[Socratic Monologue]

I built these up to give a couple of my Ranitomeya bigger digs.

Just the hardscapes:

A little more close up on one; substrate is Seachem Flourite (I like this more as a viv base than in a planted tank, I think), and a top layer of calcium clay:

I siliconed the ghostwood to the glass.

That didn't hold, so I put a couple stainless screws in through the two pieces of wood, and the far end rests on the glass now. Hopefully that does it.

I didn't like the noise level on the stock fans, so I swapped in 40x10mm Noctuas -- much quieter, and fit fine in spite of being 5mm larger. I wired them with the same sized plugs as the lighting, so I can run it all off the lighting power supply. One viv had the drain installed cross-threaded; that was a little challenging to remedy after everything was in, but it doesn't leak now.

The biggest problem I still have is that these make all my ExoTerras look kinda shabby -- I really like the look of the InSitu vivs. I actually don't see them as 'too much plastic', as some folks have pointed out, since the bottom rail of the doors is down out of the line of sight, unlike the door frame/vent on the ExoTerras.

 

[Tijl]

Very clean 👌

 

[gusgieg]

Looks really nice. I’m thinking of getting an insitu vivarium. Thanks!

 

[minorhero]

Really like how you linked the hardscape up so it appears to run continuously between the two tanks. Well done!

I have very mixed feelings about the insitu tanks. On the one hand it is to my mind the best out of box solution for dart frogs in the USA. On the other hand, I wish they were just a bit better heh. I had noticed my fan was loud as well and figured it could be solved but haven't gone down that rabbit hole yet to figure it out. Is this the fan you used?

 

[Chris S]

Looks good! I have two In Situ's sitting here empty waiting to go. I was trying to determine whether I would put a background on them or not...I like how yours turned out without one.

 

[Socratic Monologue]

Thanks, @minorhero, I'm glad you noticed the design intention. That was the biggest trick I tried to pull off with these.

Yes, that is the exact fan. To fit them into the InSitu fan housing, you have to use the silicone 'anti vibration mounts', since the mounting holes are just a little farther apart on the fans (each hole is 2.5 mm off, I guess).

Yes, I too wish they were a bit better. The doors stick a little bit, though I'm figuring out the correct motion to open them smoothly -- a tiny jerk right up front, then slide gently. They are completely intolerant of less than dead flat stands, too; the AP cage they sit on are not as flat as the InSitus want, and I had to shim to get the InSitu to not rack (though I had to shim an outside back corner, which is not low on the stand, so I don't know).

@Chris S -- Thanks for the complement. I built two smaller vivs with basic cork mosaic type backgrounds, and like them very little -- I don't use either of them currently. All the rest of mine have no backgrounds, and I like them a lot. I don't think backgrounds look at all natural; the wall of plants look isn't like much I've seen in nature (limestone cliffs, South American ruins, and some river cuts notwithstanding), and I don't see that they do a good job of using viv space, in many cases.

 

[DPfarr]

I appreciate that continuity between one to the other. Worth doing with that foresight of having them next to one another.

 

[Frogmanjared]

I never thought to use fluorite! I’ve got a gallon collecting dust that I can find a use for now!

 

[MrFalcons]

Super clean design. I dig it. This is the type of design that looks simple and easy but is way more complex and difficult when you implement it. Where did you get the ghost wood? My problem is I can't buy that stuff locally. I'm stuck with picking out pieces online and hoping for the best.

Chris

 

[Socratic Monologue]

@Frogmanjared -- I bought a bunch of Turface when I bought the clay (thanks @athiker04!), but the particle size on the Flourite is larger, and that struck me as the better product for this application. Flourite is pretty expensive, though, so unless a person has some to burn I would use Turface, I think.

@MrFalcons -- I got the ghostwood on Etsy from 'Blooms and Branches' -- that was the vendor who had the sizes I wanted. I got my last batch from NEHerp for my R. sirensis 'sort-of-a-buttress-root' viv, and was really happy with it but they were out of stock on some of the lengths I wanted this time around. I try to hit the dedicated frog/herp vendors first for this sort of stuff; we need to take care of those folks so they're around to take care of us.

Yeah, sometimes this sort of thing is complex to implement, but if you don't like how it looks it is easy to tear out and stack it differently -- it is just a pile of sticks, really, and now that I think about it 'pile of sticks' is basically my general aesthetic vision.

 

[bssknox]

Just curious, do you leave your cork rounds empty or do you fill them up a certain distance in?

 

[Socratic Monologue]

I leave them empty, since it doubles the usable surface area -- or triples it, or multiplies it by 2πr, or...uh... I admit I didn't study for this test.

 

[Lunchmeat]

Niceeeee! Love the continuous tank look.

 

[bssknox]

I leave them empty, since it doubles the usable surface area -- or triples it, or multiplies it by 2πr, or...uh... I admit I didn't study for this test.

Haha! Right on.

 

[Chris S]

@Frogmanjared -- I bought a bunch of Turface when I bought the clay (thanks @athiker04!), but the particle size on the Flourite is larger, and that struck me as the better product for this application. Flourite is pretty expensive, though, so unless a person has some to burn I would use Turface, I think.

Did you use foam or something underneath, or just flourite? I guess it actually drains pretty good.

Man, now I really wish I gotten the black backgrounds. Mine are glass, I wonder what they would look like 6 months down the line.

 

[Socratic Monologue]

Just Flourite, maybe 1/2 inch.

I'm happy with the Alumalite back. I would have installed black film on the outside of the back anyway, but I guess I wanted to see what the panel upgrade was all about. It would be a pretty light viv with a glass back, but now it is featherlight, compared to a similarly-sized ExoTerra.

 

[Frogmanjared]

Is there a visual barrier between the two vivs? I'm curious if there isn't, how that might change the behavior of the occupants.

 

[Socratic Monologue]

There currently is no visual barrier, but I anticipate installing one -- I was waiting to see if I needed to do something about the view of the air space between the two, but it isn't as visually distracting as I thought it might be. The adjacent vivs I already run have barriers between, since the frogs stress out at their immediate neighbors.

 

[Socratic Monologue]

Updates:

1) I don't really like sliding doors. They don't open as wide as hinged doors, and must be removed to be cleaned. They're more FF proof, though.

2) The frogs are digging the new vivs. One viv holds 1.1 imitator 'Chazuta' that were breeding in a 12 x 12 x 18 for a couple years. The other holds 2.2 vanzolinii that used to be paired up in two 12 x 12 x 18 vivs. The vanzos are much more bold in the bigger viv (though one pair was a bit reclusive for about a week or two).

3) No territoriality between the males of the two groups so far.

4) Compared to the small Exos, all the frogs are on the glass a lot more in these larger vivs. Part of the new boldness, I suspect.

5) I'm running UVB -- a 4 foot t5HO 5% over the two vivs for 2 hrs/day, through the back vent -- and all the frogs distinctly avoid it. One or two of the vanzos pretty quickly crawl up behind the fan housing when the UVB comes on, and all the others just hide wherever. I've had a couple kind of weak froglets, so I'm hoping the clay and UVB will help -- that's the purpose of the UVB. I wouldn't run it on adult frogs without a distinct therapeutic goal, and this behavior confirms that stance.

 

[Chris S]

Updates:

1) I don't really like sliding doors. They don't open as wide as hinged doors, and must be removed to be cleaned. They're more FF proof, though.

I cut an extra door, so I could have a temp door while I clean!