[snmreptiles]

Here's a link...Sorry I am bad with a video cam!!

YouTube - Playing with new camcorder...Frog/Rhac Room

Mike
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[RedEyeTroyFrog]

i jus saw this about 10 minutes ago before you posted this...nice room man, where are the tanks from? are they custom? the tanks im talking about are the ones with the sloped front opening

 

[snmreptiles]

Thanks!! Yeah, they're custom, we started building them back in 04 or 05...Designed so that you could fit 3 rows of 3 on a 4' rack!

Mike
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[sgvreptiles]

Im diggen the slant fronts. Nice set up.

 

[chinoanoah]

1. The slant fronts should definitely be popular among breeders!

2. I love all frog multimedia, we need a video thread!

 

[hyla23]

Would you be willing to post the dimensions or the plans for those tanks they are really cool and a great idea. Nice work.

 

[gillenws]

wow that's a great frog room... and i agree those tanks are awesome! i'd love to see plans and hear about the costs for making them. it seems like a great design for a rack system.

 

[Geckoguy]

Awsome room! Got to agree with everyone else those slant front tanks are super nice.

 

[snmreptiles]

Just got home from a 10 hour day at the "Real Job" : ) I will post some specs and better pics for you all in the AM!

Mike
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[reptile_jones]

Love the video!!

 

[snmreptiles]

Wow, never thought there would be this much interest in tanks! LOL

OK, so the bottoms are 15" X 17" I use 3/16" glass and drill a 1 1/8" hole for a 1/2" bulkhead. I use wide masking tape on all corners to attach the next pieces.

Next I put all of the sides on top of the base piece. I use 1/8" glass for everything else.

Now you silicone all of the seams and let dry. I usually wait between one and two days...

And that concludes our picture tour!!! The next step is to put the top piece of glass on (I drill two holes for an imaginary misting system I have been putting off since 2005) and silicone those seams. After that has dried, line up the door (I use masking tape on the ends and one in the center). For hinges I use the acrylic one from Josh's Frogs. I take a dremel tool to them and rough up the surface. I then use 5 minute epoxy and pray that I got them on there straight and didn't get any epoxy on the moving part of the hinge! After waiting another day for the hinges to dry I wrap the door in wax paper, run a bead of silicone on the three top sides and close the door so it molds to the silicone and makes it FF proof. Let that dry for a day and you are golden!

I have an invoice with all of the dimensions I am trying to find, as soon as I do I will give you the dimensions for the 7 pieces of glass!!

These aren't cheap to build and VERY time consuming to make. You can buy approx. six 10 gallons for just the cost of the glass (Usually about $60). It doesn't take that much time to actually put them together, just waiting for the stuff to dry! If I missed anything let me know! Also I was off by an inch or so and the middle tank of every shelf is a 1/2" less than the two surrounding it if you are planning to put these on a 4' rack!

Mike
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[ChrisK]

Cool, so you don't put any silicone on the edges before you tape it together like in Darryl's tutorial? Only in the seams after it's taped?

 

[snmreptiles]

That is correct, at most it holds about 3" of water in our set ups...I am sure running a bead of silicone then putting the pieces on wouldn't hurt!

Mike
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[fleshfrombone]

What kind of alocasia were you using? I always wanted one that would stay short enough to keep in a smaller sized viv.

 

[brian]

Very cool frogroom, i love it. I also like those custom made tanks.

Isn't ventilation a major concern ? How do you deal with it ?

 

[nathan]

Awesome video thanks for sharing! And it was really cool to hear all the frogs calling , kinda like they were trying to get thier 15 minutes of fame

And im going to go ahead with the ventilation , They get good amount of air exchange during feeding and daily checks , plus the live plants produce oxygen too . . really nice tanks . . .

 

[snmreptiles]

Flesh, try "Black Velvet", I have 3 or 4 types, one in my Ammy tank has a leaf that has to be 15" x 15", it's huge...The Black Velvets stay small!!

We don't put ventilation in any of our tanks except for Pumilio. In CO the humidity is usually in the low 20's. The tanks aren't air tight by any means!! Haven't had a problem yet!

 

[gillenws]

so when you're putting the tanks together and you tape all of the corners on are the corners of all of the vertical glass pieces touching? or do you have the sides inside the front and back or vice-versa? (if that makes any sense)

 

[ChrisK]

I think you're asking if the front, back and sides are sitting on top of the bottom piece of glass or outside of it?

 

[gillenws]

no i understand that all four sides are set on top of the base... but i can't tell from the pic if he has the four sides meeting at the corners or if they meet on a flat surface.

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or like this:

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===== (imagine that the pieces of glass at these junctions are not interlocked but merely just touching each other's corners... and also that the forum would let the right sides be out where they're supposed to be)