First viv build and questions!

4173 Views 32 Replies 14 Participants Last post by Zoomie, Jul 22, 2011

Bork

Discussion Starter · Jun 11, 2011

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.

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21 - 33 of 33 Posts

ZookeeperDoug

· #21 · Jun 25, 2011

Anything preventing the frogs from climbing inside the output for your waterfall up top? Looks like they could crawl in their, especially if the power goes out momentarily or you're doing maintainance on the pump or something. I don't know whats going on up in the pipe but that could be a potential danger/place for a frog to get lost. Just kinda my OCD mind thinks about those things as zookeepers are always considering pitfalls, dangers, escape routes, etc.

Everything looks really good. I'm wanting to do a very large vivarium sometime but probably not until the wifey and I settle in to a real home.

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JealousFist

· #22 · Jun 25, 2011

i really dig the tank bro, good job

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Bork

Discussion Starter · #23 · Jun 25, 2011

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.

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Bork

Discussion Starter · #24 · Jul 20, 2011

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

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Zoomie

· #25 · Jul 20, 2011

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

More pics please.

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Jduane

· #26 · Jul 20, 2011

It's Not done until there are frogs!

nice tank, though.. you're a fast worker.

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Bork

Discussion Starter · #27 · Jul 20, 2011

Zoomie said:
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.

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Feelin Froggy

· #28 · Jul 21, 2011

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

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Zoomie

· #29 · Jul 21, 2011

Bork said:
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.

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.

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Bork

Discussion Starter · #30 · Jul 22, 2011

Zoomie said:
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.

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Bork

Discussion Starter · #31 · Jul 22, 2011

Feelin Froggy said:
Love your illustration... what program did you do that in?

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

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Bork

Discussion Starter · #32 · Jul 22, 2011

Jduane said:
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?

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Zoomie

· #33 · Jul 22, 2011

Great call on grabbing plants and running for the door, sans frogs. With as much time as you have put in to the build, you will end up fine tuning your tank after planting. Much easier to do so without any guests.

I am still tweaking mine and I need to wrap up fast as a couple of Auratus will be closing escrow soon !

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