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Thread: Zoo Med 18*18*24 Vivarium Build

  1. #1
    Roachman3700
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    Default Zoo Med 18*18*24 Vivarium Build

    Hello All,

    We are new to this site but found a lot of great information and thought we would share our most recent Dart Frog Vivarium Build.

    First we started with a Zoo Med 18*18*24 tank
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    Then we glued in a Plexiglas top leaving about 1.5" of screen left for ventilation using Aquarium Safe DAP Silicone.
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    Next we cleaned the inside of the take really well with rubbing alcohol so that the decorations would stick properly.

    We purchased a zoo med Cork Bark tile background and glued that onto the back of the tank
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    Next we setup a piece of PVC pipe with half the bottom cut off to be used in the future for removal of water wast from bottom of tank.
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    We then used both Cork bark and Good Stuff spray foam to hold the PVC in as well as give more 3D look to the sides of our tank. You can see from the photos that we also took pieces of cork bark and terrarium vines and embedded them in the foam. Only mistake was we did it too soon as we had to end up digging some of them out as the foam expanded! Lesson learned wait a bit before setting in the extra pieces.
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    After 24 hours we then took a serrated knife & parring knife and shaved some of the foam out to have it have more contour and general form that we were looking for. Once we had the look we were going for we then painted all of the areas that you could see foam with a brown colored silicone and complete covered the foam with Eco Earth we waited 1.5 hrs and then knocked off the excess dirt looked for any spots that needed touch up applied another thin layer of the Silicone and additional eco earth until we were happy with the way it looked. We repeated the same process on the second side. Then allowed both sides to completely dry for another 24 hours.

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    The next step was to place in the false bottom, Landscaping barrier, ABG Mix, Sphagnum Moss, and loose small leaf in that order.
    Then placed our already already cleaned/soaked Malaysian drift wood and arranged it where it would live. We also added Zoo Med Frog Moss, three bromeliads, several cuttings from pothos, & Pink polka dot plant. When installing the bromeliads into the foam we wrapped the root ball with some Sphagnum moss and used tooth picks to prop the plant in the proper place and then on the out side we wrapped a little frog moss as well. The Bromeliad that is attached to the Malaysian drift wood we also wrapped the sphagnum moss around the root ball and then used brown sewing tread to hold it to the wood. This will be removed once the roots have attached themselves around 3/6 months. We ensured that the tread was tight and wouldn't interfere with the dart frogs.

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    The final touches prior to adding our Dart frogs was to use brown contact paper where we cut a piece to fit the whole side and then used a sharp blade gently so not to scratch the glass and cut out the general shape of the earth area we created this hides the foam from the outside of the tank.
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    After about 1 week of work we were ready to place our Dart Frogs in. We decided on three Citronella Dart Frogs we got one with out any spots, one with 1 Spot, and one with a really long spot on his back. We think we have two Males and one Female but time will tell.
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    So there is our first attempt and building a vivarium we have one that we had made for us and it isn't as close to as elaborate and we look forward to our next build.

    Regards,
    Dan & Liz
    Last edited by Roachman3700; July 3rd, 2014 at 10:36 PM. Reason: Additional Details

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  3. #2
    Moderator LilyPad's Avatar
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    Default Re: Zoo Med 18*18*24 Vivarium Build

    I think builds are some of my favorite threads! Looking good so far, can't wait to see more!
    2.0.3 Hyla versicolor "Eastern Gray Tree Frogs"
    2.2.0 Agalychnis callidryas "Red Eyed Tree Frogs"

    0.0.3 Dendrobates auratus "Turquoise and Bronze"
    0.0.1 Anaxyrus fowleri "Fowler's Toad"



  4. #3
    Roachman3700
    Guest

    Default Re: Zoo Med 18*18*24 Vivarium Build

    Here is a quick shot of our first Viv and Azureus Dart Frogs. We are now thinking about using this as our Quarantine tank and building them a newer nicer setup like above.
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  5. #4
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    Default Re: Zoo Med 18*18*24 Vivarium Build

    Looks great!
    1.1.0 - Oophaga Pumilio 'Blue Jeans' (2014 Nicaragua Import)
    1.1.0 - Oophaga Pumilio 'Chirique Grande' F1
    1.1.0 - D. Tinctorius 'Citronella'
    1.2.0 - D. Tinctorius 'Azureus'
    0.0.2 - D. Tinctorius 'Sipaliwini'
    0.0.2 - D. Tinctorius 'New River'
    0.0.4 - D. Tinctorius 'Leucomelas'
    0.0.4 - Terribilis 'Mint'
    1.1.0 - R. Ventrimaculatus 'French Guiana'

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  6. #5

    Default Re: Zoo Med 18*18*24 Vivarium Build

    looks great! the broms are going to take way longer than 6 months to attach themselves permanently since you wrapped the roots in LFS. the spahgnum actually will hinder the process since the roots need to break out of that first. i really like it
    1.0.0 Oophaga Pumilio 'Black Jeans'
    0.0.10 Phyllobates Vittatus
    0.0.3 Phyllobates Terribilis 'Mint'
    0.0.3 Dendrobates Tinctorius 'Patricia'
    0.0.5 Dendrobates Leucomelas
    0.0.2 Dendrobates Tinctorius 'Powder Blue'
    0.0.2 Ranitomeya Variabilis 'southern'
    0.0.3 Epipedobates Anthonyi 'zarayunga'
    1.2.0 Phyllobates bicolor
    0.0.3 Dendrobates tinctorius 'azureus'
    0.0.1 Avicularia Avicularia
    0.0.1 Gramastola porteri
    0.2.0 Canines
    1.0.0 Tabby/Maine Coon Mix
    2.1.0 Genetics Experiments
    0.1.0 Bed Bully

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