[brinkerh420]

I picked up this 47 gallon tank from my neighborhood tonight. The dimensions are 36" Long by 18" Tall by 17" Deep. I liked this tank in particular because the depth of the tank will help to make more space for the frogs. It was only 30$ including a light and a folding lid that's not pictured, and I bought it on craigslist!!! It was an amazing deal, and here are some pictures:

The tank with my hand as a scale:

My supplies (cork bark and driftwood), I will admit I did buy from Petco only because they had a 20% off sale. I don't think that there will be enough cork bark for the whole thing, so I think that I will use some Great Stuff too.

Here is the driftwood nailed together and how I would put it in the tank:

Please give thoughts and ideas to help me figure out a good plan for this amazing find!

Will Brinkerhoff

 

[PoisonFrog]

If that driftwood is grape wood, it won't last long.

Anyway, awesome tank!

 

[smittydc]

Yes, I would agree..stick with the cork you have.Or go with some other wet environment wood like ghost wood, malaysian driftwood or Mopani. Anything but grape wood.Fern log's are cool as well but a little difficult to aquire.

 

[therizman2]

Looks like it should be a nice tank! Is it going to be a new home for your leucs or getting more frogs?

If you need more cork, or plants, just let me know, I will be down in Ypsi in a week or two.

 

[brinkerh420]

I plan on getting a few D. Auratus either costa rican green and black, nicaraguan green and black, or possibly some highland bronze for my birthday.

What will happen to grapewood, just decomposition?

 

[therizman2]

Grapewood decomposes very quickly in a terrarium, it is excellent habitat for isopods and springtails though.

Other options are cypress (either driftwood or knees - I have extra knees as well), manzanita (can be found online if you search a little), malaysian which is pricey and heavy but will last forever, or mix in some jungle vines, along with using more cork tubes.

I would say to go with the highland bronze, I love the group that I have, or maybe mebalo.

 

[brinkerh420]

I think that I will put in the grapewood along with other cork bark.

When it starts to decompose, i'll take a picture and try to get a refund from petco.

I think that even if it starts to break down, I can still use it on the ground.

 

[thadmy]

Looks like it will be a sweet tank and yeah I find GREAT deals on craigslist all the time for tanks. Just wish I had extra room to buy them all...

The wood looks great but like everyone says it will break down quick. I used GS background for my clowns and they love it, there is a reptile show in Taylor where I picked up some wood and vines for cheap. Knuckles would look good plus your frogs would climb all over them.

Good luck with the tank I'm in Plymouth if you ever want to go grab a beer, not that I'm a dater but hey I keep tree frogs so that's close enough =)

 

[frog dude]

if you ever want to go grab a beer

If you read his signiture, it will state that he is twelve years old. I'm glad I'm not the only younger member, as I'm only eleven.

 

[thadmy]

Haha guess that shows I don't read the signatures.

My bad that is a bad suggestion haha

Good luck with the build though

 

[brinkerh420]

Looks like it will be a sweet tank and yeah I find GREAT deals on craigslist all the time for tanks. Just wish I had extra room to buy them all...

The wood looks great but like everyone says it will break down quick. I used GS background for my clowns and they love it, there is a reptile show in Taylor where I picked up some wood and vines for cheap. Knuckles would look good plus your frogs would climb all over them.

Good luck with the tank I'm in Plymouth if you ever want to go grab a beer, not that I'm a dater but hey I keep tree frogs so that's close enough =)

Maybe a ROOT Beer

 

[brinkerh420]

Found some new driftwood yesterday, and just finished bleaching and baking.
Here are some pics:

 

[dfrmav]

www.thedriftwoodstore.com is the best place for wood. Give Rod an email with the dimensions of pieces you're looking for and possibly some examples from his site to give him an idea of the types you like, and he will shoot you emails with pictures of what he has in stock. Very good guy.

 

[brinkerh420]

Here are some edited pictures. The Red is either cork bark or driftwood. I have 1 cork tube, 2 driftwood pieces, and 3 cork bark pieces.

Here is the Back left side of the tank:

The middle:

Here is the key/legend:

3.Driftwood (top of the page)
4.Other piece of driftwood (4 pieces nailed together)

Thanks for looking,

Will

 

[brinkerh420]

UPDATE!

Finished foaming and then siliconing coco husk to the background.


I bought cocohusk instead of eco earth, and then I thought it would still look better than ABG, but I don't like the way it turned out that much just because of how much foam still showed up.

You can see the foam accident that I had. It all drooped down when I tried to fill in a whole But I don't think I will be able to see it when the soil is in.

I am going on vacation this week, but I will have another update next weekend.

Anyway, here are some pictures:

Cork Tube:

Exo Branch:

Thanks

Will

 

[brinkerh420]

Another Update!

Tank has been completed! Just waiting for a few new plants

A lot of ugly yellow gs are still showing because some of the coco husk fell off I am hoping some vines (ficus pumila) will cover it up.

I put in some vine cuttings that therizman2 gave me (pepperomia prostrata, some others that I can't remember names for)

Lighting right now is just 2 shop lights and some random aquarium lights, but I am buying a T5HO 4 bulb fixture in a few days.

Here are the completed pictures!

FTS:

Left side with a cork tube and an Exo Branch:

Broms near the top planted in cork tubes filled with Sphagnum Moss.

And the pond separated from the substrate by some grapewood pieces. I know that these will decompose pretty fast, and springtails will chow, so I have around 5 peices that I will replace with as springtails do their thing

I did put a mangrove seed pod in there that I got from my vacation last week. I am going to see if it will start growing.

That's it for the update.

Please comment with suggestions,
constructive criticism welcome

Will

 

[Are2]

is that just some local moss that you have growing in the tank?

 

[eyeviper]

Looks great, FYI you have a 40g breeder not a 47 gallon. Not that it matters but just thought Id let ya know. I like 40's good size for frogs, not too big not too small. Look forward to updates.

 

[goof901]

what's the brom on the right? like the kinda reddish color one

 

[brinkerh420]

Are2,

That moss is Sheet Moss from Josh's Frogs.

goof901,

That bromeliad is a Neoregelia Fireball x Green Apple from Tropicalplantz.com

eyeviper,

Thanks for the info!

Will