[froggie too]

I got into frogs six months ago...and look at me now! Just wanted to share my new project with everyone. I have a wonderful neighbor with carpentry skills who built a cabinet to house my vivs. It is a 6'x 4' and will hold four Exo Terra 18x12x12 and two ZooMed 18x12x12 vivs As you can tell by the size of my vivs, I like thumbnails. All of the tanks are going to have Monsoon misters, 40mm internal circulation fans, waterfalls, drains, and custom cut glass tops. I have attached some photos of the cabinet, which I just stained prior to final assembly.

 

[ExoticPocket]

Very nice rack(for the tanks). I didn't know that exo-terra and zoomed make 18x12x12 inch tanks...

 

[Pumilo]

Wow! Very nice. Can't wait to see them finished and full. That's a step beyond a bakers rack!
I'm guessing from the look of the rack she means 12" x 12" x 18" (height is always listed last)

 

[hydrophyte]

That is really classy!

 

[bobrez]

Very nice, interested in what lighting fixture you will be using.

 

[froggie too]

I am going to use 12" Exo Terra and 12" ZooMed lamps with UVB 26w in each. Tonight, I worked on glass tops and fan compartments. Maybe it is me, but I like a heavier glass for my tops. The glass size is 11 1/8" x 11 1/8" x 3/16". I own a glass grinder (another of my hobbies is stained glass), which I used to cut appropriately sized notches in the tops to accomodate door hinges, misting system tubing, and water pump wiring.

I am constructing small glass fan boxes to mount on the viv glass tops. Their dimensions are (L) 2 1/2" x (W) 2 1/2" x (H) 1 3/4" with a notch cut for the fan wire. I cut an oblong hole in the glass viv top that permits a 40mm computer cooling fan to draw air from the viv into the back of the fan box and exhaust it back into the viv toward the viv's glass front doors. A piece of fiberglass screen will stop the frogs from getting into the fans. The fans are mounted at approx a 10-15 degree angle to direct air toward the doors. My hope is to cut down on condensation on the front glass while providing circulation for my plants. We will see if it works.

 

[frogfreak]

Very nice cabinet! I love custom!

I've been thinking about doing something very similar with fans. I'll be tagging along to see how it works out for you.

Cheers

 

[Pumilo]

I am going to use 12" Exo Terra and 12" ZooMed lamps with UVB 26w in each. Tonight, I worked on glass tops and fan compartments. Maybe it is me, but I like a heavier glass for my tops. The glass size is 11 1/8" x 11 1/8" x 3/16". I own a glass grinder (another of my hobbies is stained glass), which I used to cut appropriately sized notches in the tops to accomodate door hinges, misting system tubing, and water pump wiring.

I am constructing small glass fan boxes to mount on the viv glass tops. Their dimensions are (L) 2 1/2" x (W) 2 1/2" x (H) 1 3/4" with a notch cut for the fan wire. I cut an oblong hole in the glass viv top that permits a 40mm computer cooling fan to draw air from the viv into the back of the fan box and exhaust it back into the viv toward the viv's glass front doors. A piece of fiberglass screen will stop the frogs from getting into the fans. The fans are mounted at approx a 10-15 degree angle to direct air toward the doors. My hope is to cut down on condensation on the front glass while providing circulation for my plants. We will see if it works.

Very interesting take on internal circulation. Keeps it all up out of the viv without all the ductwork. I like it. My one concern is that the hole at the back (to pull air from inside the viv to feed the fan) is much smaller than the fan size and the hole to push air back into the viv. This will choke down your overall air flow somewhat.

 

[BethInAK]

The cabinet is GORGEOUS!! Can't wait to see it installed!

 

[Tadbit]

I love it! Please keep us posted with pics on how it’s coming together!

 

[motydesign]

Very interesting take on internal circulation. Keeps it all up out of the viv without all the ductwork. I like it. My one concern is that the hole at the back (to pull air from inside the viv to feed the fan) is much smaller than the fan size and the hole to push air back into the viv. This will choke down your overall air flow somewhat.

yeah im having great concerns with your flow theory.

 

[froggie too]

I hate when people are right. Ha Ha. Pumilo is correct. The opening for the fan box intake is 1/2" too small. My husband did the math for me. The fans do work but only dry a space 3-4" wide on the front glass. I will modify the fan boxes at some point. Have been working on drains. I installed small plastic spigots in the rear walls of my vivs, which drain into a PVC pipe leading to a sump in the bottom of my cabinet. This arrangement seems to work well.

 

[froggie too]

The last four days I have been really busy. Here are photos of the five vivs in my cabinet. I have room for a sixth viv.

I just realized I did not take photos of viv builds in progress. Sorry. When i build the sixth viv, i will make sure i take photos during construction.

All the vivs in my cabinet have water running in them. When I went to to the cloud forest in Costa Rica, I saw there was dripping or running water on trees and rocks all over. I have tried to dupicate that environment on a small scale. My Benny loves her rock wall. I see her in the water at least once a day. She likes to sit in the slow moving water.

The vivs have egg crate bottoms. To keep debris out of the waterfall pumps and facilitate access / cleaning, the pumps are housed inside 4" diameter / 4" tall PVC pipe enclosures with holes drilled in them to admit water. PVC drain caps cover the enclosure tops.

 

[froggie too]

Here is my new viv cabinet with all my new builds in it.

 

[DragonSpirit1185]

looks pretty freaking awesome

I love how you went with the natural wood look. Looks beautiful. I'm glad you didn't use any dark stains. I love seeing the grains in the wood

Love the drawers in the bottom and your drain system
Where do you have the water draining to you said to a sump but I don't see the sump, but what do you need the sump for are you returning the drain water somewhere?
What are you using for lighting?

Just fantastic...you thought of everything lol

 

[Pumilo]

Wow, looks great! I do believe your fan setup will work. You just need to open up that intake a little more. How many CFM are your fans capable of moving?

 

[froggie too]

For Brandon:

The sump is not visible in the photos. It is basically a 2.5 gallon water bottle with a pour spout. The center of the spigot has been removed with a soldering iron and a 3/4" flexible tube has been inserted. The RS 400 Monsoon mister has a 2 gallon reservoir, so as long as I dump the sump when I fill the mister, I should never have a problem. I do not recycle the water, due to cross-contamination concerns. The diameter of the holes in the drain pipe below each tank drain spigot is larger than the spigots to prevent contamination of a viv from the drain.

 

[froggie too]

Doug,

The viv fans are Scythe "Mini Kaze" 40mm Silent Fans. They are rated at 4.11 CFM. They are very, very quiet The open area in vivs is a bit over 1 cu ft., so at full flow, the air in the vivs will theoretically circulate 3-4 times per minute. With the undersized fan box inlets, the actual flow rate is no doubt something less than 4.11 CFM.

 

[Pumilo]

Doug,

The viv fans are Scythe "Mini Kaze" 40mm Silent Fans. They are rated at 4.11 CFM. They are very, very quiet The open area in vivs is a bit over 1 cu ft., so at full flow, the air in the vivs will theoretically circulate 3-4 times per minute. With the undersized fan box inlets, the actual flow rate is no doubt something less than 4.11 CFM.

Low flow is better than no flow, but that is pretty low. You may need more powerful fans to really do the job. I use 21 CFM fans in most of my builds.

 

[DragonSpirit1185]

Looks pretty spiffy

What are you using for lighting?