# 2 new tanks



## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

I had the chance to buy two tanks almost for free with two groups of frogs. one tank houses 5 auratus panama special and the other houses 5 ranitmeya variabilis highland.
here are pictures from the tanks with their previous owner. 
auratus tank








variabilis tank








I'm going to restyle them a bit, caus the moss has gotten all bad. one tank is in super conditions (the auratus tank), the frogs will be going to a friend in the week caus i don't like auratus species. when the frogs are out of the tank i'm going to add some more plants and this tank will be housing some allobates femoralis.
after this i will strip down the other tank completely and the variabilis are moving to my big showtank. i'm going to make a rocky set up in this tank for the silverstonei that will arrive next year.
more pictures will follow in a few days.


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## mordoria (Jan 28, 2011)

Nice deal!! Wish I had friends like that!!


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## c81kennedy (Dec 24, 2010)

What kind of lights were on those tanks.


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

two times 24 W T5 lightning.
yeah it was a nice deal. 
yeah it's nice to have some good friends in the hobby


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## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

Nice buy mate!

Do you know if the Auratus viv was initially set up by Rana?

I saw one being sold at UK Frogday in June that looked almost the exact same.

Regards,
Richie


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

they are both set up by rana.

but one i've stripped down from plant today. and discovered many holes in the wood (rotten) i'm going to take everything out and make it again.


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## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

Thought so, the Auratus viv is near identical to the one I saw being sold at UK frogday!

Plant placement, plant species used, hardscape etc is all very similar.

Really nice vivs, but having them already set up and planted takes away all the fun!

Good luck with the redo. 

Make sure to post photos,

Best regards,
Richie


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## BethInAK (Jul 12, 2011)

i love the varabilis tank - the scale of all the plants is just right.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

sweet tanks!!


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## Mitch (Jun 18, 2010)

Very nice tanks!


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Nice tanks.. Looking forward to the redesign


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

R1ch13 said:


> Thought so, the Auratus viv is near identical to the one I saw being sold at UK frogday!
> 
> Plant placement, plant species used, hardscape etc is all very similar.
> 
> ...


yeah richie i agree, it takes away all the fun, already set uped terra's but if i tell you it was only 250 euro for 2 tanks, 5 auratus panama special, 5 variabilis highland, and a spraying installation i couldn't resist.

i've taken the variabilis out of the tank and replaced them in to the large showtank. i've taken all the plants out and now i see the wood is gone bad. it has wholes all over it. so i'm going to take the complete set up out of there. 

the auratus tank i've redone with adding some plants from the other tank. here's the result. the tank is ready to welcome the group of allobates femoralis. only going to add some more leaf litter by the end of the week and some seed pods.


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 19, 2010)

Rana display vivs are lovely, these are no exception.

One thing I have noticed with them though, the substrate always looked really wet in the ones I have seen. Are these the same?

Oh and yeah, I was at UK Frog Day in June (will be at the one coming up in October as well). The same guy who bought those 2 Rana display vivs also bought the 2 planted vivs on the Rainforest Vivs table! I have to agree though, that's missing out on a big part of the fun.

Looking forward to seeing how you get on with these 2. bargain price though, if I remember rightly the big Rana one was about 600 EUR, and the smaller one was about 400 EUR or something, so you definitely got a bargain from your friend!

Ade


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## dubloco (Sep 18, 2011)

Very nice tanks. Is that a vent in the front of the viv... very cool.


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## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

I've always been curious aboht the vents on these euro vivs...
When the misting system kicks on won't the water drip from the vent out of the tank???


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I've always been curious aboht the vents on these euro vivs...
> When the misting system kicks on won't the water drip from the vent out of the tank???


there will drip some water out but it's not a lot. 
i had to demolish the whole set up from the tank showing on the picture. there were three auratus hidden behind the wood and i didn't get them out of there.
so i've planted the other with some marcgravia, philodendron, microgramma and davallia. i'll get some more plants sunday and a lot more leaf litter. also sunday i'll get my group of allobates femoralis and they will get this tank as their home.


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

today i got some extra plants to get in the femorlais tank. it's now finished and ready to grow in. 
i got a fern species i don't know the name off. and three microgramma spec.
a lot of different leaflitter and it's ready to go. it houses a group of 6 juvenile allobates femoralis (peru). they are very bold but i don't have any pictures of the frogs yet. they will follow later this week.
here's a picture how the tank looks like.








the other tank i'm going to remake in the same style but using rocks instead. this will be for next month.


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Nice! That fern is ET Fern... One of my all time faves


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

do you know the scientific name of the fern. yeah it can really take over a tank to a big jungle. i like it. now i just have to wait to let the plants do their work and grow in.


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

Polypodium formosanum 

james

p.s. silverstonei are ugly frogs. you can send them to me and ill cover the postage


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

thanx for the info on the fern.
and about the ps: hahaha, if they are so ugly why do i have to send them to you! 


james67 said:


> Polypodium formosanum
> 
> james
> 
> p.s. silverstonei are ugly frogs. you can send them to me and ill cover the postage


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## gnod (Sep 12, 2011)

interesting tank... any reason why the front part is missing?


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

what do you mean with the front part is missing?


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

i started on my second tank today. this tank will be set up with only rocks. maybe that i place a piece of wood in between i'm not sure yet.
this tank will be housing a group of ameerega hahneli or ameerega altamazonica.
here's a sneek preview after i used the first cannister of isolation foam.


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

second cannister


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

i've cuted away some of the isolation foam to bring the rocks more coming out and not digged in the foam. also i made a space behind the rock on the right to plant some syngonium. the front space below the rocks will be free off plants only a lot of leaflitter. the rocks and higher parts of the tank will be planted with ferns.
so far the result.


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## Alegre323 (Sep 2, 2011)

looking good. keep us updated. I LOVE the way that tank looks. Tall and hex shape is awesome.

what kind of background does it have?


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

xaxim plates. i'll keep it updated here. tomorrow i go further with the works.


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

davy said:


> xaxim plates.


"tree fern panels" for those of us in the US of A. 

james


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

yeah tree fern panels 
today i did some more work on the tank. i covered it with silicone and then pushed turf on it. so far this is the result. now i'm going to let everything dry and tonight i'm going to finish the last spots of foam that pop out.


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## tortoisekeeper (Jul 12, 2011)

Would you please explain the mesh section in the front of the viv?


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

that's how european tanks are made. it's used as ventilation. there's also two mesh strips at the top of the tank. so theire's a good air circulation trough the tank.


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## tortoisekeeper (Jul 12, 2011)

Thanks for your reply. I just found a post on the European design. Your tank is beautiful.


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

everything dried out nicely. so i've added some plants to the tank.
so far some syngonium, philodendron peru, ET fern and some davallia bullata.
from the ET fern i'm getting some more plants and those will fill up this tank. i'm not adding any other plants. a lot of leaf litter and my ameerega biotope is ready.


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

added some more ferns and also a fernthreetrunk in the tank.
i've placed my couple aff. hahneli in there with the intention to give them a brake from breeding. but a day after placing them in there they've produced me a new clutch. they are unstopable.
here's the result.


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## BethInAK (Jul 12, 2011)

i like the look of this a great deal - i am hoping to do the same with FAKE rocks!! (those are real rocks, right?)


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

no these are no real rocks. these are fake. but it's nice that people think that they are real, that means they are made realisticly.


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## BethInAK (Jul 12, 2011)

davy said:


> no these are no real rocks. these are fake. but it's nice that people think that they are real, that means they are made realisticly.



they are great!!

Really terrific!! Hope I can do as well.


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Looks great! I'm partial to ferns myself, so my opinion might be a little biased. lol


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

yeah i'm a big fan of ferns to. 
also like the set up with the rocks so mutch that i'm going to redo my large tank in the winter. also with a rocky set up.


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## freaky_tah (Jan 21, 2009)

Very nice! I'm looking forward to seeing it grown in.

Are the rocks polystyrene? Care to share any tips? They do look very nice.


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## davy (Jul 13, 2010)

yeah the rocks are polystyrene. they aren't made by myself; i bought them at a local dartfrog shop. and they really look realistic, i only think i'm going to rub some dirt on them that they don't look so new.


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