[Neontra]

Time for another build! I'm really excited about doing this since I have so much more experience than I did last build. So i've done the FB already, it's eggcrate this time and not hyroton. This tank was so dirty, it was sitting half full of dirty aquarium water for months and I had to spend 2 hours getting most of it off.
I also had to redo the seams because they haven't been done since november 1993!
I plan on getting D. auratus campana for this tank or if I can't i'll get some type of thumbnail.
The BG will be GS foam coated in peat/sphagnum/orchid bark/cypress mulch.
I plan on either using the ABG or my experimental mix.
My mix will be ABG like but will have aspen twigs and leaves with some hydroton and a few other add ons.
I will have a misting system (i'm hoping for mistking, but depending on how everything goes I might have to settle for the Monsoon)
I will cover the substrate will tropical moss and will have a huge piece of malaysian driftwood going across the tank with moss on it. The top will be a full glass lid. Lighting will be determined by budget.
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[Azriel]

Off to a good start. And your plan with the moss and driftwood sounds cool!

 

[Neontra]

Thanks! I was gonna do a nice waterfall like yours but I messed up cutting the eggcrate the first time and didn't want to buy more (I didn't have enough to risk messing up again)

 

[Azriel]

Thanks! I was gonna do a nice waterfall like yours but I messed up cutting the eggcrate the first time and didn't want to buy more (I didn't have enough to risk messing up again)

I don't blame you, eggcrate is surprisingly spendy in my opinion!

 

[Neontra]

I have one quick question guys. I'm going to the pet store tomorrow (buying some supplies in town) and wanted to know, I wanted to get the misting part done first but since i started this earlier than I expected, would you guys recommend the reptifogger? does it get things like leaves and the background wet or is it just fog?

 

[mordoria]

fog. buy a mist king

 

[Neontra]

Alright i'm definitely getting a misting system, now. I'm also making a small change in plans. I think i'm gonna do something like dendrodaves cracked cork backgrounds, i'll buy a few large chunks of cork, break em into smaller pieces, and gs them in. I'll have to see what my pet store has though.

 

[mordoria]

My first tank was super elaborate. The second, less elaborate, still. The third, fourth, fifth, sixth and on..........
less and less.
Now my tanks are "no background", false bottom and film canisters for support. Super simple. It works great for horizontals.
My tincs love it.

The bark, and spag background works best. Things climb, broms stick. It all gets covered up anyway.
Be a creative planter.

 

[Neontra]

My first tank was super elaborate. The second, less elaborate, still. The third, fourth, fifth, sixth and on..........
less and less.
Now my tanks are "no background", false bottom and film canisters for support. Super simple. It works great for horizontals.
My tincs love it.

The bark, and spag background works best. Things climb, broms stick. It all gets covered up anyway.
Be a creative planter.

Cool! I went to the pet store and they did not have any thing besides tiny pieces of cork and grapewood. I'll [probably just buy it online or something. i was thinking of spraying foam then setting tons of cork and a piece of wood to get that cracked cork effect, I think it looks cool. i'm also trying to make fake vines and I might use them if they come out good.

 

[Neontra]

Started to make some vines, 3/4 done. They're just ropes wrapped in flora wire (I think it's stainless steal wrapped in water proof plastic) to make them bendy, then coated in black silicone and sifted peat moss (extra fine peat)
I'll make them the way I want after they dry. I was thinking something like Rafs and grimms tank. My camera is pretty sucky so please bare with me!

 

[Neontra]

The tank looks much better than in the ugly low quality pics, sorry guys! I'm still looking for the perfect piece of driftwood. Which leads me to my favorite store.... petco! The Petco I go to actually cares about their animals (i'm serious, they're all plump and set up in proper habitats!) but sadly they don't have PDFs. They have a 300g pond in there full of malaysian driftwood for $4 (I couldn't find a good one) but they're all about 8-20 inches long. They even have viv plants
So I sprayed the GS foam on last night and put my mixture of peat moss and sphagnum moss. I'll let it cure for a while and i'll add my substrate and stuff and let it dry for a few days. By the way, I don't see why you guys go through so much silicone and GS foam! I only used 1-16oz can of foam and 1-10oz tube of silicone, and have extra!

 

[Neontra]

Sorry for not updating with picture guys, i'm too lazy ! Ok so it has my substrate (mix listed below, I was really happy with the results or my first home made substrate so i've done another this time) and a few small plant cuttings and a fern mounted on the background (these were from my old tank but I gave them a 15 minute 10% bleach bath and a soak in warm water before adding) so it's pretty bland right now. I have developed a fetish for ferns which i'll be using a lot of in this tank. So i've been searching to get everything I wanted and this will be my order for this tank.
From Jason DeSantis (tropical plants)
Microgramma Vaccinifolia x1
Selaginella Krausiana 'Gold Tips' x1
Adiantum Raddianum 'fragrantissimum' x2
Asplenium Antiquum x1
Asplenium Antiquum Osaka x1
Maidenhair 'Pacific Maid' x1
Davallia Fejeensis Plumosa x1
Polystichum Tsus-simense x1
Creeping Fig/Ficus Pumila x1
Hoya Carnosa x1 (says it'll be 2-4 feet long, should be plenty for this build)
Neoregelia Babe x1 (I love small broms!)
Neoregelia Pauciflora x Kauctskyi x1 (I love the colour this one has)

Total: $52.00 + $9.15 for shipping

From Josh's frogs
Magnolia Leaves 1 gallon x1
Exo-Terra Monsoon RS400 x1

Total: $104.98

So the Grand Total is $166.33 which is a little over my $150 plant/supply budget. I saw that Patrick Nabors sells Camapna but I don't know, those Galacts look pretty sweet too...... We'll have to see! After getting the frog my total will be about $230 which is awesome.

My substrate mix (isn't exact but good enough)
1 part aspen twigs
2 parts hydroton
3 parts aspen leaves, crushed and whole
3 parts peat moss
1 part sphagnum
4 parts cypress mulch

I've been tweaking the ingredients and testing it's drainage ability. I've finnaly decided on this mix listed above. I poured a gallon of water through the substrate because it was drying out and it isn't water logged whichi s great.

 

[Neontra]

Again sorry it's been so slow. Here's pics of the tank now with lights, substrate, etc. I'm ordering plants later today and the msiting system/LL/etc a little later. Just few misc plants in it now.

 

[SutorS]

nice wall, the auratus are gonna love the darkness provided by the overhang

 

[Alegre323]

looking good

keep us posted

 

[Neontra]

nice wall, the auratus are gonna love the darkness provided by the overhang

looking good

keep us posted

I'm glad you guys likeit! I just ordered my plants from Jason. I can't wait to finish this baby up and add frogs !

 

[fieldnstream]

Black out the sides...the auratus will thank you! Seriously though, with a frog of iffy boldness, anything that makes them feel more secure will benefit you because they will be out more. Just a suggestion

 

[Neontra]

Thanks! I will certainly do that. This tank is right at the entrance to my hallway, lots of traffic goes through which I certainly think would stress them.

 

[Neontra]

Getting 2 frogs today, hopefully! I can't wait

 

[Neontra]

gotthem! But sadly, not campana I was really hoping to get some but I just couldn't be comfortable with shipping in this weather were havin here and couldn't get them locally. I decided on 2 awesome Yellow Galacts. About 3 months oow, and am surprised how bold they are compared to my other frog. This is the same on because the toher one wouldn't come to an area that I could get a good picture of.

Both of them