[kitcolebay]

This is my first post to Dendroboard. I have been doing a lot of reading on Vivarium Forums and started posting there. Here is a link to my beginner build thread there... 150 gallon/6 foot palu...1st time build. - Vivarium Forums
Just starting to continue my research by doing a lot of reading on here. Nice to meet you all and any help, warnings, and such is greatly appreciated!
Thanks, Chris.

 

[kitcolebay]

Here is a few pics of my first couple steps...

 

[ibytencode]

Great start. Just curious, what do you plan on putting in this?

 

[kitcolebay]

Not quite sure yet what live little critters I want to put in it. That's going to take a lot more research and I'd like to get my wife's and kids input. Dart's interest me, but they seem to definitely be more involved and complicated in care for a first time builder. I'm definitely up for suggestions on a good balance...Freshwater fish and land inhabitants.

 

[kitcolebay]

Another question to toss out there...would metal halides be too strong of lighting to use? I currently have a 2x250watt system that I was thinking of using and just lifting it off the top to keep some of the heat off the tank.

 

[bmartin04983]

It's looking great! Nicely done, keep it up!

Just a quick question, what is the blue liner you have under the rocks?

 

[kitcolebay]

It is a scrap piece of pool liner. I will be adding more rocks and lining the edges with Great Stuff for ponds to build it up and camo it a little more. None should be visible when done.
I'm about to go for a search on the forums, but I'll throw it on here too. I'm trying to calculate how much substrate I need. About to order my Hydroton and ABG mix and want to make sure I get the proper amount. Anyone got a good guess or have the formula to figure it?

 

[kitcolebay]

Estimating on the high side. I have no more than 4 1/2' x 18" of floor space to lay substrate. I imagine quite a bit a less, but would rather have a little too much substrate than not enough.
(This is in reference to the above question).

 

[bmartin04983]

It is a scrap piece of pool liner. I will be adding more rocks and lining the edges with Great Stuff for ponds to build it up and camo it a little more. None should be visible when done.
I'm about to go for a search on the forums, but I'll throw it on here too. I'm trying to calculate how much substrate I need. About to order my Hydroton and ABG mix and want to make sure I get the proper amount. Anyone got a good guess or have the formula to figure it?

Look at New England Herpetoculture LLC - Home

They are great people and have great product. You will see a calculator right on the front page. It's an excel document. If you dont have excel, I'm sure they will do it for you.

Brad

 

[skanderson]

if you use 250 watt mh you will be able to keep a wide variety of plants at different heights. the disadvantage is that they throw alot of heat. you will definately need to raise them and maybe even need to run a fan on them to keep the heat near the tank down. that is somewhat dependant on what you want to keep in the viv. my suggestion is before planting or buying any animals to cover the viv. and turn the lights on for 12 hours and see what happens to the tank. if you dont have the lights but were considering buying them i would consider looking into either a decent t5 system with good reflectors or even better a led system. keep us in on the build, thanks steve

 

[nonliteral]

It is a scrap piece of pool liner. I will be adding more rocks and lining the edges with Great Stuff for ponds to build it up and camo it a little more. None should be visible when done.
I'm about to go for a search on the forums, but I'll throw it on here too. I'm trying to calculate how much substrate I need. About to order my Hydroton and ABG mix and want to make sure I get the proper amount. Anyone got a good guess or have the formula to figure it?

Measure or guestimate the length, width, and depth of substrate you'll need in inches (ie: 18" x 18" x 2" deep); multiply together, divide by 231, and you'll have the volume you need in gallons.

 

[kitcolebay]

Thanks Steve and Brad. Appreciate the help!
I tried the calculator on NEHERP, but unfortunately no excel. I'm about to give them a call. Is that the best place you'd recommend ordering hydroton and ABG? I was considering them or Josh's Fogs.
About the lights, thanks again. I was definitely planning on having temp and humidity going for a while before adding any live little friends, but that is a fine idea to check the temp fluctuation from the lights before even doing any planting. At the moment, I just have a standard 6 ft. bulb for the tank and was planning on buying a new t8 bulb to put in it. Hoping to put that metal halide system to good use!

Thanks Chuck! I had already went the long way converting cubic inches to quarts, but your equation is much easier and confirmed my answer. Items are now in shopping cart...lol.

 

[nonliteral]

Is that the best place you'd recommend ordering hydroton and ABG?

I'm not sure what part of the country you're in, but if you have a hydroponics supply place nearby, you may be able to buy hydroton locally and save on shipping. I've also seen it at some of the larger nursery / greenhouse supply shops.

 

[kitcolebay]

Last week or so I had checked local nurseries, home improvement garden areas, and pet stores. Unfortunately, the pet stores just had the basics and overpriced. I did order from Josh's frogs and thankfully they had free shipping. Not too bad at all! Ordered my hydroton, ABG, leaf litter, and thermo/humidity gauges. At the store today I picked up a nice piece of cork round I really like. Hopefully, I can make a trade real soon for filters so I can get moving forward on the construction again.

 

[bmartin04983]

...Is that the best place you'd recommend ordering hydroton and ABG? I was considering them or Josh's Fogs....

I have used both and have had good experiences with both. I personally stick with NE Herp when I can. They have gone the extra mile for me before, and I haven't found a better fly media than theirs - out preforming my previous favorite by a lot!

 

[kitcolebay]

My son and I spent some time in the garage and made some good progress. He's always a lot of help. We put some screen down on the landing around the waterfall. Got the background cut. Put shelves in the background and mounted some planter cups. Siliconed rocks on the inside of the "pond". Planned out some of the plumbing since I made my filter trade this morning...Got 3 Magnum 350 canisters for my sump filter. I'm going to use two of them. We also got the background covered in Great Stuff.
Here is a pic before we put planter cups and GS on background or finished putting some more rocks on pond wall-

Hopefully I may make knock out some smaller things over the next week. I may wait two weeks to do some of the bigger steps for when my son and I can spend another weekend toying around with it.
My Hydroton and ABG should be in around Tuesday.

 

[kitcolebay]

I wanted to get some feedback on critter selection. For several reasons, I was thinking something somewhat simple...I hope. I know I've read that many people don't think it's a good idea to have several types in a tank, but some people like to and have no problems. After talking to my wife and kids, they like the simple green anoles and tree frogs. Is it generally fine to have these together? I've been told yes at our local store, but I like to get multiple opinions to best base my own. Also, is it ok to mix tree frogs? For example, green's and red eye's? For the water portion, I was thinking maybe a few cichlids. Any advice, suggestions, and recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
Just a reminder, it is 6 ft. by 25" by 18" and 150 gallons. Quantities of suggested critters for that size would be great too.

 

[kitcolebay]

Wish me luck! Tomorrow morning I'm picking up what I hope to be another Craigslist deal. 60" 8 bulb HO T5 fixture with 6 month old 6500k bulbs in it for only $75. I assume it's one of the cheaper fixtures, but I'd think it should meet or exceed my requirements...I hope!

No more construction yet. I hope to get some or all of the plumbing done this week. Yesterday my order of substrate materials from Josh's came in. I also picked up another cork round I like that will provide a "land bridge" over the "creek" and another couple good places to plant.

 

[kitcolebay]

Busy week(like most people have). Hope to get some work done this weekend(once again, like most people). I did get my lights picked up yesterday morning. Pretty happy with them. They are the cheap China made ones, but they are still 8 working T5 HO 6500k bulbs that light up pretty good. Eventually I will buy new bulbs to brighten it up even more and put a couple different strengths to hit a wider spectrum of color.

My LED lunar lights showed up today. I have these same lights for my salt water tanks. I don't think you can beat the price...72" bar(3x24") that has 54 LED's w/dimmer control for $55. They are also in clear tubes to make them water resistant(not waterproof). Thanks DigiKits.com.

Other than that, just a whole lot of reading and thinking about the next steps.

-Chris

Here is my new LED's out of the box...

And one of my existing ones in my 55 gallon reef tank...

In my reef tank, I have them at full brightness. I imagine I will have them dimmed down to one of the lower settings for the Viv.

 

[kitcolebay]

Well, far from complete, but got a little more done. Got all the plumbing figured out and roughed in. Just have to run to the store this morning to grab a couple more fittings. I did test my misting nozzles to the pump and they worked pretty good. I'm also picking up my humidifier for my fog line this morning. Ordered the black contact paper to trim and place on the outside to block what doesn't need to be seen. Once I know that everything is set to stay, then I'll work on sealing in the pond, attaching the background, and sealing up the seams.

Hopefully I'll make some progress next weekend if my son and I get a chance. He just turned 16, so we will be gone part of the weekend to take him and a couple friends to a Rise Against concert. Also, have a party to go to on Saturday. Maybe...Sunday?

Here's a couple pics of it roughed in...

Right side...

Left side...

Full view from left...

The 2x4 in center is just there to prop up the overhang until I get it secured in place. Still a lot on my list to do!

As always, please feel free to comment, suggest, or criticize. I'd love to have the feedback on how I'm doing and what I could do be better.

Thanks, Chris