charm.

I'll post more pics soon.






Jared J said:


> Come on Marty, more pics. You're killing us


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## bradadams

More pics! More pics!


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## Guest

Marty,

would it be to much trouble to ask you to list of the pieces and parts to this misting system and where you got them from....certianly looks like a great system! 

Thanks,

Matt


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## Guest

Yeah, where'd you get all those nozzle pieces?


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## Marty

Hey, I don't mean to be a prick, but honestly, I don't even know what these parts are and what part numbers they are. I went to one local place and basically went through their stuff to get what fits for me. Most are not even from the same manufacturers. I was really lucky that they let me do that - actually I was a pain, and was explaining it for half an hr, finally the guy took me to the back where they had all the stock and I was able to fit it all together. These are actually made for small air hoses, the guy said that they will most likely leak, but I bought a bunch and tried it at home and they didn't leak. Bonus. I was thinking of selling these nozzle assemblies online with the bulkhead and stuff. 



outlawvizsla said:


> Marty,
> 
> would it be to much trouble to ask you to list of the pieces and parts to this misting system and where you got them from....certianly looks like a great system!
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Matt


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## Marty

*More Pictures - sorry about the large sizes*

I've been getting quite a bit of request to post more pictures. My rack isn't done yet, but here are more in progress pictures.

So far the left 4 tanks are done and the two top right are also completely done. I'm waiting for clay pebbles to finish bottom right two. Once those are done then I'll start to work on the two middle ones. I'm debating if I should put a waterfall. I've kept all the tanks quite simple, but once they overgrow a little they'll look pretty decent. Water features in the two middle tanks might spice things up a little.









picture with a flash









without flash





































To open the front of the lower level tanks we built a double hinged hood/cover. 









This is normally closed.









Here if I want to access the tank and do something inside. Cover flips and locks then I can lift the front glass up.









If I want to get to the lights or to feed the frogs through the feeding door I can double flip. The nice thing is that I don't have to open the whole front to feed the frogs. 

I wasn't sure if these tanks would work, but these work better then I thought they would. To me the biggest bonus is that there is no cumbersome door cut out in the front of the tank. This way I have 100% area for viewing of the frogs. It's also a snap to clean. I have few extra front doors and if one gets dirty I just replace it with a clean one... am I lazy??? you bet I am! Anything to reduce maintenance and time :lol:


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## Guest

How in the world did you get moss growing in those tanks SO fast?!?! It looks like the tanks have been setup for years!

What gives?


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## FCA

Wow, that is a nice setup! How did you cut your acrylic? Looks like very clean cuts. Very nice job.


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## Guest

Damn, Marty. That's awesome. How'd you do the background?


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## Guest

if you ever need a job come talk to me. Just amazing! What kind of moss are you using?


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## mindcrash

That is amazing.


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## Dunner97074

wow, I mean.....WOW  
Marty you did an awesome job. How is the ventilation system working? Any fogging on the front? I'm using your pics to convince my wife that we need to do something similar. Wish me luck, I'll need it. :roll: 
mike


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## Guest

You built that yourself? and then called yourself lazy? hah, crazy maybe.
Extremely nice looking stup.


-Tad


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## Guest

WOW!!! I'm in love! You married?
:lol: 

Just kidding....almost :wink: 

That's a beautiful rack though. Now you made me and everyone else in here want one. I showed my husband and he didn't belive me that you built that from scratch (he's jealous he couldn't) . I'm sitting over here drooling and seeing where I could fit one of those in my living room and wondering if I how much money it would take to get you to build another one.

Great job though.


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## Marty

*humidity*

One more pic... This is taken just as the lights turned on in the morning, so the mister didn't go off yet and the humidity is kept quite high. Not a spec of condensation. To answer your question, the ventilation system is working great. I've seen it at 99% in the back of the tank during the day and no fog on the glass.

The moss growing on the back is java moss. It's been up for only 2 weeks, but it gets sprayed all the time. The other moss is collected.

background is made with peat and weldbond on a poly foam.












CFeeney said:


> WOW!!! I'm in love! You married?
> :lol:
> 
> Just kidding....almost :wink:
> 
> That's a beautiful rack though. Now you made me and everyone else in here want one. I showed my husband and he didn't belive me that you built that from scratch (he's jealous he couldn't) . I'm sitting over here drooling and seeing where I could fit one of those in my living room and wondering if I how much money it would take to get you to build another one.
> 
> Great job though.


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## Marty

yeah I'm married, but my wife doesn't read this board :wink: :wink: hehehe



CFeeney said:


> WOW!!! I'm in love! You married?
> :lol:
> 
> Just kidding....almost :wink:
> 
> That's a beautiful rack though. Now you made me and everyone else in here want one. I showed my husband and he didn't belive me that you built that from scratch (he's jealous he couldn't) . I'm sitting over here drooling and seeing where I could fit one of those in my living room and wondering if I how much money it would take to get you to build another one.
> 
> Great job though.


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## jkinsey

What type of Java moss is that?


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## Dane

*java*

And where did you get it in such large quantities?


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## Guest

Marty, where'd you get the weldbold?


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## Homer

jkinsey said:


> What type of Java moss is that?


AFAIK, Java Moss is Java Moss--a lot of fish hobbyists use it in aquaria. If kept at high humidity in high light conditions, you can get the type of results Marty has in a short period of time. 

It has always taken me about 4-6 weeks to turn a thin coating into a lush carpet for the tank (Marty obviously has some secrets), but I then had enough to routinely harvest from one tank to start another. Of course, I soaked the starter moss in a water/bleach solution to prevent any possibility of cross contamination even though my frogs have been found to be disease-free. I personally find Java Moss much more desirable for frog tanks than the regular tropical moss most people use, and you can culture large quantities in a big sweater box filled with water and lit by a shop light.


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## jkinsey

Nice.


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## kyle1745

WOW, just WOW! Really making me want to go buy some wood. I hope to build something like that in the future, but I doubt as nice.

Again great job, is most of it out of plywood?


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## Marty

There is a litlte of 2x3 construction on the bottom, then everything is built with plywood.

to answer previous question, it's just ordinary java moss. I got it from a local petstore. They gave me enough for $10 to do about 3 tanks. No one ever buys that stuff from them, so I took some and got a decent price. Usually at other places they give you 2 threads of moss and charge an arm and a leg for it.

No tricks in growing it, light, misting and time. moss will do the rest





kyle1745 said:


> WOW, just WOW! Really making me want to go buy some wood. I hope to build something like that in the future, but I doubt as nice.
> 
> Again great job, is most of it out of plywood?


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## Guest

*nice rack.....*

This is the one time I can say "NICE RACK!!!!!"

.... and not get a slap in the face!


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## Guest

SLAP!


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## Guest

*Sent you a PM*

Hello Marty,

I would like to buy some of your home made misting nozzles. Sent you a PM.

Thanks

Sean


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## kyle1745

Could you post info on your misting system? Where you got the parts etc...

Thanks,


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## Marty

Kyle,
I got all the misting parts from a small local place in Detroit... I have no idea what the part numbers are. They let me roam through their stock to pick what I needed. If they didn't let me do that, I'd be in trouble. All the parts are very similar to John Guest fittings, but IMHO are way nicer and not as bulky. I'll see if I can make a simple web page where people will be able to purchase the misting heads and tubing. I'll head out to the local supplier in a week or so and pick some stuff up. It's quite a drive from where I am.

stay tuned




kyle1745 said:


> Could you post info on your misting system? Where you got the parts etc...
> 
> Thanks,


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## trimtrig

*update?*

Marty,
Just wondering if you had more pics of your set up? 
TQ


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## Guest

Marty's got more, he's just not sharing :wink:


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## Marty

hehe... nothing right now...It still looks pretty much the same... I'm working on some drywall stuff in the basement :roll: ...nothing frog related. I haven't had the time to play with the setup... 



Jared J said:


> Marty's got more, he's just not sharing :wink:


 :


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## Schism

Anyone thinking about contacting marty for some misting nozzle/assemblies go for it. They are awesome, well worth what you will pay. I got a setup from him, pump and 6 nozzles. They aim in any direction, and are incredibly high quality.


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## trimtrig

*price*

I am intersted in his nozzel set ups- what did you end up paying for the set up, if you dont mind me asking?
TQ


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## Schism

I get a pump, same pump as the big apple herp misting system that he had extra along with 6 nozzle setups. They are all with extra elbows to make the infinitely adjustable, for $208 shipped. Honestly I don't think he made a penny on me, the stuff is that high quality.


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## trimtrig

ok,
I saw somewhere on the board, that someone found the same pump for cheaper. I dont understand whats longer on the pump. I need to do about 12 tanks with good misters.
TQ


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## Schism

Yes you can get this pump cheaper from flojet distributors. Search on the board for flojet and you will find it. 

With the same pump you should be able to do one mister per tank, I'd get a couple pumps if you need more than one per tank though.


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## trimtrig

thanks for the info. I will look into it-
TQ


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## Schism

Here is a photo of the misting system I received. It shows them in vairous positions. It also shows one without the extra elbows that increased the aiming possibilities, it is on the top right. The middle also shows most components apart.


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## trimtrig

HEllo,
Thanks for the pic. Those are going to work out great for my tanks. Post up a pic once you get them in the tanks.
Thank you,
TQ


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## Schism

Thats gonna be a while... Probably a month, but I will post when its in there. I don't have the tank yet, its being built.


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## Marty

hehe...no problems copy away! I got a house and started on that thing right away 

I'll post some more pictures soon. It's coming along nicely. I've got 4 tanks completely done. 6 more to do. I'm taking it easy though.



BTW, you know I'm gonna copy that rack when I buy a house right? :wink


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## Marty

*Mister King is here !*

I've been getting quite a bit of requests for the misters. I'm glad you guys liked them. If you're interested you can now get them from me online.

take a look at www.MistKing.com


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## Guest

A communication error occurred: "No route to host"
The Web Server may be down, too busy, or experiencing other problems preventing it from responding to requests. You may wish to try again at a later time.


Looks like your app server is down. Time for a reboot.


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## Scott

Working fine for me.

It's likely hosted elsewhere too - so I doubt if Marty can just flip a switch.

s


stitch said:


> ... Looks like your app server is down. Time for a reboot.


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## dmartin72

Not working for me either!


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## Marty

hm...that's weird...working ok on this end :? 



dmartin72 said:


> Not working for me either!


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## TimsViv

Link works for me.

Tim


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## ErickG

hmmm.... looks like a nice Xmas present for my little buddies.


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## dmartin72

Marty,

All is fine now and I have been browsing!


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## Guest

Awesome Marty! Be ordering from you soon


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## kyle1745

Site looks good how many can that pump run?


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## dmartin72

If I remember correctly, his site said 15.



kyle1745 said:


> Site looks good how many can that pump run?


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## Scott

dmartin72 beat me to it... d'oh


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## Guest

Marty do you have a canadian price list :?:


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## Marty

That's a good idea, I will make another page where everything will be in Canadian funds also.




zoso said:


> Marty do you have a canadian price list :?:


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## rmelancon

Do you know of (or sell) any "retro fit" parts? What I would need is 3/8 hose barb (probably a T) -> female "push fitting".


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## Marty

I thought that would come up  

I'll have to see what I can find... Which misting system do you have and what typo o tubing did it come with ?

I think Jr. Rainmaker is shipping with the braided type of tubing and Big Apple is shipping with the tygon tubing 3/8. Let me spin my wheels, I'm sure there is an adapter somewhere.




rmelancon said:


> Do you know of (or sell) any "retro fit" parts? What I would need is 3/8 hose barb (probably a T) -> female "push fitting".


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## trimtrig

Marty-
one question, well, I guess to all.
I am building acrylic inverts for my thumbnails, and want to put a misting system, like yours in my inverts- will the thumbnails ignore the heads, or use them as hang outs. My vents climb, and crawl on every surface of their tanks. I dont want them to be in any danger of a misting nozzel when it starts to spray.
TQ


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## Marty

This isn't a spray like you're thinking.... it's not a water cutter :lol: When my misting heads go off at 150psi and I put a finger on the mist coming from the nozzle I can't even feel the water pressure on the skin ..., except it getting wet... You could probably put your eyeball 1/4" from the nozzle and it would just wash your eye. There is no danger at all. There is no stream coming out of the nozzle, just super fine mist. Your frogs can hang out on it all they want....Mine don't though...then again I don't have thumbnail species 





trimtrig said:


> Marty-
> one question, well, I guess to all.
> I am building acrylic inverts for my thumbnails, and want to put a misting system, like yours in my inverts- will the thumbnails ignore the heads, or use them as hang outs. My vents climb, and crawl on every surface of their tanks. I dont want them to be in any danger of a misting nozzel when it starts to spray.
> TQ


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## trimtrig

Marty,
Thanks for the info. I was just wondering. I currently hand mist everythig, and want to go auto.
TQ


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## steelcube

Marty,

Is your water pump similar to the ones that Big Apple sells (ie: Flojet)??

SB


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## Marty

It's a different model number and it has slightly different specs. I'm going to cut the barbs off, tap the inlets and outlets and retro fit them for push in fittings. For small applications I find these pumps work very well... They're much more quiet then the rainmaker pumps.

Also, I will be selling mounting brackets for the pumps. This way most of the vibrations (and noise that comes with it) can be elliminated. 


It's going to be a bit of a delay on the pumps now, I got all my pumps yesterday, but they sent me the wrong type...argh... I'll have to ship them back now... :twisted: 



steelcube said:


> Marty,
> 
> Is your water pump similar to the ones that Big Apple sells (ie: Flojet)??
> 
> SB


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## Marty

I came up with some retro fittings for the Jr. Rainmaker and for Big Apple mister. I had both from the old non adjustable days :lol: I knew they'd be useful for something. Fittings work like a charm.

I'm still waiting for the pumps... I've got all the other stuff ready to ship. Check out the page for details. 




rmelancon said:


> Do you know of (or sell) any "retro fit" parts? What I would need is 3/8 hose barb (probably a T) -> female "push fitting".


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## Marty

Marty said:


> hehe...no problems copy away! I got a house and started on that thing right away
> 
> I'll post some more pictures soon. It's coming along nicely. I've got 4 tanks completely done. 6 more to do. I'm taking it easy though.
> 
> 
> 
> Jared J said:
> 
> 
> 
> Marty, how's things coming along? Where'd you get the nozzles, pump, etc? What are the dimensions of those cubes anyway?
> 
> BTW, you know I'm gonna copy that rack when I buy a house right? :wink:
Click to expand...


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## dmartin72

I can't wait to see the updated pictures. How's the temperature holding? Plumbing?


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## Marty

I've been really lazy. Other then some growth nothing much changed  

EDIT: plumbing, mister, etc everything works great. I had a small leak in one of the tanks, but that's now fixed.

I just got some alanis, 2 different types of aurtaus, leucs and azureus. For the empty tanks I'll get whatever I can get my hands on... 



dmartin72 said:


> I can't wait to see the updated pictures. How's the temperature holding? Plumbing?


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## dmartin72

What you have looks incredible. I'm not sure if you said, but what types of frogs do you have and what do you plan on getting?


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## mydumname

So this is how mistking was started. A little late, but great setup.


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## Marty

YES, isn't that crazy? Pretty funny too actually.

This thread just keeps on waking up from the DEAD. I thought it was deleted already.

I re-read that thread...HOLY CRAP :shock: I think there are more spelling and grammar errors then views on this thread. I corrected some very obvious ones, but the job is too big... enjoy it ... typos and all ..hehehe.... but then again... this isn't creative writing forum so hopefully I'll be forgiven.

I had no frogs to put into these tanks, so they've been just idling empty waiting for some frogs. In one of the tanks I have a constant supply of these giant crane flies that keep hatching from somewhere (probably the moss I brought from the woods). It's fun catching them in tweezers and flushing them down the toilet... I even cut the wings of one, ripped the legs off and fed the wiggling body to my tinc :twisted: hehehe... I only did it once..as it seemed a bit too cruel..even for a crane fly.... Ever since that incident I take my crane flies to a vet and have them put down for $75 each. :lol: 

just an update on tha rack and frogs:
I have 6 bastimentos in quarantine right now, 5 leucs coming, 2 more orange leucs coming, 3 green/bronze auratus coming. I'll pick all of them up in about a month.... On top of that I've got a bunch of tads that will be emerging soon. I started to finish the two middle tanks that never got done. I'm making them with this cool rock scaping into which I shoved a hose, so that will become a waterfall. It might look pretty cool when it's all done.

In about a month or two, all tanks should be occupied with frogs. I'll post more pics then.




mydumname said:


> So this is how mistking was started. A little late, but great setup.


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## Marty

*False rock construction*

Hi, I thought I'd post a few pictures. I tried something new that wanted to show you guys.


I was thinking, how to make a subtle drip over a rock on the wall that would look somewhat realistic. The water feature part was the easy part, but securing a rock on the wall was the hard part. I came up with this.










I got one of those fake, but really realistic looking rocks at PetsMart. It wasn't cheap, but at this point, who's counting. Those things are made of some type of composite and are hollow inside and very light. I cut that rock in half with a reciprocating saw. It was tricky, but I managed and I still can count to 10.










Here is the cut fake rock










I then did the usual with polyurethane foam and since the rock was hollow, I filled it up with foam so when it cured, it is solid....

I then applied the welbond mixture and waited for it to completely dry. After few days I repaired any cracks and since this will have water flowing, I painted the dry background with pure weldbond and after few minutes when it started to dry I threw a bunch of peat moss to cover the layer of glue. When it dried, I brushed off the loose peatmoss and everything looked nice and uniform. This way, with the layer of glue, there is a protective cover on top of the cured mix, so hopefully I won't have to mess with it and won't have chunks falling off a year later.










Clay pebbles and some thick landscaping fabric to keep any soil from clogging the pump










Here is a close up of what the rock looks like. It looks quite realistic and doesn't weigh anything close to a real rock and looks way better then anything I could have mustered with mortar.










I'm known for initially overplanting my tanks, so when they do start to grow, things get really dense. I kept this one very simple. In time it will fill in....ah..........maybe I'll just put a small fern there somewhere. I kept my java moss to a minimum. I found out the hard way that with CF lights and misting, java moss (which originally I put in way too thick to begin with) grows out of control within 2 months. I had to rip out a bucket full of java moss as it covered the back of my 90gal tank with almost 3 inches thick carpet of moss. I was very modest this time as this stuff really goes out of control fast.










What a mess :shock: !!! Cleaning up really does suck... One more tank left (top middle) and my rack will be completely done. For the top one, I will go with a bunch of those rocks, embedded, so it will look like the top tank is dripping into the bottom one. It should be fun to do and hopefully I'll be sucessful with the illusion. 










That's one of the previously finished tanks, it's got quite a bit of growth already. It's probably only about 4 months old. This is the bottom, 2nd from the right. I'll have to prune this down soon...although the leucs love it just the way it is.


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## Darks!de

Beautiful pics Marty. Wow, that frog room looks amazing...I'm coming over.  

Luke


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## dmartin72

I just bought some fake driftwood from Petsmart that also looks real! Great idea. I love the way that rock looks. I think I'll use some in my freshwater planted tank. Again, your tanks look incredible and serve as inspiration. I will be setting up my show tanks soon. We'll compare notes/pics then.


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## Guest

Will you come do a rack for me? Please? Haha, Great looking set up you have.


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## dmartin72

Actually, I just spoke with someone in WA state that is in the process of buying a pre-fabricated set-up from Marty!



amazinglyricist said:


> Will you come do a rack for me? Please? Haha, Great looking set up you have.


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## mydumname

I love that setup. One day, when I get done school and start making some real money, that would be something I would like to accomplish. I am sure you don't need all of these compliments to know that you created something most wouldn't dare to try. Can you take take a pic of the whole rack from front view and say what is in each tank? That is if you don't mind disclosing that info.


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## Marty

You must be talking about the misting system ... heheh ... The design of the tanks and of the cabinet, misters, lights, RO setup, plumbing, ventilation .... burp!!!...I'm gonna puke !.... I get nauseous just thinking about the learning curves and all the construction hurdles and setbacks.

wait till you see my tadpole system that I'm concocting... It's still in my head, I have to work out some design bugs, but once I do, it should be good. I can't handle the maintenance on tads... I'm soooooooo friggin lazy when it comes to doing tedious crap. I'm trying to make it almost maintenance free  Like my rack... Now that it's done, I don't do anything in those vivs...except, take out the eggs and put flies in...but that is soooooooo much fun  My rack is designed by the lazy for the lazy ...heheh 




dmartin72 said:


> Actually, I just spoke with someone in WA state that is in the process of buying a pre-fabricated set-up from Marty!
> 
> 
> 
> amazinglyricist said:
> 
> 
> 
> Will you come do a rack for me? Please? Haha, Great looking set up you have.
Click to expand...


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## snmreptiles

Bumping so a friend can have a look, and get "inspired"!!

Mike


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## dmartin72

How about an update Marty?


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## dragonfrog

*what a viv!!*

Hey Marty,
This is the "friend" this thread was bumped for. That is one awesome setup. I know you have been asked a lot of questions concerning your work, but I was wondering if you had a close-up pic of the front door and vent system. It is difficult to see exactly how the door slids and how the vent system works. Maybe you have some drawings of this.
I have been "collecting" ideas for three months here on the board and this is one of the best setups I have seen. 
By the way, I had purchased "other" misting systems with my first viv, but switched to your Mistking. They are the best!!!
Thanks Marty.

Hey gang, I also got 4 new frogs today from snmreptiles. 4 imis. Now I will definately have to build a viv like Marty's!!


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## Marty

*Re: what a viv!!*

Thanks,
I'll see what I can dig out. I'm trying to do a step by step description of how I did the rack. I'll be sure to include the photos of the ventilation setup. 

Now that I had the rack running for quite a bit, I'll also point out the things that I'm not too crazy about..stay tuned


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## dragonfrog

Thanks Marty, waiting patiently 8) :wink:


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## atomic_gnar

hey Marty you say that you use moss from the forest?
I was wondering if it grows well and lastS?
I am curently trying to grow some native mosses too and trying to find "the right one"
I was wondering if you have any pics of how it looks

Thanks a lot


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## Marty

Yes, the moss from the forest survives in some parts of the viv, but in others it dies. I mostly use java moss. It's easy to grow and hard to kill 

btw, I had some time at work today  and I made the clickable map of my rack. You can click on any of the tanks to see a closeup view. It's taken as of few weeks ago. I'd post it here, but it needs full HTML enabled.

check it out here. I also made it a bit more organized and easy to read.

Marty



atomic_gnar said:


> hey Marty you say that you use moss from the forest?
> I was wondering if it grows well and lastS?
> I am curently trying to grow some native mosses too and trying to find "the right one"
> I was wondering if you have any pics of how it looks
> 
> Thanks a lot


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## wishIwereAnExpert

Marty,

Stunning! What misting intervals are you using? I have java moss under similar lighting, and while it survives and grows, I get nothing nearly as lush or quick as yours.

-Solly


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## Marty

Thanks,
I think the trick is lots of humidity, misting and lights. I mist for about 20sec at a time. Now I'm starting wet season, so probably about 6 times per day...I'll increase it soon



wishIwereAnExpert said:


> Marty,
> 
> Stunning! What misting intervals are you using? I have java moss under similar lighting, and while it survives and grows, I get nothing nearly as lush or quick as yours.
> 
> -Solly


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## Marty

I got a few requests to explain/show how the ventilation works. I added a pic with arrows to show air flow

http://www.vivariumforum.com/?q=Dart-Frog-Vivarium-Rack-Construction-Log


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## dmartin72

Wow...great addition to your website! Those tanks are incredible and I really like some of those plants and the way you scaped them. Nice diagrams...very informative.


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## Jordan B

Yeah, beautiful stuff Marty!

Jordan


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## iridebmx

hows this thing coming along?


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