# New 18x18x24 tank build with pics, all input/advice welcome.



## WONTON SALLY

Ok i will start with what already is done to the tank.









added the hydroton Clay balls from worm's way here in Missouri. added plantation soil, the sphagnum moss, and the oak leaves from saurian.net my hometown PDF hook-up.


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## WONTON SALLY

the temp is only at 71 +or- because of it sitting on a tile floor in the basement and no light on top of it yet, ordered on its way. building a stand as well.









view from a distance


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## WONTON SALLY

GES Assorted Gesneriad$5.99 x 1​*$5.99*​







VEL Tillandsia velutina$3.99 x 1​*$3.99*​







G-SMSV Seemania sylvatica$7.99 x 1​*$7.99*​







B-PNF Begonia bipinnatifida - RARE!!!$8.99 x 1​*$8.99*​







B-BSLMT Begonia soli-mutata "Sun Tan Begonia"$5.99 x 1​*$5.99*
*Subtotal: *$32.95​








GES Assorted Gesneriad$5.99 x 1​*$5.99*​







VEL Tillandsia velutina$3.99 x 1​*$3.99*​







G-SMSV Seemania sylvatica$7.99 x 1​*$7.99*​







B-PNF Begonia bipinnatifida - RARE!!!$8.99 x 1​*$8.99*​







B-BSLMT Begonia soli-mutata "Sun Tan Begonia"$5.99 x 1​*$5.99*
*Subtotal: *$32.95​
this will be the light on top.Exo Terra Compact Top Canopy Terrarium Lighting -PT2226

the misting system with dual nozzles from MIST KING Starter Misting System 

these are the plants coming from black jungle next week as well.

Begonia soli-mutata "Sun Tan Begonia"
Begonia bipinnatifida - RARE!!!
Seemania sylvatica
Tillandsia velutina
Assorted Gesneriad


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## WONTON SALLY

I am going to put 2 surinam cobalt's in this set up next friday.the temp is low IMO, but once the stand and lights are done it will raise for sure. any particular lights i should use? i have the flightless fly cultures going as well


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## WONTON SALLY

I had to get a piece of glass cut from Ace Hardware to replace the screen top that comes with it and silicone the glass on. also put screen behind where the ventilation intake is on the front of the tank to prevent the flies from escaping. also drilled a extra ventilation hole on the top glass with screen as well to get airflow inside the tank.


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## morphman

Hi there,

Looking good  

My only concern is if you're getting the frogs Friday that doesn't leave you a lot of time to make sure you temperature stabilizes where you want it. Not sure if you plan on putting them in a different tank till this one cycles a bit but IMO you should. I am very jealous of your proximity to such good suppliers as I have to struggle to find stuff here in Cananda. 

Other than that .... more pics please 

Cheers


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## WONTON SALLY

i will be getting the frogs next friday the 8th of july. if something crazy happens before then with the tank, my cousin who is also a member on here has 3 established tanks. he could make room for a bit since one is set up for tadpoles which are still 5days out of their egg sack.


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## WONTON SALLY

so my light came in today, the 1st pic is the temp before the light was added, has remained constant, but as i said it is on a cold tile floor until the stand is finished.


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## WONTON SALLY

the wire hanging is the exo terra temp monitor, it is always a 1/2 degree warmer than the combo meter that i have in the tank. this hygrometer is coming in the next few days:







so once i have this one up and going for a few days i will get rid of the white one in there now. My mistking order will be here tomorrow. I will post pics once it arrives and during the install.


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## WONTON SALLY

I started with 2 of the 26watt 6500k bulbs and man o mighty were they bright. I also bought 2 of the 20watt 6500k bulbs, which are just the right brightness. The temps have risen 2degrees since adding the lights, i will give it another hour or so and post pics of the new temps. depending on the final temp here will determine if i have to go to the 13watt since it won't be on the floor in a few days. the humidity has stayed at 99%. My question is will that change once i add the plants?


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## WONTON SALLY

so adding the lights added a ful 2 degrees to the tank on both of the temp monitors.


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## BOOSHIFIED

Hubby. Why are youtaking readings before your tank is done?

Adding the plants and whatever else could fully change things.


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## WONTON SALLY

tell me if i'm wrong, but for some reason i think the plants will drop the humidity? anyone else?


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## GRIMM

With any planted glass box with minimal ventillation/circulation, the last thing you will need to worry about is humidity dropping to low. Even if the tank looks dry, there will always be microclimates around the tank with elevated humidity. Temperature is more important imo, and it seems you have it under wraps so far. 

No background though?


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## BOOSHIFIED

WONTON SALLY said:


> tell me if i'm wrong, but for some reason i think the plants will drop the humidity? anyone else?


a well planted tank can help hold humidity.



again...fully set it up and then take readings.


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## WONTON SALLY

as far ahe background goes i was thinking of some type of fern/plant that would cover it like carpet. the tank came with some foam that was brown and it looked cheap IMO. suggestion/pics welcome for the background. i would also like to add some height to the tank, unsure how i want to achieve that, when the plants come next thursday that might help me make up my mind as well, sugestions/pics welcome for adding height to it. besides the front intake lets call it just beneath the glass doors i also drilled a hole on the top of the tank for added ventilation besides the whole drilled for the misting nozzles. i will add pics of the stand, new temps with/without the light being a factor since it is off the ground now for good, and pics of the MistKing system as well. keep the input coming.


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## WONTON SALLY

BOOSHIFIED said:


> a well planted tank can help hold humidity.
> 
> 
> 
> again...fully set it up and then take readings.


will do, unfortunately that plants will be the last to arrive, black jungle bumped me off the ship to list this week until next week.


HTML:


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## WONTON SALLY

ok the MistKing order came today as well as the flukers hygrometer. So here is the eye candy until i get everything installed later tonight.
















I am going to run a dual nozzle setup due to the height of the tank.


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## vivlover10

I always liked the mistking but never could afford them. 

Great tank I can't wait to see how it turns out!


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## WONTON SALLY

i appreciate the thanks, although if it wasn't for my cousin member name chadfarmer i wouldn't know the 1st thing on what to and what not to buy. and the does and dont's that come with this hobby.


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## WONTON SALLY

ok so one more temp reading before i add the mist king.


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## WONTON SALLY

i had to change the bulbs again as the 20watt 65k was to bright so i went to the 13watt 65k.


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## WONTON SALLY

I broke the top piece of glass this morning. it is currently drying, once it is done i will post the pics.


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## WONTON SALLY

I decided against the dual nozzle setup, the pressure out of both nozzle was a liitle weak IMO and i extended the single nozzle down to keep the mist more controlled.








i have also decided i think i will go with the zoo med cork tile for a background so i can tie in some plants and have them grow up the back side of the tank.


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## james67

using a digital hygrometer w/o a hygro probe is sort of useless when your spraying the tank. the flukers deal will probably read 99% forever (as it did for many users here including myself)

i wouldnt worry too much. you may end up needing to vent the tank some.

also 71F is a great temp for darts. i try to shoot for 70-76ish (although that doesnt always happen)

james


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## WONTON SALLY

besides the vents under the glass doors which i put screen to keep the fruit fly's in i did drill a hole in the glass to add ventilation.there is one piece of screen on the inside of the glass and two pieces on the top side of the glass. the screen is all criss crossed to prevent the fruit flies from escaping.


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## WONTON SALLY

james67 said:


> using a digital hygrometer w/o a hygro probe is sort of useless when your spraying the tank. the flukers deal will probably read 99% forever (as it did for many users here including myself)
> 
> is the exo terra humidity probe the way to go, like their temp probe?


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## james67

just dont worry about it IMO. kep the tank moist and youll be fine.

james


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## WONTON SALLY

my cousin on here doesn't monitor anything as well. i am just trying to get an idea on what im working with. his tanks are in the basement just like mine is which helps keep the temps in the 70's like they are.


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## Zorloc

Looking good so far Sally
Question for you... looks like you have a t connector on your 1 nozzel so water goes in one end then the other end goes to what?


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## WONTON SALLY

i have a zip drip valve hooked up to it, so once it is done spraying it immediately stops water from dripping out of the nozzle. it is not a necessity just something to have. photo from MistKing Misting Systems by Jungle Hobbies Ltd


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## WONTON SALLY

what is a good fern/moss that i can get to cover up the cork tile background i plan on using that will grow/cover vertically?


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## mavhammer45

Looks good so far goof luck


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## WONTON SALLY

anyone with pics of ferns/moss that are in your tanks post em,, trying to decide.


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## Zoomie

Morning Sally. I know nothing about plants so I'm still reading. Saw a YouTube video from Grimm on here where he names a bunch of his back wall plants. There were lots of creepers. You may see something you like. 

If you cant find it, let me know and I'll run it down for you. 

Keep the pics and info coming !


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## WONTON SALLY

will do zoomie, my order from black jungle should ship today, still haven't heard anything yet. i will look at grimm on youtube and report back. i hate to say it but I want plants with color as opposed to just green ones. No i am not a female either just my user name is.


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## Zoomie

WONTON SALLY said:


> No i am not a female either just my user name is.


oops ! 

Androgynous Sally. Got it!

Seriously, it's a great user name.

Can't wait to see the see the plants you chose. Get that camera warmed up.


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## WONTON SALLY

well if black jungle would call me back or change my order status from processing to shipped. been that way since 6/28/11 i could post some pics.


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## WONTON SALLY

anyone use the glow mushrooms that GRIMM sells? if so post some pics with + or - results. i am thinking of getting some if he still selss them.


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## WONTON SALLY

i am still unable to decide on a moss to do some back wall covering. not sure on a moss to choose or the good vs bad on the mosses. any help would be great, trying to avoid going on the plant forum.


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## WONTON SALLY

my plant order from black jungle has shipped and will be here tomorrow. when i get them planted i will post the pics. given the plants i am getting, they are on the 1st page of the thread. any certain location they should go/be planted at.


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## Zoomie

Did your plants come in ? I wanna see !


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## WONTON SALLY

the box just came, i will post pics in a few.


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## WONTON SALLY

do i use the soil they came in or do i take it out of the soil and bury it in my substrate?


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## WONTON SALLY




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## Zoomie

You know that I am a stone cold newbe, however, I did read that any and all plants should be treated to avoid potential cross contamination, mites, parasites, and all of the other icky stuff. I'm speaking purely objectively and in no way direspecting the vendor.

Great goodies but The Suntan Begonia really rocks !


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## WONTON SALLY

the suntan is my favorite as well.


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## WONTON SALLY

i will post some picks tomorrow, of them in the tank. waiting on the cork tile to arrive tomorrow.


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## WONTON SALLY

still waiting on UPS to deliver my cork!


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## boabab95

looks great so far!

one question though...why didn't you put the background in first? it's going to be a LOT harder now that everything is in there...


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## WONTON SALLY

rookie mistake, didn't know there was such a thing. then my cousin was like hey there's cork tile.


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## WONTON SALLY

ok so the cork ile is in and drying, didn't get a pic prior to putting it in. tired of smelling the silicone drying and i have some heavy pieces of driftwood laying against it to keep it in place while it dries. rest assure as soon as the smell dies down and the silicone is tacky enough i will post pics.


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## WONTON SALLY

i think i have a silicone buzz


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## boabab95

WONTON SALLY said:


> i think i have a silicone buzz


HAHA, ya it can really mess with your head...


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## WONTON SALLY

hygrometer was just in for a few before pic was taken.


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## chadfarmer

looks better


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## WONTON SALLY

not sure about the big piece standing up next to the doors, i think i will cut it in half and go from there, looks out of place IMO.


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## Zoomie

I like the tank with the background.

I agree with you on the wood to the right. Try and leave the front of the tank open, with maybe a couple of low plants so it draws the eyes in.

That Sun Tan is to die for.


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## WONTON SALLY

depending on how the sun tan does i will order more. what is the best way to get the brom's to survive, i think i may have made a mistake by placing them in the substrate on the floor?


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## Zoomie

Which Broms did you purchase?

I would get them mid tank and attached to your wood based on what I have read thus far.

Based on what I have read, they can be placed in substrate but great care must be avoided to ensure that their roots don't stay constantly wet. Did you put in a false bottom or are you running Hydroton with a weed barrier or screen and then substrate? I know you are running a Mist King. Did you install drain or drain tube? You want to avoid wicking for most of your plants.

I too am concerned about the Broms I ordered. During some research last night, I discovered that many, many Broms like 2600-2800 Lumens. The bulbs we are using (15w/60W Daylights) are only putting out 900. Very confused about this so I will continue my research today and try and pin some things down. I will chase down some more info for us today, in addition to getting a handle on fruit fly cultures.

I haven't read and studied this much since my reefing days. It's like school finals only if you get a good grade, your frogs are happy and your plants stay alive !


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## WONTON SALLY

running Hydroton with a weed barrier or screen and then substrate-yes.
the lights i am running are 65k 13watt. i know the lumen output on the 20watt is 1190, so im sure the 13's are less. started with 26watt to bright and the 20's were as well. depending on how the plants do i may have to go up in the wattage. seems that wrapping the brom's in LFS before mounting to wood is the way to go. the brom's i have are as follows:


Begonia soli-mutata "Sun Tan Begonia"
Begonia bipinnatifida 
Assorted Gesneriad 

let me know what you find out.


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## WONTON SALLY

if everything goes well i should be able to get my cobalt's today, i will post pics later today.


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## WONTON SALLY

well due to my seller's super busy schedule, i will hopefully be getting the frogs on wednesday of this week. I am giving the T-rex frog moss a shot. i will post a few pics tomorrow once i get done with a few last to do tasks.


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## Zoomie

Sounds great!


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## WONTON SALLY

so close, but yet so far away!


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## WONTON SALLY

after a few days of adding the driftwood i have been getting this annoying long haired white mold that reappears every morning, does mold have any ill effect on PDF's?


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## WONTON SALLY

i will post a pic of the T-Rex moss in tank before i get my juveniles today.


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## vivlover10

Mold is fine. Springtales ate mine away and plus it is just a phase. Once the mold goes away it isn't coming back.


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## WONTON SALLY

just a pain to see since everything else is fine.


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## WONTON SALLY

here's the latest before the new arrivals:


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## Zoomie

I like the stump in the front way better than the big piece of wood that used to be there. Perfect spot for something low-growing.

Keep those pics coming.


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## WONTON SALLY

agreed about the stump, the other piece was just to big. i have the cobalt's gonna give em a few hours in the tank then i post some pics of the kids.


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## WONTON SALLY

Meet 2spot and Pokey


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## WONTON SALLY

note to self: driftwood grows mold like chad grows frags. moral of the story put the driftwood in 1st next time as opposed to last.


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## Zoomie

You're new friends are stunning ! Congrats.

I saw in another post that you ordered Springs. They will knock down the mold. 

I am am grabbing Springs and Iso's tonight from FrogManchu.


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## WONTON SALLY

thanks again, the springs will be here tomorrow. you still up from yesterday or does your work day start early like mine?


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## Zoomie

Was up since 2:30am to drive up to pick up Mrs Zoomie from her two week vacation, with what I suspect was Raul The Cabana Boy. She didn't want to come home so I just kept buying frog and tank stuff to run her out of disposable income. I win and I win !

I learned a couple of things while she was away. Most importantly, when you see the words "self-propelled" on a vacuum, it doesn't mean it runs itself. Who knew?

I don't sleep well so i am usually up early.


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## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie:
i agree to your post 100%, couldn't have said it better myself, too badd you don't live in st.louis- we would have to definitely have to hook up, with frogs that is!!!!!


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## WONTON SALLY

a few hours ago my boys,girls, or its decided to finally eat and they pigged out, i offered a few fly's yesterday and they could have cared less. I bought a fan and A/C adapter as one from:
https://www.saurian.net/Cooling-Fan-Small.html
no picture on the site so here is what it looks like.








not sure on how im going to mount it, but at least i have it


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## WONTON SALLY

if anyone has pics of fans in their tanks, shoot a pic to help with location ideas. Or bad ones on where not to mount it.


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## WONTON SALLY

my *Sculpey III Oven Bake Polymer Clay - Glow In the Dark will be here tomorrow, going to give a stab at some glow in the dark mushrooms. i asked for blue and green clay, but never heard back from the seller. also my springtail order will be here as well, i'll post some pics of the eye candy once it arrives.*


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## Zoomie

Fantastic!

Make sure you hae all of cracks sealed or you'll have springs running amuck in your house. Doors, front vent and good clean seal on the top.

Or.........run it as is. The spiders will show up and take care of all travelling marauders.


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## WONTON SALLY

tis thing is sealed a little to well, didn't want any creepy crawlies running around outside of the tank. if it's keeping the FF's in the other should be OK then;right!


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## Zoomie

Um no, at least in my very limited experience. Depending on which species you have, they are waaaaay smaller. 

Some of these are 1/2 the size of a flea, but they could have been young offspring.

I'll be able to give you a better idea tonight. I have 7 different species. Need to get my culture containers on the way home from work. I'll get a good look at them then and let you know. I will say that they can walk through fine fiberglass sceen door mesh like they are entering a cavern !

You can always PM Frogmanchu or Pumilio. Both have extensive experience with many of the dirt dwelling beasties.


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## WendySHall

I don't believe you have to worry about springtails getting loose and overtaking your house. They need the high humidity to live and won't survive outside the viv. Now...fruitflies or (worse yet) bean beetles...that's a different story!

Great looking froglets btw!


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## WONTON SALLY

i blinked twice and missed the springtails, then i saw what looked like white lint or whatever and it crawled,, dudes are super tiny, hope they grow quick.


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## chadfarmer

WONTON SALLY said:


> i blinked twice and missed the springtails, then i saw what looked like white lint or whatever and it crawled,, dudes are super tiny, hope they grow quick.


put some mushroom in there and they will grow


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## WendySHall

I only have experience with two types of springtail...
The tropical springtails are small and white. They stay fairly tiny, but they multiply fairly fast.
I've also had black/silver springtails. They can get pretty big and can really jump! Unfortunately, I killed mine pretty fast. Didn't realize they needed ventilated. :/ (Note to self: get some more of those.)


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## WONTON SALLY

i went with the tropical due to the weather here in st.louis right now, what is the technical name of the bigger ones you are refering too?


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## WendySHall

Lol! Had to look it up!

They are Tomocerus sp. I guess. Here is a link to an old ad that sold them/the guy I bought from... http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/pl...ge-black-silver-tomocerus-sp-springtails.html


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## WONTON SALLY

a few goodies came today:


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## WONTON SALLY

WendySHall,
thanks for the info and the link!!


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## Dendroguy

Zoomie said:


> Fantastic!
> 
> Make sure you hae all of cracks sealed or you'll have springs running amuck in your house. Doors, front vent and good clean seal on the top.
> 
> Or.........run it as is. The spiders will show up and take care of all travelling marauders.


Actually Zoomie,it's the flies you'll wanna worry about,the springs will never leave the leaf litter


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## WONTON SALLY

before and after with the glow clay, camera i have doesn't have night features.


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## Zoomie

PDF night lights !


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## WONTON SALLY

only downside they don't glow very long. hopefully the purple UV's come today to help with that.


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## WONTON SALLY

these UV LED's made all the diffeence:


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## shadowbear559

Can u post up where you got the LED from? That is awesome.


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## WONTON SALLY

yep, here you go:
Autolizer items - Get great deals on Efficiency 12v Red LED Lighting Strip Reptile Light items on eBay Stores!

in my set up I'm only using 2 of the light strips, i have more coming. I'm going to make a square basically as I'm going to add 2 more to make it complete. reason being there are a few spots where they don't glow as bright as the ones do in the middle that's why I'm adding 1 in the front and 1 in the back, besides the 2 in the middle.


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## WONTON SALLY

i bought this little fern from petsmart 4days ago and was hesitant at first, but since it was only $4$ it was worth a shot. it has stayed the same bright green color unlike some of my 1st plants by planting them on the VIV floor, anyways i will buy some more from there since most of their plants range from $4-9$ they are all babies lets say, but they are all listed as semi-aquatic and terrarium plants.


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## WONTON SALLY

The fern in the above post is a PEACOCK FERN. I bought another plant from petsmart yesterday and it is labeled as a white ribbon plant, anyone know if there is a different name for this plant:


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## Zoomie

I have had to go the opposite way that you did with lighting. Started with 15/60's. Moved to 20/75's. Now testing 36/100's in my plant tank. 

More light seems to make the plants happier. I haven't had any plants have afit yet. The Neos did lose some of that vibrant red until I switched bulbs, but are now regaining.

My poor future PDF's are going to have retna burn.


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## WONTON SALLY

I went back to the 20watt bulbs which helped alot, then after a few weeks of research i came up with these and ordered them: 1800 lumens
3 25 watt =100 CF Compact Floro CFL VEG BLUE GROW LIGHT - eBay (item 120514165637 end time Jul-29-11 08:04:03 PDT)
photo courtesy of HTG supply found on ebay.


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## WONTON SALLY

the bulbs will be here late this week, so by next weekend i should have some reults to post on the bulbs.


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## Zoomie

Let em know how they do. The 100's I have are not pushing anywhere near 1800 lumens.


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## WONTON SALLY

they also make a 35watt that is 2400lumens, if i had the 18x18x36 then i would got that route, the 25watts should make quite a difference, i will post side by side pics of the current lights and the new lights to compare brightness, then i will have to watch the plants to see if there is a response on their part.


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## WONTON SALLY

wjesse  
Junior Member
wjesse:, thanks for the pics here is my first stab at a cluster. I will try again once i get the glow clay color sampler in the mail in a few days, thanks again.


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## WONTON SALLY

I have some fan controllers and fans coming around the 2nd week of august, they are coming from Hong KONG area that is why they will get here the second week of August. Anyone here have good/bad experiences with mounting fans on the inside or where not to mount them? Here are a few pics of what is coming, i ordered 2 fan controllers as i am not sure which one will work best for what i plan on doing. ALL EBAY SELLER ID'S:
PHOTO COURTESY OF *surveillance112*








PHOTO COURTESY OF*us.discount7* 








PHOTO COURTESY OF *fennyfenny2009*








PHOTO COURTESY OF *budget_electronics*


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## WONTON SALLY

the rest of my UV LED's will be here late today, as mentioned before i am putting 2more inside the tank, 1 at the back of the tank, and 1 in the fron of the tank so there will be four mounted to the inside of the glass canopy creating a square so all aspects of the tank will be covered.


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## Zoomie

I read the fan article that ws linked in your other thread. I still can't decide which way to build, although I am leaning toward the external mount behind light that is plumbed through the top.

Some of the high-light plants require up to 2850 lumens in order to thrive. Still, I would really be concerned about potential issues with temps. With those 25 bulbs, external fans blowing on the tank may become needed. 

Reminds me of the early reefing days of blowing dual fans across my refugium and sump. I finally had to hawk my butt and buy a chiller. Ah, the days of 5-600.00 electricity bills.


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## WONTON SALLY

agreed about the chiller, i dont want to have to take off my glass canopy and drill another hole in it for the fans. the power wires for the fan are skinny enough to fit beside where the spray nozzle goes in on the canopy, not by much, but it will fit that way, just not sure where to mount it for good air flow. another question is once the fan is in won't the air from the fan technically bounce off all for sides of the tank once inside?


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## Zoomie

Ah, that makes sense.

I am no aeronautical engineer, but yes, the air would circulate throughout the tank, depending on how your fan is pointing. There will be no air exchange. That would drop your humidity quick.


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## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> Ah, that makes sense.
> 
> I am no aeronautical engineer, but yes, the air would circulate throughout the tank, depending on how your fan is pointing. There will be no air exchange. That would drop your humidity quick.


even with the intake on the front under the glass doors and the extra vent i put in the glass canopy? or is it because the fan will just be blowing the air around with no push pull?


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## WONTON SALLY

i thought my plant pic is coming was sprouting a new leaf and it actually flowered, i must have done something right.


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## WONTON SALLY

my flies weren't reproducing like they were supposed to due to the temps in my basement around 70-72. so i moved them into a part of the basement that was unfinished and shut off from the finished part which was 78degrees, so i put them in there but i had to keep the overhead lights on, so that got old leaving all the lights on in there. so i came up with this and it keeps the temp inside the box at 78.5 which sped up the reproduction cycle big time and it is kept underneath my tank in the stand.


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## Zoomie

WONTON SALLY said:


> even with the intake on the front under the glass doors and the extra vent i put in the glass canopy? or is it because the fan will just be blowing the air around with no push pull?


Without know how you intend to hook up and place the fan, it is difficult to say. Let me go back and look at your pics.


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## WONTON SALLY

here is the top vent:
 
and then the vents underneath the glass door right where the exo-terra latch is.


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## WONTON SALLY

if i have to drill another hole for the push-pull i will, but i was just going to hang the fan about 2 inches from the vent hole on the top glass canopy, unless that will drop the temp and humidity.


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## Zoomie

It's a pressure thing. If you wanted air exchange, or to bring in "room' air, you would have to seal the intake side of the fan to the vent. The fan will not have enough power to draw air through the vent from a couple of inches away. It will just grab the air around it and push that

In effect, you'll be pushing air around the tank, which is exactly what most people want to do. Most just want the air to circulate in the tank.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

would just circulating the air around in the tank lower temp/humidity levels?


----------



## Zoomie

WONTON SALLY said:


> would just circulating the air around in the tank lower temp/humidity levels?


Not materially, which is why most (not all) do it this way. Based on what I read, it moves the air around. the re are viv plants that require that air movement, even if it's humid air.

If you are trying to take temp down just a little. I'd blow a fan across the light and some of the tank. Even with these bulbs, there is clearly heat transfer.

If you're looking for a more serious temp reduction than that, you would likely have to move to t-5s or LEDs. I know that t-5's work well for growth. Further, as I am sure you are aware from your salt days, they penetrate well anough that you can hang remotely to allow space between viv top and physical fixture.

I have done zero reserarch on LED lighting for plant growth, so I am clueless there.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

my temps and humidity are fine, i thought the plants would do better with air movement as opposed to stagnant air that just hangs in there.


----------



## Zoomie

Then you dont have to worry about the venting. You'll be good to go based on your orginal design.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> Then you dont have to worry about the venting. You'll be good to go based on your orginal design.


i will try it next monday when i am off, worried about the temps/humidity dropping and coming home 10hrs later and have had a huge temp swing.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

added the other 2 light stips and it made a huge difference in the color of the tank.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

also discovered that fishing line glows under these lights as well.


----------



## Zoomie

WONTON SALLY said:


> i will try it next monday when i am off, worried about the temps/humidity dropping and coming home 10hrs later and have had a huge temp swing.


If you want to fling some more money at your viv, you can always run a controller that notifies you remotely if temp and/humidity move outside of your pre-established parameters. They send a message directly to your cell/email addy. 

I ran one on my reef tank. It would even shut off the lights and turn on extra fans before notifying me. 

I lived in Arizona. Loss of electricity (chiller failure) all but guaranteed complete tank death. 

My tank has run stable humidity at 89-91%. The temp has been stable but creeped up a bit due to the recent extreme outside temp. Highest ever thus far is 78.6.


----------



## BethInAK

Zoomie said:


> If you want to fling some more money at your viv, you can always run a controller that notifies you remotely if temp and/humidity move outside of your pre-established parameters. They send a message directly to your cell/email addy.


I would like to fling some money - can you tell me what i should search for to find one of these? I have similar concerns about cold as you have about heat.


----------



## Zoomie

One of the sponsors here, Digital Aquatics has a unit called Herp Keeper. It looked very promising and more reasonably priced than their Reefkeeper sytems.

I will probably wait until the third tank goes in, then pull the trigger.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

back to the herp keeper in a second Zoomie, my bulbs came in today so the 1st pic is the old-the 2nd are the new bulbs.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

the pics show some difference, but in actuality the tank looks more vibrant and a cleaner looking light shining down IMO, we'll see how the plants like it and go from there. Is D.A. the cheaper place to buy the herp Keeper or are there others?


----------



## chadfarmer

WONTON SALLY said:


> the pics show some difference, but in actuality the tank looks more vibrant and a cleaner looking light shining down IMO, we'll see how the plants like it and go from there. Is D.A. the cheaper place to buy the herp Keeper or are there others?


D.A. makes the herp keeper


----------



## WONTON SALLY

chadfarmer said:


> D.A. makes the herp keeper


yep, trying not to use vendor names.


----------



## Zoomie

Digital Aquatics is one of our sponsors here so you can croak their name from the highest call spot!

I don't know if it can puchased elsewhere. Ebay maybe. With something like this, I would ensure you are buying from authorized dealer in case you have any problems, software updates, etc.

Very curious to see if new bulbs drive up tank temp.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> Digital Aquatics is one of our sponsors here so you can croak their name from the highest call spot!
> 
> I don't know if it can puchased elsewhere. Ebay maybe. With something like this, I would ensure you are buying from authorized dealer in case you have any problems, software updates, etc.
> 
> Very curious to see if new bulbs drive up tank temp.


i guess i got confused with the person that you were talking too about vendoe names, bulbs maybe raised the temp by 1degree maybe 
1 1/2degrees, but remember it's hot as frog poop here, if that is even hot?


----------



## BethInAK

lol Sally, probably not, since they are cold blooded!!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

I almost took out these plants after I thought they were dead.
 B-BSLMT Begonia soli-mutata "Sun Tan Begonia"
it came back:








so did the:
 B-PNF Begonia bipinnatifida
here it is:








and also the
 G-SMSV Seemania sylvatica
here it is








now it's either luck or the new bulbs really do work, guess time will tell.


----------



## BethInAK

sending green thoughts, sally!!!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

every little bit helps, thanks BethInAK.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

I bought a new cocohut at least twice the size of the other. Due to the texture of the top i thought it would be cool to add some glow clay to it and make it shine:
DURING THE DAY

AND DURING THE NIGHT

and then an overall pic of the whole setup


----------



## WONTON SALLY

the plants have done nothing but excel since adding the new lights. i am going to add a repti therm heating pad with a piece of sheet metal cut to fit the same size as this drawer:

to help distribute the heat more evenly as with low temps in the basement are lowering the repoduction numbers, the light helps but not enough due tot he tank in the basement. once the pad arrives i will post pics to show better what i am refering too. the fans and fan controller are still in route from china.


----------



## Zoomie

Hope this helps with production. Can't wait to see if you're happy with the results.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

it should remedy the problem, just need to find somewhere to buy a small piece of sheetmetal.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

anyone know if HD/LOWES sell sheetmetal if so do they cut it?


----------



## Zoomie

Not sure. I have to go by after work so I'll check.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

appreciated, let me know.


----------



## Zoomie

Not here. Sorry.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

one of my fan controller's came in today, ordered 2 because one may work better with my setup. may use 1 fan might use more:


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> Not here. Sorry.


did the wife post? did HD or LOWE's have the metal?


----------



## Zoomie

No that was me. No metal at our Lowes, or at least fine sheet metal that would work.

I can check Home Depot either tonight or tomorrow night. Will also ask the mechs out in our repair facility where the best place to look would be. I'll let you know if anything interesting comes up.

I can't wait to see the final fan design. I am not above stealing ideas.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

I can't wait to see the final fan design. I am not above stealing ideas. 

AGREED AGREED AGREED AGREED

some more items arrived today, will post pics in a bit.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

pad came today and the dust covers for the fan/fans.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

once i get the sheetmetal i will post those pics, having problems with the one fan controller i have, tried to different ac/dc adapters. the fan controller would power up, but you couldn't see any numbers or rpm on the LED screen, also it wouldn't power the fan. tried to follow this:
How To: Air Circulation - Dart Frog Forum on Husbandry and Habitat Information
couldn't find the specifics on the exact ac/dc adapters in the above thread


----------



## WONTON SALLY

if anyone knows where i can get an adjustable voltage ac/dc adapter please post.


----------



## Zoomie

Did you try Radio Shack and New Egg?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

no on the shack, couldn't find it on newegg--either over looked them or used the wrong search criteria.


----------



## Zoomie

The only thing I found was from the UK. Just wagging it looks like 40.00 shipped.

Universal Mains Adaptor-Ac/Dc-Adjustable Voltage (181) | eBay

Ooops. Here's Amazon...

http://www.amazon.com/PowerLine-300mA-Universal-Adapter-Compatibility/dp/B0042X8XOG


----------



## WONTON SALLY

thanks zoomie, going to order the one from amazon and the 1st one in the link i provided How To: Air Circulation - Dart Frog Forum on Husbandry and Habitat Information
if i can't get it to work with the 2 new adapter then i will scale the nerdiness down and wire the fan directly to the ac/dc adapter which i know works.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

sheetmetal HD $6.97








REPTI THERM heating pad








sheetmetal with repti therm underneath


----------



## WONTON SALLY

the whole reason for this was to make the underneath evenly warm, i went with the 10-20gal repti therm due to the fact that all of their repti therm's heat ranges from 95F-105F regardless of the size whether it's 
1-5gal, 10-20gal, 30-40gal, 50-60gal so with that it mind i went with the 10-20gal which is 6x8 inches. if all is good i will move up in size to the 30-40gal size which is 8x12inches. the sheetmetal size is 24x12inches so the repti therm on there now only covers a small section underneath. the next size up will be more ideal, just worried about it cooking the FF's. only time will tell.


----------



## Zoomie

I like the idea. You may be able to regulate the temp with the smaller heat pad. 

Get an I/R temp gun. I use mine all of the time.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

yep, the I/R gun is next on the list as well.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

well if you dont succeed try, try, again. I guess the 1st fan controller i had was defective, the reason why i had ordered that one is that it had an LED screen with the RPM's on screen as well, anyways here is what i did. sometimes simple is better:
FAN CONTROLLER








NOT MOUNTED JUST SHOT A PIC








UNSURE WHERE TO POSITION FAN, JUST SHOT A QUICK PIC








with this fan controller i can use up to 4 fans if need be, which i doubt. i am waiting on my 40mm fans to come in the mail, the one in the pic is a 60mm, dont have dust covers for it so that;s why i plan to use the 40's when they arrive.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

once i establish what my temp/humidity is i will start to use the fan at it lowest RPM and gradually increase them as long as the temp/humidity levels don't drop. since it is mounted in the middle of the tank let's say and not at the top by the vent hole, in theory i am just moving the air around in there correct? the temp/humidity shouldn't change since i am just pushing the humid air around?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
just wanted to say thanks to these guys, especially TODD.

after posting several questions about their products and LUMENS, LIGHTS, LED's, CFL's, FLO-TUBES, T5's, T8's, BROM'S, AND OTHER PLANT'S. i am testing a 6watt 3LED spotlight light. since i recently brought some plants back from the dead, this will be a perfect experiment to see how this light performs, here is the light:








here is the before:








and here is the after:








i will take a few in tank pics tomorrow, trying to prevent opening the doors to get some exact temp/humidity reading before running the fan.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

the out of tank pics dont show the difference to well IMO, but it is like putting a million watt candle power light on specific plants to add that little extra to make them shine and hopefully grow, thanks again TODD!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## johnyrocks

WONTON SALLY said:


> the out of tank pics dont show the difference to well IMO, but it is like putting a million watt candle power light on specific plants to add that little extra to make them shine and hopefully grow, thanks again TODD!!!!!!!!!!!!


I put those little LED lights over focal plants. It really makes it look nice!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

johnyrocks said:


> I put those little LED lights over focal plants. It really makes it look nice!


did you put the light directly on the glass canopy or did you suspend it some how?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i will take some in tank pics to help highlight how bright/powerful this light actually is.


----------



## Zoomie

Very cool LED. Curious to see if they just highlight focal points, or actually add beneficial plant growth. Please keep us posted!


----------



## johnyrocks

WONTON SALLY said:


> did you put the light directly on the glass canopy or did you suspend it some how?


I just popped it on top of the glass, but heat sometimes comes to my mind as an issue. But it's all been good for a few weeks so far.


----------



## johnyrocks

Zoomie said:


> Very cool LED. Curious to see if they just highlight focal points, or actually add beneficial plant growth. Please keep us posted!


Trust me. If the LEDS are close enough to the plant it will really give it a bump up. I even revived what looked like a dead plant within a day with it!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

sorry guys, i have had internet withdrawl. been down for 3days and just had it fixed.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> Very cool LED. Curious to see if they just highlight focal points, or actually add beneficial plant growth. Please keep us posted!


i was out of town as well for 3days, so i didn't leave the LED light on, also no internet where i was. added benefit to the LED light, you can use a sharpie on the lens and change the light color, then when you get tired of it you can wipe it off with a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol, TODD from lightyourreptiles.com passed that on to me.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> just wanted to say thanks to these guys, especially TODD.
> 
> after posting several questions about their products and LUMENS, LIGHTS, LED's, CFL's, FLO-TUBES, T5's, T8's, BROM'S, AND OTHER PLANT'S. i am testing a 6watt 3LED spotlight light. since i recently brought some plants back from the dead, this will be a perfect experiment to see how this light performs, here is the light:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> here is the before:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and here is the after:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> i will take a few in tank pics tomorrow, trying to prevent opening the doors to get some exact temp/humidity reading before running the fan.


That's nice. How much was it?
I'm having a harde time finding LED bulbs that shine bright enough. The ones they sell at Lowes has this glass peice on the front that isn't clear at all.
Can I just pop that off and uncover the LED?
Anyone know? Lol
Thanks

Nice build so far...Andy is your name right?
Btw the lightyourreptiles link doesn't work 
Only takes you to the link of the picture itself


----------



## johnyrocks

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> That's nice. How much was it?
> I'm having a harde time finding LED bulbs that shine bright enough. The ones they sell at Lowes has this glass peice on the front that isn't clear at all.
> Can I just pop that off and uncover the LED?
> Anyone know? Lol
> Thanks
> 
> Nice build so far...Andy is your name right?
> Btw the lightyourreptiles link doesn't work
> Only takes you to the link of the picture itself


Lol, those little lights you kind at lowes have a cloudy cover because they emit UV light. Go to lightyourreptiles.com and they have LED lights for like 15-30$.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> That's nice. How much was it?
> I'm having a harde time finding LED bulbs that shine bright enough. The ones they sell at Lowes has this glass peice on the front that isn't clear at all.
> Can I just pop that off and uncover the LED?
> Anyone know? Lol
> Thanks
> 
> Nice build so far...Andy is your name right?
> Btw the lightyourreptiles link doesn't work
> Only takes you to the link of the picture itself


wasn't a link to the light, just a shout out to them.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

here is a better idea how bright the light is, without the LED on:








with the LED on:


----------



## WONTON SALLY

here's a pic with just the LED on:


----------



## johnyrocks

These are the only lights I can think of with a cloudy cover. They're cabinet lamps, a type of metal halide.
With UV film on








Without UV film on


----------



## WONTON SALLY

still waiting on my 40mm fans to arrive, as they will have a higher RPM than the one i am currently using.


----------



## johnyrocks

WONTON SALLY said:


> still waiting on my 40mm fans to arrive, as they will have a higher RPM than the one i am currently using.


IMO, 40mm fans RPM speed's a bit too fast for my liking...


----------



## WONTON SALLY

johnyrocks said:


> IMO, 40mm fans RPM speed's a bit too fast for my liking...


that's what this is for


----------



## johnyrocks

WONTON SALLY said:


> that's what this is for


Haha,m forgot about that lol!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i have been using the fan for a few hours a day and what i have noticed is that the temp goes from 79.5F to between 80.5F-81.5F also the humidity goes from mid 90's to the mid 80's. now that could be because i don't have a humidity probe on my sensor that i am using, is it because i am just pushing the air around in the tank with no push pull effect since the fan is just hanging in the middle of the tank? input or advice on this would be appreciated, thanks in advance.


----------



## Dew

WONTON SALLY said:


> i have been using the fan for a few hours a day and what i have noticed is that the temp goes from 79.5F to between 80.5F-81.5F also the humidity goes from mid 90's to the mid 80's. now that could be because i don't have a humidity probe on my sensor that i am using, is it because i am just pushing the air around in the tank with no push pull effect since the fan is just hanging in the middle of the tank? input or advice on this would be appreciated, thanks in advance.


So the temperature has risen and the humidity has gone down? Hmmm. My first thought is the fans are blowing air at the sensors and are messing them up. Does the humidity and temperature go right back when you turn them off (within 5 minutes)?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Dew said:


> So the temperature has risen and the humidity has gone down? Hmmm. My first thought is the fans are blowing air at the sensors and are messing them up. Does the humidity and temperature go right back when you turn them off (within 5 minutes)?


 
they don't go right back, but probably within 1/2 hour they do.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

new shroom and new plant and plant updates will be posted tomorrow with pics.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

depending on the size of the probe i will go with this next to get a more accurate reading.
https://www.saurian.net/Deluxe-Thermometer-and-Hygrometer-with-probe.html


----------



## Dew

I haven't had enough time to really read through this thread, but what are you using? I use an infra red gun, and get good results (I hope am am!). I think you're using an exo terra temp probe from skimming through this. I've heard exo temp gauges and humidity gauges should be pretty accurate. I don't know. Amnother guess is the fans blow hot air from the top of the tank and mix it to make a same temperature throughout everywhere. I would try leaving the fan on for 24 hours, occasionally checking the temp.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

yep, using the exo terra temp/humidity gauge, will quite possibly go with the other one in the above posts with the link i provided, just waiting to find out the OD of the probe.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

12days ago:

today:








extra growth with a new sprout


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i have a new leaf sprouting on this one and has had blooms going for around 3weeks now.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i thought this one was already dead:


 GES Assorted Gesneriad

but here it is on its way back:


----------



## WONTON SALLY

and here is the new plant i saw in a neighbors yard, anyone know what it is please post, probably should have asked that first:


----------



## WONTON SALLY

here is a new mushroom using glow orange, blue, and green clay.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

as well 12days ago:
 G-SMSV Seemania sylvatica
here it is

and then today








also

and then today:








not much change, but still alive


----------



## WONTON SALLY

all in all everything is doing great, extra flies are always in the tank now, trying to get the springtails seeded in there adding several syringes full of springtails every couple days as i have 2 big cultures going. still waiting on my 40's to arrive they were shipped out on 7/15/11, but they were coming from hong kong i believe so they should be here soon. anyone know the species of the plant please post.


----------



## CREEPlNG_DEATH

I was wondering about leds because I have a hard time keeping my tanks below 80 and I use 9 watt daylight bulbs, My plants are growing just fine. But do you think the white led strips from that ebay store where you got the purple uv leds would work?

Thanks Matt.


----------



## Zoomie

Great to see your plants hang in there and start to come back strong. I have been very fortunate in that I haven't lost anything and have only had to move two plants that didn't like their respective positions thus far. Hoping that my luck holds.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

CREEPlNG_DEATH said:


> I was wondering about leds because I have a hard time keeping my tanks below 80 and I use 9 watt daylight bulbs, My plants are growing just fine. But do you think the white led strips from that ebay store where you got the purple uv leds would work?
> 
> Thanks Matt.


like i always say; "one wat to find out" order a few and find out, not sure if they will sustain plant life w/o 6-8 of them but they will be bright.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> Great to see your plants hang in there and start to come back strong. I have been very fortunate in that I haven't lost anything and have only had to move two plants that didn't like their respective positions thus far. Hoping that my luck holds.


once i thought they died zoomie, brought me back to my reefing days and throwing money away in the glass box syndrome, but right conditions and right lights will make em grow just like the the corals in the reef tanks, very excited to see them grow--never thought i would get excited about plants and all, but starting to get cooler with each passing day.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

my cobalt's absolutely love these plants i bought from patrick from https://www.saurian.net/home.php they hang out under this particular one before and after feedings and whenever they decide to come out from the cocohut or the big driftwood piece.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

here's another few pics, sorry about the glare hard to avoid it from this particular angle.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

maybe it's just me, but you guys ever notice that one of your FF's will fly?
every few days after feeding i seem to notice one that fly's around the tank. i will catch that one and kill it and then after a few feedings later another one pops up?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

a few goodies came today-no more plugging and unplugging:








as well i can know for sure what a few temps are without guessing:


----------



## WONTON SALLY

still no 40's oh where oh where are you my 40's?


----------



## Zoomie

OK, you just bought the same power strip that I have. Then, I see a picture of the exact same i/r temp gun that I own. Are you frog stocking me? 

Seriously, both have been awesome. The temp reads the exact temp that the exo temp/hygro combo reads.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> OK, you just bought the same power strip that I have. Then, I see a picture of the exact same i/r temp gun that I own. Are you frog stocking me?
> 
> I'm watching you via webcam; i mean no just a coincidence


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> The temp reads the exact temp that the exo temp/hydro combo reads.


how far away do you put the red dot on the item/s you are measuring, i have noticed that distance is crucial for it to be spot on let's say. the instructions are a little vague on the correct measuring distance.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

finally got everything to power up correctly once this arrived yesterday. anything, but the volts that it is on in the picture and the display goes off. the fan will only spin at a minimal RPM since it is only at 6volts. you can go higher than the 6volts to get the fan/s to spin at a higher RPM, but the display will go off, but the fan will spin.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

zoomie quit huffing the silicone from your repair job. what distance do you measure from using your I/R gun?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

out of curiosity, what's the average time or the longest anyone will keep a fruit fly culture going?


----------



## WendySHall

I think generally most of us throw them out after one month. If you keep them longer than that, mites can get out of hand and production really slows after this amount of time too.

Since I make cultures every week on the same day, it's simplest for me to throw out the oldest ones (4 weeks) when I make the new ones. So, at all times I have 4 groups (separate weeks) of cultures going at all times.


----------



## hypostatic

Oh man that digital display sure is snazzy. What is it?

Also, you should set your alarm temp to something much lower. I think tincs are already cooking by 95F.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

hypostatic said:


> Oh man that digital display sure is snazzy. What is it?
> 
> Also, you should set your alarm temp to something much lower. I think tincs are already cooking by 95F.


104F is the lowest setting, keep in mind it is for a Computer fan controller; so realistically it would never kick on unless i override it with extra voltage applied to it.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

WendySHall said:


> I think generally most of us throw them out after one month. If you keep them longer than that, mites can get out of hand and production really slows after this amount of time too.
> 
> Since I make cultures every week on the same day, it's simplest for me to throw out the oldest ones (4 weeks) when I make the new ones. So, at all times I have 4 groups (separate weeks) of cultures going at all times.


just hate to throw away the frog's food, but i guess mites aren't worth it either. can you see the mites? are they just white specs? also what can cause i culture to fail?


----------



## WendySHall

Really, by the end of the fourth week, I don't see the point in keeping them anyhow. They don't produce much at all and you should have several other cultures going if your doing it every week.

Here's a good thread for learning a little about mites...
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/beginner-discussion/38448-what-exactly-do-mites-look-like.html

There are many reasons a culture can fail. I think the biggest is low humidity...and sometimes, they just do. :/

(Sorry so brief...grandbaby just woke up...gotta go!)


----------



## WONTON SALLY

thanks for the link, will do some reading. one thing i have noticed when starting a new culture dust the flies you are using to start the culture with calcium; mine have seemed to double since doing that.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

correct me if i m wrong, but is the tiny brown specs on the underneath side of the culture lids the flies poop or possible mites? never seen them move, but never stared at them more than 10secs or so.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

anyone have info on my last post about the brown specs on the underneath side of the culture lids?


----------



## chadfarmer

could be media on there feet?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

do you get it on your lids after a few weeks of a culture being started.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

seems like in the 2-3week range is when i get it, just trying to eliminate mites and hope it's the flies poop?


----------



## chadfarmer

i get it too


----------



## WONTON SALLY

chadfarmer said:


> i get it too


 
sounds like either the media or poop then, hey the josh's frog order will be here tomorrow and the isopods will be here wednesday--you off work then; i am, let me know.


----------



## BethInAK

WONTON SALLY said:


> finally got everything to power up correctly once this arrived yesterday. anything, but the volts that it is on in the picture and the display goes off. the fan will only spin at a minimal RPM since it is only at 6volts. you can go higher than the 6volts to get the fan/s to spin at a higher RPM, but the display will go off, but the fan will spin.


Oh, I have gear envy.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

well when your a computer nerd like me, things like that tend to happen; just wait it will get worse.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

picked up some of this:

Reflective Tape
and turned this:








into this


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> picked up some of this:
> 
> Reflective Tape
> and turned this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> into this


Those last 3 pics didn't show up...lol
Where did you get the reflector tape from?
Do those lights get hot at all?
I thought about using 4CFLs one of them being a 5.0 full spectrum for this 20g vert I'm about to do and I thought about putting a fan on the side.
Where did you get that plugin that has the voltage selector on it?
Also....those CFLs....are they 2.0 fullspectrum(for plants) bulbs or just regular CFLs


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Those last 3 pics didn't show up...lol
> Where did you get the reflector tape from?
> Do those lights get hot at all?
> I thought about using 4CFLs one of them being a 5.0 full spectrum for this 20g vert I'm about to do and I thought about putting a fan on the side.
> Where did you get that plugin that has the voltage selector on it?
> Also....those CFLs....are they 2.0 fullspectrum(for plants) bulbs or just regular CFLs


 
there is a link in the post under the picture of the reflective tape for the reflective tape from www.lightyourreptiles.com. yes the lights get hot they are CFL's, but not the exo terra fixture. those repti sun lights are expensive and not worth it. if you plan on growing BROM's in your tank you need 2200-2800 lumens for them to grow. the bulbs i have are 25watt 6400k 1800 lumens per bulb. here is the link for the plugin from ebay:
Original Power 90304 Ac Adapter 5 V Dc - 1.30 A For - eBay (item 230632598102 end time Aug-04-11 12:31:44 PDT)


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> there is a link in the post under the picture of the reflective tape for the reflective tape from www.lightyourreptiles.com. yes the lights get hot they are CFL's, but not the exo terra fixture. those repti sun lights are expensive and not worth it. if you plan on growing BROM's in your tank you need 2200-2800 lumens for them to grow. the bulbs i have are 25watt 6400k 1800 lumens per bulb. here is the link for the plugin from ebay:
> Original Power 90304 Ac Adapter 5 V Dc - 1.30 A For - eBay (item 230632598102 end time Aug-04-11 12:31:44 PDT)


Says the listing has ended
Where did you get the CFLs?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Says the listing has ended
> Where did you get the CFLs?


yes the listing has ended, but i provided the link so you know which one it is and who the seller is! just like the link for the bulbs ended, but shows you the exact ones and who the seller is.

here is where i bought my lights from:
3 25 watt =100 CF Compact Floro CFL VEG BLUE GROW LIGHT - eBay (item 120514165637 end time Aug-28-11 08:04:03 PDT)

now keep in mind i bought these to compare them against my other 23watt 1600lumens per bulb 6500k. i get four of them for $7$ at my work, just wanted to see if there is any substantial difference.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> yes the listing has ended, but i provided the link so you know which one it is and who the seller is! just like the link for the bulbs ended, but shows you the exact ones and who the seller is.
> 
> here is where i bought my lights from:
> 3 25 watt =100 CF Compact Floro CFL VEG BLUE GROW LIGHT - eBay (item 120514165637 end time Aug-28-11 08:04:03 PDT)
> 
> now keep in mind i bought these to compare them against my other 23watt 1600lumens per bulb 6500k. i get four of them for $7$ at my work, just wanted to see if there is any substantial difference.


Nah it shows that listing is still active.
That's not bad for $17
I paid like $20 for Exo Terra's 26w 2.0 UVB CFL
This is what it says on their site: High Colour Rendering Index of 98 (CRI) -6700 K 
How many bulbs do you need over 6700?


----------



## BethInAK

WONTON SALLY said:


> well when your a computer nerd like me, things like that tend to happen; just wait it will get worse.


I'm a software nerd. Hardware scares me. Electricity really scares me.

When I'm ready to discuss lighting and ventilation, I'm counting on your help. And moral support.


----------



## chadfarmer

WONTON SALLY said:


> sounds like either the media or poop then, hey the josh's frog order will be here tomorrow and the isopods will be here wednesday--you off work then; i am, let me know.


i am off today and all week but wont be home wednesday till later in the day


what you getting from joshs


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> How many bulbs do you need over 6700?


none;IMO you want them either 6400k or 6500k daylight bulbs, helps the plants bigtime, as well as the frogs.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> I'm a software nerd. Hardware scares me. Electricity really scares me.
> 
> When I'm ready to discuss lighting and ventilation, I'm counting on your help. And moral support.


 
anytime, bring it


----------



## WONTON SALLY

chadfarmer said:


> i am off today and all week but wont be home wednesday till later in the day
> 
> 
> what you getting from joshs


im working on wed now, but i will be home at 3pm. ABG mix 8quart and 10 of the 32oz square containers so we can make multiple iso cultures.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

zoomie, you never told me how far away you measure with thr I/R temp gun we have?


----------



## Zoomie

WONTON SALLY said:


> zoomie, you never told me how far away you measure with thr I/R temp gun we have?




No idea. I suspect that closer is better, especially iif trying to find the temp of a smaller area. Clueless on this one.

Are you going to use FF culture cups for isos?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> Are you going to use FF culture cups for isos?


 
show you in a few.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie, in this here:


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> No idea. I suspect that closer is better, especially iif trying to find the temp of a smaller area. Clueless on this one.


 
Zommie, this makes my brain hurt when i read it, can you decipher this encrypted message?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

bought these from DENDROBOARD MEMBER: gary all too good to me,, will buy from again.
gary1218








TWI/ASN








moved them to a bigger culture container.








ABG mix for substrate, fish flake food for feeding, and cardboard for hiding and adults congregating.


----------



## WONTON SALLY




----------



## CREEPlNG_DEATH

WONTON SALLY said:


> and here is the new plant i saw in a neighbors yard, anyone know what it is please post, probably should have asked that first:


My fiance searched everywhere and found out that its a variegated perennial called persian shield. I would really like some for my tanks, how is it doing by the way.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

CREEPlNG_DEATH said:


> My fiance searched everywhere and found out that its a variegated perennial called persian shield. I would really like some for my tanks, how is it doing by the way.


 more purple and more metallic; also a new hiding/stalking spot for thr frog's.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i'm trying something new with my springtail cultures-- one was way bigger than the other as far as over size;almost 3times the overal size of the other:








so i broke down the biggest one to 3smaller ones, same size as my isopods cultures:








so hopefully by this in a smaller space will create them more breeding opportunities
in the 1st two pics the smaller culture to the right had more overall sucess with more reproduction. the 3 in a single row are smaller than the 1st one on the right. sounds good in theory will post with results.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

on another note, my daughter saw these at a local store here in missouri and wanted them. they are 2male african dwarf frog's if i'm not mistaken. here's a few pics:


----------



## WONTON SALLY

my 40mm fans finally showed up:








i'm going to have to buy a new canopy lid and drill some new holes in it to create the push/pull effect to help clear the glass and to get more fresh air let's say to see if that aids in any extra/new plant development.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

bought this to help aid in my new drilling adventures:
photo courtesy of pvcfish ebay seller.








here is the link, i also bought a 1/2 inch bit as well.
1-1/2" DIAMOND DRILL BIT For MARBLE & GRANITE SINK TOPS - eBay (item 280356316204 end time Aug-28-11 08:55:42 PDT)


----------



## BethInAK

WONTON SALLY said:


>


ok, forgive my ignorance on how to grow bugs...but do you make them eat matzah? Poor things. That stuff is awful

(Wtf is that?)


----------



## BethInAK

WONTON SALLY said:


> on another note, my daughter saw these at a local store here in missouri and wanted them. they are 2male african dwarf frog's if i'm not mistaken. here's a few pics:


Yes!! Pipdae!! We have two. Pip and Pop. We love them. Very low maintenance animals.


----------



## BethInAK

CREEPlNG_DEATH said:


> My fiance searched everywhere and found out that its a variegated perennial called persian shield. I would really like some for my tanks, how is it doing by the way.


Sally, why don't you "borrow" some more cuttings from the neighbor and cultivate it and sell it to creeper and me.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> OK, forgive my ignorance on how to grow bugs...but do you make them eat matzah? Poor things. That stuff is awful
> 
> (Wtf is that?)


it is a freaking piece of freaking cardboard the substrate is ABG mix from josh's. the cardboard is a congregating place to steal the adults for feeding. from what i read that is where the adults will go at times and be on the underneath side of it; then you pick it up shake in your tank. if you try to hand pick em you'll be there all day.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> Yes!! Pipdae!! We have two. Pip and Pop. We love them. Very low maintenance animals.


 
what the heck does the above statement mean?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> Sally, why don't you "borrow" some more cuttings from the neighbor and cultivate it and sell it to creeper and me.


well when i said neighbor i wasn't exactly clear. my daughter and i were at the magic house here in st.louis. there is a house next door to it and we saw the plant and said on the way out we will "BORROW" a clipping for the tank. so if i had more than a few that wanted some, i would go back and "BORROW" some more.


----------



## BethInAK

WONTON SALLY said:


> what the heck does the above statement mean?


Pipidae = African dwarf frogs


----------



## BethInAK

There is a magic house in st Louis?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> Pipidae = African dwarf frogs


 
guess i should have known that?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> There is a magic house in st Louis?


yep pretty cool if you a kid, i have been several times as a kid, so the appeal kinda wore off.

here is the link:
The Magic House - St. Louis Children's Museum


----------



## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK here you go my cobalt's love the new addition:


----------



## WONTON SALLY

the lights i use put that white glare on the pics taking away from the overall quality.


----------



## KingSnake9

Nice tincs


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i have been very impressed with their markings. every so often the pics will show their Green markings on their front feet and lower back. thanks again Patrick.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

recieved my glass bits today:


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i plan on doing a push/pull test with some 40mm fans on a new glass lid-yet to buy. i will drill two 1 1/2 half inch holes on opposite sides of the canopy to try in achieving this effect. I have another 18x18x24 tank that i plan on just doing BROM's in it. I don't want to disrupt my frogs unless i have to. If it does well in the other tank I will do it in my current tank.








me oh my what will go in here?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

here is the 1 1/2inch glass bit in this pic. directly under the bit is the fan; it covers the diameter of the blades perfectly.








this should aid in what I am trying to achieve.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> here is the 1 1/2inch glass bit in this pic. directly under the bit is the fan; it covers the diameter of the blades perfectly.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> this should aid in what I am trying to achieve.


Are you gonna have that fans pushing air out and pull room air back in and also sucking out your humidity and sucking the dry air of the house into your tank?
I would build a channel/box that will cover the fans and then the air will come up into the channel and go across to the other fan and blow back down circulating the air.
Also I'd put it as close as I could to the back of the tank so you don't block any light...

Speaking of lights....me and you was talking about what CFLs I should get and I found these at Lowes...these should work right?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

those lights would only give you 1600lumens. if you don't want to keep any lumen sucking plants, like BROM's or Tillandsia you might be ok. i would go with the next step up which should be a 20watt if those are 13watts? that way you would get around 2200lumens. what is this channel.box you are refering too? any links/pics?


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> those lights would only give you 1600lumens. if you don't want to keep any lumen sucking plants, like BROM's or Tillandsia you might be ok. i would go with the next step up which should be a 20watt if those are 13watts? that way you would get around 2200lumens. what is this channel.box you are refering too? any links/pics?


Oh hahaha I thought it said it was 60watt but what it really says that that are 13w but can replace a 60w incandescent lols....

Ok well the channel/fan box would be a plexiglas box or glass box that is just higher than the fans and covers both fans...the box would be sealed and if placed at the front of the tank on the top it should help with the condesation on the front of the tank

there is a guy I saw that is making 150gallon vert and he made something similar on the front of his tank. He flipped one around so it would pull the air from the tank into his channel and the other fan the regular way so it would also pull the air from the other fan out of the channel and push it into the tank circulating the air.
Tachikoma's thread http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/pa...-construction-wip-pic-heavy-5.html#post580181
Here is the channel.....










Here is the fans he is using so imagine these fans in the channel











You could also just use some small air duct or like a vacum hose? 
This would be the cheaper route lol

Here I'll draw a few things up real quick lol....
The plexiglas/glass design:









The air duct design....could even be pvc...this one is cheaper but will be kinda ugly lol









Do you see the general idea?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

so are both fans mounted to pull air from the tank, or is one pulling while the other pushes?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

I'm not understanding the effect of this unless i am just recylcing the tanks own air?


----------



## fishman9809

WONTON SALLY said:


> I'm not understanding the effect of this unless i am just recylcing the tanks own air?


That's the idea. It keeps the humidity in. If you had it without the chamber/tubes the air that would be pumped in would be dry air and the air being pumped out would be all your humid goodness that your plants and frogs love so dearly.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> so are both fans mounted to pull air from the tank, or is one pulling while the other pushes?


Yup that's what it does and yes you are recycling the tanks air....well really you're circulating the air. The circulating air flow keeps the air from getting so stagnant. It helps your plants a lot and your PDFs.
Like Fisherman said...you don't want the fans pulling the air out of the tank and into your house taking all the humidity with it then pulling the house's dry air back into the tank.
I would set the fans on a timer too btw to stop while the tank is being misted....I was just thinking about how the fans might suck up too much water while the misting was happening and the channel getting a bunch of water in it. I would have the fans off for atleast double or triple the amount of time you mist so the misting can settle a bit. So if you mist for 10 seconds then don't kick the fans back on for 39seconds.
This is why you shouldn't silicone the fan box to the tank as well so the box can be removed easily if there is any excess moisture(doubtfull) or to access your fans.
Just take the box once contructed and flip it upside down with the bottom facing up and put and even bead of silicone all the way around....you need to make sure it's the same all the way around so it will sit flush on the top of the tank all the way around.
I'm sure your fans won't be powerful enough to move the box and with the box not siliconed on you have easy access to your fans and to clean up any exess moisture if any. With the fan box only having silicone when you sit it down on the tank it should give you enough of a seal.
Also you want to spread you fans as far apart as you can cause the father apart they are the more circulation they will get....if they are too close they will only be circulating the top air or the middle of the tank. Hopefullly you can get full circulation from this.
So you want fans that are gonna be strong enough to where they can carry the air to the bottom of the tank as well as to the top of the tank.
As for the placement of the wires I'm not sure...I wouldn't drill a hole in the top of the fan box cause then you would have to seal the wire hole and therefore you can full the box off due to the wires. So what I would probably due is take the mistking bulkhead size drill bit and drill a whole beside the box on the top of the tank itself. Make sure you wires aren't spliced anywhere inside the tank but if they are make sure they are sealed godd to prevent mosture shorting out your fans.

I know you think this is a lot of work but it would deffinently be worth it and your plants will have better color and all. Grimm even has mentioned that good airflow/circulation benefits both you plants and your PDFs. If you refer to his pininsula build you will see that he plans on sealing his tank and his fan system is placed inside and only circulates the air inside of the tank. http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/65988-peninsula.html

I drew you a mockup of the general idea of the circulation....


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

Here is some proof of how air circulation or having moving air in a tank can benefit your plants...some pics of before I put a fan in my greenhouse and after.
This is the little greenhouse I built 








As you can see there is a fan in the corner










These pics was taken August 2nd...only a a little over a week ago. This was before I put the fan in.

























Here is some pics after the fan was put in...they were taken today.
Here is the bromeliad that was in the first pic above and as you can see now the one pup is twice as big and there is another pup growing next to it right at the leaf I bent down.

















Here is the arrowhead plant and cryptanthus asseen above but a lot more growth and the colors on the cryptanthus have really popped








Those ficus pumila vines you see were only half their size when I got them on the 5th

With a fan system like I showed you your tank would grow in faster.


----------



## fishman9809

Wouldn't you have the same effect using the chamber even if you used only 1 fan?


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

fishman9809 said:


> Wouldn't you have the same effect using the chamber even if you used only 1 fan?


If you use the method Grimm uses in his peninsula thread. It's too late for that tho cause you need to incoperate that into the background. Plus I don't think Wonton has enough room for something like that.
The fan in my greenhouse above isn't really circulating the air...it is only pushing air around.
With the fan box design that I showed he will get full circulation. With one fan all your doing is blowing air in a straight direction and that's not cicular so therefore its not circulating 
With the design I made you could even incorperate a carbon bag in the center of the fan box to purify the air.


----------



## fishman9809

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> If you use the method Grimm uses in his peninsula thread. It's too late for that tho cause you need to incoperate that into the background. Plus I don't think Wonton has enough room for something like that.
> The fan in my greenhouse above isn't really circulating the air...it is only pushing air around.
> With the fan box design that I showed he will get full circulation. With one fan all your doing is blowing air in a straight direction and that's not cicular so therefore its not circulating
> With the design I made you could even incorperate a carbon bag in the center of the fan box to purify the air.


Well what I was thinking was like your drawing:








But instead of 2 fans, only one. the air would still be circulating but not as fast a rate.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

fishman9809 said:


> Well what I was thinking was like your drawing:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But instead of 2 fans, only one. the air would still be circulating but not as fast a rate.


Nah that wouldn't work cause it would just go through the fan box and out the other side and not get carried far enough to fully circulate....the air would slow down significantly


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i already have a fan in my tank that i am able to run at variable speeds throughout the day. granted it is at the top, but the plants on the very bottom leaves are moving, so i should already be recirculating the air correct?


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> i already have a fan in my tank that i am able to run at variable speeds throughout the day. granted it is at the top, but the plants on the very bottom leaves are moving, so i should already be recirculating the air correct?


Meh you're just pushing air around...
All you're really doing is circulating the air in the top of the tank....
What was you gonna do with the 40mm fans and the 1½ inch diamond saw?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Meh you're just pushing air around...
> All you're really doing is circulating the air in the top of the tank


isn't that the point circulating the air? also the plants on the bottom of the tank leaves are moving quite well, that is a 60mm fan in the pic.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> isn't that the point circulating the air? also the plants on the bottom of the tank leaves are moving quite well, that is a 60mm fan in the pic.


Ah well if you see the leaves moving on the plants I guess it is strong enough.
Although you're not gonna get as much circulation as my design maybe lol

What was you gonna use the 40mm fans for then?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i had planned on doing the push/pull design on a planted tank I'm doing here quite soon here in a week. i will give your design a try on the new tank and if it works i will incorporate it in my current tank. Just not sure what to use for the hose aspect of it.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> i had planned on doing the push/pull design on a planted tank I'm doing here quite soon here in a week. i will give your design a try on the new tank and if it works i will incorporate it in my current tank. Just not sure what to use for the hose aspect of it.


Cool man. I plan on doing the same for my tank if I get a chance to start on it.
I wouldn't even try to use the house but they make hoses that bend like a vacum hose at Lowes.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I wouldn't even try to use the house but they make hoses that bend like a vacuum hose at Lowe's.


any chance you know the inner diameter of the hose you are referring too?


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> any chance you know the inner diameter of the hose you are referring too?


I would really forget about the hose idea.....it is more simple to do the plexiglass box.
Of you did the hose idea you would definently have to silicone it to the tank.

If you did the all plexiglass fax box all you would have to do I'd measure about a 1" from each side of the glass....then you got your length between those two points(this will be the front and back of the box)
I would make all four sides about ¾" or 1" tall. Give yourself atlest ¾" above the fans.
then measure how wide you want it(this will be the left and right side)....I would do about ¾" away from the front of the tank and then place your fans down and give yourself ¼" on each side of the fan...then you have your width....then you wanna take the width of the plexiglass itself and subtract that x2 off the width(two side peices) of the fan box due to the width of the front and back peice or you can leave it alone and it will be maybe ¼-½ wider.
Then silicone all those peices together and make sure they are square then measure the peice for the top of the fan box.
You can get all these peices cut at Lowes for free when you but the plexiglass

The hose idea is gonna may be more complicated than this, deffinently more unattractive...but I can break it down also if you want me to....


----------



## WONTON SALLY

the plexi glass will not allow me to continue to use my current exo terra light fixture as the plexi glass would impede it from laying flat on the top like it is. with the hose i could run it over the fixture from one corner to the other without impeding my current setup. any pics of the plexi glass box on a small scale like you are referring too?


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

.


WONTON SALLY said:


> the plexi glass will not allow me to continue to use my current exo terra light fixture as the plexi glass would impede it from laying flat on the top like it is. with the hose i could run it over the fixture from one corner to the other without impeding my current setup. any pics of the plexi glass box on a small scale like you are referring too?


I see I see....well if you look at one of the diagrams above there should be enough room for your fan box then your mistking bulkhead/hose then your fixture the fan box shouldn't be any wider than 3".

As for the hose idea it won't do the idea of clearing the condensation off the front of the glass unless you but one of the fans in the center of the front of the tank....
On the other hand you can sacrifice having the front glass clearing and have the fan facing down on the plants and sucking from the front of the tank....
I'll draw you two more designs bassed upon the hose design...one of the corner and on of the front....








What you would need for it would be a PVC fitting that reduces down to the hose size.
Get a PVC fitting that will slip over the corners of those screws holes.
I think a 3" to 2" pvc reduction fitting would do...with a hole drilled into the side for the wires and silicone it.
This is what the PVC fitting will look like this below








This will be the type of hose...this is a pic of my shopvac hose(has sheetrock dust on it) but they sell this type of hose at Lowes. Silicone it into the top of the PVC fitting.









I hope one of them works....but like I was saying you should choose wether to have it blowing on your plants or the front of the glass to keep it clear so you can look in easy. You could even put the front one in the center of the glass and the back one in a corner.
Front center to back center would be best but it's up to you. The plants will still do great without having a fan directly on them. I think visability into the tank would be my priority.
Just make sure you silicone the PVC fitting and let it cure before you attach the hose


----------



## WONTON SALLY

gotcha, im going to put it in the front of the tank to keep the glass clear. it will be a few days before i get what i want worked out. with a little arc on the hose that will keep the water from building up in it as well i hope. i will post some pics once i purchase everything.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> gotcha, im going to put it in the front of the tank to keep the glass clear. it will be a few days before i get what i want worked out. with a little arc on the hose that will keep the water from building up in it as well i hope. i will post some pics once i purchase everything.


With that setup I don't think you're gonna have that issue...
Especially if you have a timer that shuts the fans off until about 20 or 30 after you mist.
It seems if you kept the fans running while you mist that the fine water particles would just get sucked up instead of settling to the floor of the tank...
I have a small digital timer by Westinghouse and you can program to run a on off cycle 8 times a day.
I'm sure you don't mist more than 8 times a day right?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

yep 8times a day believe it or not, had to add more humidity with adding the fan that blows across my lights.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> yep 8times a day believe it or not, had to add more humidity with adding the fan that blows across my lights.


But not more than 8 times right?

How would the fan on your lights decrease your humidity?

What I would do if I was you is make your light like my power compact fixture...
It has a fan on one side and on the other side it has a vent. 
The fan pulls air through the fixture cooling it.
The fixture has a thin peice of plexiglas that seales it.
I'm about to install a fan on the other side tho so it will suck more air in and also be blowing on the bulbs themselves and then the fan on the other end disgards the hot air.
I'm using it on that green house I showed you but when I mist the temps can get into the high 90s due to the humidity raising the heat index. I has to put a fan inside the tank and now it's in the high 80s
I know y'all use IR temp guns but I have the good ole mercury thermometer in there lol

Well I was just thinking tho....the fan on your fixture might take your temp in your tank down down.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i know all about PC lights as i reefed for around 12years. the way i have it now would be the same as what you referenced with adding the fans to the internals of the light fixture. i will shoot a pic.


----------



## WONTON SALLY




----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


>


Ah I see....well in order to do the air duct your gonna have to find a way to keep your light cool.

Where did ya get the turtle shell?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

the fan blows under and over the fixture, but it also blows over the vent hole on top of the tank which aids in the lower temps that is why i had to increase the misting.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Ah I see....well in order to do the air duct your gonna have to find a way to keep your light cool.
> 
> Where did ya get the turtle shell?


nope, i will just move the fan to one side of the other and then just angle it. my daughter and i went trail riding earlier in the month and as we were horse riding in the woods we came across said "turtle" shell. i boiled it twice for an 1/2 hour each time.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> nope, i will just move the fan to one side of the other and then just angle it. my daughter and i went trail riding earlier in the month and as we were horse riding in the woods we came across said "turtle" shell. i boiled it twice for an 1/2 hour each time.


Cool man...
When I do a PDF tank I wanna get a turtle shell that still has the bottom connected....maybe. I think it would look cool
And use it as a hide lol
I'd like to get one for my skink...
I wish I could find some lizard skeletons and whatnot too lol


----------



## WONTON SALLY

my frog's went to it almost as fast as i put it in, they hide/stalk in it all through out the day.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

last pics from 8/4/11

and from today


----------



## WONTON SALLY

another one from 8/4/11
 
and then today's pics


----------



## WONTON SALLY

also my peacock fern from then
 
and today








also my red veined prayer plant has sprouted 2 new leaves


----------



## WONTON SALLY

also my planted tank that i plan on doing

it's all cleaned out now has some hard water stains on it; what can i use to get them off the tank?


----------



## Tadbit

I'd start with using some Lemon Juice. That can work surprisingly well.

Here's an older post by CVB on how he cleans. I haven't had a need to use this yet but I keep it filed away to try later. 


> *CVB* wrote:
> Depending on the substance causing the smudge, either denatured alcohol or ammonia will probably cut right through it, particularly when used in combination with a brand new flat razor blade. Pure alcohol works wonders and evaporates to nothing in seconds afterward, just keep it away from acrylic. All of our tank cleaning during / after construction is done using denatured alcohol and it removes virtually everything you can encounter safely and quickly.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

good to know thanks.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

on another note i found out what has been causing my FF cultures to fail here recently. i was using more than a pinch of yeast in the cultures. well after talking with Patrick from https://www.saurian.net/home.php a local to me here in Missouri. Yeast puts of CO2 as it is used or moistened; well i didn't know that and that is why about 1/3 of my FF's were dead after a few days of setting up new cultures. Just thought i would share this with others as i was unaware maybe a few others on might have experienced similar problems, anyways thanks again Patrick!!!!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

WONTON SALLY said:


> also my planted tank that i plan on doing
> 
> it's all cleaned out now has some hard water stains on it; what can i use to get them off the tank?


 
I plan on doing a all BROMELIAD NEOREGELIA planted tank and i am going to give that a shot for a few months before I purchase *Panamanian Green and Bronze D. auratus from * https://www.saurian.net/home.php. Just want to try the plant thing only and see how that goes; if i get bored you know who will move in next.


----------



## BethInAK

WONTON SALLY said:


> Just want to try the plant thing only and see how that goes; if i get bored you know who will move in next.


Sally, I should have baby mourning geckos available in a few months. If you are ready for some animals in there, I'll send you some. Much easier to keep than PDFS but not as pretty.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> Much easier to keep than PDFS but not as pretty.


what's hard about it

thanks for the gecko offer, but i'm set on the frogs.


----------



## BethInAK

WONTON SALLY said:


> what's hard about it
> 
> thanks for the gecko offer, but i'm set on the frogs.


Well, now that you mention it, I do not know firsthand if it is hard at all!!

I think though that froggies need 1) live food, 2) more humidity and 3) absorb stuff through their skins which makes them more delicate. I'm nervous about them because the are delicate.


----------



## Zoomie

BethInAK said:


> Well, now that you mention it, I do not know firsthand if it is hard at all!!
> 
> I think though that froggies need 1) live food, 2) more humidity and 3) absorb stuff through their skins which makes them more delicate. I'm nervous about them because the are delicate.


Beth, don't let the live food thing worry you. Cultures are initially intimidating however, after a few weeks are about as intimidating as brushing your teeth. If I can do it, anyone can do it.

Frogs do absorb stuff through their skin which is why I refrain from fondling my frogs. Still, I strartled a frog while misting. It jumped out of the tank on to me, then hit the carpet to stretch out his/her legs. I used cup to pick it up, gave it a good rain storm to ensure that there were no carpet fibers stuck, and the frog if fine. In fact, I see him sitting around a little froggy camp fire with his friends, retelling the story of the day he went on a walkabout.

Sorry, didn't mean to hyjack.

The green and bronze's that I have are originally from Nabor's lines, if that is the correct term. I love them to death. The shade differences on the froglets are stunning. From almost a lime-metallic green to a pale blue turquoise. Their personalities crack me up. Can't go wrong with Patrick or any of his lines. I am so stinkin jealous that you are local to him.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie,

i plan on going with the green and bronze in my next venture; i had planned on doing that any way, but knowing what i do with yours only help speed up the process. It will be late October as it is before Patrick has them ready to go. I met with Patrick yesterday to get 4 fresh FF producing cultures, 2 bags of excelsior, and a coconut hut hairy as my daughter uses them for her toy horses and riders--DON'T ASK YOU KNOW HOW KIDS ARE, i just do it to make her happy and keep her interested in the hobby. as i mentioned a few posts ago i had told Patrick i was having some POOP for luck with my FF cultures. well after telling Patrick a few things i found out that yeast puts off CO2 and in each culture i was using enough for 10 lets say so i went from 3 cultures yesterday to 10 as my frog's have been getting by on the slim pickings due to my mistakes. my iso's and spring cultures aren't big enough to take from still. anyways ZOOMIE if you get a chance either PM me with some pics or shoot me some with a link and i will follow like a ZOMBIE, as i want to see Patrick's green and bronze frogs, as on his site it is just a general pic of the G and B frog.


----------



## Zoomie

I'll try and get some pics tonight with the door open while they beat up on FF's. Accurate color rendition with my crappy camera is tough but I will try. I promise you that you will thoroughly enjoy them. 

Waiting until October is cool as it gives you plenty of time to set up your next tank. I am behind on tanks right now. Still working on the 50 for the Auratus. Have a proven pair of Bakhuis Mountains that are staying with the current owner for a few more weeks until I get everything just right. When will we learn Tanks first. Frogs second ! 

I too put a little yeast in each FF container but have had nothing but booming cultures. I am running both Joshs media and Alan's Superfly. 

In all fairness, I had low production for my very first week's cultures. I likely did the same thing, pouring in too much Baker's yeast versus a very tiny pinch consisting of 20-30 grains. I also run coffee filters as the excelsior drives me crazy.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

BethInAK said:


> Well, now that you mention it, I do not know firsthand if it is hard at all!!
> 
> I think though that froggies need 1) live food, 2) more humidity and 3) absorb stuff through their skins which makes them more delicate. I'm nervous about them because the are delicate.


Well mostly all reptiles need live food and also absorb through their skin.
I know geckos do...yeah some can be fed gecko diets but they still absorb stuff through their skin.
Not many need high humidity tho. 
Most pets aren't really meant to be handled.....only observed


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> When will we learn Tanks first. Frogs second ! In all fairness, I had low production for my very first week's cultures. I likely did the same thing, pouring in too much Baker's yeast versus a very tiny pinch consisting of 20-30 grains. I also run coffee filters as the excelsior drives me crazy.


yep, i didn't know about springs and iso's until my tank was setup, that's why i am playing catch up right now on those particular two bugs let's say. even though i am doing a planted tank first i am still going to seed it with springs and iso's that way i will be ahead of the curve this time around. Patrick mentioned to me yesterday that 8-10 grains is perfect for the yeast, very hard to do IMO, but i reduced the amount i was adding considerably. It's great to have a local sponsor and expert just 10mins away.


----------



## Zoomie

After having great success culturing Springs and Isos, I am starting to gather many of the species available. I am turning in to bug nerd, at least from a frogger's perspective. I am having almost as much fun with the bugs as I am the frogs and tanks !


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i have almost as many bug cultures as i do FF's, so i can agree with you in being a bug nerd as well my frogging/bugging/ex-reefer friend!!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

well back to the basics with this planted tank for now; once i get my BROM's in a few weeks i will move it to the appropriate forum:
so i started with more hydroton








and then the landscaping stuff; whatever it's called


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i went with coco husk this time around as before i went with plantation soil as the substrate above the hydroton:
 
here it is in the bucket, then in the tank


----------



## WONTON SALLY

as the 2nd layer above the hydroton and the cocohusk i used the sphagnum moss


----------



## WONTON SALLY

to help keep the future FF's and other bugs in; siliconed some screen to the vent cover


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i made the same mistake as last time by not putting in the cork tile 1st, but since nothing will be enhabiting this for awhile it's a easy fix.
photo courtesy of zoo-med products.








Natural Cork Tile Background==


----------



## chadfarmer

if you need some extra moss i have some extra just come and take what u need


----------



## chadfarmer

WONTON SALLY said:


> to help keep the future FF's and other bugs in; siliconed some screen to the vent cover


looks better than your first attempt


----------



## WONTON SALLY

chadfarmer said:


> looks better than your first attempt


 
you know that's right!!


----------



## Zoomie

Looks great so far. Can't wait to see what you do with this one !

I hate my second tank. The 50 will be great but the second Exo is terrible.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> I am turning in to bug nerd


hey Zoomie, i was bored today and was looking at my springtail cultures and saw several clumps of these white dots on the charcoal. i thought it was just some old yeast as i will feed them yeast from time to time in between fish flakes and mushrooms. so i went and got my magnifier and after staring at these white dots i saw them move and i was like YES there is a god. my springtails are doing it finally; you know IT!!!!! before i was moving the charcoal around and i guess i was destroying their hard work and all. if i couldn't see the springtails right away i would go looking for them disrupting the culture. long story short don't move the charcoal around as this could destroy the tiny baby springtails before they meet my frog's.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

also my daughter has one of these live butterfly garden thingee's. so finally the 2 of the 5 caterpillars have hatched from the cocoons and i have to cut some flowers off and make sugar water. then with the included dropper i have to drip this sugar water on the flower petals to feed these butterfly's. just makes me more of a bug nerd like Zoomie stated he was as well.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> Looks great so far. Can't wait to see what you do with this one !
> 
> I hate my second tank. The 50 will be great but the second Exo is terrible.


 
i like your GS in your tanks, but im SCARED like a little girl to try it as i fear l will get it everywhere and not be able to recover from the mess.


----------



## Zoomie

I don't have GS in the Exo's. Just the 50. I bailed out on the thought and originally just covered the Exo backing in silicone and substrate after gluing the vines on.

There are a lot more steps with the GS but I love that I now have pots embedded in the wall for plants. Hopefully, I will be able to finish up siliconing substrate on it today.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> I don't have GS in the Exo's. Just the 50. I bailed out on the thought and originally just covered the Exo backing in silicone and substrate after gluing the vines on.
> 
> There are a lot more steps with the GS but I love that I now have pots embedded in the wall for plants. Hopefully, I will be able to finish up siliconing substrate on it today.


oh yeah, i forgot you only used it in the 50gal, we had talked about GS earlier in our tank threads and that you used silicone and mulch or whatnot if I'm not mistaken. i had seen a few threads earlier on in our builds and that's how we got started on talking about it; anyways i would only try it if i had a cracked tankl or something to practice on 1st.


----------



## Zoomie

It's not hard, just time consuming. I used the blue can which is the window and cracks version. It specifically states on the can that it was designed to fill gaps without crushing things during expansion. 

I did the tank in sections, back first and left to right. I took my time and did not overspray the corners. I also sprayed in layers at times. No problems whatsoever. 

If you're really worried, you can use Gorilla Glue as it expands far less, however, it can get expensive on big tanks if you're trying to build texture and depth.


----------



## BethInAK

Sally, the gs is easier to carve than I thought. Anything you don't like just hack off, no problem.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> It's not hard, just time consuming. I used the blue can which is the window and cracks version. It specifically states on the can that it was designed to fill gaps without crushing things during expansion.
> 
> I did the tank in sections, back first and left to right. I took my time and did not overspray the corners. I also sprayed in layers at times. No problems whatsoever.
> 
> If you're really worried, you can use Gorilla Glue as it expands far less, however, it can get expensive on big tanks if you're trying to build texture and depth.


didn't think about just doing it in sections and letting it dry as i go on.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> Sally, the gs is easier to carve than I thought. Anything you don't like just hack off, no problem.


good to know, sounds easy to cut the bad spots out.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

*I HAVE REAL SHROOMS I HAVE REAL SHROOMS 
I HAVE REAL SHROOMS **I HAVE REAL SHROOMS *
*I HAVE REAL SHROOMS **I HAVE REAL SHROOMS 
I HAVE REAL SHROOMS I HAVE REAL SHROOMS
















*


----------



## WONTON SALLY

not sure where the mushrooms came from, but they are quite welcome. there are 5 of them right now and each day they get a little bigger and more orange. I will post more pics later in the week as they progress.


----------



## Dart66

looks great


----------



## BethInAK

its been a long time since anyone got excited about shrooms in my life 
!!

Mazel Tov Sally!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> its been a long time since anyone got excited about shrooms in my life
> !!
> 
> Mazel Tov Sally!


 
well 2 answers for your post:
last time before this i got excited about shrooms i was still in high school HINT, HINT.

also i did a lot of work and research to get the clay ones in there and glow, so the addition of real ones just makes it that much cooler IMO.


----------



## Zoomie

Congrats on the shrooms Andy ! Moss hitchikers maybe?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

moss has been in there 2months, i got it from petsmart the dry stuff in the bag; it says to keep moist and it will come back to life. i think the brand is T-REX maybe, they might have been laying dormant in there as well before it was dried and packaged?


----------



## Absolutbill

I just wanted to thank you, I am researching a PDF viv and have found this thread invaluable!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

WONTON SALLY said:


> moss has been in there 2months, i got it from petsmart the dry stuff in the bag; it says to keep moist and it will come back to life. i think the brand is T-REX maybe, they might have been laying dormant in there as well before it was dried and packaged?


 
OR MAYBE IT WAS THE BOOGER I FLICKED ON THE MOSS TRYING TO HIT A FF.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Absolutbill said:


> I just wanted to thank you, I am researching a PDF viv and have found this thread invaluable!


thanks for the thanks
never hurts to ask
it's better to ask and know
then wonder and not know


----------



## WONTON SALLY

still looking on the best fit for the fans with some pvc fittings and vaccum hose; so i don't have to do it twice like some other things i had to redo on this build.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

I'm still trying to figure out a circulation system for this 10g I'm working on.
I don't wanna really loose any space and I don't wanna drill the glass just yet.
I'm most likely gonna have to move and the only reason I'm doing this tank is cause I have all the supplies now and I wanna build it. Might have to sell it or get someone to babysit it until I get on my feet lol

Btw how long did it take your pillow moss to come back to life?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I'm still trying to figure out a circulation system for this 10g I'm working on.
> I don't wanna really loose any space and I don't wanna drill the glass just yet.
> I'm most likely gonna have to move and the only reason I'm doing this tank is cause I have all the supplies now and I wanna build it. Might have to sell it or get someone to babysit it until I get on my feet lol
> 
> Btw how long did it take your pillow moss to come back to life?


right about a month maybe a little longer. i'm sure enviroment conditions play a big factor as well though.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

this came in yesterday:









just gives it a cleaner look IMO, also easier to mount items on it as well.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> this came in yesterday:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> just gives it a cleaner look IMO, also easier to mount items on it as well.


I hope it's softer than the forest tile they make...
That stuff is like a brick wall. I had to drill into it to attach the vines.

Btw I got a tank started here... http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/pa...-vert-semi-n00b-viv-pic-heavy.html#post637568
I'm having an issue with the light I made....I didn't know those CFLs get so damn hot.
The top of the glass will burn your hand.
I'm glad I took it off before the glass shattered.
I'm gonna have to make a new light fixture -.-


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I hope it's softer than the forest tile they make...
> That stuff is like a brick wall. I had to drill into it to attach the vines.
> 
> Btw I got a tank started here... http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/pa...-vert-semi-n00b-viv-pic-heavy.html#post637568
> I'm having an issue with the light I made....I didn't know those CFLs get so damn hot.
> The top of the glass will burn your hand.
> I'm glad I took it off before the glass shattered.
> I'm gonna have to make a new light fixture -.-


forest tile sucks IMO, that's why i use the cork tile,


----------



## WONTON SALLY

here is the planted tank with the cork tile installed, once i get the BROM's in i will move the tanks progress to the plant forum:


----------



## WONTON SALLY

well i went to lowes and HD over the weekend, both were out of the pvc reduced fittings i was looking for did some one here in STL beat me to it?


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> well i went to lowes and HD over the weekend, both were out of the pvc reduced fittings i was looking for did some one here in STL beat me to it?


Did you try Lowes?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Did you try Lowes?


 
i mentioned it first before HD or didn't you see it in my post?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

I HAVE A TURD BANDIT:








i have never seen any of my cobalts climb higher than the cocohut or the red veined plants i have in the pics below, to my knowledge they don't climb very much, but one of them does.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> i mentioned it first before HD or didn't you see it in my post?


Nah man.....I must have missed it xD
Hopefully some will turn up soon


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i was told tue,wed by both of them.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

here's a plant update:
from 8/13/11








and the 2nd pic on right is from today


----------



## WONTON SALLY

suntan begonia from 8/18/11








and then from today:


----------



## WONTON SALLY

from 8/18/11








and then today's pics:


----------



## WONTON SALLY

and a couple pics of my guard frog's


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i'm going to go by lowes and hd and see if the pvc reduced fittings are in today to get started on the air hose circulation setup.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

I hope you get them 
I can't wait to see it hooked up.

I just finished my tank today.
Uploading now


----------



## WONTON SALLY

found what i needed i will post some pics later, working on the planted tank, it will be in the plant forum later today and i will post a link for that as well.


----------



## Zoomie

Some very nice plants Andy!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> Some very nice plants Andy!


thanks for compliment Zoomie, my only dislike it is all green, no variety. that is why i am doing a planted for the next few months.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

met with patrick today, or saurian.net as some of you know:









2lb bag of media, and a great price-thanks again patrick!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

if this works on the planted tank i will install it on this tank:



i am going to trim the fans down so they fit inside the fitting and silicone it in to seal it.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

here is the link to the planted build:
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/plants/72706-strickly-neo-broms-18x18x24-w-pics-advice-welcome.html


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i am drilling the holes in the glass for the air circulation experiment today for the planted tank, i will post pics later today.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

two big holes are for the push/pull effect, the 3 smaller holes are for, a mist king nozzle, a vent hole, and wires from the purple UV LED's.


----------



## Neontra

I want an updated FTS!!! lol


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Neontra said:


> I want an updated FTS!!! lol


 
for now this will have to do, my lights are off and there was a delay, check the plant thread. i will put this on my planted and then this tank.


----------



## Zoomie

Pretty slick Andy. I may have to steal it.

You may have to blow an external fan across the tube. It may catch a little too much heat from the light fixture and slowly warm the recirculated air to a uncomfortable temp. Maybe use the I/R temp gun and watch tank temp like a hawk when you fire that thing up?


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

Zoomie said:


> Pretty slick Andy. I may have to steal it.
> 
> You may have to blow an external fan across the tube. It may catch a little too much heat from the light fixture and slowly warm the recirculated air to a uncomfortable temp. Maybe use the I/R temp gun and watch tank temp like a hawk when you fire that thing up?


He already has a fan on it well the other one her does so I'm sure he will be putting a fan on this one.

The idea actually came from me 

Where is my credit Andy


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> He already has a fan on it well the other one her does so I'm sure he will be putting a fan on this one.
> 
> The idea actually came from me
> 
> Where is my credit Andy


yep, yep you would be stealing it from DragonSpirit1185, just check a few of the previous paged and you will see all his drawings and notes, thanks again for the idea/support. more to come on the finalization.


----------



## Zoomie

I steal from everyone. You didn't think I actually come up with anything on my own? 

OK, I have two Opti pieces (plexiglass) that I can hack on to set it up. Once I get it right, I'll take it down to the glass shop and have them use a template. 

I do want to try to make a couple of changes.

Thanks to both of you !


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

Zoomie said:


> I steal from everyone. You didn't think I actually come up with anything on my own?
> 
> OK, I have two Opti pieces (plexiglass) that I can hack on to set it up. Once I get it right, I'll take it down to the glass shop and have them use a template.
> 
> I do want to try to make a couple of changes.
> 
> Thanks to both of you !


You're welcome...
You should check out the glass/plexiglass fan box idea I came up with if you want a more clean look.


----------



## Zoomie

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> You're welcome...
> You should check out the glass/plexiglass fan box idea I came up with if you want a more clean look.


Already did. The problem is that i am in the same boat as Andy due to light fixtures.

The 50 is even worse as it is a.......dare it say it........split top aquarium with limited access.

Sorry for thread-jacking Andy. I supect that all is OK as you were throwing around design ideas earlier.

And now back to our regularly scheduled build thread....


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> I do want to try to make a couple of changes.


 
what are these changes?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> You're welcome...
> You should check out the glass/plexiglass fan box idea I came up with if you want a more clean look.


i agree it may not be clean, but IMO i think the circular hose will help direct/channel the air more cleaner/stronger. who knows Zoomie may have some TOP SECRET ideas that he is unwilling to discuss until he builds it, posts it, then makes me say dangit wish i would have did it!!!!!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i do have a new fan controller coming, which will prevent me from having to build a mini PC lets say like Zoomie did. once it arrives next week i will post the new design.


----------



## Zoomie

Nothing like that. I'll go with conduit nuts and play with the placement looking for optimal flow.

Minor tweaking only. The design is sound.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

the tubing fits in the pvc super snug, less than 1/8inch play, so it will stay in place while i silicone it.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

anyone tell me good way to run the wires outside the tubing, or outside the pvc?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

while waiting for some silicone to dry, i snapped a pic of this little dude in a flower garden.








anyone have a name for the type?


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

Zoomie said:


> Nothing like that. I'll go with conduit nuts and play with the placement looking for optimal flow.
> 
> Minor tweaking only. The design is sound.


Thanks 

Ghjdksadhsjkadjsmkandmjskadhsjakndsa
Had to put this cause it said it was too short haha


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> anyone tell me good way to run the wires outside the tubing, or outside the pvc?


Drill a hole in the PVC or thee tube....preferably the PVC so you don't have the wires blocking air flow

The frog looks almost like a leapord frog...a dirty one lol.
Those and bullfrogs tend to have those narrow snouts..


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Drill a hole in the PVC or thee tube....preferably the PVC so you don't have the wires blocking air flow
> 
> The frog looks almost like a leapord frog...a dirty one lol.
> Those and bullfrogs tend to have those narrow snouts..


 
my thoughts as well, to drill in the pvc to prevent disrupting the air flow in the tube.

thanks for the ID on the frog, one thing i do know, they can jump several feet, like they have springs in their legs.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

if this design works from my planted tank, i will implement it into this tank:


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> if this design works from my planted tank, i will implement it into this tank:


Yeah you're gonna wanna get some conduit nuts to hold it on there good while you silicone it.
Well it you want it to be removable then just put you a bead of silicone on the lip that is gonna be on the lip the will go against the glass and make a gasket and let it dry so when you put it on the and tighten the nut it will seal.
You can do the same for the hose...put silicone around the hose end and let it dry and when you slide it into the PVC peice it should give you a tight fit and it should seal

Make sure when you put it in your other tank to get some good window screen so your flies don't get sucked up and chopped up.
They have some screen at lowes where the holes are no bigger than a sewing needle.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Yeah you're gonna wanna get some conduit nuts to hold it on there good while you silicone it.
> Well it you want it to be removable then just put you a bead of silicone on the lip that is gonna be on the lip the will go against the glass and make a gasket and let it dry so when you put it on the and tighten the nut it will seal.
> You can do the same for the hose...put silicone around the hose end and let it dry and when you slide it into the PVC peice it should give you a tight fit and it should seal
> 
> Make sure when you put it in your other tank to get some good window screen so your flies don't get sucked up and chopped up.
> They have some screen at lowes where the holes are no bigger than a sewing needle.


 
in the above pics it is already siliconed in; like i had mentioned earlier you have to force the hose into the PVC, extremely snug--no need for the nuts you are refering too. i have tons of screen from the tops that came with these tanks; i take 3 pieces of the screen and i put 2 of them on the underneath side in opposite directions and when i put the last piece on top it is also in a different direction from the 2 that are underneath. i have seen a few trapped in there, but no escappee's. a quick puff from the air can and trapped are gone.


----------



## reptileman79

Man I would like to thank you for this thread and to everyone who has contributed to it as well. I am just getting started in the hobby and just got a tank put together. ALOT of my questions about lighting, plants, humidity, temperature, and substrate have all been touched on. Its an all in one thread..


----------



## WONTON SALLY

reptileman79 said:


> Man I would like to thank you for this thread and to everyone who has contributed to it as well. I am just getting started in the hobby and just got a tank put together. ALOT of my questions about lighting, plants, humidity, temperature, and substrate have all been touched on. Its an all in one thread..


 
as this was my 1st PDF tank, it still a learning experience. it is great to see how everyone likes to contribute in a positive way for the most part. there are just a few TURDS in the punchbowl. ask away, but do remember there are tons of STICKY's/THREADS out there for most beginner questions as wee.


----------



## Zoomie

Andy, you callin' me a floater?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

elaborate what this "floater" is. then i will tell you.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

To keep a more exact count on my FF i bought a scale to measure everything. I measure the media in the cup while it's dry, after i add water to it, after i add excelsior to it, after i mist the excelsior, and then after i add the flies. also keep a journal with it to keep a track record on things incase something starts to go wrong with the FF's.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

still waiting on a new fan controller to arrive, should be here FRI or SAT. once i hook it up to the push/pull air circulation on the planted tank and i get the effect i am wanting i will start to build the canopy for this tank that is on the planted tank.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i have the push/pull installed in my planted tank, but i am not sure how well the air exchange is in the tank; i may wait a week or so to see how the plants are doing before i set out to drill the other piece of glass i have for the new canopy--onlt time will tell.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> i have the push/pull installed in my planted tank, but i am not sure how well the air exchange is in the tank; i may wait a week or so to see how the plants are doing before i set out to drill the other piece of glass i have for the new canopy--onlt time will tell.


Get you some dry ice or fogger or something and see how the circulation is.
There has to be something where you can see the air moving around


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Get you some dry ice or fogger or something and see how the circulation is.
> There has to be something where you can see the air moving around


 
you can't just buy dry ice, you have to have some type of permit unless i am wrong, also a fogger defeats the purpose of the mistking. the NEOs that are in there their leaves are heavier than what is in my cobalt tank. all the plants in this tank are thin leaved there for you can see them moving, but can't see that in the planted tank because of the heavier neos, but as well i don't think it flows as much either, has to be amother way.


----------



## Absolutbill

In Florida you can buy dry ice in some supermarkets 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## fishman9809

No permit is needed to buy dry ice


----------



## WONTON SALLY

fishman9809 said:


> No permit is needed to buy dry ice


 
ok so where do you buy it then?


----------



## fieldnstream

Many grocery stores sell it, check in the freezer section. My local Publix carries it, maybe you could start your search there.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

fieldnstream said:


> Many grocery stores sell it, check in the freezer section. My local Publix carries it, maybe you could start your search there.


 
dumb question: 
what part of the freezers/foods in freezers do you see it with?


----------



## jkooiman

WONTON SALLY said:


> ok so where do you buy it then?


Try one of the big grocery wholesalers, you know, the ones that restaurant owners buy last-minute supplies at, bulk stuff. That's where I get my fly cups. JVK


----------



## fieldnstream

WONTON SALLY said:


> dumb question:
> what part of the freezers/foods in freezers do you see it with?


Its in a freezer at the end of the aisle in my store.


----------



## Absolutbill

They have a small separate freezer off to the side. Call around before you go not all stores have it, you may have to find a speciality ice company.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> you can't just buy dry ice, you have to have some type of permit unless i am wrong, also a fogger defeats the purpose of the mistking. the NEOs that are in there their leaves are heavier than what is in my cobalt tank. all the plants in this tank are thin leaved there for you can see them moving, but can't see that in the planted tank because of the heavier neos, but as well i don't think it flows as much either, has to be amother way.


I meant just to see the flow not leave the fogger in pemanently...
Just get some kind of foggyness going so you can watch the air move.
Make sure you turn the fans down low or you won't be able to see the fog circulate it will just clear it up if the fans are too high


----------



## WONTON SALLY

jkooiman said:


> Try one of the big grocery wholesalers, you know, the ones that restaurant owners buy last-minute supplies at, bulk stuff. That's where I get my fly cups. JVK


 
what is the name of this store you are refering too?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I meant just to see the flow not leave the fogger in pemanently...
> Just get some kind of foggyness going so you can watch the air move.
> Make sure you turn the fans down low or you won't be able to see the fog circulate it will just clear it up if the fans are too high


 
i know what you meant, but trying to replicate this scenario is easier said than done.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

anybody else know a way to help check the air flow in this TANK?


----------



## BethInAK

Sally, they sell it up front by the cashiers - usually in a locked box they have to open for you!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

call me crazy, but i can't remember a time when i have seen it in a grocery store or known anybody that needed dry ice for anything. Except for MR.WIZARD when he put a racket ball in some and then broke it into a million pieces, or was that liquid nitrogen?


----------



## BethInAK

that mr wizard bit was probably liquid nitrogen which is much colder than dry ice. 

they sell it in alaska for shipping fish!! And we use it for cool science experiments and on halloween to make awesome punch.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> that mr wizard bit was probably liquid nitrogen which is much colder than dry ice.
> 
> they sell it in alaska for shipping fish!! And we use it for cool science experiments and on halloween to make awesome punch.


 
at least someone else knows who MR.WIZARD was, that show was on when i was a kid.


----------



## Steverd

Where I grew up in Maryland, I was told that you couldnt buy dry ice. Yes like said before you needed a permit or something. But then when I moved to Washington state (over 20 yrs ago) I was very surprised to see it forsale at most grocery stores. It's usually up front by the bags of ice here. Great for Halloween...

Steve


----------



## BethInAK

WONTON SALLY said:


> at least someone else knows who MR.WIZARD was, that show was on when i was a kid.


Sally, I loved Mr Wizard. But apparently, Mr Wizard has been on in the 50's, the 70's and the 80's. Which version did you watch?  (you have a young daughter, so I'm guessing not the 50's)


----------



## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> Sally, I loved Mr Wizard. But apparently, Mr Wizard has been on in the 50's, the 70's and the 80's. Which version did you watch?  (you have a young daughter, so I'm guessing not the 50's)


 
it was in the 80's;; also the kids on there were wearing the same clothes as i did. i was born in 75'. i haven't seen that show again since the mid 80's again.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i will call around today and look more on the internet for a source to buy dry ice and post later.


----------



## BethInAK

WONTON SALLY said:


> it was in the 80's;; also the kids on there were wearing the same clothes as i did. i was born in 75'. i haven't seen that show again since the mid 80's again.



you are a mere pup!! (I watched in the 80's too but I was too old)


----------



## WONTON SALLY

never claimed i was a veteran, but i think you might have given us a hint on your age Beth.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

besides the orange mushrooms i have been getting in my tank, i have been getting these popping up randomly as well:









they start out less than a 1/2inch in the morning and by the time the lights go out-they are several inches tall like in the above pic.


----------



## BethInAK

WONTON SALLY said:


> never claimed i was a veteran, but i think you might have given us a hint on your age Beth.



Just call me Grandma, sonny!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

hey age is just a number and that's it!


----------



## azureus for life

Tank is looking good. Good luck!


----------



## BethInAK

WONTON SALLY said:


> hey age is just a number and that's it!



In terms of my maturity level, thats true. Sadly, my gray hair disagrees.

Sonny.


----------



## Zoomie

BethInAK said:


> In terms of my maturity level, thats true. Sadly, my gray hair disagrees.
> 
> Sonny.


At least you have hair!

Andy, looking great sir. Insanely jealous of your shrooms.


----------



## BethInAK

how did i miss the hairy cap shroom!! its cool!!!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> At least you have hair!
> 
> Andy, looking great sir. Insanely jealous of your shrooms.


 
pick a booger and flick it in some moss, that's what i did


after the orange ones started to come in, other random ones started to pop up.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i came across some new fans that are brushless and the actual RPM shows up on the fan controller screen, the 40mm wouldn't register the RPM and there was no way to control it either. i am redoing the push/pull design with the new fans on the planted. once i get that fixed i will definitely do it to this one.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

this is absolutely crazy. this is my Assorted Gesneriad, and this is what is growing off of it inside the tank:

INSIDE THE TANK









OUTSIDE THE TANK SHOT









anybody else had this in their tank or seen it before?


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> this is absolutely crazy. this is my Assorted Gesneriad, and this is what is growing off of it inside the tank:
> 
> INSIDE THE TANK
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> OUTSIDE THE TANK SHOT
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> anybody else had this in their tank or seen it before?


Idk what it is but I have it on one leaf in my new viv but I had one like this growing on the front of my old viv.
I'd like to know what it is as well...looks pretty wicked.


----------



## BethInAK

Sal, I think you have a rogue alien brain in there. Call NASA asap.
It must be some sort of fungus, no? Its sure cool. I think you should post this pic in the plant section.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

BethInAK said:


> Sal, I think you have a rogue alien brain in there. Call NASA asap.
> It must be some sort of fungus, no? Its sure cool. I think you should post this pic in the plant section.


Yeah I'm thinking its a fungus as well


----------



## WONTON SALLY

a fungus amoung us? i thought it was another plant growing off the Gesneriad.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> a fungus amoung us? i thought it was another plant growing off the Gesneriad.


Nah mine was growing on the front of the glass where my riverbed ran off into the gravel. 
Well there was some peices of moss there so maybe it was growing off that.
I wish someone would tell us what it is lol


----------



## WONTON SALLY

IDK any plant wizards to help out.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> IDK any plant wizards to help out.


I went venturing into the General Discussion area and saw a thread where they mention that it is slime mold and isn't harmful to your frogs.
Here is where I saw it
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/general-discussion/73397-black-dots-glass.html


----------



## Neontra

Here you guys go. I found my mushroom guide book and found 2 possible things. The first is spreading yellow tooth but im' 95% sure it's Many-headed slime.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie posted this link in my planted thread:

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/id...t-fungus-mushroom-has-taken-over-my-tank.html


----------



## WONTON SALLY

my reflector will be here wednesday as i plan to MOD my exo dual light canopy on both tanks.


----------



## Zoomie

WONTON SALLY said:


> my reflector will be here wednesday as i plan to MOD my exo dual light canopy on both tanks.


So the tape didn't get it done. Thanks for that. Saved me a lot of wasted time.

Did you buy an aftermarket reflector?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> So the tape didn't get it done. Thanks for that. Saved me a lot of wasted time.
> 
> Did you buy an aftermarket reflector?


 
no the tape does do it, but I am going to do it on the planted 1st and compair the 2.

hey i can't tell you how many things i h.ave had to redo because of you


----------



## Zoomie

WONTON SALLY said:


> no the tape does do it, but I am going to do it on the planted 1st and compair the 2.
> 
> hey i can't tell you how many things i h.ave had to redo because of you


I learned that reflectors make a world of difference in reefing. The reflectors in the the Exo fixtures are in fact crap. A full reflector would be great for them although I suspect that heat will then become a problem.

We're just both trying to get it right, hence the beauty of build threads and sharing information.


----------



## WendySHall

WONTON SALLY said:


> this is absolutely crazy. this is my Assorted Gesneriad, and this is what is growing off of it inside the tank:
> 
> INSIDE THE TANK
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> OUTSIDE THE TANK SHOT
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> anybody else had this in their tank or seen it before?


I had the exact same thing pop up on the front glass of one of my tanks a while back. I posted a picture which was almost identical to yours (gone now) and it was identified as slime mold. It's nothing to worry about. It will probably stop forming very shortly...mine did not last long.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> I learned that reflectors make a world of difference in reefing. The reflectors in the the Exo fixtures are in fact crap. A full reflector would be great for them although I suspect that heat will then become a problem.
> 
> We're just both trying to get it right, hence the beauty of build threads and sharing information.


 
you think since i will be maximizing the full light (hopefully) that it will cause more heat-since the turd stock reflectors absorb the heat now?


----------



## EntoCraig

Nice Micelium/Slim mold. This stuff creeps all over my tanks and disappears for long periods of time.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

EntoCraig said:


> Nice Micelium/Slim mold. This stuff creeps all over my tanks and disappears for long periods of time.


it's so real looking that it is fake-if that makes sense?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

couple updates on some plants in the tank:
here is suntan begonia from 8/31
 
and then from today:


----------



## WONTON SALLY

from 8/31 as well:


and then from today:


----------



## WONTON SALLY

forget the name of this but it seems to grow nonstop-well plants do that anyways?


----------



## Neontra

Why are you taunting us? WE WANT AN FTS!!!!!


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> forget the name of this but it seems to grow nonstop-well plants do that anyways?


Its a persian sheild plant
persian shield plant - Google Search

Not all plants get big like that some stay small but that plant does get pretty big.
If you want you can trim it down....
If it gets too big I don't think it will be very organic looking in a small viv like that.
From what I've also seen that plant has to get a lot bigger that that viv itself to flower.
From my marijuana growing days I can tell you that if you keep trimming it down then it will stay really small and still bud/flower.....so you might can apply this to the persian shield plant..
Same method for a bonsai tree.....keep your plant trimmed and it might like like a fully grown one but miniture lol
At the rate this thing is going tho it will outgrow your tank in no time and probably won't have enough space to get big enough to produce flowers(unless you use the trimming method)

Btw what in the world is that on one of the leaves, below the mist king nozzle?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

it is a clay mushroom that glows in the dark.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> it is a clay mushroom that glows in the dark.


Ah I thought so but I thought they was all white besides the colored one you did.
I wonder why the musroom are getting dark like that


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Ah I thought so but I thought they was all white besides the colored one you did.
> I wonder why the musroom are getting dark like that


not sure as well, haven't been able to figure that one out yet?


----------



## ckays

WONTON SALLY said:


> couple updates on some plants in the tank:
> here is suntan begonia from 8/31
> 
> and then from today:


What kind of light does this plant receive? I just planted one and i believe that it is starting to rot or burn.. I'm not sure how to tell the difference really, but I have reduced the amount of water it gets (misting that area of tank less). I have LEDS that are ~14" away but it does get their direct light all day. 

I like this plant a lot, trying not to lose it. 

Thanks.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

give me about 1/2 hour or so and i will show you.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

I have tested that 6w spot for 8 weeks and LED spots can grow plants!!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i have one of the only gooseneck spotlights and no one had any questions


----------



## Neontra

more of a suggestion than a question, but are there any updated pics!!! I
m dying over here!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i can do that, it will be up in a few.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Neontra said:


> more of a suggestion than a question, but are there any updated pics!!! I
> m dying over here!


 
here you go:


----------



## Neontra

Awesome! A few Q's. Ok first, what is that white thing on the cocohut? Second, is that a prayer plant in the middle front? It looks awesome!
That pink plant in the back is really growing fast, it looks really nice!


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Neontra said:


> Awesome! A few Q's. Ok first, what is that white thing on the cocohut? Second, is that a prayer plant in the middle front? It looks awesome!
> That pink plant in the back is really growing fast, it looks really nice!


the white on the cocohut is glow clay, makes it shine at night, the plant that looks like a firework exploding on the top of the wood is a 
Tillandsia velutina
but it has never colored-been very stubborn, and that big purple sucker in the background is going to have to be cut in half as it is wicked tall and grows like a weed!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

Neontra said:


> Awesome! A few Q's. Ok first, what is that white thing on the cocohut? Second, is that a prayer plant in the middle front? It looks awesome!
> That pink plant in the back is really growing fast, it looks really nice!


the big plant in the back is called Persian Shield it's actually purple 
that cocohut just makes me think of a female Wookie's tit with a large white areola/nipple haha js (no offence Andy )



Andy I'm concerned about that fan....it has no screen on it to protect the frogs...yeah yours may not climb but if they try or if they get on on of your wood or plants and jumps towards the front that fan is gonna maim or kill your frog(s)....that needs to get covered asap...it is a safety issue









and btw you should get you some vines and broms and pin them to that background and toss the Persian Shield out...it looks good but it's not meant for a tank that small.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> the big plant in the back is called Persian Shield it's actually purple
> that cocohut just makes me think of a female Wookie's tit with a large white areola/nipple haha js (no offence Andy )
> 
> 
> 
> Andy I'm concerned about that fan....it has no screen on it to protect the frogs...yeah yours may not climb but if they try or if they get on on of your wood or plants and jumps towards the front that fan is gonna maim or kill your frog(s)....that needs to get covered asap...it is a safety issue
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and btw you should get you some vines and broms and pin them to that background and toss the Persian Shield out...it looks good but it's not meant for a tank that small.


vines would have to be in the next tank in the corner, i will proably toss the shield getting way too big, broms will have to wait a few more weeks to go in.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> vines would have to be in the next tank in the corner, i will proably toss the shield getting way too big, broms will have to wait a few more weeks to go in.


I'm more concerned about that fan having open blades and it hurting the frogs


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I'm more concerned about that fan having open blades and it hurting the frogs


never thought about it, but i guess it only takes once.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

i have been having trouble with my air plants or tills. i have had one particular in the tank for 3 months, hasn't really grown, but as well it hasn't changed colors like it could either. anyone else have some tips to get them to grow and color?


----------



## Neontra

WONTON SALLY said:


> i have been having trouble with my air plants or tills. i have had one particular in the tank for 3 months, hasn't really grown, but as well it hasn't changed colors like it could either. anyone else have some tips to get them to grow and color?


I have 3 bromeliads. I always had trouble with 2 falling or just mounting somewhere nice. The other one I never really messed with and it's growing the fastest.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Neontra said:


> I have 3 bromeliads. I always had trouble with 2 falling or just mounting somewhere nice. The other one I never really messed with and it's growing the fastest.


thanks for the post, but i wasn't refering to BROM's, I'm talking about tills or air plants exclusively.


----------



## Neontra

Oh whoops, forgot! Ok, well it looks like the fan is blowing right on to those tills, but I'd put it where they'd get the _best_ circulation. Remember, they're more arid than tropical.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Neontra said:


> Oh whoops, forgot! Ok, well it looks like the fan is blowing right on to those tills, but I'd put it where they'd get the _best_ circulation. Remember, they're more arid than tropical.


 
nope the fan is blowing at the glass to clear condensation not towards the back of the tank.


----------



## Zoomie

Andy, Tills have been extremely cranky for me, especially the smaller ones. They don't like being misted regularly.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> Andy, Tills have been extremely cranky for me, especially the smaller ones. They don't like being misted regularly.


 
well unfortunately i know that as well with my big Till in my cobalt tank and now the small 4 Tills i got on my last plant order, was hoping to hear something to aid in their growth due to the fact the have some very bright colors, just wanteing to see them POP!


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

well at H0me Depot they had tills just hot glued to these shallow dishes and they had water sitting in the dish...so they was constantly sitting in the water


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> well at H0me Depot they had tills just hot glued to these shallow dishes and they had water sitting in the dish...so they was constantly sitting in the water


 
didn't realize HD sold TILLS, are there any with quality colors.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> didn't realize HD sold TILLS, are there any with quality colors.


Idk these looked like pups...
they probably are just your basics.


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Idk these looked like pups...
> they probably are just your basics.


 
probably was the case, otherwise you would have seen some silly high prices.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> probably was the case, otherwise you would have seen some silly high prices.


well for the little dish that looked like a lily pad and it had a frog on it and 2 tills it was $15


----------



## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> well for the little dish that looked like a lily pad and it had a frog on it and 2 tills it was $15


probably just some plain green ones?


----------



## WONTON SALLY

although i will keep a look out next year for tills there at HD just too see what they have.


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## WONTON SALLY

anyone had luck with a CO2 paintball cartridge bombing their tanks for unwanted pests?


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## Zoomie

WONTON SALLY said:


> anyone had luck with a CO2 paintball cartridge bombing their tanks for unwanted pests?


What kind of pests have shown up ?


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## WONTON SALLY

Zoomie said:


> What kind of pests have shown up ?


*Nemerteans*


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## WONTON SALLY

on a positive note i had this this morning:








and then like they all do after a few long hours:


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## BethInAK

oooh nice shrooms.

I think my screen tops are too airy for shrooms or moss or mold.


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## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> oooh nice shrooms.
> 
> I think my screen tops are too airy for shrooms or moss or mold.


 
so what temps are your tank/s holding at with screen tops?


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## WONTON SALLY

my red veined plant bloomed again today, below are some pics of it.


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## BethInAK

WONTON SALLY said:


> so what temps are your tank/s holding at with screen tops?



the 12x12x18's with one mega cfl is at 78 degrees at the top (good for mourning geckos)

The 12x12x18's with the one LYR LED at the top are at 72 or so.

The growout tank for the plants is an 18x18x24 and it has four cfl's on it is a bit warmer - maybe high 70's low 80's but I don't have a thermometer in there and there isn't much ventilation since i have two hoods on it.. I'm ordering some more LYR LED's because they are much, much brighter than the CFL's and cooler.


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## BethInAK

is "red veined plant" the scientific name?


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## B-NICE

@ Wonton Sally what type of wood is that? I'm starving for some mushrooms.


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## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> the 12x12x18's with one mega cfl is at 78 degrees at the top (good for mourning geckos)
> 
> The 12x12x18's with the one LYR LED at the top are at 72 or so.
> 
> The growout tank for the plants is an 18x18x24 and it has four cfl's on it is a bit warmer - maybe high 70's low 80's but I don't have a thermometer in there and there isn't much ventilation since i have two hoods on it.. I'm ordering some more LYR LED's because they are much, much brighter than the CFL's and cooler.


 
thanks for the temps, do you have any of the pics for the LED's.


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## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> is "red veined plant" the scientific name?


 
that is the description that Patrick has on his site, saurian.net sponsor from here, if he did tell me the scientific name i forgot it.


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## WONTON SALLY

B-NICE said:


> @ Wonton Sally what type of wood is that? I'm starving for some mushrooms.


maybe mopani wood, correct me if I am wrong?


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## B-NICE

Those mushrooms look so good, you wouldnt even think they are real. I'm going to get some of that wood tomorrow. What about the mossy looking stuff on there. I have to just keep the wood really moist right?


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## BethInAK

Sally, it is this one - 15 Watt Day White LED Unit ** Highest Output Unit**


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## B-NICE

I switched from soft white lights to day lights and I love the difference. Do plants grow the same with LED's?


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## WONTON SALLY

B-NICE said:


> I switched from soft white lights to day lights and I love the difference. Do plants grow the same with LED's?


 
i have grown my suntan begonia's onder a 6watt 3 LED fixture and have grown it back from the Dead to fully Alive and Exploding with Life.


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## WONTON SALLY

here are some updated pics of the Cobalt's i have:

















and then the other:

















and them posting Guard on the Jungle:


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## BethInAK

Sal, those are some portly buggers. very pretty!


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## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> Sal, those are some portly buggers. very pretty!


 
they love their FF's. I finally have the fruit fly thing down an the reap the benefits.


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## B-NICE

Sally did you saturate the wood with water to get the mushrooms?


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## WONTON SALLY

B-NICE said:


> Sally did you saturate the wood with water to get the mushrooms?


no, but with mold all over the wood, i spray it few times daily to help control the mold, had a bloom about a month ago so it should subside here soon-maybe.


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## WONTON SALLY

some random pics of a shroom in the tank:


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## WONTON SALLY

about 2hours after the last pic it was dead as usual.

still waiting on the tanks to arrive, once they do i will get it tested and then order the coil from ebay, if the paintball shop doesn't have a cheaper one than i found.


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## WONTON SALLY

these have been growing out of my wood stump for about 2-3weeks now, not sure what they are, but they appear to be another fungus, CAN YOU HELP ID THEM?


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## DragonSpirit1185

I don't see why your shrooms are dying unless you're not misting enough.
I see all kinds of shrooms stick around for a few days when it's raining of course but even when it is hot and dry after it rains i still see then stick around longer than yours.
tbh you're viv does look fairly dry all the time. how often are you misting?

this is how mine usually always looks









you can see there is droplets in a lot of places


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## BethInAK

WONTON SALLY said:


> these have been growing out of my wood stump for about 2-3weeks now, not sure what they are, but they appear to be another fungus, CAN YOU HELP ID THEM?


these look a little like some pink ones I had in my yard this fall:
Gardening in Alaska : 'Tis the season for mushrooms | adn.com


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## EntoCraig

My mushrooms die faster with more misting. I cut back my misting just a tad and they last 2-3 says instead of 1.

Doesn't really make sense to me but that's how its been going.


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## DragonSpirit1185

EntoCraig said:


> My mushrooms die faster with more misting. I cut back my misting just a tad and they last 2-3 says instead of 1.
> 
> Doesn't really make sense to me but that's how its been going.


really? well my bad then lol
it's just that it has rained here for the past few days and the shrooms here came up everywhere and they stayed wet for 4 days but when it began to warm up and dry they started dying


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## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> these look a little like some pink ones I had in my yard this fall:
> Gardening in Alaska : 'Tis the season for mushrooms | adn.com


those look cooler thqn the ones i have, they don't grow very fast compaired to the regular ones i have pop up in here.


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## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I don't see why your shrooms are dying unless you're not misting enough.
> I see all kinds of shrooms stick around for a few days when it's raining of course but even when it is hot and dry after it rains i still see then stick around longer than yours.
> tbh you're viv does look fairly dry all the time. how often are you misting?
> 
> this is how mine usually always looks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> you can see there is droplets in a lot of places


i change the speed of the fan in it a few times a day, so it tends to look dry at times, which it is very humid in the tank.


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## WONTON SALLY

still removing a few worms a day, the CO2 tanks haven't arrived yet-they should be here late this week.


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## B-NICE

I found another snail/slug. I just plucked it out of my viv. SMH.


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## WONTON SALLY

B-NICE said:


> I found another snail/slug. I just plucked it out of my viv. SMH.


 
were you able to pinpoint where they came from? 

My CO2 tanks arrived yesterday: But both tanks say they need to be hydro-tested before 10/2008 so oes this mean that the paintball shop won't fill them until i do that?


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## mordoria

There is some great dry ice places n the city (NYC) that you could of gotten ice from. 
If you have no inhabitants, i just drop the ice in a cup of water and it fills the tank wth co2


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## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> My CO2 tanks arrived yesterday: But both tanks say they need to be hydro-tested before 10/2008 so oes this mean that the paintball shop won't fill them until i do that?


call the paintball shop


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## B-NICE

I actually dropped some lettuce in my viv and I didnt see anything. I bleach and bake my leaves from outside, but they are only in one viv. I think they are slugs (babies), because they dont have shells. I'm getting a trio of Lecu's today so I dont have time to bomb the viv.


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## DragonSpirit1185

B-NICE said:


> I actually dropped some lettuce in my viv and I didnt see anything. I bleach and bake my leaves from outside, but they are only in one viv. I think they are slugs (babies), because they dont have shells. I'm getting a trio of Lecu's today so I dont have time to bomb the viv.


um yeah you do...put them in a quarantine tank...even if you have to go buy a Sterilite bin and use it and clean it and take it back to the store.

do the responsible thing and handle this BEFORE you put your frogs in....

I'm not trying to be a douche but there is plenty of time to bomb your viv...all you need is a 1gallon jug, 2liter, vinegar and baking soda. not sure about the mixture but here is all the info

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/56812-building-using-co2-generator.html

btw slugs dont have shells....snails do


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## boabab95

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> .even if you have to go buy a Sterilite bin and use it and clean it and take it back to the store.


Why take it back? If i had an extra bin, i'd start a large microfauna culture...


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## DragonSpirit1185

boabab95 said:


> Why take it back? If i had an extra bin, i'd start a large microfauna culture...


tbh it seems as if he doesn't want to put the money into making the co2 generator....idk.
just letting him know he could take it back and get his money back so he would be more prone to do it.
meh if he wants to put his frogs at risk that's on him.

I actually plan to do what you mentioned. I'm gonna make several large cultures for backups the make a really large culture.
I'm not using charcoal tho....I'm using ABG and leaf litter just like what you would see in the viv and in the wild. In the wild springtails don't live on charcoal, nor any other microfauna.


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## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> tbh it seems as if he doesn't want to put the money into making the co2 generator....idk.
> just letting him know he could take it back and get his money back so he would be more prone to do it.
> meh if he wants to put his frogs at risk that's on him.
> 
> I actually plan to do what you mentioned. I'm gonna make several large cultures for backups the make a really large culture.
> I'm not using charcoal tho....I'm using ABG and leaf litter just like what you would see in the viv and in the wild. In the wild springtails don't live on charcoal, nor any other microfauna.


 
so how will you extract the spring's from the ABG mix?


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## WONTON SALLY

B-NICE said:


> I actually dropped some lettuce in my viv and I didnt see anything. I bleach and bake my leaves from outside, but they are only in one viv. I think they are slugs (babies), because they dont have shells. I'm getting a trio of Lecu's today so I dont have time to bomb the viv.


 
i understand about putting the frogs right in the tank, but a few extra days will be ok as I would bomb it know otherwise you could have a explosion of your snail/slugs you have.


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## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> so how will you extract the spring's from the ABG mix?


you can just poor just like you do with the charcoal and add more water.
you keep the ABG mix really soggy.
I also think that when you make these cultures and the culture is done then you will have some nicely fertilized ABG to use for plants.
I'm in the process of making a springtail pooter.
might be made of a peanut butter jar upside down so that when I suck on the house it will suck them up and place them onto the lid and I can just unscreww the lid and place that inside the viv.

in case you don't know what I'm talking about here is a bug pooter I made for my pinhead crickets. you suck through the top hose and put the bottom hose over the bug and it sucks em up and captures them into the bottle.


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## WONTON SALLY

i have a 10ml or 2 Tsp syringe that i use to extract my springs and it allows me to pinpoint the spring's to feed with.


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## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> i have a 10ml or 2 Tsp syringe that i use to extract my springs and it allows me to pinpoint the spring's to feed with.


I would see a medicine dropper working well for something like this but no a syringe. or are you sucking up water with them?


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## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> I would see a medicine dropper working well for something like this but no a syringe. or are you sucking up water with them?


 
yes it does get water in the syringe, but the springs stay in a ball in the syringe-so once i go to squirt the syringe in the tank all the water goes back into the culture 1st then all that is left is the springs in the syringe so little to basically no water goes in the tank. i can take a few pics showing you how the springs stay in a ball.


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## B-NICE

You must have lots of S.T. to do something like that.


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## Cfrog

Your pix are great, thanks for sharing got some great ideas from yours.


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## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> yes it does get water in the syringe, but the springs stay in a ball in the syringe-so once i go to squirt the syringe in the tank all the water goes back into the culture 1st then all that is left is the springs in the syringe so little to basically no water goes in the tank. i can take a few pics showing you how the springs stay in a ball.


sure man. go for it.


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## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> sure man. go for it.


I will shoot a few pics for tomorrow.


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## DragonSpirit1185

cool man.
my culture is booming lol.
I wanna go ahead and seed the viv and get them in there cleaning up some mold and stuff but the bugs that were there before are now back again.
I thought when I tore down the viv and pulled out all the old substrate I had got rid of them.
Now I think they are eating my pepperomias :/
they were fine until I noticed the bugs and now the leaves have holes in them but none of the other plants have been touched.
idk what kind of bugs they are...I wish I did.
they have tear dropped shaped bodies and they look like a metallic silver in color and jump around when disturbed.
I think I'm just gonna bomb the tank.


I'm curious tho do we need to change out the water in our cultures cause the water in mine smells like death. It's absolutely horrid smelling.


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## WONTON SALLY

Thanks for all the replies, i have taken some time off from the boards to just sit back and enjoy both of my tanks, without having my hands in there every hour messing with something or what not. I will post some pics as everything has grown and adjusted nicely IMO. After the holidays I will be at home for a few months I will be back to posting on a every hour basis as i did before. I will post the pics in a few days once my new battery for my camera comes in.


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## WONTON SALLY




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## DragonSpirit1185

Looks great 
That begonia has gotten big lol.
Frogs look nice and plump 

I figured you would have covered the fan by now tho. I hope none of them take a leap towards the fan


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## BethInAK

Andy, is that a POOING FROG?


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## Abuxton45

hahahahahaha i like the 'play by play' pooping shots


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## DragonSpirit1185

lmfao I just noticed the frog was pooping then I saw everyone else noticed it as well haha how did I not see that before hahaha


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## WONTON SALLY

BethInAK said:


> Andy, is that a POOING FROG?


 
I thought it would be sweet to show the play by play of the poop!!


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## WONTON SALLY

this is one of my cobalt's, can I get everyones best guess. Once I can get a confirmation of the sex of this one i will post the pics of the other frog.


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## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Looks great
> That begonia has gotten big lol.
> Frogs look nice and plump
> 
> I figured you would have covered the fan by now tho. I hope none of them take a leap towards the fan


I only run that one when I am home down by the frog tank. One of the cobalts climbs like a spider.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> this is one of my cobalt's, can I get everyones best guess. Once I can get a confirmation of the sex of this one i will post the pics of the other frog.


Looks like a male 








Josh’s Frogs How-To Guides » Blog Archive » How to Visually Sex Dart Frogs


----------



## Mer_

Great viv! Love the play-by-play of the pooping.

I am thinking that one is a male


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## WONTON SALLY

Mer_ said:


> Great viv! Love the play-by-play of the pooping.
> 
> I am thinking that one is a male


anyone else care to confirm that it is a male?

I will post the pics of the other cobalt later this afternoon if i get confirmation on the sex.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> anyone else care to confirm that it is a male?
> 
> I will post the pics of the other cobalt later this afternoon if i get confirmation on the sex.


Cool cool..can't wait to see the pics.
post the pics in a thread here too...Identification Forum - Dendroboard


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## WONTON SALLY

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Cool cool..can't wait to see the pics.
> post the pics in a thread here too...Identification Forum - Dendroboard


 
thanks for the info, I have one confirmed male for sure, on the 2nd cobalt is has been 50/50, so i will try it again the 1st week of Febuary they will both be 10months old then.


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## DragonSpirit1185

WONTON SALLY said:


> thanks for the info, I have one confirmed male for sure, on the 2nd cobalt is has been 50/50, so i will try it again the 1st week of Febuary they will both be 10months old then.


thought you was gonna post pics of the other one?


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## WONTON SALLY

i did, i started a thread in the identification forum. i can post them here or you can check it out there.


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## oldkid

Sally,
Great thread! One quick question tho. My computer is old and almost as slow as I am, but it will not show who you got your 6 watt 3 LED lights from. I'm impressed with your results, and may get some. Thanks
Tim


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