18x18x24 Exo Build

[LilyPad]

My 24x18x24 has still not come in yet, they thought it would be in this week. The store has offered me a 10% discount on another terrarium, but I'm trying to hold out because it was such a good deal ($150+tax.) In the meantime...I do need a bigger viv. One of the other local pet stores is closing and is getting rid of tons of stuff. So I bought a used 18x18x24 for $60 (also came with the light and stand...I left the stand there, didn't want it.) I also bought a cool piece of cork bark and a nice branch. Today, I scrubbed the hard water residue out with some vinegar. I have no idea what I'm really planning to do with this yet, but I will post pics as I go!

[LilyPad]

[jarteta97]

Lucky. I can't wait to see it progress

[Happy Frog]

You can do a lot with a 18x18x24. I have one. Right now I'm keeping four Vents in it. I'm curious - What do you keep both your Red-Eyes in.

[LilyPad]

This will be for the red eyes until I get the bigger one and get it all built. Currently, the red eyes are in a 20 gallon high tank. I have lots of ideas mulling, I just need to pick one and go with it now

[DigitalPunk]

Excellent! 18x18x24 are fun to build in! Can't wait to follow along

[Happy Frog]

This will be for the red eyes until I get the bigger one and get it all built. Currently, the red eyes are in a 20 gallon high tank. I have lots of ideas mulling, I just need to pick one and go with it now

Last month I went to the big reptiles show in Sacramento Ca and picked up two Red-eyed tadpoles. One of them died right after it had all four legs out and now I have only one, fully transformed into a little froglet.


I myself am after a 24x18x36 and having a hard time finding one.

[LilyPad]

Last month I went to the big reptiles show in Sacramento Ca and picked up two Red-eyed tadpoles. One of them died right after it had all four legs out and now I have only one, fully transformed into a little froglet.


I myself am after a 24x18x36 and having a hard time finding one.

That one is amazing! I wish I had the space!

I'm assuming I can attach cork with silicone? I think I'm skipping the great stuff this time and doing all cork.

[DigitalPunk]

Amy,

Thats how I attached the cork panels to my tanks. Put a bunch of silicone on the glass and then lay the panel in. I used rocks and other heavy things to keep pressure on the cork panel for 24 hours to make sure it stayed flat against the glass

[LilyPad]

Soooo...I've been busy devoting my life to my frogs the last 5 days....

Supplies -



I bought a basic cork background to go with the cork piece that I already had. Siliconed everything in nice and tight -



The cork bark that is sticking out a bit was hollow, so I filled it as I would a tank, drainage layer, moss, abg, and planted stuff in any of the openings. I couldn't leave it hollow and risk frogs getting in and not out.

Then I used a paint pan, a mixture of coco fiber and silicone to "paint" the paint pan to make a more gradual water area. I have put a filter into this to keep it moving. Also put river rocks in it so no spot is deeper than 1 inch despite it holding nearly a gallon of water. I will use a siphon tube to do water changes. I was just going to do a bowl, but winter here gets really dry with the heat running constantly, so I wanted to make sure the viv was going to have a nice water area to maintain the humidity. The really shallow area gives me space to set my cricket bowls. I was afraid the paint pan would be treated in a way that the silicone wouldn't attach, but it seemed to work out just fine.

For my "moss vine" I did things a little differently than I've seen done because I was too impatient. I used the small "jungle vine" as a base, I took the thick wire out of it. I then wrapped the vine with LFS and some thin, plastic coated wire, leaving the ends long to hang it from the screen top. After that, I wrapped it with sheet moss and cotton thread and soaked it all in water. Then I hung it from the screen using the extra wire. None of the wire is exposed to the frogs at all.

I did a drainage layer rather than a false bottom. I have tubing threaded into the drainage layer to easily siphon out any excess water.

Then it was just down to putting everything together and planting it. I used less plants out of my original red eye viv than I planned. I had too much fun making other purchases. I also intend to keep the other viv (20g high) as a planted tank and add some more orchids too it, so completely emptying it wouldn't have been very beneficial.

Anyway, I think it'll be a good home for the red eyes until I get my 24x18x24 and get that one done.

[LilyPad]

Also...it's a good think the tank was cheap, I do not want to sit and add up what I spent on the rest. I can tell you, it was more than I budgeted for!

Thanks for looking!

[DigitalPunk]

Wow Amy that looks great! They will love it! When do frogs get to move in?



Ugh yeah I hate adding up build costs lol. I have started buying all the supplies in one shot and the sheer $$$ that leaves my hands is heart breaking lol.

[DigitalPunk]

Oh and let me add that I LOVE cork panels as backgrounds. LOVE them! Hope it works out good for you too!

[deranged chipmunk]

Amy, that looks awesome! You did and excellent job on it!!!!


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[LilyPad]

Thanks, guys! I like to think I picked up a few things watching you two

I think I might move the boys in today just because I want the light from their tank on this one, move my other hood over to that one. I think I'll move one of the girls, but the one that scraped herself up will probably stay in QT until she's done a bit more healing. They've been eating and pooping, so obviously they adjusted well and are feeling okay. First night 3 crickets gone, second 2, and last night 1 was gone. Normally, I wouldn't even consider moving them out of qt at this point, but I'm more comfy knowing that they're from Paul. The 10 gallon qt was also good for my boys because they were babies when I got them, but these girls are considerably bigger and I do not want to keep them in there very long.

The cork background makes so much sense from the "Make it like a tree" standpoint. These frogs live in trees with vines, plants, branches etc, so I thought I'd go for it. It's a lot harder to pin my plants to, that's for sure!

[DigitalPunk]

Your plants will root to it super fast!

[LilyPad]

Good! I was hoping for that! They were so easy to pull off the great stuff background, they had only rooted into the LFS that they were planted with because there was no way for them to grip the great stuff. So it will be really nice to have them attach themselves firmly.

[Strider18]

Looks amazing! I can't wait to see your beautiful froggies in it!

0.1.0 Psuedacris regilla

[LilyPad]

Just one question... I've never worked with dormant moss before. How wet do I have to keep it to get it growing? Just make sure it doesn't dry out?

[LilyPad]

So I pulled a Paul and moved all of them in today. Normally I'm very much a wait a month type person, but I'm going to lose my mind if I don't get this space all cleaned up. I have tanks on top of tanks (literally.)

Firstly, I'm kind of surprised at the size difference...I mean I KNOW that the females are bigger than the males, it's just funny to see it side by side now. Also, their coloring is different. The boys have a blue-er hue to them where the girls are a bright lime green. Interesting because the girls were in a tank with blue paper covering it! I will have to see if they adjust to the same coloration now that they're in the same tank.

I put them in there and they promptly fell asleep.

All 4



Boys



Girls -





I am planning on putting in 2 cricket bowls tonight for feeding in hopes that everyone feels they have sufficient space Also curious to see if the second girl decides to camouflage against that leaf...would make for an interesting pattern.