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Thread: 150 gallon Viv build

  1. #1
    AlexanderSalamander
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    Default 150 gallon Viv build

    All right, my dream is finally going to come true, I have a 150 gallon tank and its now gonna be a huge Viv for my blue to tongue skink and four whites tree frogs. I just ordered all of the materials and can't wait to start. Also I'm soooo excited because all of the plants are coming straight from Josh's frogs instead of Home Depot like my first Viv.

    im gonna post as I go, but it will be a slow and steady build so don't expect everything at once, and since I've been planning this for months I have a very specific vision which I hope comes true.

    ill post pics as soon as I figure out how.
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  3. #2
    100+ Post Member Bombina Bob's Avatar
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    Default Re: 150 gallon Viv build

    if you are adding the whites with the bluey, please be careful whenever mixing species even if they occur in the same region. Blue tongues can be verocious predators in the wild capable of eating small mammals. You may want to get some very hardy plants or plant them with the pot so your skink doesnt dig them up. Make sure your plants are non toxic as well. Good luck with the viv
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  4. #3
    AlexanderSalamander
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    Default Re: 150 gallon Viv build

    Thanks, and yeah I understand all of the risks, but I have planned so as to minimize their interaction, and also I will have all of the plants on the ground potted

  5. #4
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    Default Re: 150 gallon Viv build

    I just hope we aren't reading a thread here in a few months "HELP! My skink tried to eat my frog!" Skinks CAN be violent if they feel like their space is invaded. I love love love skinks, but the best thing you can do for the safety of your skink and other animals is to keep it housed alone. It should not even be housed with other skinks.

    I'm curious, how do you plan to take care of their different humidity requirements?
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  6. #5

    Default 150 gallon Viv build

    Curious to see how this all works out.


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  7. #6
    AlexanderSalamander
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    Default Re: 150 gallon Viv build

    my plan is to put in all of the vines (real) that i have collected coming out of the background to provide perches, along with one rock ledge. The background will be planted with 2 pothos, a wandering jew, a ficus burgundy, and a large brom. The ground will be planted with 5 australian ferns, and one of those small twisty trunk tree, im not sure of the name. i purchased a monsoon mi ster system which will be aimed to provide a humidity gradient which will be more humid in the canopy in the middle of the tank, seeing as the nozzles will be pointed inward and level with the upper half of the tank, also there will be a hot side with a large basking rock on the ground for the skink, along with a large heating pad on the side of the tank. The ground plants will be potted, but the pots wont be visible with the six inches of soil, and the magnolia leaf litter. On the opposite side of the tank, i will craft a hollow tree stump out of great stuff, which will be too tall for the skink to access, which will contain 1-2 inches of water for the frogs to soak in, and there will be a viewport in the side of the fake stump so that the frogs can be seen soaking, and lastly, there will be many nooks and crannies in the background for the frogs to hide in. this should all minimize interaction. Also, the frogs i purchase will be adults so that will help in the area of maybe being eaten. Lastly, my skink will be kept well fed at all times so that she isnt driven to eat the frogs.

    Tell me what you think of all of this!

  8. #7
    Moderator LilyPad's Avatar
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    Default Re: 150 gallon Viv build

    Well fed does not mean non-violent. He doesn't have to be hungry to take a snap at a whites, just annoyed. You can't force them to stay in one area or another and away from each other. Even if there is no attack, your whites could end up very stressed living into such close proximity to a predator.

    I also foresee the humidity being an issue. I understand what you're trying to do, but achieving a gradient humidity is going to be very difficult in 28 inches. 22 inches of you're doing 6 inches of substrate.
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  9. #8
    AlexanderSalamander
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    Default Re: 150 gallon Viv build

    whites need 50 to 60 percent humidity, and blueys do live in these conditions in the wild in northern australia and indonesia. Also i will do controlled introductions and if any little thing goes wrong, i will call it all of.

  10. #9

    Default 150 gallon Viv build

    Just out of curiosity, what's your experience with bts and white's?


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  11. #10
    AlexanderSalamander
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    Default Re: 150 gallon Viv build

    my bluey is about three years old and very tame. She enjoys the occasional superworm, but mostly dines on fruit mixed with various cooked meats, eggs and different veggies such as spinach and collard greens. I havent ever owned a whites, but i have had success with a cuban tree frog and a tiger legged monkey frog. I have been researching whites for months now, and i feel confident that i can handle em. Im not an inexperienced keeper, and i feel that this project is well planned and doable but all advice is welcome!

  12. #11

    Default 150 gallon Viv build

    Well, my honest opinion. Even though you believe you have it well planned, even the best vivarium builders wouldn't attempt this. There is too much difference in care requirements to build into a little 150 gallon tank. Not to mention that only expert keepers should even attempt a multi species enclosure.

    I hope it works out for you, but honestly, I see disaster in the making. Good luck with it.


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  13. #12
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    Default Re: 150 gallon Viv build

    I see a disaster in the making as well. One issue I know you will have early on is humidity. You can mist nonstop and a bulb used to create a basking spot will burn off the humidity in a matter of hours. Misting will cause the humidity to spike, but within a short period of time the basking spot will burn the humidity out of the air. You will end up with a flu False Bottom or a swamped out substrate in short order.
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  14. #13
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    Default Re: 150 gallon Viv build

    Quote Originally Posted by AlexanderSalamander View Post
    Thanks, and yeah I understand all of the risks, but I have planned so as to minimize their interaction, and also I will have all of the plants on the ground potted
    It's so, so tempting to mix.
    If you had an enclosure twice that size....would still say

    Respectively --------> Yikes! Don't do it...with these 2 species. Your Whites will lose a limb or fail to thrive from the constant stress /threat. Despite many plants--- the frogs will never feel like they can "get away". This is very hard on them

    Your Bluey will love this big enclosure?

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  15. #14
    AlexanderSalamander
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    Default Re: 150 gallon Viv build

    I understand and that's why I'm gonna post about it. I want to document how it goes and it will hopefully be an inspirational tale rather than a cautionary one.

  16. #15
    AlexanderSalamander
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    Default Re: 150 gallon Viv build

    And yes, my bluey will LOVE this, I do have one other thing to point out. My bluey is diurnal, and at night he buries himself in the substrate, and since the whites are nocturnal, this should give them freedom to roam all night without being disturbed. Anyway, I like to hear all of your opinions, and I can't wait to start the Viv itself

  17. #16

    Default 150 gallon Viv build

    Quote Originally Posted by AlexanderSalamander View Post
    And yes, my bluey will LOVE this, I do have one other thing to point out. My bluey is diurnal, and at night he buries himself in the substrate, and since the whites are nocturnal, this should give them freedom to roam all night without being disturbed. Anyway, I like to hear all of your opinions, and I can't wait to start the Viv itself
    You really do not know white's. Yes, they are nocturnal, but they do roam during the day. They will spend time on the substrate during the day. Will you be there all day every day to protect them? Planting ferns "sounds" like a good idea, I am sure, but it won't provide protection to them as much as you think it will. And what are your plans to deal with the anaerobic bacteria that is going to build up within an enclosed area with 6" of substrate? Not to mention a substrate that will probably be too humid for the skink over the long run. How do you plan to keep the temp gradients consistent? That basking area is going to force the heat across the entire tank, raising the temp inside to possibly dangerous levels for the whites.

    Look, I admire your enthusiasm, and I am the first to admit that I love a multispecies tank, as long as it's done right. And that includes choosing the right animals to go together in the tank. Unfortunately, this is not a good combo. In fact, it's a bad, bad combo. Knowing what I know about building tanks, small and large (I have built a 125 for white's), I just know there is no way to keep both animals safe, healthy and happy. My suggestion, build the tank for the skink and build a smaller one for white's. Get some experience under your belt. You need to be able to spot problems BEFORE they happen in such an enclosure, and I am sorry, you just do not have it. I honestly believe you are putting the frogs, at the very least, in danger. Not only from the bts, but from poor husbandry since their requirements can't really be met.

    Just my $.02


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  18. #17
    AlexanderSalamander
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    Default Re: 150 gallon Viv build

    You certainly know your stuff. Ill do what you say, and thanks for everything!

  19. #18
    Moderator Lija's Avatar
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    Default Re: 150 gallon Viv build

    Wow people you are so nice about it, im like impressed!


    Disclaimer - no intended and everything that im gonna say please dont take personally, im having here only best interests of bts and whites in mind, good intensions and all


    Im not a nice person as you all know lol so im gonna tell this to Alexander - are you out of your mind? ( sorry didnt mean yelling, it just happened) are you still planning to house bts with whites despite everything you've been told already, although perhaps if you are listening to Bill may be that is not the case anymore that is probably the worst idea i've heard in very very long time. The general rule in exotic keeping says - NEVER ever mix species in captivity! Especially so incomparable as these two are, although you can find worse combinations like darts and bearded dragon for example lol




    Bts are awesome, hand down , they are ones of the nicest skinks to have, the only drawback is the cage requirements, not many people have space for that. Sometime ago i bookmarked this page, because it is awesome, perhaps you find it useful
    Detailed Blue Tongue Skink Caresheet - BlueTongueSkinks.NET



    look at the positive, now you can build not one but TWO tanks! However im not exactly sure what you need to plant in a tank so bts wont crush it, but that is not my area of expertise
    Save one animal and it doesn't change the world, but it surely changes the world for that one animal!

  20. #19
    AlexanderSalamander
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    Default Re: 150 gallon Viv build

    Yeah! but I think I'll give the bluey the 150. I get it definitely, I guess I was just relying more on the size of the tank and its decor to reduce interactions instead of thinking of all of the risks. I'm still confused on one subject tho, I've read that if the inhabitants of a cohabitation tank are from the same geographic area, live on different levels, and have non overlapping diets, along with the reduced interactions due to nocturnal and diurnal habits that it should have worked out, had I done it. Which I won't.

  21. #20

    Default 150 gallon Viv build

    Size also plays a factor. For example, mantellas and day geckos live almost side by side in Madagascar, but i would never put a giant day gecko in with mantellas. They would be continuously stressed.

    There is also a difference of where in that geographical area they live. Just because they both inhabit Indonesia, does not mean their wild habitats are the same. Sure, their borders may overlap in places, but they have millions of hectares to avoid each other. Your plan puts them trapped inside a 6'x2'x2' (roughly) box. No where to run, no where to hide. I know to humans, a 150 gallon tank is huge. But to our critters, that's nothing. Imagine being in an 8'x4' jail cell with a honey badger. The badger may be calm at first, but what do you do when the badger gets in it's mood. I know, extreme exaggeration, but it makes the point lol


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