The legend of Bill returns!
Bill has been a very strong contributor to many innovative ideas on the forum. I had one of the craziest ideas first starting out with creating an all Native species enclosure and a lot of people shunned me on the forum starting out, but Bill decided to take me under his wing and talk some sense into me if I was going to do it and I can say he was one of the key factors in driving my passion to get to where it is today. the light that he picked out four years ago still works and is on one of my setups.
even though you did this in the 90s I still believed to be one of the first if not the first successful hobbyist to keep native species together using perennials and Native stuff. I say that because I don't want to sound like a copier of having a mixed-species setup but also to give you confidence that it is possible and people will support you with constructive criticism and also kind words. I support your project and I'm very excited to see how the project goes.
I think you should definitely consider the Bumblebee millipede because those things are awesome.
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Haha! Well he certainly gave me something to think about!
After you mention the 90's, maybe I better clean up what I said. I am certainly not an expert at this, PLUS, I haven't been in it for YEARS! I guess what I was meaning to say is, I know a lot about this AND there is A LOT I haven't a clue!
I am an artist, I CAN say that with confidence, but I love vivariums/amphibians, herpetology (I was into this before I focused on any other type of animal species), more specifically, Siberian Tigers, Asian Water Monitors, Constrictor constrictor, tarantulas, scorpions, macaws, etc. Probably silly to write that since I could go on for awhile writing every individual animal I like.
I have worked on some million dollar zoo projects around the USA, in fact my mentor, I'll call him, S.C., STILL works for Dixon Studios, running zoo exhibit builds all over the world!
I never focused on one thing, maybe that is why I am NOT an expert, I know a lot of little things about everything(or a lot of things).
OK, I don't want to make anyone throw up with this humble bologna, but you got the idea. If I didn't do this project, I would be finding a way to build a huge vivarium or tearing apart a room in my house to turn into a zoo exhibit!
I will promise this, if this one is a success, I have some awesome ideas in mind for the next one...so hope this is a success!!!!
Just an FYI, I want to run a contest, maybe send out some driftwood, high density foam, faux rock, to a winner when we hit 100 subscribers on our YouTube Vlog. I might actually announce that in this next vlog, due out in a day or two!
You brought up something when you mentioned the orchids and people having issues with them, the mat is near and dear to my heart. Planning! A LOT of people don’t get exactly how important it is to plan out almost every single detail ahead of time. I stated in another thread, and I always press that planning is everything! Can you plan for every little thing that can go wrong? Of course not, but you can, however, increase you chances of success with proper planning. One of my favorite quotes if from Louis Pasteur; Chance favors the prepared mind.
Now, mind you, I am not preaching planning to you due to your high level of preparedness, but in hopes someone reads this and it clicks. The orchid issues, I always found, are because people saw an orchid they like, and throw it into a tank without consideration of the orchid’s needs. They covered the animals well, but poorly planned the flora (which are my favorite part of any build). It’s a shame really.
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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
You humble me, my friend. I did nothing but see a guy who had some cool, outside the box ideas, but lacked direction. I just held the street sign, you did everything. You asked the right questions, and you put the work in. All you buddy I’m just happy I could have been there to see the beginning and get you started on your way
And I am a big fan of mixed enclosures when done properly. You know that. Heck, the Europeans have been doing it forever with success. They are so far ahead of us when it comes to some stuff.
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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
I just wanted to send a list of South America species to you so you can check them out. I think looking into the glass tree frog would be cool. The clown tree frog looks cool too. All from South America in the list below.
Clown Tree Frog
Hyla leucophyllata
Marbled Tree Frog
Hyla marmorata
Glass Tree Frog
Hyla punctata/fleischmanni
Bumblebee Millipede
Anadenobolus monilicornis
Pantanal Cockroach
Eublaberus serranus
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WOW!!!!!!!
This is unbelievably awesome!!! Thank you so much for this list! I will definitely go through it and consider every one.
I also think these will make some great fodder for discussion. Since I will be picking brains for assistance, for example, the Bumblebee Millipede, in a vivarium with a fairly large water feature, (plus I will have a list of the plants in the exhibit), knowing how they live, what do you see as pros and cons having them in this large enclosure? (Feel free to answer this one, but I may post on my thread questions for every species you wrote on here.)
Then everyone can see the answers and weigh to have or not to have them in the exhibit. Thoughts?!?!
Again, WOW, thank you!!!
(I am thrilled I decided to join this forum...also joined the Frog Forum, I post about the same thing on there to get an assortment of feedback. What I would have given to have this option in the 90's!
One more thing...there was a great article about European vivariums in a Nat'l Geographic magazine back in the mid-90's(it motivated me back then)...I think I have it, but it was really great! Does anyone remember that?
That was probably when I was born in the 90's lol
I think you will be surprised in knowing the Millipedes are adventurous but I don't think they will attempt to venture into the water. They may avoid it all together. Some may pass away I'm not going to lie but I think many would thrive. Another thing to consider with Millipedes which nobody considers.
Millipedes have predatory mites that protect them from parasites and such. If your soil were to have something like this the mites could potentially kill the parasites and be an added protection to the frogs. I cannot confirm their predatory mites kill and eat nematodes and such but it is very possible which would be pretty cool. Not only will the Millipedes clean decaying plant matter but could produce protection. Something cool to think about!
I think you should check out the glass frog. You can see it's organs it has transparent skin.
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Checkout a diff plant it's native to South America and it would be the best plant for native tree frogs to that area. It's a plant that can be submerged in water all it's life and it grows as tall as you want.
You are definitely swaying me towards the millipedes! I think it would be pretty awesome to look and see a millipede on a branch or crawling on the leaf litter. I;ve always wanted a millipede actually.
QUESTION: Breeding. One thing I would hate is to be overrun by millipedes, like duckweed. What are their breeding habits?
I have seen the Glass Frog before, very cool! Still, Red-Eyed Tree Frogs are one of my favorite frog of all time. I have never kept them with Poison Frogs before, so I am curious how they react.
Sorry I am bombarding you with questions...
If you have a small group they would do okay. Like 3-5 Millipedes would not necessarily overrun the enclosure. They may breed more readily since you'll be creating the native habitat for them and mine is one they invaded so you'll see probably different behavior.
If they would produce offspring you could sell some or culture them for a future build. I think these are one of the most beautiful Millipedes how colorful they are and the match the yellow of your dart frogs!
Checkout the diff plant also I think you would be very interested in them. They would be a nice addition. Should be easy to get too
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We just announced a Giveaway on our FB page!
MAG here:
We've decided to have a GIVEAWAY!!!
When we hit 100 Subscribers on our new YouTube Channel, I will put all the names of those subscribers or whoever, out of those hundred or so, wants to participate, into a hat and pick one name to receive, driftwood, faux rock(s), some high density foam to play with, at least enough foam to do a background on a 10 gallon tank or more!
More details to come!!!
The Rainforest Exhibit YouTube Vlog Channel :
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtn..._as=subscriber
Wow...it has been a crazy couple of weeks! I wanted to post more, but I have been so swamped...my apologies.
I decided NOT to use hydraulic cement, for several reasons.
I did feel more comfortable using cement, since it is really what I was trained with, but with so many people having used Drylok instead of cement, I looked into it a bit deeper.
So I bought some and played with it in my Custom Aquariums 75 Gallon Vivarium. It really is pretty cool! To me it felt like a store bought crete slurry!
Tinted it and, yeah, I like it a lot!
I will definitely have to paint it, of course. I will put that in a vlog along with when I painted my Vivarium Works rocks.
Here are pics. Let me know your thoughts...
Well, I pulled the trigger on buying an RO System!
I have been reviewing several systems and I decided to go with the
APEC Top Tier 5-Stage Ultra Safe Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water Filter System
50 Gallons per Day, which is more than I will ever need.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I0ZGOZM...ing=UTF8&psc=1
I plan to store several gallons per day. I have several containers to use now (washed and safe for 6 months).
I will update this forum as the products arrive, since I also purchased fruit fly fabric cups, LED Lights, Clayballs, Springtail Cultures, etc.
A lot of things going on!!!!
Hi everyone! Quick update...
been working on the foam land and ancient ruins. Decided to use Drylok instead of cement slurry. Very glad we did!
It is really terrific especially on this foam. Here are some pics...
Worked on the Control Panel for The Rainforest Exhibit!
Used a square piece of black ABS Plastic. Drilled holes for wires and screws, also for the 2" risers.
Once all the holes were drilled I covered it with carbon fiber vinyl.
Cool results!
The top module is the MistKing Timer.
The two in the center are the Current Pro LED Control modules.
The tablet WILL be the USER Interface which will control the fog, ventilation, heater, sounds, streaming video cameras (hopefully), and info center (about flora and fauna).
I was going to have a tablet interface to control everything, but after seeing the MistKing and Current modules, they seemed very easy to use, and I liked the way they looked...so, done!
Thoughts?!?
That's pretty cool. I have a more simple design of this for my 125 gallon and all the animals in the same room for that matter. I have speakers on top of the enclosure, fans to push fresh air in, a Mistking, fogger and pumps to get the water out from underneath the substrate. I have the fogger and fans on a timer because it just works easier for me. I don't use the controller for the Mistking because I get a lot of power outages and it will mess up for months the controller. I may get some timer to put it on or an exo terra honestly just because of the power outages in my area. When things are on timers and setup like your doing it's so nice and easy. I would be careful of the Mistking controller because I've been unfortunate with it. I'm excited to see what you plan to do with your setup! How soon until the tank is ready?
Some other inhabitants to consider
Colossal Cockroach
Pantanal Cockroach
Both from Central America and the second roach lives in a wetland. Might be a perfect fit for your rain forest. I'm not a roach guy but wanted to tip you off to two native species. They can also be cultured for feeders.
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We are starting to pick up steam!
We just installed the false bottom after running the plumbing for the sump filtration and drain system.
After building the false bottom and stand for the hardscape out of DUNAGroup/DUNAUSA U200 (drilled large drain holes, glued legs on the flat U200, zip tied and glued fiberglass mesh around sides of stand/false bottom), we soaked the clayballs (50L bag purchased from Josh's Frogs. We also had 2 lb bags from Custom Aquarium, but we did not want to open many of them to save for another time or backup) and poured them around the false bottom stand.
We then installed a plastic tile system to raise the hardscape around 1/4" to 3/8", to allow for drainage underneath these heavy items for uniform draining across the base.
The small square hole cut (4" square approx.) covers the sight hole for the drainage system underneath the main land area. We will glue a rock (shown) or small driftwood to the cover, to use as a handle to lift the small cover, in case we need to see underneath, or assist in drainage. We have a drain tube that we made from 1/2" PVC ("L" shape with holes drilled and slots, cemented together and placed directly on the bottom. There will be a dedicated Wet/Dry Vac connected to the plumbing out of this drain PVC, so we just hit a switch or put it on a timer, to drain this section of any substantial amount of water.
The next step is the weed barrier fabric that we have cut for this area. Once that is done, we can start installing the faux rock and mud wall, the faux ancient ruin waterfall and plumbing, the shallow stream and plumbing, the front aquarium/paludarium shoreline.
Our vlog channel will have one ot two more supply vids being downloaded next, and then we will go into the build vlog.
We are getting closer to adding substrates with our in-house ABG Mix(we may have a giveaway for some of it). Then plants, water, flora and fauna, as well as the fog, MistKing ADVANCED Misting System, more lighting, ventilation and heat, etc
Make sure to subscribe to our blog ( http://www.therainforestexhibit.com ) and check out our vlog ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtn...HuClgb5HVUaAAQ ) to keep up to date with our build and any giveaways we hold!
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