# Dave's 130g Vivarium build...



## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

So I am finally putting together my build thread to share. I welcome any and all comments, critiques, questions, etc. I have been trying to incorporate the research I have been doing here and on many other sites as well to insure that I am building a right proper home for my future frog inhabitants. First a little background on how this project came to be:

I have had reef tanks for quite a few years to include a 90g, 135g, 300g, and finally a 130g. When it became necessary for us to move a while back, I tok down the reef tank and packed up the stuff in boxes. Once we got to our new place, which we are renting, I quickly realized that we did not have sufficient space for me to set up the tank, along with the associated support equipment. My tanks have always been as automated as possible due to my frequent work travel and I simply could not do what I wanted to with the space available.

Once I came to grips with that, I decided to turn the tank into a vivarium and keep dart frogs in it. I have started the process of laying out the environment and I am looking forward to sharing it with you.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

Here is the tank that I am starting out with:










It will be sitting on this stand with the "skin" in front to make it look nice.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

I am using egg crate supported on 2" PVC couplers as my false bottom. I will have a water feature in this setup so I wanted plenty of room for a reservoir or aquafir as it were. I was getting frustrated trying to figure out the best way to handle access to the pump and being able to remove the water if I needed to, but came up with an idea that I think will work well. 

First, I laid the tank on its side to facilitate access to the back:









Then I cut the egg crate to the size I wanted, attached the PVC, and silicone it to the bottom glass (which looks like the side in this photo).









I built what I refer to as my access tube. It is a 6" piece of PVC pipe that I cut long ways approx. a third across. I silicone this into the tank corner and made it clear down to the bottom of the tank.








Before installing the tube, I cut off the top 4" or so and will use that as a false hatch to open up the tube for when I need to access the pump inside. The tank has a return hole drilled in the back where this tube is and the tubing from the pump and the power cable will go through that hole. I will seal off the hole as well just to make sure it is 100% escape proof. Hopefully I will be able to disguise the tube and access hatch well enough in the tank.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

Given that this tank was built as a reef tank, it was built with a 24" external overflow that is centered on the back of the tank. I decided that I would utilize this overflow in a kind of backwards fashion. Water will be pumped up from the bottom of the tank into the overflow and will flow through the overflow teeth back into the tank. I mounted a piece of cork bark to the backwall where the overflow is at.










I brought it out from the tank wall at an angle so at the bottom it is about 1.5" from the back. I want the water to trickle as opposed to a full on waterfall so I figured an angle would help with that.










I have a plan for preventing an overflow or running the pump dry that I will talk about in another post.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

I did not want the waterfall to be the entire 24" width, so I screened off all but about 6" of it with needlepoint screen and ultimately it will be foamed over and disguised.









I also used needlepoint screen to form the sides of the stream that will be in the viv flowing from the waterfall across to the front glass. I will cover this with river gravel so the water will still flow through it. It is pretty cheap and very easy to work with. Only down side is I was seen going into a JoAnne's Fabrics store. I may have lost a few points on my street cred.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

I hate dealing with Photobucket. Hopefully I can get the pics fixed shortly.


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## jam5971 (Apr 27, 2017)

DaveMorris said:


> I hate dealing with Photobucket. Hopefully I can get the pics fixed shortly.




Unless there’s a load I can’t see they’re showing on my iPad!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## jarteta97 (Jun 13, 2014)

Weird, they were up for me on Tapatalk yesterday. I just go through Imgur, it's fairly easy to use. The only downside is that you can only upload one picture at a time. Just wanted to say that this build is very exciting, I can't wait to see how it progresses. I don't think I've seen anyone use needlepoint in the water section, so I'm interested to see how that goes.


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## jam5971 (Apr 27, 2017)

jarteta97 said:


> Weird, they were up for me on Tapatalk yesterday. I just go through Imgur, it's fairly easy to use. The only downside is that you can only upload one picture at a time. Just wanted to say that this build is very exciting, I can't wait to see how it progresses. I don't think I've seen anyone use needlepoint in the water section, so I'm interested to see how that goes.




Yeah strange not showing on my iPhone in Tapatalk now either! Will try my iPad when I get home and see if that no longer shows them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Mchub (Mar 19, 2018)

Give it a shot with imgur. I've never had any problems with them. Not sure if it's against the rules to use their hosting here though.


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## jam5971 (Apr 27, 2017)

Imgur never heard of that.

Photos show on my iPad but not my phone. Both using Tapatalk!


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

Finally won the battle with Photobucket so pics should show up now. I will do a couple more updates this evening. Misting system, glass top and lighting are next on the list. I think I am going to build my light fixture myself with LEDs and drivers from Stevesleds.com. I did that for my reeftank and was happy with it. Gives me a layer of control that isn't available with a traditional fixture off the shelf.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

After the cork background was in place for the water feature, I put in the main branches and some smaller pieces along with a little bit of egg crate for foam support.









I also installed two hoses that go down into the water area. The 1/2" will be my siphon hose to use if/when I need to drain the water in the tank. The 1/8" tubing is for an air pressure driven level sensor made by Avast Marine. 








I will have the level sensor connected to my controller to help prevent the bottom from running dry and killing the pump. I will show more detail when I am setting up the electronic side of this project.

As shown in the below photo, I used needlepoint cones along with some seedling pots siliconed in place. After the foam was cured, I stuck a straw through it to allow for drainage into the bottom of the tank.









I also put a bit of silicone around on the glass to help facilitate the foam adhering to the glass.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

I added some more bark pieces here and there on the back and silicone those in place prior to laying in the foam.









It looks kind of funny since the tank is laying on its back, but it is obviously far easier to work on this way. Even empty, this tank is extraordinarily heavy so tipping it over was a little worrisome for my wife.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

Here is the foam process at work.



























It is amazing to me how much this foam actually expands, both as it is applied, as well as over time.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

Let the coco fiber application begin....









Silicone applied liberally and then I smeared it around with a gloved hand. Nitrile gloves are absolutely necessary at this stage. It gets really messy doing this. It is also not a good place to be super conservative on the silicone used. I am almost convinced that you can not apply too much.



















Coco fiber gets everywhere. Once it is pressed into the silicone and allowed to dry, I took a shop vac to it to get rid of the excess.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

After the extra is vacuumed up, the little nicks and crannies that got missed show up.


















Even looking at it down into the plant holds, I decided to apply coco fiber in there as well, just to make sure that the foam is not seen.








I went back through with silicone and applied more to all of the spots that the foam could be seen and covered them with more coco fiber. Eventually everything was covered.

To cover up the overflow teeth at the top of the water feature, I applied some moss to the wet silicone along the top of the tank wall.








This view is kind of upside down, but hopefully it shows what I am talking about. The water should come out from underneath the moss. The moss is only attached at the top.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

Once the tank was stood back up, it was easier to see how everything looked.








I still need to do a little more camoflauging on the corner access cover, but I like the way it is looking so far.

Close up view of the stream water feature.








The one thing that I did not notice until I got the tank stood up was how deep and steep the sides of the water feature ended up being. I was worried about the frogs getting stuck so I decided to add in some wood at the front and back of the stream along with sloping the rocks to allow for several ways for them to walk out of the water.

















In this image you can see in the foreground the wood on the left side that slopes up and out and in the background there is another wooden "ramp" along with more gravel for frog-happy access.









I added in two other large branch structures that actually bridge the water as well.








I will have some cork tubes and other pieces of wood placed in there once the substrate is in place. Overall, I am happy with how it looks so far. 

I ordered some substrate and some acrylic hinges from Josh's Frogs and will be putting together the lid for this setup as my next project. I will be making it out of 1/2" acrylic (I think). I am still looking at different designs for this. I will be coming up with a way to do fan ports into it as well as access for feeding and whatever else is needed.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

Today I received an order from Josh's Frogs that had my ABG mix and a couple of acrylic hinges in it. I am going to make a top for the tank out of 1/2" thick acrylic with an opening lid at the front. I am still working out how I want it laid out, but I'll get that sorted out in the next day or two. We have a great plastics shop out here in San Diego and I will just have them cut and polish it for me.


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## Reece93 (Jul 24, 2017)

Looking good!


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

I just ordered some small 12v fans and the necessary power supply, wire, control, etc. My plan is to build a couple of acrylic ducts that will run from the back of the tank, over the top and then direct the airflow primarily on to the front of the tank glass. When I build the top, it will be assembled out of 1/2" thick acrylic. I am planning on having two holes, one on either side, that are fed by the air ducts. These ducts will be made from 1/2" or 3/4" acrylic extruded tubing. This week I am planning on getting the acrylic for the top as well as the acrylic tubing. The plastics shop we have here in San Diego carries the necessary stuff for me to build it. Once I get the parts, I will document this part of the build as well. Pics to follow....stay tuned!


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

Not much has happened recently due to my schedule. Tomorrow I will get the acrylic for the lid as well as the acrylic tubes. The fans and power supply came in a couple days ago. They are very small. Hopefully they will push enough air to be useful. If not, I will just have to get some bigger ones. I am also going to order my lighting pieces from Stevesleds.com. I built my reef tank lighting using parts from them and it came out great. I just haven't found a fixture that I like. With a 48" tank, it seems like my choices are somewhat limited.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

Today I picked up a MistKing system and I think I am going to spend a few hours working on the viv tomorrow. I decided against building my lighting fixture for now. I am going to try out one of the Current LED fixtures or something similar to that first. If I don't like the way it looks, I will then pull the trigger on ordering a bunch of LEDs, drivers, heatsinks, etc. I hope to test my water system tomorrow as well. If all goes well, I will post some pics and maybe some video of it. Hopefully it will look good.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

I bought a Finnex 24/7+ fixture and have it on the tank now. Good looking light but with a very Chinese-ish feel to the construction. I have read some good things about it so hopefully it will last for a while. It does put out quite a lot of light. I also had a very successful test of my water feature. After some minor alterations to the moss and output area of it, I got it looking really nice. I will upload a video tomorrow showing it running. I will probably get the substrate in tomorrow and I have a few more minor tweaks to the background and then on to plants and bugs.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

I have made some progress. I'll post pics a little later but just a quick update. I have programmed my light fixture the way I want, so that is done. I have installed the MistKing and two double nozzles. It covers the tank pretty good. Once I get the lid built, I will permanently mount the nozzles. Right now they are held up with egg crate. I put in a bunch of ABG from Josh's Frogs and planted a few plants. I will be heading out to LA for business tomorrow and will be gone for a week. I wanted to get things started in the mean time. One thing that did surprise me is how quickly the water in the tank evaporates running my waterfall. I may have to periodically add water beyond just misting. We will see how that goes.


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## JPP (Mar 25, 2015)

DaveMorris said:


> One thing that did surprise me is how quickly the water in the tank evaporates running my waterfall. I may have to periodically add water beyond just misting. We will see how that goes.


There may be some wicking issues involved, beyond just evaporation.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

JPP said:


> There may be some wicking issues involved, beyond just evaporation.


There isn't any place for the water to wick to, other than the substrate. I have not found any areas that are unusually wet, but I'm also not too concerned. Adding water is a minor issue. I will keep an eye on it as it runs.

Apparently one of our dogs is not very fond of the sound of misting when it kicks on. I'm sure she'll get used to it though.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

Time for some updates...

I did some work on the vivarium prior to my business trip to Beverly Hills.

First, I got my pump for the waterfall hooked up and running. The pump sends water into the overflow of the tank, remember it used to be a reef tank, and then overflows down the waterfall.









It works pretty good.

Second, I added a Finnex 24/7+ 48" light fixture and set up its program for a 24hr cycle.








You can also see in this pic that I installed two MistKing dual mist heads using egg crate over the tank opening. This is a temporary setup just so I could set up the mister to run while I am away. I added in some plants and wanted to get them going. When I get the acrylic lid built, I will make the mist set up permanent.

Third, I added some plants. This first pic shows some aquatic crypts and anubias that will reside in the stream. 









I picked up some ivy and a few small ferns and got them planted.









The fourth item is electronics. I mounted my outlet strips, two PC4's and a PB8 from my Digital Aquatics Archon controller. I will be using this system to automate as much as I can. I may end up swapping out the Archon head unit for a Herpkeeper head unit. It depends on how well the Archon system works for me.









I also wired the three power connections together in this water tight enclosure so I wouldn't have to worry about using any power strips









I have ordered some plants, Dusk moss, Sphagnum moss, leaf litter, springtails and isopods and should have that waiting for me when I get home on Friday. Next week I hope to get the lid done. Its going to be a bit pricey but it will be designed the way I want it. Updates on that to come later on.

Let me know what you think....


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

I received my Joshs Frogs order today and in it was some Spag moss, Magnolia leaf litter, a couple plants and some springtails. I will be getting another order tomorrow from Glass Box Tropicals of some plants, isopods, and Oak leaf litter. Once I get that in I will be able to get the plants planted and start to work on the automation that I am planning. I still need to have the top built as well.

There is a show coming to town at the beginning of July so hopefully I will be able to get some frogs and be ready to go. I really like the way it is coming along so far. And thanks to you guys for providing so much information to get things started.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

I just received an order of isopod cultures from Gary1218 and dumped them in the viv. I have to say, he is very liberal with the bugs. There must have been hundreds in each of my three cultures. Quite a deal at $8 each. I am looking forward to getting some frogs in the beginning of July. I only hope that Josh's or one of the other vendors at the local reptile show will have some bumble bee leucs.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

Here is an updated photo of the viv so far.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

Its been a while since I have posted any updates. I picked up the acrylic pieces today for the top of the viv. Hopefully I can make some progress on it this weekend. I have to glue on hinges and the front handle, mount the material that will hold it down, drill holes and mount the MistKing heads on it, and glue on the ducting for the fan system. I will have several things to test and tweak, I'm sure.

I am still on target for my first luecs to arrive in early July. I can't wait. The plants are growing well, but I am anxious to get some frogs in there.


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## jc_hammy (Apr 22, 2018)

This is looking amazing Dave. What is the status of your fans? I'm trying to sort out how I want to mount mine and conceal them a little bit near the top.


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## DaveMorris (Sep 23, 2017)

I have installed my acrylic lid and will post some pics and info on how I did that tomorrow. On the lid, I will be cutting a couple of square holes in it to insert a square acrylic tube into the viv. This tube will act like a duct and run back to the back of the tank where I will have a small blower fan connected to it. In testing, it has great airflow through it, but I will have to see how well it hits the front glass and drys out the condensation. I am also planning on mounting some exhaust fans on the back of the lid to help with general ventilation, if I need it. I didn't want to do it all in advance opting instead to put the lid on and see how things go. This way I can add fans in small increments and see how they do.


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## ds51 (Oct 13, 2017)

well what grate build and info matey 
you have got me fired up now to change mine to have a stream in it
what pdf are you going to have living in there


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## SMenigoz (Feb 17, 2004)

DaveMorris said:


> Only down side is I was seen going into a JoAnne's Fabrics store. I may have lost a few points on my street cred.


I've been known to sneak into JoAnnes during off hours, wearing full disguise!


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