# My 480 update



## pugman (Jul 15, 2004)

Hey people! Here are some pics of my 480 gallon viv. Today I found a dragonfly in it.
This what it looked like four years ago.








This is what it looks like today


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## afterdark (Jan 16, 2007)

Absolutely awesome! 

Two questions, do you have any frogs in that beauty? And do you have any details on the construction process? I'm sure there would be others interested in how you put this tank together.

Cheers,

Mike


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## vivariman (Sep 26, 2007)

Nice tank man! Where did you get such a big tank? Anything living in there? (other than the dragonfly )

-Caden


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## sNApple (Mar 19, 2007)

wow nice nice! and big!


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## pugman (Jul 15, 2004)

The tank was a custom design (by myself). I has two sliding glass doors on each side. There is one luec and four red eye tree frogs adults and about 50 tadpoles w/legs. The tank was put together with foam and coco flocking. That was the trend four years ago iI dont know what the norm is today but it has held up well. Most people would lay there tank on it's back and use gravity to glue in the wood and spray the foam but I has to make sticks that would prop the wood up until the silicone dried. That was a pain in the a$$. I never put one fern in there, they just started sprouting everywhere. I am looking to stock it with some more Luecs as soon as I can find a supplier. It also has two overflows and one return drilled into the bottom and a sump. It's in my aquarium shop as a display. It's 8'X2'X4'(L,W,H) It has 12 misting nozzles from Mr.Mister (are they still around?) Lights are (4) 4' t5 HO's and a 48" lunar light. All bulbs are 65K.


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## keekalmatter (Aug 9, 2008)

any pics of construction?


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## iridebmx (Oct 29, 2008)

can i live in that thing!


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## jausi (May 14, 2008)

Just amazin!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish some day I'll have something like that at least half side  

Cograt's great job and a beautiful home for those three frogss, I bet your future dart frogs will be happy there too


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## clwatkins10 (Nov 15, 2008)

Wow! Awesomely huge! A mini rainforest


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Fantastic results! I spy Dischidia!!!! 

Could you take some more up close shots or maybe upload the full tank shots with a larger file size so we can zoom in some more??


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## loogielv (Nov 28, 2008)

this may be a stupid question, but how does a dragonfly get in there?

was it hatched in there? do you keep something like that in there, or remove it asap?

how do ferns just sprout up in a viv? something in the substrate or what?


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## pugman (Jul 15, 2004)

There must have been fern seeds in the wood or moss. As far as the dragonfly????? The tank is pretty well sealed. I found it so amazing that it's what inspired me to repost in this fourm.

As far as construction pics I started to take them but kind of lost interest. I would work on it a little at a time mostly when there were no customers in the store. I would guess it took around 40 hours to build. It was kind of funny to see the look on my customers faces when they saw me working on it.

I will work on some better pictures.
thanks


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## *slddave* (Jun 2, 2006)

I just wanna know how you made such seamless front sliding doors? Very very nice tank


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## Mywebbedtoes (Jul 2, 2007)

I found a wasp in mine once. And I said, "How on earth did a full grown saxton protestant white man get in my tank"?

Your vivarium is nuts. Wonderful job. California roadtrip!


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

gorgeous tank!!! needs more darts though.


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## melas (Oct 24, 2007)

amazing! some more detail of the doors would be absolutely amazing! also what thickness of glass did you use? Is it a glass bottom? Thanks!


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## pugman (Jul 15, 2004)

The doors are 1/4" and the rest of the tank is 3/8". All of it is glass. It is one of the heaviest things I ever lifted. About 400+ lbs. I left 2' sections on both sides then siliconed some U shaped tracking from the glass store. I think they called it J tracking. I don't rember. Anyway I glued 8' pieces to the top and bottom front of the tank and the doors just slide from side to side. In the center there is a 4'X4' piece of glass that is stationary. The tracking is covered up by the stand and canopy.

As far as adding darts to it I am looking for a large number of Luecs. I used to purchase my frogs from Patrisha Gouttenburg but she has gotten out of the business. Even on this site I didn't see too many luecs for sale.


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## Azureus84 (Nov 26, 2008)

Now that is one big tank! With that kind of room, the frogs probably think they're out in the wild.


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## carbonetc (Oct 13, 2008)

How do you feed frogs in a jungle like that anyway? Can they find the fruit flies? Do most of the flies just fall into the water?


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## pugman (Jul 15, 2004)

carbonetc said:


> How do you feed frogs in a jungle like that anyway? Can they find the fruit flies? Do most of the flies just fall into the water?


The frogs are all over every square inch of the tank. When the misters come on it stimulates the flies and the frogs find them easily. I do put the flies in the same spot every day so the are kind of trained.


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## amphibianaddict (Mar 21, 2009)

That viv is an inspiration! Gorgeous. I think those are some lucky frogs. I'm not sure about dragonflys but i have heard that when conditions are bad some insects eggs form cysts that can outsurvive the harsh period and then when conditions are right they can hatch. So that guy may have been in the wood itself this whole time... again just speculation but congrats on the amazing setup!


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## basshummper (Jan 13, 2008)

i wonder how many tadpoles a dragonfly nymph needs to eat to mature into a dragon fly?


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Pretty rad....next thing you know you'll be finding squirrels in there or maybe a raccoon 

If im ever in a home that i know i wont be leaving till i die im just gonna glass up an entire wall and turn it into a 10ft+ viv


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## basshummper (Jan 13, 2008)

do you think the dragon fly flew in the viv, or morphed out in there?


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## goin_all_out (Dec 17, 2008)

i think im drooling a little. this tank is an inspiration! someday.....someday.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Im sitting here looking at this 6x6ish Industrial metal rack in my living room, much more sturdy then they typical home depot rack, and thinking how easy it would be to put a wood frame around it and bolt on several pieces of large plexi glass and seal it all up


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

I think dragonfly larvae live for two years before they morph into dragonflies. If you bought any of your aquatic plants from an outside grower the larvae or eggs likely came in on the plants.

I had two damselflies morph out and found a dragonfly larvae in a little 10 gal. newt tank I had about 10 years ago. The plants had come from a grower that used outside ponds.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

great looking vivarium!! can we get some detailed shots? what frogs are you keepign in there?


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## Fishman (Jan 16, 2007)

When I was in college in Chico, I used to go to this fish store just to look at that viv. It is truly amazing in person!!! It is also one of the best fish shops I have had the pleasure of shopping. The tanks were always well kept, and well stocked with nice and often interesting fish. He also used to stock various darts when he could get them in. This viv at one time had a number of tincs, and even a couple of retics in it. It was the coolest thing to look into this MASSIVE tank and see the tiniest little retic climbing around the back wall. I do miss shopping at that store, it was my retail heaven, frogs and fish... aahhhh the good old days.


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## SamsonsFrogs (Mar 4, 2009)

Wow, that is awesome! Lol send me some clippings please!? My address is 24....... lol.Thats is really cool and to have a dragon fly in it.I bet it grew and hatched in there, and that makes it even cooler. I love it man. Awesome Viv, just awesome!


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## basshummper (Jan 13, 2008)

oh, so there were fish in this tank? I couldn't see them in the pictures. I was wondering about that. this explains a little better how a dragonfly could morph in that tank.


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## Guest (Apr 12, 2009)

This is one of the best looking vivarium i have seen!

Good work!!!


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## basshummper (Jan 13, 2008)

watch out about those dragon flys. scary stuff...
BBC - Earth News - Legless frogs mystery solved


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## lamaster (Mar 22, 2008)

Nice ! .... Lucky!


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## ray1taylor (Nov 15, 2008)

WOW!!!

Thats an amazing viv!

I love big vivs like that!


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## dendrothusiast (Sep 16, 2010)

what a charming piece of nature you have, im very jealous.

beware though if your finding dragonflies in your vivarium. I found some in mine too and didnt mind them until i noticed larvae eating my minnow fish - im sure theyll prey upon your tadpoles as well.


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## dertien616 (Jul 28, 2011)

what did you use for lighting?


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