[Bork]

Good day, frog people.

This board has pretty much been my bible for the last few months; you guys have provided me with a TON of great information and ideas, and I appreciate it. In any case - I've been keeping and working with herps for a very long time and so am not a complete neophyte, but am about to set up my first pdf viv; I just want to run things past all you resident experts before I finally get to the constructin'.

Structurally speaking, here's what I have in mind: I've got a 220 gallon terrarium, 44l x 25w x 25h (if you're gonna fail, fail spectacularly!), with leucomelas or possibly auratus in mind. Will have a GS background, waterfall feature, Hydroton bottom. Now that I'm farther along, I'm actually reconsidering the Hydroton for a false bottom... though it's more work and I've already got a ton of Hydro, so I may just stick with it. The water feature also won't take up nearly as much floor real estate as it appears in my professional blueprint here. But I'm considering having it run along a ledge in the background, then trickle down into a second run, then into the pool, thusly:

My specific questions:

1. Is there any specific benefit to going with a false bottom instead of Hydroton? So far my reading here suggests "eh, not really", but do correct me if I'm wrong.

2. For the first part of the water feature, is it safe/structurally sound to carve a run right into a ledge in the GS background (silicone-sealed of course)? Is GS prone to degrading/leaking/etc over the long term?

3. For the second part of the water feature, I'm considering using a cork bark halfpipe. Same questions.

4. How big a deal is water circulation in a terrarium that large? I plan on having the pump in one corner, return pool in the opposite, to avoid most of the water just sitting there stagnant. If I can move the entire feature to one side with no ill effect, that will make things significantly easier and take up even less space.


Any other tips or things I may have over looked, I'm definitely open to suggestion. The frogs and I thank you.

 

[Bork]

Thanks JB. It's not really going to be a large reservoir since I know pdfs don't really use them, mostly just a spot for the water to get back down into the underlayer. Wouldn't having the water feature cross the tank like that solve the circulation issue? It also seems like Hydro would provide some good microbial filtration, wick some moisture up into the substrate for plants, and avoid the possibility of a false bottom eventually bowing or breaking. Then again, I may just be trying to rationalize already having bought so damn much of it.

The tank is a custom from Glasscages. Very nice drop-down front, and very reasonably priced. (Would have been even more so if I'd been able to stick with a standard 48", but couldn't for space issues.)

 

[Bork]

So... how about that waterway through the GS then? Good idea, bad idea?

 

[Bork]

I assume it's such a good idea that you are all literally speechless.

 

[Bork]

Now we're talking.

Frog MC, you're unfortunately a little late - the GS ledge is drying as we speak. When people say that stuff is an ungodly sticky mess, they're not kidding. Anyway, wood for both parts would have been nice, but I was running low on cork. Also, the water won't be as obtrusive as it looks there - it's more a case of just trying to illustrate the structural rather than aesthetic aspects, not to mention the limitations of MS Paint.

Atmus, I just wasn't sure that GS, even sealed, should actually *hold* running water over the long term, as opposed to just being a background that gets a bit wet. We're gonna found out.


Everybody's advice is appreciated - this really is a terrifically useful board. I'll get some pics up shortly.

 

[Bork]

Also, if the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles taught us nothing else, it's that herps are dedicated skaters, not bikers.

 

[Bork]

Hey, on a somewhat-related note, here's a quick, fun Q&A for you guys:


Q - while drying peat moss, is 350 degrees hot enough to make it catch fire right in the pan?

A - emphatically yes.

 

[Bork]

Instead of cleaning roadsides, they should force convicted felons to sculpt Great Stuff with a utility knife.

One full day of carving down, about one more to go. Jesus assgrabbing Christ.

 

[Bork]

As promised, some photos of the progress so far:



Up first, the stand I built. This thing took forever to build, can probably survive a nuclear holocaust, and I'm incredibly proud of it. Of course, it is about 2 inches too big to fit in the hallway it was designed for.

On to the actual tank. After setting up a simple well for the pump, and eggcrate against the back to help bond & support such a big mass of GS. (Shot sort of upside-down and backwards.)

Placing wood, cork, and other decor.

After foaming everything into place.

A bit closer up and from the proper orientation. You can start to get a sense of the overall setup now - on the right is the well, that huge lump of crap will be the waterway ledge. It's coming together pretty nicely after carving; I'll put up some more once that's done.

 

[Bork]

Forgot to take a picture right after I was done carving, but here we are with peat moss and such already attached. Things are on hold for a couple days because I'm waiting on my ABG Mix delivery, and I have to go pick up more Hydroton (as with everything else, I needed more than I thought). Still, for a first attempt I'm pretty happy with how it's coming out.

 

[Bork]

Set up, planted, and finally DONE. It's surprisingly hard to get a good photo; it's actually pretty carefully arranged, but here looks like a big messy jumble. Regardless, here you go.

 

[Bork]

Thanks, fellas.


ZooDog, the outlet is one of Black Jungle's "monkey pods", sealed internally with silicone and with a hole drilled in the back for the water hose. They could certainly climb into the pod if the water wasn't running, but couldn't get anywhere from there. There's also a lid on top of the actual well; it's
far from a perfect fit, but all the gaps around the edge are stuffed with sphagnum moss. I don't see any frogs able to get in, but I'm sure they'll let me know if I'm wrong.

On a related note, I kept reading here that water features are more trouble than they're worth. In reality, what you guys should have been saying is that they're WAAAAAAAAAAAY more trouble than they're worth. Three repairs in as many days, but it seems stable now. We'll see.

 

[Bork]

I've decided the path of least resistance is just to accept that my waterfall is now a combination waterfall/drip wall.

 

[Bork]

Bork, I really love the tank. Combo drip wall/waterfall works for me.

More pics please.

I swear that every layer of silicone only makes it leak more. The only reason I care is that I'm afraid the constant drip will over-saturate the substrate, I really don't want mud or drowned plants. You guys don't seem to indicate that's an issue, so I may be obsessing over nothing.


Thanks for the compliments, fellas. I'll try to snap some better shots in the next couple days.

 

[Bork]

If you are going to keep a close eye to ensure that the water level stays low enough in the layer of the Hydroton to avoid substrate wicking, you should be fine.

I mean, the whole thing is a recirculating sealed system, so an internal leak wouldn't affect things one way or the other. I'm sure there are one or two spots where substrate is wicking up moisture, but overall it hasn't seemed to be a problem so far.

 

[Bork]

Love your illustration... what program did you do that in?

Being a consummate professional artist, I of course use MS Paint.

 

[Bork]

It's Not done until there are frogs!

Dude, trust me... I only live about an hour from Black Jungle, so from the moment it was put together it's been a daily battle not to get the frogs. But I really wanted to make sure I had everything under control first and do this thing right.

You know how hard it was to walk out of that place with a buttload of plants but no frogs?