[RaggiDanner]

Hi all

I already did a beginner introduction about my vivarium but wanted to have a more general discussion thread.

I've learned a lot in the 3 weeks I have been actively reading here. For example improving the ventilation of the tank by adding a USB fan blowing indirectly through the aquarium. Adding leaf litter to the bottom and will be getting Repashy supplements next week.

I am located in Iceland so sourcing materials can at times be difficult.

In this tank I have 3 leucomelas fine spot I believe (2 confirmed males 1 unsexed)

Plants are:
Syngonium sp.
Pothos
Spatyphyllum sp.
Pilea cadierei
Hygrophila polysperma
Fittonia sp.
Spider plant, green and striped

I just misted when the photo was taken

I just added the leaf litter after finding some catappa leaves in a fish store and the driftwood piece on the right.

Next steps will be tearing this down and making a better substrate than I have as it is only coco husk and exo terra forest moss

 

[solidsnake]

Top-only access will likely make routine maintenance a pain in the butt, however it won’t be impossible. Have you drilled the back or bottom to install a bulkhead? How are you venting this viv? Do you have a listing system or are you planning on hand misting? I see the fan on top. Are you planning on using that for circulation? Is there a false bottom or drainage layer under your substrate?

Just a few questions.

Your viv looks cool!

 

[RaggiDanner]

Top-only access will likely make routine maintenance a pain in the butt, however it won’t be impossible. Have you drilled the back or bottom to install a bulkhead? How are you venting this viv? Do you have a listing system or are you planning on hand misting? I see the fan on top. Are you planning on using that for circulation? Is there a false bottom or drainage layer under your substrate?

Just a few questions.

Your viv looks cool!

Thanks, no drilling as this was a pretty fast setup, hence the bare glass back wall.

The big piece of driftwood was a waterfeature so the pipe for that can be seen in the top left corner, I have a pump in the drainage layer so i use that for getting out the extra water.

I am hand misting as of now.

The fan on top blows at the wall, there is a big hole in the back with fine netting which lets air in and then there are 2 holes in the top corners of the lid for letting air out.

The plan is to get a real terrarium for them but there is not really a second hand market here and from the selection here I like the exo terra best but cant afford the one I really want at the moment

 

[solidsnake]

That’s cool! Good idea to get some practice building and working with something that you aren’t planning on keeping forever. By the time you get another enclosure, you’ll have gained some knowledge.

So as of now, nothing is permanently placed in the viv? That means it’s not too late to reconsider your water feature. I’d venture to say that it will likely make your substrate really moist. From what I know and can see, the plants you’ve chosen should be able to handle moist substrate. However…it could be too moist for your frogs. Especially if your venting/circulation isn’t 100% dialed in.

I’ve never kept frogs, so don’t take my advice as gospel.

I have built a handful of vivariums, terrariums and most recently, a paludarium. Pretty much every time I’ve made a viv with a water feature, I’ve had some sort of problem with water wicking. Since I don’t keep frogs, it’s never been a real issue though.

 

[RaggiDanner]

Yeah I probably should have highlighted that the log is no longer a water feature. It took me a few days to realize that was a bad idea so now it only serves as a means of getting out water from time to time

 

[bhill368]

Looks good and I like what you were able to do considering how hard it must be to source some stuff where you are located. I am getting some Leucs myself after my tank establishes. I have read that they really love to use every inch of the tank.

Can I ask why you decided against the use of broms? I would think they would really love the extra surface area to explore. Just my thoughts.

 

[RaggiDanner]

Did not decided against them at all, selection is scarce and pretty seasonal in flower shops here. The only bromeliad I got was a pup that I git from the store where I bought the frogs.

I realize I set this up in the "wrong way" bought the frogs before I knew enough and had to set it all up at once. When I save up for a proper terrarium it will be properly set up before the frogs will move in.

 

[bhill368]

Did not decided against them at all, selection is scarce and pretty seasonal in flower shops here. The only bromeliad I got was a pup that I git from the store where I bought the frogs.

I realize I set this up in the "wrong way" bought the frogs before I knew enough and had to set it all up at once. When I save up for a proper terrarium it will be properly set up before the frogs will move in.

Hey no worries. We are all learning everyday. I figured that may be the case but I just wanted to ask in case it didn't cross your mind. Even in the US it's hard getting some of the "cooler" broms that aren't too large without ordering them online. Again, I like what you were able to do with it. It'll fill out nicely.

 

[RaggiDanner]

Hey no worries. We are all learning everyday. I figured that may be the case but I just wanted to ask in case it didn't cross your mind. Even in the US it's hard getting some of the "cooler" broms that aren't too large without ordering them online. Again, I like what you were able to do with it. It'll fill out nicely.

Thank you, I am going to switch the substrate in about a week. When the frogs finally go into a terrarium I'm not sure what will happen to this setup probably just an isopod tank or something like that 🤣

 

[bhill368]

Thank you, I am going to switch the substrate in about a week. When the frogs finally go into a terrarium I'm not sure what will happen to this setup probably just an isopod tank or something like that 🤣

Haha, you could make it into a miniature landscape. I'm sure there are several different inverts that would like to live in there too.

 

[RaggiDanner]

Added some bamboo leaves to the leaf litter and messed with the exposure setting on my phone camera.

My fittonia doesn't seem to be doing well. these were cuttings from a potted plant but the leaves are very small and feel hard and it hasn't grown a bit.

 

[fishingguy12345]

My fittonia doesn't seem to be doing well. these were cuttings from a potted plant but the leaves are very small and feel hard and it hasn't grown a bit.

Fittonia can take awhile to establish in tanks, in my experience.

 

[RaggiDanner]

I didn't last long. I bought a used Exo Terra 36x18x18 (90x45x45) to build my first real vivarium.
Found A Cork round that I brought home and broke into smaller pieces, proceeding with foaming the back of the tank and adding the cork pieces to the foam.
Then I foamed driftwood to the short sides and carved the foam..
Did a whole day of drying a large brick of coco coir in my oven, man that stuff smells bad
Siliconed coco to the foam, this was a multi-day project constantly filling in holes.

Fibreglass window screen is unavailable here so I ended up buying some on the internet.

bottom layer is (from bottom up) Pumice stone, Window screen, Mixed pine bark, sphagnum moss and a bot of coco coir bamboo leaves and ground up catappa leaves.

I finally visited my friend who has a bunch of plants and got some cuttings from her so the tank was planted 4 days ago, the frogs will not move in until the plants have started growing in

The light is one Fluval Aquasky and my glass top will hopefully be ready in the next week.

this is going to go a bit pic heavy but here goes